Something Like Summer (22 page)

“
Not here!” Ben protested.
“Think of the children!”

“
We’re the only ones
here,” Tim murmured. “All the kiddies are at home with their
parents, glued to their idiot boxes.”

It was a fair point. Ben
could spend hours walking the suburbs at night without seeing
another living being. A citizen venturing off the safely lit
streets into the tamer territories of Mother Nature was even less
likely. People always imagined that muggers and rapists lurked in
these abandoned parks, which would be silly since they would be
waiting an eternity for potential victims.

He let Tim press him up
against one of the playground’s wooden structures, lips mashing
together as they fumbled at each other’s pants. Ben succeeded
first, switching places with Tim before going down on his knees. He
listened to the soft sound of Tim’s moans drifting away on the
night air as he worked, feeling an odd mix of urgent lust and inner
tranquility.

“
Police!”

“
Hold it right
there!”

Ben’s eyes shot open at the
unexpected voices, and quickly winced against the bright light. He
felt Tim push him away as he struggled to see past the two
flashlights that were bobbing toward them.

“
Run!” Tim
said.

Events finally caught up
with Ben as Tim hastily buttoned his shorts and took off into the
night. A policeman shouted in protest as Ben raced to follow. For
the next minute he knew only his heart pounding in his ears, the
dark sliced sporadically by flashlight beams. He caught up with Tim
just as the path split into two different directions.

“
Split up!” Tim hissed
back at him, heading to the left.

Ben took the right path and
considered diving into the woods and lying low when he slammed into
something that grunted. The collision knocked Ben to the ground, a
noise skittering across the pavement, but he didn’t have time to
identify it. He was more concerned with getting away, for already
the lights were catching up with him.

There was more shouting as
he was spotted by the police again, prompting Ben to leap to his
feet. He spared one glance down at the illuminated path and looked
into the confused eyes of Daniel Wigmore, who was still splayed out
on the sidewalk. Ben’s stomach sank as shocked recognition
registered on both their faces.

Then Ben was running again,
this time through the woods, branches slapping against the hands he
raised in defense. Eventually he spilled out into a backyard that
he recognized. He allowed himself to stop and gulp down air before
running toward home. When he finally made it there, he forced
himself to calmly enter and walk up the stairs as if nothing had
happened. His lungs were aching as he willed normal, short breaths
until he reached his bedroom.

He left the lights off and
looked out his window, but for what? Squad cars? A helicopter
equipped with searchlights? He wondered if it was too soon to call
Tim’s house to see if he had made it safely. What if the police
were there right now, talking to his parents? Ben calling at that
moment would be the most damning of evidence.

He swore at their stupidity
as he paced his room, trying to decide on a course of action. How
much had the police really seen? Had they found Daniel? Maybe they
would put the blame on him. That would be a nice twist. Of course,
Daniel wouldn’t hesitate to rat out Ben. He probably already
had.

Ben looked out the window
for the twentieth time and saw a patrol car pulling into his
neighborhood. He cussed and quietly descended the stairs to the
front door and peeped out the window. The police cruiser had
already pulled into his driveway. Indecision gave way to
desperation. He slipped through the house, slid open the glass door
that opened onto the backyard, and ran.

Going through the woods was
too risky since cops could still be there, so he crossed into
another neighborhood, making a wide arc to where Tim lived. Ben
wanted nothing more than to ring the bell or use his key, but he
knew what a bad idea that would be. He could see a number of adults
through the windows, drinking wine and laughing, oblivious to the
drama unfolding around them. The backyard was mercifully empty, the
party contained indoors, and there was a light in Tim’s window. Ben
threw coins from his pocket up at it until the light turned off.
Then he waited.

Tim’s eyes were wild with
panic when he stepped into the backyard. Wordlessly, he grabbed
Ben’s arm and led him to the side of the house.

“
Did they catch
you?”

“
No. Well, yeah. I don’t
know. They’re at my parents’ house.”

“
Shit!” Tim craned to see
his own driveway.

“
Don’t worry, they
only--”

“
Don’t worry?” Tim
repeated incredulously. “The fucking cops caught us
screwing!”

Ben sighed, trying to find
the right words to defuse the situation. “They don’t know about
you! They only know about me because I ran into Daniel
Wigmore.”

“
Who?”

“
A guy in our
school.”

Tim’s eyes widened even
more. “Someone was watching us?”

“
No!”

“
How do you
know?”

“
He was too far away. I
don’t know!”

“
No, you don’t know,” Tim
snarled. “You don’t know what your parents are saying to the police
right now either. Who do they think you are out with
tonight?”

Ben refused to answer,
choosing instead to return Tim’s glare with icy silence. “Look,
I’ll tell them I was blowing Daniel,” he suggested at last.
“Problem solved.”

“
They saw
me,
” Tim stressed, his voice cracking.
“We’re fucked!”

“
No, we aren’t,” Ben
reached out, wanting to touch Tim, to comfort him and close the
gulf he felt opening up between them.

“
Yes, we are,” Tim said,
pushing his hand away. “Everything’s fucked up. Jesus, what did I
let you do to me?”

“
Do to you? I didn’t ‘do’
anything. This isn’t a choice, you know. It’s who we
are!”

“
Get away from me.” Tim
shoved him and tried to walk away before Ben caught his arm and
swung him back around.

“
This isn’t something you
can control!” Ben said, hanging onto him with all his strength.
“You can’t just push me away and expect to stop
feeling--”

“
I can’t do this anymore!”
Tim bellowed, pulling his arm away and shoving Ben again when he
tried to get close. His face was a twisted mask of anger, but tears
were flowing from his eyes. “It’s over. Go home.”

Ben tried stepping toward
him once more, but this time Tim pushed him so hard that Ben fell
to the ground. Tim towered over him, his silver eyes wet, angry,
reluctant, and scared, before they closed and he turned away. Ben
watched the best thing that had ever happened to him fade into the
shadows and disappear around the corner. As he lay in the grass,
listening to the muffled sound of laughter and clinking glasses, he
marveled at how quickly his world had fallen apart.

__________

Chapter 15

The next week was spent
waiting. Ben tried to tell himself this was just another fight. Tim
would calm down, eventually feel safe again, and would return to
him. All he needed was space. That was what Ben’s brain was telling
him. His heart, on the other hand, felt something very
different.

When his calls weren’t
returned the second week, Ben decided to write Tim a letter. He
stressed that there wasn’t going to be any trouble with the cops.
Ben’s father had covered for him, claiming that Ben was out with
his sister that night. Mr. Bentley was no fool. He understood that
it would only be inconvenient and possibly expensive if he let the
police take his son. Ben’s parents hadn’t been happy, of course,
but they preferred to administer their own justice.

News of what had happened
wasn’t likely to spread around the school either. Daniel Wigmore
was uncharacteristically tightlipped about the event. He had no
doubt tipped off the cops to Ben’s name, but had no intention of
informing his peers at school. Most likely he was afraid that one
of them would put two and two together. The police were out that
night looking for an arsonist. What Ben and Tim had been up to was
obvious, but what was Daniel doing there? In retrospect Ben could
swear that the sound on the pavement had been a plastic lighter and
that Daniel’s silence was further testament to his
guilt.

By the end of the second
week, it was clear that Tim had no intention of responding. That
only left one option—sneaking into the Wyman residence at night and
slipping into bed with him. Ben rebelled against the idea. He was
sick of feeling like he had done something wrong. Any other couple
would be laughing about being caught by the police, or at the very
least come together in times of trouble. Why did Ben feel like he
had to apologize? Why should he have to talk Tim into being with
him? That wasn’t how love worked, was it?

“
Ronnie changed the
lyrics.” Allison shoved a piece of paper into Ben’s
hand.

“
What? The talent show is
tomorrow!”

“
I know, but he only
changed a few lines. Just read it.”

Ben browsed the new text,
eyes growing wider by the second.

“
I hope you’re not mad,”
Allison said. “I told him everything, and it just fell into place.
What do you think?”

Ben features set with
determination. “If they’re willing to play it, I’ll sing
it.”

They spent the evening
practicing the new lines, Ben’s emotions growing with every word he
sang. They carried him through to the next day, when his nerves
started playing up at the idea of performing in front of the entire
school. The gymnasium, usually separated by a folding wall between
the girls and boys sides, had been opened. The bleachers were moved
to the far wall, opposite the stage on the other end. Students were
stuffed into every available inch, the bleachers groaning under
their weight and the floor lost beneath a mass of
bodies.

Ben felt like he was going
to pass out. Luckily they weren’t the first act on stage.
Cheerleaders performed coordinated dance moves to the latest and
most dreadful pop songs. Band kids played different instruments,
some more successfully than others, and a handful of choir students
attempted to sing against the constant chattering of
students.

Then there were the drama
class kids performing small scenes and skits. The most notable of
these was two guys dressed as Mario and Luigi who squatted
repeatedly while making farting noises to the video game theme
song, taking breaks only to hit each other with large inflatable
mallets. This was particularly popular with everyone.

Finally it was their turn.
As Ebony and Ivory set up their instruments on stage, Ben’s bravery
returned. No matter what the school thought of him and what he was
about to sing, he was among friends. Allison, of course, but Ronnie
too, who had been so sympathetic with his song writing. Leon had
always been a comforting presence to Ben, and even the drummer was
someone he knew. Craig smiled at Ben and showed off by twirling a
drumstick.

Ben turned back to the
audience, to a room full of strangers, but he felt strong. Ronnie
struck the first chord and the song began. The instruments were
loud enough to drown out the audience’s voices. Every single person
in the room was forced to listen. Just before their first line, Ben
saw him. Five rows back and surrounded by his false friends was Tim
Wyman. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect as Ben and
Allison sang.

“
I spotted you, cresting
wave upon a distant sea,

a moon of perfect splendor
set high above the trees.”

Tim’s eyes grew wide, as if
Ben were about to single him out, but Ben and Allison began to
dance around each other to enact the next line and Tim was lost to
his sight.

“
Hopeless I pursued,
hungry shadow chasing light,

You ran, I stumbled, until
somehow we took flight.”

Ben and Allison turned to
face each other, and he could see that she had spotted Tim as well.
Her eyes asked Ben if he was okay and he nodded before they sang
the next verse.

“
So proud to be near you,
I found warmth beneath your wing,

But you only covered me so
they couldn’t see a thing.”

Allison and Ben retreated
to the back of the stage as Ronnie and Leon stepped forward,
tearing up the stage with the instrumental bridge. They had most of
the audience’s attention, the music too loud for their
conversations to continue. Ben scanned the crowd until he found Tim
again.

“
Sing the rest of it to
him,” Allison shouted in his ear.

Why not? As they returned
to the front of the stage, Ben opened the floodgates.

“
All those traits I
dreamed were you, I found inside of me,

The bravery and beauty,
that you’re too blind to see.”