As part of the Turn the Page.... Anthology, edited by Sister Eroti-Quill/Tempeste OâRiley and published by the Abbey of the Brew City Sisters (part of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence)
About Turn the Page....
Turn The Page.... by Aine P Massie, Antonia Aquilante, Carole Cummings, Dianne Hartsock, Grace R. Duncan, Hope Ryan, Mark Zubro, Nikki Prince, Sue Brown, Tempeste OâRiley
Turn The Page.... began as a simple idea and grew from there. No matter how bad things seem to be, just turn the page, thereâs moreâbetterâthings to come. This is only one chapter in your life. Itâs not the whole story. With this simple idea, Novice Sister Eroti-Quillâwhom most know better as Tempeste OâRileyâbegan their quest to help Suicide Prevention and Awareness programs in their area. They managed to con (excuse me, convince) other authors to donate their time and stories to the project, and now, many months later, Turn The Page is born!
The authors in this anthology donated their talent as a way to support Eroti-Quillâs hope for others, to help bring strength to programs that so desperately need funding. It will allow them show those that need support but may not have it, or that may be afraid to reach out, just how much love and understanding surrounds them. Turn The Page.... is a diverse range of stories about the journey of love, hope, and acceptance.
Superheroes by Hope Ryan
Many people reach a point where they think life canât get any worse. Rock bottom, where the future is so bleak, they begin to ask, âwhy bother?â
When homeless gay man Wayne Kent reaches that point, standing on a Pittsburgh bridge on a cold Tuesday in April, the last thing he expects is to get stoppedâespecially by a man named Bruce Clark.
But Bruce has been there, heâs seen that, heâs thought and felt the things Wayne is now and he refuses to see the beautiful, hurting man become another statistic. Coffee and a sandwich is a first step and Bruce hopes itâll lead to a permanent step up for Wayne. And maybe even a step toward more together.
Get the anthology here:
Amazon: http://smarturl.it/TurnPage-amz
All Romance: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-turnthepage-214650âŠ
Being bisexual does not make you unwelcome at pride
Being pansexual does not make you unwelcome at pride
Being asexual does not make you unwelcome at pride
Being transgender or non binary does not make you unwelcome at pride
Being straight and supporting your non-straight/non binary friend because they donât want to go alone does not make you unwelcome at pride
Going as an ally in general does not make you unwelcome at pride
Pride should not be a measure of how gay you are it should be a safe space to support all of the LGBTQA+ community
The B in the LGBTQA+ acronym does not stand for bigot so lets stop being such dicks shall we?
Caitlyn Jenner is brave.
Our troops are brave.
Kids who wake up and fight cancer everyday are brave.
Itâs not a competition.
From the comments: By Sam C:Â âAs a transgender teen who was extremely close to suicide, Caitlyn is a hero to me, and to millions others like me. Her bravery to come out, and continue holding her head up high no matter how much she gets put down inspired me. She may not be your hero, but she is mine.â
Itâs out! Itâs out!! The Geek and His Artist is out! *bounces around*
Follow the blog tour here.
Blurb:
Simon Williams spends his lunch periods drawing his geek and trying not to think about the terrors waiting for him at home. He needs to get away from his abusive father before he suffers the same grisly fate as his mother. Because he's learned the hard way running away doesnât work, heâs counting the days until his eighteenth birthday.
Jimmy Bennet should be spending his lunch studying so his senior GPA is good enough to get him into college, but he can't seem to focus thanks to his distracting artist. When heâs given the opportunity to tutor Simon in Trig and discovers Simonâs home-life nightmare, he wants nothing more than to get Simon out of danger. This need becomes more urgent when Simon comes to school the Monday after their first date with bruises, but it takes a broken leg before Jimmy can convince his boyfriend the Bennets really want him.
But the danger Simon thought was past shows up at the most unexpected time, and he must stand up to the fears heâs held so long to protect not only himself, but the man he wants to spend his life with.
And follow the giveaway here for a chance to win a signed paperback copy of The Geek and His Artist, $25 at Harmony Ink Press and a special Geek sketchbook and pencil!
Available now for pre-order from Harmony Ink Press!!
Simon Williams spends his lunch periods drawing his geek and trying not to think about the terrors waiting for him at home. He needs to get away from his abusive father before he suffers the same grisly fate as his mother. Because he's learned the hard way running away doesnât work, heâs counting the days until his eighteenth birthday.
Jimmy Bennet should be spending his lunch studying so his senior GPA is good enough to get him into college, but he can't seem to focus thanks to his distracting artist. When heâs given the opportunity to tutor Simon in Trig and discovers Simonâs home-life nightmare, he wants nothing more than to get Simon out of danger. This need becomes more urgent when Simon comes to school the Monday after their first date with bruises, but it takes a broken leg before Jimmy can convince his boyfriend the Bennets really want him.
But the danger Simon thought was past shows up at the most unexpected time, and he must stand up to the fears heâs held so long to protect not only himself, but the man he wants to spend his life with.
Heâd come to in a hospital bed with his mother in a chair next to him. Heâd broken an arm and a leg, had a nasty head wound and a few other things that he couldnât quite remember. She kissed him and cried and he saw something new in her eyes: determination.
They never went home.
But Matt had, over the years, steered clear of people. He was afraid he was like his father and, rather than risk throwing punches, he kept to himself. After theyâd left, he and his mother had been talking to a bunch of different doctors and thanks to one particular counselor, heâd learned that just being the manâs son didnât mean he would be like that. And Matt had made his first friend in the counselor.
But Takumi didnât make it easy on them to move, trying to come after them at his grandparentâs house and his mother had made the decision to leave town. Now they were in Pittsburgh, he was sitting at a cafeteria table, still not quite sure where heâd gotten the nerve to say that he was going to be Zekeâs friend. But when he saw the tear tracks - something heâd be able to recognize a mile away - he knew he wouldnât regret it.
He peered down at the tray in front of him and frowned. âWhat is this?â He asked, poking at the small red and white square.
Zeke chuckled. âPizza.â
Matthewâs eyebrows went up and he looked up at the other boy. Zekeâs hair was down over one eye as usual, but the other was bright with humor. âPizza? It looks like... I dunno what it looks like, but it doesnât look like pizza.â
Zeke laughed and the other students at the table went quiet. Matthew glanced over at them, then ignored them, turning back to Zeke. His friendâs cheeks were red and he was biting his lip. Matthew gathered enough to realize that Zeke probably didnât laugh like that all that much. And in that moment, he decided heâd have to change that. âYouâre sure itâs pizza?â He leaned forward and crooked his finger. Zeke raised his eyebrow but leaned in. âI think they painted some cardboard and put it on our trays.â
Zeke laughed again and Matthew joined him. He liked seeing his friend laugh. Zeke had this little dimple in his cheek when he smiled like that and Matthew thought it was cute. âIâm pretty sure theyâre not allowed to actually feed us cardboard.â
âOh, well, Iâll take your word for it. But if I choke, you better save me,â Matthew warned and lifted the food.
âIâll save you,â Zeke said with a grin and watched Matthew take a bite.
Matthew considered pretending to choke, but as new as their friendship was, he wasnât sure if Zeke would appreciate that or not, so he didnât. Instead, he finished chewing and sighed. âWell, you donât have to save me. But Iâm still not sure itâs pizza.â
Zeke giggled and picked up his own slice to take a bite. They ate mostly in silence, both comfortable with not having to talk a lot. As they were finishing their food, Matthew bit his lip. âSo, uh, do you read a lot?â
Zeke nodded. âYeah. Since I was really young. My mom taught me.â He shrugged a shoulder, frowning. âI didnât have friends, you know?â He asked, looking up through his hair.
âYeah, I know. I read some, but not a lot.â What he didnât say was that Takumi liked to destroy things when he got mad. Not just Mattâs mother, but often their possessions too, and so Matt didnât keep a lot of stuff around to get destroyed - including books. âYou got any good books at home?â
Zeke nodded enthusiastically. âOh yes! Thereâs this one series that Iâm reading now. Itâs about this skinny little kid that wanted to be a knight, but was too small to go to the school for knights, so he became a ranger, instead.â
Matthewâs eyebrows went up. âThat sounds cool.â
âI could bring you the first book, if you want,â Zeke offered, yet again chewing on his lip and Matthew grinned. Even if he hadnât wanted the book, he would have taken it, just to make the other boy happy.
âIâd like that,â Matthew replied, nodding and Zeke smiled.
Matthew followedZeke to the end of the table that was for their class and noticed that he kept several seats between him and the rest of the group. Matt didnât much mind, heâd found a friend in school and thatâs all that mattered. Heâd only ever had one friend before, so this was nothing new to him.
Matthew had a rather rough way of dealing with people, which heâd learned from his now-late father. Amos Heeley solved things with his fists - whether that was the cable repair guy who didnât have the cable box his dad wanted or if it was Mona Heeley who didnât cook dinner the way heâd wanted it. Amos didnât care who it was thatâd wronged him, his solution was violence.
Matthew had learned the lesson well. Until, that is, a few months ago. He and his mom had moved from San Diego to Pittsburgh to get away from his father. The man had hit Matthewâs mother one too many times - or, at least, thatâs what Matthewâs teacher had said when he overheard her talking about them on his last day of school there.
His mom had done her best to protect him from his father. Amos had only raised his hand to Matthew a few times over the course of his young life. Usually, his mom put herself between them. Until that one night three months ago when Matt had walked in on a fight between them. Normally, he turned around and left, but this time, something seemed different. This time, his father had his mother pinned down to the table and he heard her beg his father to stop.
His father, of course, didnât listen. They didnât know that young Matthew was there, didnât know that he was watching. And Matt didnât understand everything heâd seen that night. He heard his mother plead, loud grunts from his father, lots of shuffling, the table squeaking rhythmically and a few other things that, years later, he would be able to put together to understand. But that night, he didnât and hid behind the door until it was over.
Matthew would have stayed there, too, until his father went out like he usually did after he got mad at Mona. But he didnât go out this time. Instead, after all the begging and crying, Amos said something about going to find that âgood-for-nothingâ son of his to âearn his keep.â Matthew didnât know what that meant, but his eyes had widened and he swallowed hard, trying to decide what to do because it didnât sound good. Very little from his father ever did.
But Mona - as sheâd done so many times before - put herself between man and boy. âNo! No, Iâll do what you need, what do you need me to do, please, leave Matt alone!â She continued to plead with him, her words getting more and more garbled as she cried.
Amos had turned back to his wife, raised his hand and slapped her hard across the face. âIâll do what I like with the boy, heâs mine.â Then, for good measure, heâd hit her again.
Matthew saw red.
Heâd had enough. Heâd seen enough of the man who he called âfatherâ treat his mother so poorly. Matt loved his mom. She baked him cookies, loved on him, helped him with his homework, made things for him, and did her damnedest to protect him from the shit that was his father. And all she got was pain. Matt had had enough.
Heâd jumped in and attacked. He doubted sincerely that heâd do any real damage, but that wasnât the point. All he wanted to do was make the man stop hurting his mother. Heâd been thrown - he had no idea how that happened, but he remembered flying through the air and hitting a wall. And nothing else.
Itâs okay, Zeke. Itâs not as bad as you think, I promise.
Zeke turned slowly, lowering his book again to stare, once more, at the other boy. He was cute and Zeke had to fight hard against the color that wanted to flood his cheeks. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, so he simply shook his head.
âWhy not?â the boy asked.
Zeke cleared his throat and sat up a little more. âCause I know how it feels,â he managed to say.
Black eyebrows that curved over wide dark eyes went up. âThey pick on you, too?â Matthew asked and Zeke nodded. âWhy?â
Zeke bit his lower lip again. This was the first boy whoâd spoken to him without it being a taunt or insult in... well, Zeke couldnât clearly remember the last time he hadnât been picked on by a boy. So he was afraid. His parents had drilled into him not to lie, but he wasnât quite ready to see the boyâs face twist in disgust or for the thus-far-kind mouth to hurl the same type of insults. âCause I like books more than people,â he said, instead. Still true, if not the whole reason.
âWell, if you get picked on a lot, I guess I can see why you would,â the boy replied. He lifted a hand and tugged on one of his spikes, face twisted thoughtfully. âYou got a name?â
Zeke nodded. âEzekiel.â
âHuh. What do your friends call you?â Matthew asked, tilting his head.
Zeke felt the warmth rush into his cheeks again and his eyes dropped to the desk. He spoke, but his voice was barely above a whisper. âI donât have any friends.â
When nothing was said for a moment, Zeke reached out for his book. It was ridiculous, at twelve, he was too old to let stuff like this bother him this much, and definitely too old for the reaction that wanted to happen, but he couldnât help it. He wanted to cry. Heâd held a hopeâhowever brieflyâthat he might have a friend, a male friend, but apparently, that wasnât the case.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, he tried yet again, to focus on his book. There was a roaring in his ears as he worked hard to keep from letting the tears fall, so he was more than a little surprised when there was a hand in front of his face because he hadnât heard the movement. âMatt. Call me Matt and since Iâm lazy and gonna be your friend, Iâll call you Zeke.â
Zeke looked up slowly and reached out to take the hand. âO... okay.â He swallowed and nodded. âThatâs, uh, thatâs what my parents call me. Um, Matt. Friends,â he managed and shook the offered hand quickly. Big brown eyes were fixed on the face of his new friend for another minute, then he turned and dove into his desk with the pretense of getting out a pencil in an effort to hide the tears that he could no longer hold back. He had a friend. A friend that was a boy!
He bit his lip as he shuffled around papers and books and swiped at the water dripping down his face. Heâd have to be really really careful to not let Matt know that he thought the boy was cute because then he wouldnât have his friend anymore. But he could do it, he would.
He had to. Because he wasnât going to lose his friend.
Todayâs Free Fiction Friday introduces a new pair of guys. Meet Ezekiel and Matthew. These guys are still quite young (only 12 for now) and their stories here are just a bit of background before I write the full novel. These two are going to find themselves in a completely different world from ours, one destroyed by disease with little left behind. But thatâs still in the future. For now, letâs meet Matthew and Ezekiel and say hi.
He turned his attention back to the story he was reading - one about another kid just as awkward and unsure of things as he was, and tried to ignore the teacher for the moment. Her voice still piped up over the murmurs of the other students and Zeke sighed. âThis is Matthew Steel. Heâs a transfer student from Southwest Elementary. Everyone make him welcome.â
Determined to ignore the kids, Zeke glared at the book and tried again to focus on the words. But a few seconds later, the laughter of the other students drew his attention against his will. He lowered the book slowly to see a boy at the front of the room with a fierce glare...
...and spiky black hair.
Zeke blinked at the kid for a moment, completely surprised. The teacher was trying to get order in the classroom and at the same time was pointing toward Zeke. He glanced around, realizing that the only open desk in the room was next to him and, apparently, thatâs where the new boy was supposed to sit.
Zeke lifted the book again and watched over the top of it as the boy - Matthew, Zeke reminded himself - made his way, hands firmly stuck in his pockets and glare plastered to his face, along the aisle between the desks and took the seat indicated. The other students turned as he walked past and continued laughing at him. Zeke heard calls of porcupine and spiky and a number of even less kind things and Zeke felt a moment of camaraderie and pity for the new kid.
Heâd certainly taken his share of taunts and laughter over the years. Forever awkward, Zeke recognized that he was different from the other kids in the class. He didnât understand completely why he was, just bits and pieces of the reasons.
Part of it was that he just didnât talk much. Painfully shy, he kept to himself most of the time. The few people he got along with were girls, the shy ones who also didnât seem to have a lot of friends or even a few of the prettier ones who, for reasons beyond Zekeâs understanding, seemed to like him.
Most of the time, he just blinked at their giggles and went back to his books. But even they didnât talk to him much, and the boys in the class talked even less. It would be years later heâd understand that the boys in the class were jealous the girls talked to him and annoyed to no end that he didnât talk back. Because they didnât understand why he didnât talk to them or giggle back.
Zeke understood, to a point, why that was. His attention was drawn to a few of the boys in class, but he had noticed enough to know none of the other boys looked at boys. And so, he knew he was weird. Different. And because of it, stuck to himself.
He looked over now at the new boy and blinked. Matthew turned toward him, glare still stuck to the cute face and Zeke bit his lip and retreated behind his book. Cute? Zeke asked himself and he could feel the heat rush to his cheeks. Oh please, donât make me like him, please... he begged silently, eyes locked on words he wasnât reading.
It was obvious the other boy wasnât going to feel the same, based on the expression on Matthewâs face. Not only did the boy not like him, it seemed that, despite the fact he was getting picked on, he was going to pick on Zeke, too. Zeke unconsciously let out a heavy sigh and tried, once more, to focus on his book.
The teacher was still trying to get order in the class and was fussing with something on her desk, so maybe heâd be left alone to read. He didnât really want to see the new boy picked on, even if the boy didnât like him, but on the other hand, if the students picked on the new kid, then they wouldnât pick on him for a while. As soon as he had the thought, Zeke frowned to himself. He shouldnât think like that and he shook his head before trying, again, to read.
âArenât you going to call me names, too?â Matthew asked.
Poor Andy. Itâs okay to be a little overwhelmed. Really.
I spent a little too long staring at her. She looked every inch a girl to me. I wouldnât have been able to pick her out as a guy if sheâd walked into the guysâ bathroom. Her brown hair was in a ponytail, so I couldnât guess the length, but it was long because the end of the tail reached down her back. She had big green eyes and delicate hands. It wasnât until I squinted that I even noticed the Adamâs apple.
She caught me looking and smiled at me and I felt my face heat. She was sitting across from me at the table and I took a drink of my lemonadeâthe same stuff they served out in the soup kitchen. âSorry,â I mumbled when Iâd cleared my mouth.
She reached across the table and patted my hand. âItâs okay. I get it a lot when people know.â
âDoesnât make it right to stare,â I said, shaking my head.
She laughed. âReally, itâs cool.â
I tried to remember what I knew of transitioning, but it wasnât much. Iâd read a little about it when one of the girls at my high school had asked people to call her a he our sophomore year. Thereâd been a lot about the psychology of it that I didnât really understand, but I chalked that up to the fact that my dick matched my brain. The only other stuff I remember reading about was hormones or something. I gave her a smile. âWell, uh, glad youâre not pissed.â
She grinned. âNah. You try to touch my junk and weâll have words. Looking?â She shook her head again. âLook all you want, just makes me think you might consider switching teams.â She winked and went back to her meatloaf as I started laughing.
âSorry, uh, Iâm pretty loyal to this one.â
âWhich Iâm glad for,â Will put in, leaning my way.
Lisa rolled her eyes. âWhatever.â
I didnât know what to make of this, so I took a bite of my meatloaf. Did Will like me for more than a friend? Seemed a little silly considering weâd only really known each other a day. Though, I guessed attraction could happen right away. Not that I was ready for anything like a boyfriend. I was still getting used to the idea of clean clothes.
âHas everyone met Andy?â Mr. D asked from the end of the table.
I looked up, feeling a little like a deer in the headlights, but Will put a hand on my leg under the table and I didnât have a chance to get too worked up. I nodded along with everyone else. âHeâs good with computers,â Mr. D put in and Yancy looked over at me with wide eyes.
âWere you a gamer?â
I noted the âwereâ and wondered at it. But it was likely Yancy was leaving me the chance to do things differently in this new life. âYeah. Uh⊠mostly console, but I played some computer games.â
âOh, I was a huge WoW fan for a long time. Donât have an account anymore, you know.â He shrugged a shoulder. âHmm,â he glanced at Mr. D and grinned. âMaybe that can be a goal.â
Mr. D rolled his eyes but there was a twinkle in them. âOf all the goals you could pick.â He winked at me then turned back to Yancy. âGet your college app in first.â
Yancy grinned and looked back at me. âThe center computers could probably run WoW. Have to be lower quality, you know, but.â He shrugged a shoulder and I couldnât resist grinning back.
âI played WoW for a while. Along with a few others.â I glanced at Mr. D. âOne of my goals is to build my own computer.â
âYou can build them?â This came from Jamie.
I nodded, squirming. âYeah, uh. Havenât in a while, you know. Iâll have to read up again.â I swallowed and tried not to make the connection in my head that my time on the street was long enough for my computer to become obsolete, at least as far as gaming was concerned. I forced myself to breathe and focused on my plate.
âGamers. Bleh,â Diana grumbled pulling their attention back. I shot her a grateful look and she gave me a tiny jerk of her head in acknowledgement.
âHey, nothing wrong with gaming,â Jamie said, poking her in the side.
I did my best to eat the rest of the meatloaf and let the conversation flow around me again. It took me a moment to realize Will still had his hand on my leg and I slipped mine under the table to squeeze it in thanks. He smiled at me then went back to eating, too.
Wherein Andy gets to meet a few others⊠and gets the first hug heâs had in over a yearâŠ
âOkay, well, that was easy. Dinner should be ready soon. We eat down in the same kitchen. Mr. D said it was silly to have two kitchens.â
âYeah, I can see that.â We headed to the stairs. âYou said we take turns? Does that include cooking? âCause Iâd probably poison everyone if I tried.â
Will laughed. âWe have help. Thereâs a lady named Kate that comes in to help supervise the cooking. She organizes the stuff for the day meals and stays to make sure we donât poison dinner.â
I pretended to wipe my forehead, making him laugh again. âIâd hate to make a friend and kill him a few days later.â
Still grinning, Will shook his head. âI doubt that. Remember, I donât do so well cooking, either. But Iâm learning. Itâs another reason we do it, you know. Teaching us to take care of ourselves.â
I nodded. âPretty much everything we do, yeah.â
When we stepped out of the stairwell, I was surprised to discover we went right into the kitchen. It looked to me like it stretched the entire width of the building. Along the far wall from us stood a line of industrial-sized refrigerators and nestled in between two of them a door I recognized as a deep freezer. Huge stoves dominated the back wall on the end near the refrigerators, two girls standing in front of one, stirring a big pot of something. And tall metal prep tables filled the space between the stoves and the serving line.
Immediately to my left, along the wall stood a long table with mismatched kitchen chairs along either side. Along the middle, someone had put metal napkin holders and salt and pepper shakers. To my right, was a door I guessed led to storage.
It looked a little weird from this side of it. I was so used to being the one to ask for food, I wanât sure how to behave from this perspective. I glanced at Will, who just stood and let me take it in. I appreciated the lack of pressure.
âWill! Whoâs that?â One of the girls called. She had black hair in spikes, piercings all along the outer part of her ear and wore similar jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers that Will and I did. The girl next to her was like her exact opposite. Long, straight blonde hair trailed down her back and if she had piercings, I couldnât see them from where I stood.
âThatâs Diana,â Will said to me, taking my hand. âShe can get a little loud, but donât let her bother you. I think sheâs just making up for months of not talking.â
I nodded and crossed the room with him. âHello,â Diana greeted me. âIâd shake but if I do, Iâll fuck up the potatoes.â
âDonât let Mr. D hear you!â The other girl said to Diana, glancing behind me.
Will chuckled. âSheâll never stop.â
âAnd Iâll keep getting in trouble.â She shrugged a shoulder. âYou gonna introduce us?â
âOh! Sorry,â Will said, turning to me. âThis is Andy, heâs new. Just came in today. Andy, thatâs Diana and thatâs Paige,â he said pointing to the other girl.
âHi! Nice to meet you,â Paige said, smiling. Her eyes trailed over me and I felt my face heat. I blinked, a little surprised but she just laughed. âSorry. Youâre cute.â
Now I knew my face was red.
âPaige! Be nice. Youâll scare him away.â Will shook his head and turned to me. âPaige is bi.â He looked back at Paige. âHeâs not. Sorry.â
Paige grinned, unfazed. âYouâre not sorry one bit, are you?â
Will grinned, dimple showing, and shook his head. âNot really.â
I was really glad they werenât expecting me to talk. Iâd have no idea what to say to that. It was Diana that spared me. âPaige, food. And if you two are going to be down here, make yourself useful and get the plates and stuff out.â
âYes Maâam!â Will said, saluting her. She saluted back with her middle finger. Will laughed and turned to a set of cabinets under the serving line. âDonât take any of that seriously, she doesnât mean it.â
I nodded, still a little off by what Will was saying. A lot of this still felt more than a little surreal to me. And moments like this made me worry I was still going to wake up on a park bench and have all this be some kind of horrible dream. Horrible because when I did wake up, itâd hurt about a million times more than anything Iâd felt yet.
âHey, you okay?â Will asked, touching my arm.
I swallowed and tried to nod, but I couldnât do it. I took a breath and finally pushed words through my lips. âIâm, uh, stillâŠâ
âShit, sorry, yeah. I know. I didnât mean to overwhelm you. Have a seat, Iâll get this stuff out.â
I paused then shook my head. I knew my cheeks were red, but there wasnât anything I could do about it. âIâd, uh, rather stay with you.â It came out mumbled, but Will seemed to get it.
He smiled again and before I could prepare myself, I had my arms full of one gorgeous teenage guy. And oh fuck, it felt good to hug. âItâll be okay,â he whispered into my ear. âYouâre not gonna wake up. You are awake, I promise.â
I wondered if he was a mind reader or something. But I knew he just understood. He hugged me another few seconds, then stepped back. âSorry,â he said, looking sheepish. âI kind of, uh, got carried away.â
âItâs okay,â I said, then cleared my throat. I was back on the verge of tears like Iâd been in Mr. Dâs office and I was trying not to cry in front of everyone. I took another breath. âI liked it.â
âThereâs plenty more where that came from,â Will said, smile back in place; then he turned to the cabinet and started pulling out plates.
to announce The Geek and His Artist will be published by Harmony Ink in early summer 2015!! *dances* It's so wonderful!!
Harmony Ink is an amazing publisher and I am so lucky to be able to work with them!
Tentative blurb:
Simon Williams spends his lunch periods drawing his geek and trying not to think about the nightmare waiting for him at home. He needs to get away from his abusive father before he suffers the same fate as his mother. He's counting the days until his eighteenth birthday because he's learned the hard way running away doesn't work and he can't trust child services. Â
Jimmy Bennet should be studying at lunch. He doesn't want to screw up his senior GPA and possibly college. But he can't seem to focus thanks to his distracting artist. When he's given the opportunity to tutor Simon in Trig and discovers Simonâs home-life nightmare, he wants nothing more than to get Simon out of danger. That only gets more desperate as he falls further in love with Simon and finds the feelings returned, especially when Simon comes to school the Monday after their first date with bruises. It's not until he gets a call from Simon in the hospital with a broken leg that he can finally convince his boyfriend the Bennets really want him.
Finally safe, Simon can focus on finishing high school, applying for college, working on his new relationship and planning for prom. But the danger he thought was past shows up at the most unexpected time and Simon must now stand up to the fears he's held so long to protect not only himself, but the man he wants to spend his life with.Â
I do hope you like Jimmy and Simon and follow me here for lots of little bits with them!
Really, Andy, itâs all right to feel a little normal. I promise.
âOkay. We might be able to do this,â he muttered turning to the clothes. He pulled down one of the file boxes, glanced at me, then dug around and finally, grabbed a pair of underwear and a pair of socks. He put the box back and pulled a different one down. âTheyâre not fancy, of course. Just boxers or pajama pants and t-shirts,â he said, holding up two pair of boxers, the kind made of T-shirt fabric. One was blue with thin stripes, the other grey. âMr. D will take you shopping tomorrow for your own stuff, so just pick one today.â
âUh⊠the blue, I guess,â I mumbled. I didnât know what to think about shopping, but Iâd worry about that tomorrow.
Will put the shorts on top of the pillow, plucked out a plain white t-shirt and added that to the pile, then picked out another T-shirt like the one I wore, but in green, this time. âFor tomorrow,â he said then headed to the toiletries.
A few minutes later, his arms full of shampoo, body wash, shaving cream, toothpaste, and anything else I could possibly use in the bathroom, we headed back down the hall. âSo not using the stairs with all this,â he muttered, punching the elevator button with his elbow.
I chuckled and he turned that huge smile on me again. I had a feeling I could stare at that a lot. âSo, uh, the chores and stuffâŠâ I asked to cover that thought.
âRight. Mostly just cleaning up after ourselves. Weâre responsible for sweeping and mopping, cleaning windows and stuff on our floor. We take turns on each thing. Same with the other common areas. Mr. D takes care of his office.â He smirked and I laughed. âIt might seem like a lot, but it really isnât. Like⊠we donât bother cleaning the storage floor. And the kitchen downstairs, gets done as we go each day. SoâŠâ
I nodded. âThat makes sense. Do we help there every day?â I was beginning to wonder how much time Iâd actually have to work on my GED. I didnât know if Iâd have to work as close to full time as I was allowed at sixteen or what that would entail yet.
âOh hell no,â Will said, shaking his head. I laughed. âNo no, only two of the days we donât work. I work at the music store on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Mondays and Wednesdays, I help in the kitchen. Iâm usually down there other days too. I donât have to be down there all the time when Iâm off. ButâŠâ
âI get it. People, now that itâs notââ
âNot hard to be around them,â Will finished for me. âRight.â
Weâd made it into our room and I set the linens on the bunk above Willâs. The mattress wasnât the most plush Iâd ever seen but to me, it looked like heaven. Maybe because it wasnât hard wood. Maybe because it was mine. I didnât know. I was too happy to have it.
âWhich locker do you want? Iâll get Cody to paint it for you.â
I laughed. âNext to you, I guess.â
âCool. Whatâs your favorite color?â he asked as he opend the door.
âBlue,â I blurted before I could stop and think about it.
Will didnât seem to see anything odd about it, though. He just nodded and I was grateful. I hadnât thought about a favorite color in well over a year. But put on the spot, the first thing I thought of was Willâs eyes.
He didnât seem to guess that, thanksfully. He put the extra clothes heâd given me in the locker then came over to the bunks. Without saying anything more, we worked together to make my bunk up. The blankets were the basic thin ones you got at a discount store, but they looked as heavenly as everything else Iâd been given so far. I found myself looking forward to going to bed just to sleep under them.
I shied away from the thoughts that spawned and put the boxers and T-shirt Iâd had with the bedding into my closet. Will disapeared into the bathroom with the toiletries and a moment later, came back out. âI put them on the shelf above mine and in the same shower I use. Jamie and Yancy use the other side of the bathroom and the shower next to me. We try to keep the cleaning we have to do to a minimum.â
âMakes sense. Guess weâre still all teenaged guys, when it comes down to it, even if weâve been on the street.â
Will laughed. âYeah and I wasnât the cleanest before, either. My room was always a mess.â
âI didnât mind so much, but my⊠uh, but I didnât have to do a lot, either. IâŠum⊠I had help.â I hated that I stumbled over my words, but I didnât even want to think about my parents, much less talk about them.
Will put a hand on my arm. âItâs okay. I know.â
Plan in place, itâs time to get settled, Andy. And no, darlinâ, youâre not going to wake up in the parkâŠ
I didnât quite know what to make of that so I just walked up to Will. His smile banished my unsettled emotions and I was able to give one in return.
âAre you done?â I asked.
Will nodded. âYeah. Kitchenâs closed for a bit. Jamie and Yancy are on clean up duty today. I thought weâd go to the supply closet and get you the rest of your stuff.â
I blinked at him. âThe rest of my stuff?â
âYep. You need your own toiletries. Sheets and stuff. And I donât think you want to sleep naked, do you?â He blushed a little at this and I couldnât resist smiling again.
âUh, no, probably not the best idea. Itâs, uh, itâs going to take a while for me to get used to being warm.â I swallowed and dropped my gaze to his shoes.
âI totally get that. Uh⊠sometimes, I could get a room. With my tricks,â Will said, taking my hand and leading me down the hall again. I didnât say anything, letting him talk. âI hated them. They were all⊠filthy. Smelled all the time of sex and sweat. I hated that smell. I donât hate the smell of sex, I guess. Or good sweat, you know, thereâs a difference. Thereâs sweat from, like, sports and work, right?â
I nodded. I did know what he was talking about here. I remembered all too well the smell of the gym after class and the desperate attempts I made to hide a burgeoning hard on. I didnât even have to look at the other guys changing to cause it. The smell alone drove me nuts.
âAnyway, this was different⊠sour. Old.â He shuddered and I squeezed his hand gently. âAnd all they ever had was a bed. Cheap attempt at a dresser. Most of them didnât even have TVs. I guess I should have been grateful for it,â he mumbled, sighing. âEven if it was for a night, though some of them charged for a few hours. Even so, I was out of the weather. It wasnât a park bench.â
I held up my free hand, turning to him when we paused in front of the elevator again. âIt still wasnât a home. And for me, well⊠having something like that for a night or a few hours was almost worse.â
âNo, it was. Iâyouâre right. Thanks. I guess⊠I guess I meet someone like you and it seemed like it was so much worse for you. So, like, I had nothing to complain about. And you did it withoutââ He cleared his throat when he cut himself off. âUh, weâre just going up one flight. Stairs okay?â
I nodded and pulled open the door for him. He smiledânot as wide as earlier, but the shadows Iâd seen in his blue eyes seemed to fade a little. He stepped through the door first and I followed him up the flight.
âThis floor houses a lot of our storage for the center. Thereâs some empty rooms here, too, that theyâre hoping to be able to make into classrooms or a bigger library or whatever. Iâm kind of hoping for a small gym,â Will said, smiling. âThough, maybe they donât want us getting all sweaty in front of each other.â
I couldnât help laughing at that. âMight make the no sex in the resident rooms rule more difficult to follow,â I said, making him grin.
âNo doubt.â He opened the first door on the right and flipped a switch just inside. I stepped in behind him and paused to look around. It was slightly bigger than a standard walk-in closet in a house. The walls were lined in metal shelves, the kind you see in a restaurant or the back room of a store. One was dedicated to clothes. The bottom shelf had shoe boxes that I guessed were the same as the ones I was wearing. Above those, there were several stacks of blue jeans, several more of T-shirts and the top shelf held file boxes that I was guessing held underwear, socks, and the like.
Next to this, was a set filled with linens. Institutional-white towels, wash clothes, sheets and such. Beyond that, a shelf full of toiletries, everything from basic bar soap to shaving cream and razors. Still more shelves held boxes labeled for paper products, coffee cans, and cleaning supplies. Farther along, I saw stacks of paper, notebooks and boxes of other office supplies.
âWow,â I whispered.
Will chuckled. âYeah, thatâs what I thought when I first saw it too. I remember thinking that back before, I wouldnât have been impressed. I would have just shrugged off something like this. But when I didnât have anything for so longâŠâ
âIt looks like youâve been handed an unlimited gift card to the best store in the world,â I finished for him. âI get it.â
