Liar,he said to himself.You want to think about Mikey. You’re just afraid of what it’ll reveal about your current feelings if you do.
Finally, though, he took a deep breath.
“Okay,” he said. “Here goes.”
CHAPTER 2
LUKE—2005
Luke stands outside the Northern Appalachia Center for the Arts, not quite sure whether he’s ready for this. The NACA Summer Youth Artists Program is kind of a big deal, and he knows his parents and his aunt spent a lot of money to send him here. He also knows that, once he goes through those doors, he’s going to have to perform for other people, and there’s a big difference between singing in his bedroom and singing in front of a room full of other teenagers.
Just go in there and get it over with,he thinks to himself, but he still doesn’t move.
The building itself, though, is beautiful. He’s always thought so. Every time his parents bring him to Moundsville, he asks them to drive by it so he can admire its Victorian architecture. It was built in the 19th century, and there’s always been something almost castle-like about it. It’s a little island of elegance in the city, standing apart from almost all of the other buildings in town. It’s almost magical, in a way.
“Um…are you going to go in?”
He jumps at the sound of the unexpected voice, and when he turns around to see who scared the shit out of him, he's surprised to see someone his own age standing there. He’shandsome, Luke notes right away, with fair skin and blonde hair in an untidy, curly mop, dressed in a pair of boot-cut jeans and a shiny gray shirt. He makes Luke–dressed in his simple T-shirt and jeans–feel a little shabby.
Wow,Luke thinks, followed by:Okay, take it easy.You don’t want him to know you’re into him, do you?
Luke’s known since he was about five years old he’s not like other boys in his small West Virginia town, but he’s not going to make it obvious, not to this guy he’s just met.
“Hi,” the other guy says, sticking out a hand. “I’m Mikey. What’s your name?”
Luke eyeballs his hand for a second and then shakes it, making sure to give a firm handshake like his father always taught him. Mikey’s palm is smooth, and he finds himself wondering whether he’s ever done a day’s work with his hands, or whether he’s the kind of city boy his father and brothers are always making fun of.
“I’m Luke,” he says. “It’s nice to meet ya.”
He’d meant to say “you” rather than “ya,” and he cringes inwardly. He’s worked hard to try to sound proper–he doesn’t want to embarrass himself in front of his future classmates at NACA–but old habits are hard to break.
“It’s nice to meet ya, too,” Mikey says.
Luke doesn’t think Mikey is fucking with him, because he already senses he’s the real deal. He has an authenticity Luke finds really (really) attractive, and though he tries to fight it, he can feel a blush creeping up his neck.
Mikey turns his head to the side. “Are you okay? You look a little flustered.”
“I’m fine,” Luke blurts out. “Can we just go inside?”
He’s sure he sounded rude, even though he hadn’t meant to. Mikey looks a bit offended at first, but then he smiles. Luke getsthe feeling Mikey does that a lot in order to hide what he’s really feeling.
“Sure,” he says with a shrug. “Let’s go inside.”
They step inside NACA, both of them going quiet as they take it all in. It’s the first time Luke has actually been in the building, and he’s even more blown away than he thought he’d be. Everything about it is fancier than he’s used to: the red carpet, the way the tall pillars reach up to the ceiling, the painted walls…it’s all a lot.
Painted walls?He thinks.Who paints their walls?
The only other place he’s seen with painted walls is the Oglebay Mansion, and so he’s always associated it with rich people. To see it here, and to know he’s going to be spending every evening for the next several months surrounded by this kind of luxury is a bit overwhelming.
Mikey, though, just takes it all in stride. Luke wants to ask him where he’s from, try to find out more about his family–or his “people,” as his grandmother would say–but he can’t quite seem to get the words to come out of his mouth. Mikey’s just so damn pretty and confident, and Luke doesn’t know how to talk to someone like that.
He tries to look at Mikey without seeming to look at him, but every so often the other teen will catch him looking, and his face will light up with a big smile, a laugh flickering at the edge of his lips, and the queasy feeling inside of Luke gets more intense.
He tries not to let it get the best of him but, as they slowly make their way to the auditorium where they’re going to have orientation, it’s all he can do to keep walking in a straight line.
“You okay, dude?” Mikey asks.
Luke thinks he stammers out something like, “Yeah, I’m fine,” but he’s not entirely sure. Mikey just gives him another knowing smile, and they finally get to the auditorium.
