Small town romance - 1. Chapter 1

Small town romance.

Chapter 1.

Night time. There was something about it, a sort of calming sensation, and whenever I gazed at the stars, it never failed to soothe my mind. The stars had no problems, no secrets, they just hover up there, like diamonds on a sheet of velvet.

Of course tonight I wasn’t stargazing. Instead, I lay on my bed, legs crossed and arms behind my head, staring at the creamy white ceiling above me. It was the middle of winter and I was on top of the covers in nothing but a pair of bright blue boxers. It was cold of course. Call me strange but I liked the feeling of the cool air on my skin. At the moment, the only source of illumination was the faint glow of the crimson red numbers on my alarm clock. Speaking of which, I glanced over at the device. The numbers read ‘1:30.’

1:30? I had been staring at the ceiling and day dreaming (or night dreaming) for well over two hours. Huh.

I yawned loudly and as I did, I felt nature calling and as they say, when you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go. I rolled off of my bed, nearly stepping on a game controller and walked out, down the hall to the bathroom. After fumbling around in the dark for a moment, I flicked on the light.

A pair of dark emerald green eyes stared back at me from the mirror.

I was 5’5 with straight dark mahogany brown hair that almost but not quite reached my shoulders. My skin was pale to the point that I almost glowed under the fluorescent light. I had a rounded face with puffy cheeks and an upturned, nearly pig-like button nose with a sprinkling of freckles across the bridge, a slight trout pout and a soft chin and jawline. I was what you’d call well fed, with a pear shaped frame, rolls of fat focused around my belly, hips and especially my butt, short wide legs and broad shoulders. Yeah I wasn’t what you would call fit. My slight features caused an embarrassing moment in my younger years when another boy mistook me for a girl and asked me out. If I’d known then what I know now, I would have taken that cute boy up on his offer.

Yes, I’m gay. Call me faggot, cocksucker, fudge-packer, butt pirate, whatever you want. I’ve heard them all. But I should move on before I get too distracted. I noticed my vision was blurry and I realised I had forgotten my glasses. I’m short sighted, have been ever since I was… six? Seven? Oh forget it I can’t remember. Anyway, I finished my business, switched off the light, and stumbled back to my room, being careful not to wake my Grandad, the only other occupant of the house. I had been living with him for three years now. As for my parents… I… I’d rather not talk about it. I padded into my room and slipped into bed, pulling the covers up to my chest. At this point, I did what I always do before I go to sleep nowadays.

I reached under my pillow and pulled out a thin silver chain, attached to which was a silver crucifix studded with tiny gemstones along its length. The jewellery glittered beautifully in the dim glow of the alarm clock. Cradling the necklace in my palm, I felt a tear leak from my eye. Just looking at this beautiful object brought back many sad memories. Sniffling, I kissed the crucifix and placed it back under my pillow, blinking back the other tears that had begun to form. I sighed and closed my eyes, willing myself to forget the sadness and sleep.

I’m not sure when I fell asleep. All I know is that it was raining slightly, water drops rolling down my window. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I rolled over to check my clock. 8:30. My Grandad was already up. I know because the sound of clattering dishes and singing drifted up the stairway. My family was pretty musical. Grandad kept telling me I had a good voice, though I didn’t think much of it. Oh God, I just realised you don’t know my name! My name is Nikita (before you ask, it’s a unisex name). I’m a 16 year old teenager. My last name is Bradshawe but I haven’t used it in a long time. You’ll find out why later.

My stomach rumbled as the inviting scent of sizzling bacon wafted into my room. Seeing that it was time to get up, I grabbed my black framed glasses, placed them on and slipped out of bed. I shivered as the cold hit me again. I stepped into the hall. All of the walls were painted a lovely sky blue while the ceilings were creamy white. The carpet in the house were all cloudy white in colour. The colours gave off an atmosphere that said sit back and make yourself at home.

I felt like I was going to fall back asleep standing up so I decided to go for a nice warm shower. I walked into the bathroom for the second time in a few hours. I didn’t bother locking the door. If Grandad came upstairs, he’d hear the water running and know not to come in. I turned on the shower taps and tuned them to a nice steamy temperature. I slipped out of my boxers and tossed them into the nearby wicker basket and stepped into the spray. Ahhhhh… I was in heaven the moment the water hit my skin. The spray just washed away all my problems and cleared my head. Funny how a shower can do that. After basking in the cascade for a moment, I reached for the shampoo and squeezed out a good glob of the stuff. I tend to be a little OCD-ish when it comes to my hair, not that it’s that bad of a habit though.

After washing myself thoroughly, I turned the shower off, grabbed a towel and strolled back to my room to pick out an outfit for the day. As I dried myself off, I decided it was a nice day to go for a walk around town. I dried off and picked out a plain white tee, a black hoodie and dark blue skinny jeans with a pair of white trainers. After dressing I took the necklace from under my pillow and clasped it around my neck, tucking the crucifix under my shirt. Willing away any tears, I started down the staircase to emerge in a clean and well-furnished kitchen. Sitting at the island counter with a generous plate of bacon and eggs was my Grandad.

A hardworking man at the ripe age of 56, his name was Gerald and at this time, he was the only person who truly cared about me he was prone to keeping well fit, made clear by the well-defined muscles bulging through his pyjamas. He had a handsome face with a full head of silvery grey hair he kept quite short. To other people he appeared gruff and overbearing but he had a kind, jolly side he only showed around me. He looked up and smiled heartily as I approached.

“Well good morning sleeping beauty!”

I chuckled and returned the smile.

“Morning Grandad.”

He looked me up and down, noticing my attire.

“You goin’ somewhere?”

He inquired.

“Just thought I’d go for a walk.”

“In this shitty weather?”

He gestured to the window, where a slight drizzle was still falling. I laughed again.

“You know I like this weather.”

Grandad just shook his head.

“Alright well, go have fun smashin’ shit and blazin’ up or whatever it is you kids do these days.”

He remarked with his crooked grin.

“Will do Gramps.”

I started off to the front door.

“What, no breakfast?”

My Grandad hollered.

“I’ll grab something in town!”

“K then, go have fun with ya buddies!”

“I will!”

I closed the door behind me, then let my grin fall. If he only knew. The truth is, I don’t have many friends, no scratch that, I don’t have ANY friends. Not that I was a loner, it was just that no one at school ever wanted to hang out with me. But that was my own fault. In year 8, I knew I was gay but I was naïve enough to think that everyone would be ok with that. So I stupidly asked out a boy that I had a crush on. Of course he rejected me and told everyone in school about the ‘fat fag’. From that point on, he and his buddies would torment me and make me feel like dirt just for liking boys. These days, I’d just shrug off their jabs with a witty sarcastic comment or two. I was good at that. But honestly…

I don’t know if I could keep it up much longer.

But enough depressing talk! It’s the holidays, which means those fuckwits will have gone to Perth for the next three weeks. Anyway…

I stood on the front step observing in my surroundings. Across the street from my house was nothing but pure forest. I lived in a small country town called Nannup in south-western Australia. It was a nice place, small and out of the way, surrounded by lush countryside and beautiful forest. Everything in this place could be reached in two minutes just by walking, not that I was aiming to go anywhere. This walk was just for the sake of it. So I started off the front step, out the gate and down the lane towards the main street. The drizzle had faded out by the time I reached the dormant Nannup state high school. The place was empty of course, with everyone off to Perth for the holidays.

“Hey fatass!”

Or so I thought.

The voice belonged to my one time crush Justin, A tall buff Football player with good looks and the arrogance and malice to match. His eyes were this cold unforgiving ice blue that looked right through my soul like a bullet through flesh. He was the most popular student at school: boisterous, conceited with a typical single minded hatred of anything he considered unnatural.

Namely me.

“Hey faggot, I’m talking to you!”

Justin and his two cronies Michael and Randy approached me with their usual evil grins. Reluctantly, I put on my game face and turned to face the bane of my existence.

“What do you want Justin?”

“Just thought I’d see how my favourite plaything was doing today.”

He remarked. Michael and Randy laughed behind him. I just crossed my arms and put on a defiant expression.

“I thought you’d have gone to Perth.”

“What, and leave you all alone and happy? Yeah, I don’t think so!”

I rolled my eyes.

“Wow, I feel special.”

Justin ignored my sarcasm.

“So fatass, how do you want your verbal beating today?”

“Can’t you just leave me alone for once?”

“And let you sneak up on some poor suspecting boy and rape him? Yeah right!”

Wait… Are you kidding me? Doing something so horrible has never even once crossed my mind! Why do people like Justin think things like that?! Why do people hate guys like me just being who we are?! I just… I… I… DAMMIT!!!

“Well what do you care?! Why do you prey on me for being something that I can’t help?! If I’m going to hell, then you’re going even deeper into hell for attacking me and thinking that I won’t do anything about it!! People like you make me fucking sick!!”

I balled my hand into a fist and swung at him as fast as I could. I’m not going to just stand there and take it anymore! But Justin just caught me by the wrist, his evil smile fading to an even more malicious death stare.

“Wrong answer faggot…”

The backhand came so fast I never saw it coming. I hit the pavement hard, my glasses skittering away. My cheek stung from the blow and I could feel a warm dampness behind my ear. Justin drew himself to his full height, Michael and Randy flanking him, cracking their knuckles.

“Let him have it boys.”

“Hey!! Leave him alone!!”

The trio turned to the source of the voice in panic. Justin leaned down to my ear.

“Today’s your lucky day fag.”

The three of them ran off, tails between their legs. It had hurt like hell… but I had finally stood up for myself. And it felt great! My saviour jogged over and helped me to my feet. Then I remembered my glasses.

“Shit, my glasses. Where are they? Shit!”

“Are these them?”

My rescuer held in his hand. I gratefully took them.

“Thanks.”

I put them on, then looked up to get a good look at my rescuer.

My jaw dropped.

I was staring into the bright blue eyes of perfection…