Chapter Twenty-Seven
Bas finished his homework sitting at the counter just two feet from Dane. Dane worked with the dough like a master, mixing, shaping, and finally setting it aside to rise. He’d created a cinnamon roll bread that Bas had eaten for breakfast this morning. And again for lunch since it was so good. Dane had a knack for cooking and baking. Bas loved his food. He also loved how Dane was finally filling out. He was beginning to look healthy. The monitored exercise put muscle in the right places. In a few more weeks, it would be hard to tell he’d ever had a problem. The best part was the fact that Dane’s smile reached his eyes more often, and he readily tried new foods.
Bas had to admit he was falling hard. He fought it every day, told himself a hundred times that Dane didn’t need that pressure. He just needed a good friend. All the touching was just his way of making up for a childhood of neglect. Dane didn’t really want a relationship. Not the sort of one Bas wanted, anyway. But nothing he did could stop his heart from fluttering every time Dane reached for his hand, pulled him into a hug, or even brushed up against him. And today at the park, the way Dane had kissed him, then wrapped himself around Bas as though he were trying to deflect the nasty words…
“Ryan says you’ve been avoiding his calls,” Adam said as he sat down beside Bas. He was only allowed at the counter while Dane was cooking, as even Adam couldn’t distract Dane from whatever he was crafting.
Ryan had called Bas a half dozen times in the past few weeks since the attack and being stripped of the valedictorian title. Bas hadn’t wanted to do anything other than get through the final few weeks of school.
“I’m on autopilot again,” he said out loud as he realized it himself. He made his normal trips to the youth center. Worked four hours a week at the suicide prevention hotline. Went to school, did his homework, and came home to watch Dane cook.
“We know. We’ve sort of been waiting for a breakdown. Glad it hasn’t happened, but you need to let us help before you crash.” Adam put his hand on Bas’s arm and squeezed.
“I just want this all over with. The school thing. I feel like I worked hard for so long only to get nothing.”
“Not nothing. Stanford.”
“Eager to leave cold Minnesota behind for the warmth of California?” Ru asked as he sat down on Bas’s other side.
Not really. Bas looked at Dane, who was crafting the baguettes they’d eat with dinner. Paige and Marissa had set up the Xbox Tommy had left and were dancing. All Bas could think was, did he really want to leave this? These people, his friends, had become his family.
“Am I stupid to say I don’t want to go? I mean, it’s Stanford. Do you know how few people get in? And what about my scholarship? But it means being all alone again. I was alone for so long.”
“We’ll still be here. You leaving doesn’t have to be permanent,” Ru said. “You come home for the holidays and summers. Call us whenever you need. And when you’re finished, you can come back here or live there. Go where life takes you. We will always be your friends.”
“I’m looking at Washington or Oregon for college,” Adam said. “Not Ivy League, of course, but they have some great writing programs. Ryan said NYU was the best, but I can’t see myself living there, even for college.” Adam pulled a stack of brochures out of his folder. Bas sorted through them, knowing most Western state college rankings by heart. He put the better schools in front of Adam and tossed the rest.
“Told you he’d know where to start,” Ru said to Adam.
“I am applying to UCLA, though.” Adam looked at Ru when he said it.
“I go where you go, babe. I’m just a singer,” He emphasized thegand made a silly face.
Adam grinned.
“Call Ryan,” Ru told Bas. “It’s important.”
Mr. and Mrs. C arrived. Everyone greeted them, and Mrs. C made her way to the kitchen to help Dane with dinner. Bas sighed and grabbed his phone to make a call. Ryan Hart, professional magazine reporter and editor, answered on the second ring.
“Hart.”
“Hi, Ryan. It’s Sebastian Axelrod. Sorry I haven’t returned your calls.”
“Bas! Finally. So glad to hear from you. Adam was telling me you got into Stanford.” The man sounded genuinely happy to hear from him. “Congratulations. I heard they lowered their acceptance rate this year. Getting in must feel like winning the lottery.”
“Thanks.”
“He also said you’ve had some trouble with your school. You were valedictorian but the principal took the title from you for defending a girl in the hall?”
“I was fighting. With my little brother. He hit Marissa. I hit him.” The incident felt like another lifetime ago. Had he changed since then? He felt different, though he couldn’t put a finger on why. Dane began flash peeling tomatoes for the fresh sauce he’d use in the lasagna. Bas loved to watch him work.
“Adam’s written a very nice piece that I need your permission to publish. But I think it may help you.”
“It’s about me?”
“About everything that’s happened to you. Shining a light on the past so those in power can no longer hide it.”
“You mean the rape?” Adam and Ru stilled beside him. Dane glanced up, meeting his eyes for a moment before searching his face, for what, Bas didn’t know.
