Trouble by Taylor Jamie Beckett Page B

We’ve got a cabin in the
forest with a great pool. Just great for swimming.”
    “ That sounds interesting.”
    “ I have a Honda and I can give you a few pointers. I hear your
dad is buying you one.”
    Byron
looked excited. “That’s really cool.”
    “ Unless you want to be driven around in your SUV.”
    Byron
cackled.
    “ And maybe you can teach me those games I hear you’re so good
at.”
    “ I’d love to do that.”
    “ This is a great way of penetrating each other.”
    “ Penetrating each other?”
    “ You know. Like penetrating each other’s minds and getting to
know each other.”
    Byron
couldn’t stop laughing. It was the funniest thing he’d ever
heard.
    “ You probably know that my parents are gay.”
    The
hardest part was coming Byron thought and I’d better behave myself.
“Natalie told me. How does that work out?”
    “ My parents are both male.”
    “ So were you adopted?”
    “ My sister and I are both biological children of my dad. We had
a surrogate mum.”
    “ You also have a sister?”
    “ She’s a freshy at St Monica’s. You’ll meet her when you come
for a sleepover.”
    Sleepover? Did he hear right? “It must be interesting having
gay parents,” Byron said for want of something to say. He felt
awkward not knowing if he’d said the appropriate thing.
    “ They are very caring.”
    “ That matters a lot,” Byron said.
    “ By the way I thought I might mention that I’m not
gay.”
    “ Not gay?”
    “ Yes and neither is my sister. We have gay parents and they
respect our sexuality. Maybe later in life we may develop gay
interests but not at this point in our lives.”
    “ That’s cool,” he stuttered. He felt quite foolish with himself
that he had made so many assumptions about Quentin.
    Quentin
did not tell him that they did not go around saying this to people
because it could be misconstrued. Some people might think they were
trying to deny their parents. They only came out with their
sexuality if people asked them about it or if they were confiding
to friends.
    There was
a twinkle in Quentin’s eyes, “I bet you were thinking I’d try and
have a relationship with you.”
    “ No. No,” Byron said rather too quickly.
    “ You thought I’d hold your hand over candle light and look into
your eyes.”
    They both
laughed heartily.
    “ I’ve been having so many issues lately and was just thinking
that I needed to circulate a bit more, go out on sleepovers and
keep myself busy.” Byron whipped out his phone to get Quentin’s
number.
    “ Can I get a hug from you?”
    Byron had
no difficulty with that.
    “ That felt great, I mean, hugging a hero who stood up for
me.”
    Byron
looked embarrassed. He was not so sure if he was a hero as his
actions had been partly done to impress Natalie.
    “ That wasn’t hard was it,” he said gently.
    “ No that wasn’t hard,” Byron said. “In fact I was going to hug
you as I walked around like Tarzan in school. But I thought you’d
be embarrassed.
    Quentin
looked stunned. “You wouldn’t dare. You’re just saying that to make
me happy,” he said politely.
    “ I hope you don’t think I have a phobia or anything like that.
For your gay parents I mean.”
    “ No. No,” Quentin said.
    “ I thought I might be a little upfront with you.” Byron began.
“It may seem that I’ve been uneasy with you. It’s because I didn’t
know you that well and was afraid I might say or do something that
might insult or hurt you.”
    “ You mean about my parents.”
    “ Yes and also you. I was always tense because I was always
trying hard to think through what I said before I said
it.”
    “ Now you can be yourself.”
    “ Of course, because I understand you better.”
    Byron saw
Matt and Natalie walking towards him.
    Quentin
said, “Byron. You have a cool name.”
    “ I know. Everyone says that and they expect me to love reading
poems and drinking wine and that sort of stuff.”
    He was
looking closely at Byron. “And you