Love Is In the Hallways Page 4

  "Luke, if we don't stop… Jeez, I think I'm going to lose it in my pants."

  Cam panted against Luke's mouth. Luke's answer was to pull him closer, their kisses little more than exchanges of air now. Luke wanted to see, wanted to watch, but he couldn't stop his eyes from closing as an orgasm chased up his spine.

  "Waited so long." Cam's voice was carried on a muffled moan, his lips close to Luke's ear, his breathing heavy. "Wanted to tell you I wanted you for such a long time. Love your strong arms, and your long legs, and your eyes."

  "Cam?"

  "I've never done this, Luke. I can't stop now."

  "I haven't either. Jeez, don't stop." It was difficult to concentrate when he was this close to coming in his freaking pants.

  "I love it," Cam keened the words as he stiffened and moaned deep against Luke's neck, coming from the kissing and the rutting alone.

  "Cameron," Luke whimpered low in his throat as he allowed himself to lose it hot and wet in his underwear.

  Suddenly, it was two panting teens under the oak trees, staring wide-eyed at each other. What they had just done was serious. Flirtation and innocent promise had flown out of the window. This was a connection that couldn't be unmade.

  "We did that," Luke finally blurted out, causing Cam to smile. Where was the embarrassment about what they had done? Where was the shame he thought he would feel if he ever got to feel this intensely with another boy—another man?

  Cam hadn't removed his hands from Luke's face, and the tips of his fingers traced from eyebrow to cheekbone.

  "We did," he said gently.

  "What does this mean? For us?" Luke hesitated to ask, but he needed to know, even if Cam turned around and told him to get lost.

  "Everything, starting with our date on Saturday. We can go into Allernden if you like."

  Warmth stole over Luke at Cam's idea. Allernden was a town five miles over, and they were unlikely to meet schoolmates. Still, for some perverse reason, it seemed to Luke like running.

  "No, here is fine. Friends go to see movies together all the time."

  "Okay, I won't argue," Cam said earnestly. "Whatever makes you happy."

  "Being honest with each other makes me happy," Luke said simply, wondering where words so profound had come from.

  "That sounds way too clever," Cam smirked. Then he belied the teasing by dropping his hands to Luke's waist and drawing him away from the tree in a tight hug.

  "I won’t hold hands or kiss in school," Luke warned. "I can't give people any more reasons to humiliate me."

  "Okay."

  "I will keep my head down if you promise to do the same."

  "Okay."

  "It’s only six months 'til we graduate. We can ride this."

  Cam placed a single finger over Luke's lips and then whispered a few words in his ear. "You're an easy person to love, Luke Holston."

  "You too," Luke murmured.

  * * * * *

  No one in Westmoreland High School was more nervous about school today than Luke. After the text he had just received from Cam asking to meet at the gate, that was one thing he felt sure he could say.

  "Luke. Megan. Breakfast." His mom's voice filtered up the stairs, and when he opened the bedroom door, the smell of bacon assailed him. His mom knew how to send her kids off to school set for the day, but crossing his arms over his stomach, he really hoped he could stop feeling sick long enough to eat.

  "Coming," he called to stop her from shouting again. Yawning widely and stretching tall, he took one step towards the bathroom, tripping over himself as Megan darted past and managed first call on the shower. "Meg," he whined. Now not only did he feel sick, but his much needed shower wasn’t going to happen before breakfast.

  "You snooze you lose, Loo-key," she singsonged. He couldn’t even pull together his usual brand of early morning sarcasm. There was too much going on in his head. Freaking sisters. Blurrily, he made his way downstairs, meeting his mom's rueful gaze.

  "She beat you to it?"

  "By a mile." Luke tried not to whine again. He and Megan had this confrontation every morning. Girls took forever in the bathroom, with all their skin things and leg things and girly stuff. She went to an all girls school on the county border and wore a uniform, so why did it take so long for one sixteen-year-old to get ready for school for god's sake?

  "Are you tired? Your light was on late last night again," his mom said as he fought a yawn. She positioned bacon and pancakes on the table and slid a plate to his place. Luke knew she wasn’t criticizing, or even actively pursuing a line of investigation. They had gone through the “when you are eighteen, you are responsible for yourself” talk on his birthday. He promised to be responsible, and she promised to give him space now that he was what she labeled an adult.

  "Yeah," he started, swallowing another yawn. Helping himself to food, he wondered when his mom was going to come out and pose the questions she was probably dying to ask. Since his dad had left, it was just the three of them, and they shared everything except, clearly, the bathroom.

  "Is everything okay, Luke?" She dropped a kiss on his bed hair, and he shrugged.

  "Mom, can we talk for a bit?"

  "Sure, honey." She took her place at the table, sipping on her usual strong hot coffee.

  "Something happened on Friday, and then yesterday." He paused. How did he word this? Megan never had trouble talking about the boys she was seeing. His mom hadn’t been shocked when Luke had said he thought he was gay. In fact, she was his biggest supporter, but he actually hadn’t acted on being gay before. Why should it even be an issue for him to talk about a boyfriend?

  "Are you okay, Luke? Did someone hurt you?" She had that tone she used on people that crossed her or her family. Tough, no nonsense, and from the heart, and she was absolutely in fierce guard dog mode.

  "No, Mom, it’s just… Cameron." He dropped his gaze, staring down at one slice of bacon and a thin pancake and morosely poking at it. "Y'know, the football guy… " Just the single uttering of his boyfriend's name sent shivers through him and caused his spine to straighten with pride that he, Luke, had a boy like Cameron interested in him.

  "What did he do?" They had discussed Luke's crush on Cameron before.

  His mom teased him as much as Megan did about Cam and Cam's hair, and Cam's blue eyes, and Cam’s all around perfection.

  "He asked me out. This Saturday to go to the movies."

  "Oh." His mom's voice sounded small. Luke looked up at her, concern spilling through him… to see his mom with a wide grin on her face. "Oh, Luke. What did you say?" Luke blinked at the excitement in his mom's voice.

  He hadn’t expected quite this reaction.

  "I said yes." Silence. A wealth of expressions passed over his mom's face until finally she seemed to settle on happy with a side of concern.

  "You stay safe, Luke. Promise me."

  "I promise."

  The back door opened as he replied, and Mitchell leaned in through the open door. "Hey Mrs. H" He slid into the same chair he always sat at when he turned up for breakfast. Helping himself to Luke's pancakes, he grinned widely. "Luke safety patrol reporting for duty."

  "Ass," was all Luke could say as they bumped arms.

  "You'll keep an eye on things, Mitchell? In case there's trouble?"

  "Count on it, Mrs. H"

  Megan slid on stocking feet into the kitchen and helped herself to pancakes. She looked over at Mitchell and wrinkled her nose.

  "Hey, dork," she said in welcome.

  "Hey, girly," he replied just as easily.

  That was the way things were here. Mitchell came to breakfast at least twice a week, Megan crushed on Mitchell, hiding it in sarcasm and snarky comments, and then Mitchell and Luke walked to school. Luke wondered at what point any of that would change.

  He left Mitchell and his mom and his love-stricken sister to the pancakes and hurried up for a shower. He might not have designer clothes at his disposal, but he did have clean jeans and a red T-shirt
that he knew looked good on him. And he could certainly manage to smell good with deodorant, shaving gel, and aftershave. Peering into the mirror, he eyed the layers of blond that hung over his eyebrows. A quick shake and it fell as good as it could be.

  Walking to school was a chore in itself. Mitchell wouldn’t shut up. It was possible his friend was trying to distract him, but acting like he had drunk twenty coffees before leaving the house wasn’t helping. When they got close to the gates, Luke saw Cameron and Dan leaning against the wall casually chatting. It was Dan that spotted them, and he straightened from the wall and nodded a greeting.

  Finally, Luke was face to face with Cameron, and all he wanted to do was reach out for a morning kiss. He didn’t.

  "You keep safe, okay?" Cam said directly to him in a soft tender tone.

  "There's a lot of hate in those hallways."

  Luke agreed with a yes, confident with Mitchell there for him and Dan watching them warily. Side by side, they walked toward the school, the four of them chatting amongst themselves, the stares and comments flowing over them like the last trickles of water over a broken dam.

  There might have been hate in the hallways. Luke wasn’t stupid enough to think otherwise. The bigoted disgust and lack of understanding thrown at him left him nervous and scared at the best of times. He stiffened his spine as they reached the main door and entered. He wanted to shout out how he’d felt for years, about how much less of a person he’d become because he couldn’t be himself. That was all about to change.

  He caught Eddie’s gaze and saw he was on his own, no Js in tow. Eddie eyed him, then Cam, and finally settled his gaze on Dan and Mitchell. He took a step back out of their way. The muttered “fag” under his breath was something only meant for them.

  Bring it on, asshole, Luke thought, feeling braver at this moment than he had ever felt before and silently wishing that the feeling would last. Bring it on. 'Cause like it or not, I'm bringing love into these hallways.

  THE END

  You can contact RJ Scott via email - rj@rjscott.co.uk or visit her website - www.rjscott.co.uk

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