Dylan

The hallway was not our best idea. There were so many chances that we would get caught out but when Aiden was kissing me I lost all reason. He pushed his body even closer to mine and I gripped the back of his shirt in desperate hands wishing for more time. Time which had run out as we heard footsteps and laughter coming towards us.

“Aiden.” I whispered as I reluctantly pulled my lips away from his. “We need to stop.”

All I got in reply was a wicked grin and hand sliding down my chest.

“Oh my God. Dude, you have to stop!” My voice cracked as his hand reached the waistband of my shorts.

“Hey, has anyone seen Aiden?” My body jolted at our friend Simon’s voice.  Jesus, it sounded like he was just about to find them.

Aiden stepped back then leaned in for another quick kiss before spinning around and running towards the voices.

“Hey, what’s up?” he asked and while he didn’t even seem to be affected by what had just happened between us, I was still pressed up against the wall trying to figure out what the hell was going on. How had we even got to this point?

I slowly walked in the opposite direction of where all my friends were going. I knew right now I just needed to get to the beach and surf and think. Even if the waves were shit, I was going out.

“Dylan!”

I looked over as I heard my name called.

“Oh, hey Sarah.”

Sarah hugged me and I was quick to make sure she didn’t feel the after effects of my make-out session with Aiden. Fuck him for leaving me like this.

“Are you heading to the beach? Can I come with you?” Sarah had been my friend since primary school and I knew she wanted to be more but I had realised years ago that I was gay. In my school though, you couldn’t just come out, no matter how easy it sounded and looked in the movies and books. Bullying was a real factor and I did not want to become a punching bag for the fuckwits here. I wish I could tell her but she couldn’t keep a secret to save her life.

“Yeah, sure. Are you surfing too?”

“Nah, I’m just gonna tan on the beach. Check out the talent, read my magazine.”

“Cool. Let’s go.”

After getting to the beach I left Sarah to find her spot and waded out into the flat ocean. I wouldn’t be surfing much today but I still loved the feeling of being out here on my board just floating. I could finally think about Aiden and the clusterfuck that was our relationship.

2 Months ago

I was walking out of the school grounds laughing and joking around with my friends when Aiden pulled me aside.

“Hey Dylan, are you busy tonight? Want to come over to mine? My parents are away and they said I can have a friend over to stay.” Aiden wouldn’t meet my eyes as he asked and seemed to be nervous for some reason.

“Sure, mate. I’ll have to head home first to get my board and make sure mum is okay with it, but I can’t see there being a problem. What should I bring with me? Need food? Drinks? Games?” I hadn’t been to Aidens by myself before and I was a little surprised that out of our friend group he’d asked me.  He was closer to Macca and spent more time with him and Dean.

“Oh umm, nah I’ve got all that. We’ll go surf later and maybe in the morning, yeah?” Again he seemed nervous as he spoke.

“Awesome. I’ll get there about 6?” That would give me time to get home and spend time with my mum and little sister before heading over. Ever since my dad had left I tried to make sure that Mum and Meggy were happy. I still saw my dad and we had a fairly decent relationship but my sister refused to see him and this caused some grief at times. I don’t know the full story behind my parents break up but I do know that Mum has never been happier. My dad was pretty controlling and I think maybe it just got too much for mum. He wasn’t abusive or anything, just really intense and had these high standards that we could never meet.

Aiden nodded and gave me shove. “See you then.” He ran to catch up with Macca and Dean but threw a look over his shoulder at me and grinned.

That grin made me get butterflies in my stomach and I wasn’t sure why. No, that’s a lie. I knew why. Aiden was hot. I had spent so much time these last few years, watching him covertly, that I was sure I was heading into stalker territory. When he was out with me surfing I missed a lot of waves because I was so caught up in watching him. At school I was in danger of failing because I was spending all my time staring at him wherever he was sitting. Lunchtimes were the worst, especially if we ended up sitting next to each other. It was getting ridiculous how many times I had to put my bag on my lap to hide how my body reacted to feeling him leaning against me, our shoulders touching or worse our thighs pressing together. I didn’t think he noticed though, thank god. But still, I couldn’t help but wonder why he asked me to come over tonight. Nerves thrummed under my skin as I walked into my house and called out to mum.

“I’m in here, honey.” Mum yelled back from the kitchen.

“Hey, how was your day?” I asked giving her a quick hug.

“Same old, same old. My boss is a dickhead, I missed most of my lunchbreak because my boss is a dickhead and then I got to go grocery shopping. So, all in all, just a normal Friday. How was yours? Please tell me you got a good result on your maths test. I don’t want another email from your teacher. That woman scares me!”

I laughed and showed her my exam paper with a big B written on it.

“Oh thank the lord and praise the baby Jesus.” She then did her version of a happy dance which was amusing and yet slightly embarrassing as well.

“I’m not sure why you say so many thing about God,Mum. You don’t even believe in that stuff.”

“Well, no, but I’m not going to pass up the chance use such great sayings. What are you up to this weekend? Other than surfing.”

“Aiden invited me over to stay tonight and we’re going to surf later maybe and in the morning. Is that okay?”

“Absolutely. Meggy and I are going shopping all day tomorrow with Aunty Mel so that works out perfectly.” She reached up and ruffled my hair knowing how much I hated her doing that. “Wait wait wait. Aiden. As in The Aiden?”

It’s possible I tell my mother far too much sometimes.

“Yeah, that Aiden. I don’t know why he asked me though. We’ve never hung out alone before.”

“This could be your big chance!” Mum clapped her hands like a fucking lunatic and oh Jesus, here was the happy dance again.

“Mum, for fucks sake, calm down. He’s straight. And no-one knows I’m not. This is just a thing, a sleepover, I don’t fucking know.” My nerves kicked in again with a vengeance at the thought of being alone with him. “I’m going to go get ready. I might head to the beach before I go to his place.”

Mum just waved and went back to getting dinner ready for her and Meggy.

I quickly got everything I needed, grabbed my board from the garage and left for the beach. When I got there I sat down on the sand and stared out at all the surfers. I could have gone in but really, I just wanted to sit and watch. I was startled as someone sat down close beside me. Turning my head I saw it was Aiden and he was very, very close. My heart rate sped up and I was just looking into his eyes.

“I thought I’d find you here.” Aiden’s voice was low and uncertain. “It’s kinda nice to watch sometimes, right?”

“Uh, yeah. I guess.” I was lost for words because Aiden wasn’t looking at the water. He was looking at me.