Chapter Fourteen
Dane felt pretty weird. His skin was soft and clean. Having the hair removed from his face and head made him feel like a new person. The clothes he’d been given fit well, but again the tags had been removed so he couldn’t check sizes. The way Bas and Adam looked at him made him nervous. He tugged at his collar, considering whether he should go with them to Bas’s house.
There would be no escaping a confession to Ru. Was he ready to tell Ru what he’d done to himself? Without a mirror he didn’t know how bad he still looked, but he knew it wasn’t what Ru would have remembered of him. His friend had the right to know, right? Were they still friends? Even if they could never be anything else, he wanted them to still be friends.
He pulled the last thing out of his bag. It was a hoodie to go under the ugly puffy jacket he had. The hoodie was bright blue, and when he looked, it had his rainbow pony on the back and on the left breast. He couldn’t help but smile. Still a pony and not a unicorn. At least he felt better about it now. Maybe Bas was right; it was about evolving as a person. He could get there. He pulled the hoodie on and zipped it up.
“Does it ever warm up here? I never thought anyone could live in a place so cold,” Dane said as he took his puffy jacket from Bas.
“Oh, around June or so. Until then you freeze your balls off if you’re not wearing at least three layers.” Bas folded up the gift bags to put them all in one.
Dane was surprised at how good Bas looked not made up, very little hair gel and no eye makeup. The green of his sweater brought out of the color in his hazel eyes. Dane wondered if Bas thought he needed all of that gel and makeup to look nice. Compared to Adam, though, Dane felt ordinary.
“Youshould have been in Vocal Growth, Adam. You’re the perfect blond. You would have fit in well beside AJ, Ru, and Tommy.”
“You donotwant to hear me sing. You’ll never recover. And I’m not so great at dancing either. Ru’s tried to show me a few steps, and I trip all over myself. We work okay with the holding each other close and swaying thing, but other than that, I just wiggle around.” Adam pulled his own puffy coat out of the locker. “I bet Bas can dance.”
“Classic ballroom, mostly. Took classes. Gran loved it. Said Grandpa used to take her all the time. The bouncing thing that hip-hop requires is too much for me. Gay I may be, but that stereotype doesn’t fit.” Bas led them toward the main door. A limo sat parked at the entrance. Was that for them?
“Stereotype?” Dane asked.
“That all gay people can dance. If that were true, then Adam wouldn’t be gay and I’d be barely gay ’cause my dancing is not so great. Same goes with cooking. If cooking made you gay, then Tommy would be. He’s the best cook among us, though Ru does okay.”
“I set a pot on fire once when I was trying to boil water,” Adam piped up.
“No way,” Dane said, incredulous. Surely this pretty young man was good at everything.
“Yeah, we keep Adam away from the kitchen unless he’s eating. He’s even been known to distract Ru a time or two, resulting in bad food. So he’s not allowed to even watch the rest of us cook.”
“Which is sad, ’cause Ru is so hot in an apron with tongs in his hands.” Adam grinned. “I can’t wait ’til spring. Ru says he’s a master at grilling.”
“And Adam apparently has a meat fetish,” Bas teased.
“Bas!” Adam blushed all the way to the roots of his hair again. Dane couldn’t help but laugh. He had to admit he really enjoyed spending time with these two. Adam because he was so honest and shy, and Bas because his teasing lightened the mood and his confidence made Dane feel like he could overcome anything.
Tommy opened the back door of the limo.
“Will you three magpies get moving? Get in before you freeze!”
They all climbed into the car, Adam and Bas on one side, Tommy and Dane on the other. The car was warm. Tommy put his hand on Dane’s wrist.
“You okay?”
“I’m good.” And for the first time that he could remember, he really was. He stared at Bas, who looked out the window. He looked good. Dane almost wanted Adam to switch places with him so he could sit by Bas again.
“You want to come home with us for a while or go back to St. Joe’s? I called, and they just said you have to either be back by nine or get permission to stay out. I know today has been different than anything you’ve done before, so I don’t want you to think I’m pushing you, but Ru would love to see you,” Tommy told him.
“I think I’m okay for a while.”
“You just say the word, and I’ll get you back. And Bas’s place has a lot of rooms, so if you just need a quiet moment, there’s space to get away. I’ve got a bunch of clothes to fit you loaded in a suitcase in the back. I was going to start replacing your wardrobe anyway. I’m sure we can find a spare bed at Bas’s place for you for tonight if you want to stay.”
Bas nodded.
“We finished painting everything yesterday. The place is huge,” Bas said. “Gran had a lot of kids. I could probably sell it and make a ton, but it’s got a lot of memories, good and bad. I hope to add lots of good ones. All I pay is for the upkeep and the taxes every year. Thankfully Gran left money to cover that until I’m earning enough to take over.” His phone rang. Bas pulled it out of his pocket.
“Hello?” His expression changed from curiosity to confusion to worry and then anger all in the span of a few seconds. Dane wondered who it was as Bas said, “I’m on my way.”
“Please tell me someone didn’t vandalize your house again,” Adam said.
