‘Please tell me that’s not who I thought it was,’ Tyson choked hoarsely, dropping his cigarette and crushing it under the ball of his shoe.
I couldn’t answer him. I was standing three feet away from the porch in a pool of light from the overhead, frozen in place by shock and fear. I could feel a prickling in my throat as it started to close.
‘Justin,’ Tyson said again, his voice serious, as he walked towards me shakily and put his hands on my shoulders, squeezing a little too hard. His breath smelled of smoke. ‘I need you to tell me that that wasn’t Rowan Montgomery.’
‘I...’ I coughed, but it sounded more like a scratchy gasp for breath. ‘I...’
Tyson shook me a little, looking intently into my eyes. ‘Did he hurt you?’ he asked quietly.
‘No!’ I managed to exclaim, finally shocked out of near-coma at this unsettling question. ‘No, it’s not like that.’ I shook my head vehemently, trying to clear my thoughts and figure out how I was going to explain this.
Tyson might be a complete jackass, but he was still my cousin, family. He made fun of me all my life, but whenever anybody else tried to do likewise, he made mince-meat of them. He was like a condescending older brother. I had to try and explain my sexuality without upsetting him, or offending him when he realised people had known before he did.
‘Look, Ty, I’m really sorry,’ I said quickly and quietly. ‘This wasn’t the way I wanted you to find out. But, yeah, that was Rowan. I... I’m... I’m gay,’ I finished in a small voice, hoping he wasn’t gonna freak out and actually beat me up this time.
Tyson stared at me like I was something disgusting he’d scraped off his shoe, uncomprehending. ‘Who gives a fuck if you’re gay?’ he screamed suddenly, letting go of my shoulders and shoving his hands roughly into his hair, looking angry. ‘Rowan Montgomery?’ he demanded, staring at me with wide eyes. ‘Of all the Monta-losers in all the world, you had to sell yourself out to him?!’
‘It’s not like that!’ I cried desperately, taking a step towards him, trying to make him understand. ‘I really like him!’
‘And you think he feels the same way?!’ Tyson demanded. ‘You think he likes you too? He’s using you, Justin! Jesus cuz, you could do so much better!’
I stared at him, getting worked up. ‘Like who?’ I demanded. Our voices were raised and I knew it was only a matter of time until everyone in the house came outside to see what was going on. ‘In this shitty town, who else am I ever gonna meet? Parker Count? If you’re so concerned for my well-being, cuz,’ I said sarcastically, ‘you could focus on getting him to stop harassing me rather than Rowan!’
‘Parker’s harmless,’ Tyson snapped absently, barely listening to me. ‘At least he actually likes you. Rowan is doing this for one reason and one reason only: to get one up on Capulet.’
I stared at him sardonically. ‘And how is taking me on one date gonna mess with your reputation so badly?’ I demanded.
‘Our reputation,’ he hissed. ‘You’re a student there too, or have you already forgotten?’ I merely clenched my jaw, waiting for a response. ‘Because you’re my family,’ he finally snapped, like I should have known it all along. ‘He’s not doing this because he likes you, Justin, he’s doing this to get at me.’
Before I could respond with any of the dozens of scathing retorts that erupted in my brain, the front door finally clicked open and my parents, his, Nate, and Rosaline spilled out onto the porch.
‘What’s going on out here?’ my dad asked, puzzled. Tyson and I may not be the best of friends, but our fights rarely get as intense as this.
Tyson clamped his mouth shut, looking at me warily. He raised an eyebrow and I knew what he was trying to ask; do they know you’re gay?
I shrugged wearily, waving a hand in his direction to let him know he could say whatever the hell he wanted.
‘Justin just got home from a date,’ Tyson said tightly, turning to face our family. Everyone except Nate stared at him expectantly, waiting for the punch-line – though my own parents did look surprised. ‘With Rowan Montgomery,’ he finished.
Six pairs of eyes swivelled to look at me in a mixture of surprise and shock. Nate was shaking his head like This could only happen to you.
‘Rowan... The boy from Montague?’ my uncle asked uncertainly.
‘Why were you on a date with a boy, dear?’ my aunt asked curiously, oblivious.
‘Isn’t he that footballer?’ my mother queried, blinking at me in surprise. ‘How did that happen?’
I shifted on the spot for a second, looking to Nate for help.
Nate sighed. ‘Rowan was at our Prom, looking for... Someone. That’s where they met, they hit it off I guess.’
This news only served to propel Tyson to new heights of pique. ‘He snuck into our Prom?’ he demanded, turning wild eyes from me to Nate and back again. ‘And you didn’t tell me?’
I shrugged; in light of all the revelations that had come out tonight, this seemed to be the least important. Not so for Tyson, it turned out.
‘I’ll kill him!’ he shouted, pushing past me roughly and stalking to the end of the garden, where he jumped into his car.
I looked desperately to the adults for help, but my uncle was smiling slightly. ‘Kids,’ he said ruefully, shaking his head and going back inside. Tentatively, the others followed suit.
‘Nate,’ I begged, but he already had his car keys in his hand and grabbed my wrist as he passed, pulling me along.
Rowan
As it was still quite early in the evening, I knew Ben and Mitch would be at Montague’s football field, pretending to practice but really just messing around and probably drinking. Still buoyed up on endorphins and adrenaline from that kiss, I opted to join them rather than going home, and found them sprawled out in the middle of the field on their backs, gazing up at the darkening sky. Mitch was tossing the ball straight up in the air and catching it on its descent, and Ben was swigging from what looked like his third beer.
‘Somebody looks pleased with himself,’ Ben commented as I approached. ‘What’s got you so smug?’
‘Hot date?’ Mitch asked, joking and not knowing how close to the truth he was. Ben had recounted in glorious Technicolor the mess I’d managed to get myself into at Capulet’s Prom, but I hadn’t told either of them that I’d managed to convince Justin to actually go on a date with me.
‘Yes,’ I said pompously, dropping into a sitting position beside them. They both sat bolt upright staring at me.
‘With... Justin?’ Mitch asked, wide-eyed.
‘Of course with Justin. Who else?’
He shrugged one shoulder uncomfortably. ‘I dunno...’
‘How’d it go?’ Ben asked, rescuing him.
I slid my glance over to him slyly.
‘Okay, too much information,’ Ben laughed, tossing me a beer.
‘So what now?’ Mitch asked. ‘Are you gonna like, be his boyfriend? And tell everyone?’
I shrugged. ‘I dunno. I guess we’ll see how it goes...’ I trailed off, feeling my phone vibrate in my pocket. I fished it out and flipped it open, staring at the message.
‘Is that him?’ Ben asked curiously.
‘Yes,’ I managed to say, regret colouring my voice.
‘What?’ Mitch demanded frowning. ‘Did he dump you or something?’
‘Not exactly...’ I shook myself out of it and showed them the screen.
Justin 21:13
Tyson saw us, he was outside my house. He’s really not happy, he just left saying he was going to kill u. We’re trying to find him now, but head’s up.
Mitch started laughing. ‘Oh shit,’ he spluttered. ‘It’s gonna be another Milkshake Showdown at The Cube!’
‘Shut up, you idiot,’ Ben muttered, elbowing him. ‘Do you think he’s on his way here?’ he asked me.
I shrugged helplessly. ‘Maybe. He knows this is where we hang out.’
We all glanced at each other uneasily, wondering what to do, but before we could make a decision the squealing of tyres in the nearby car-park made up our minds for us.
‘What are you gonna do?’ Ben asked quietly as we got to our feet and waited.
‘I don’t know yet,’ I told him truthfully, getting my phone again and typing a quick reply to Justin to let him know we’d found his cousin.
There was a slam of a car door and then Tyson’s angry figure appeared at the edge of the field and stormed its way towards us.
‘You!’ he shouted angrily as he approached. ‘I’m going to fucking kill you!’
‘Hello Tyson,’ I said as politely as I could. I noticed Ben and Mitch falling into flanking positions but if this turned into a fight we all knew it would be one on one. We didn’t fight dirty.
‘Fuck you,’ he huffed in response.
‘I’m not going to fight you,’ I said evenly, spreading my hands. I felt Mitch’s gaze look at me sharply. He wasn’t happy. Absently, I registered the sound of a second car pulling up in the car-park.
‘Well then it’ll be easier to kill you,’ Tyson sneered, taking another step towards me.
‘Okay, look,’ I said, trying to be reasonable. ‘I get why you’re unhappy; I would be too if the situations were reversed.’ Justin and the boy from his balcony appeared and made their way towards us, stopping warily behind Tyson. I tried not to let it distract me. ‘But we don’t have to fight about this. Let’s save it for the football game, yeah?’
‘You must be joking,’ Tyson sneered, his hands balling up into fists. ‘Stop being such a pussy and fight me.’
I glanced at Justin, he was looking warily between his cousin and I. His eyes met mine and he raised his eyebrows questioningly.
‘I’m not going to,’ I said firmly. ‘You’re Justin’s cousin and I’m not going to do anything that would hurt him.’
I heard a noise of impatience to my right; Mitch was pissed.
Tyson took one more step towards me but I left my hands loosely at my sides. He raised a fist and aimed it at my face; I flinched automatically but the punch never came. When I opened my eyes, Mitch’s hand had closed around Tyson’s fist, interrupting the blow. He pushed against Tyson’s arm, forcing him to take a step back.
‘Fine,’ he snapped, stepping in front of me. ‘I’ll fight you.’
‘I don’t give a shit about you,’ Tyson sneered, and the same time as I said, ‘Mitch...’ helplessly. I didn’t want him to have to fight my battles either.
The both ignored me; Tyson opened his mouth and started to say, ‘Get the hell out of my way-’ but his speech was interrupted when Mitch punched him on the jaw. Tyson stumbled backwards in surprise. Mitch tilted his head arrogantly, and that was all it took. Before anybody could intervene, they were outright brawling in front of us. Both were quickly becoming bruised and bloody, and soon they had fallen to the ground, rolling around and trying to get the upper hand.
Ben was twitching beside me, ready to jump in if Mitch needed help; Justin was staring wide-eyed at the fight and biting his lip; the guy I assumed was his brother Nate looked disapproving and annoyed. I felt my tummy tighten into knots; this wasn’t what I’d wanted when I’d tracked Justin down and asked him out. Why hadn’t I thought ahead?
Tyson rolled on top of Mitch and punched him in the face; my friend already had a split lip and his right eye was swelling. Tyson punched him again as Mitch struggled to regain the upper hand, but couldn’t. After a few more blows to the face, Mitch stopped struggling, but Tyson didn’t stop punching him.
‘Tyson!’ Justin shouted. ‘Stop!’
Ben jumped forward and grabbed one of Tyson’s arms trying to pull him off, but Tyson kept punching with the other. I darted forwards and grabbed it, pulling him off my friend while Nate calmly retrieved his phone and called an ambulance.
‘Get the hell out of here!’ Ben snapped at Tyson, shoving him hard and, I knew, restraining himself from beating Tyson up himself. The latter stumbled backwards, glaring at each of us in turn before storming off back towards the car park.
Ben and I dropped to our knees on either side of Mitch. He was breathing and conscious, we noted, relieved, but it soon became apparent that he couldn’t move. He groaned in pain when we tried to prop him up, so I just put my jacket under his head and smoothed his hair from his face while we waited for the ambulance.
Still acting as though he’d witnessed nothing more dramatic than paint drying, Justin’s brother moved around behind us, collecting the empty and unopened beer bottles.
‘I’ll put these in my car,’ he said as he passed. ‘So you don’t get in trouble.’ From his tone it was impossible to discern what he was thinking.
It only took a few moments after that for the ambulance arrive; driving right out onto the middle of the field. The medics checked Mitch’s vitals and bundled him onto a gurney and into the back of the bus.
‘Will he be okay?’ Ben demanded as we both followed and tried to climb in behind him.
‘He’ll be fine,’ the medic said, blocking our path. ‘But you’ll have to make your own way to the hospital.’ He slammed the doors and the ambulance took off, leaving us standing in its wake, shocked and numb.
‘Rowan?’ Justin asked in a small voice once they were gone, looking at me timidly. I glanced over at him, surprised. I’d almost forgotten he was there. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he whispered. I was surprised to see his eyes were actually watering. ‘I can’t believe Tyson... I’m so sorry.’
I moved towards him and wrapped my arms around him tightly, holding him against my chest. He rested his head on my shoulder and hugged me back; we stood there, holding each other, keeping each other together.