Parity - 2. Dom

"Heeey bitches!" Veikko's camp, brazen voice filled the room, and Dom smiled to himself, watching his friend's vlog on his phone. He always watched the morning after an update - Veikko always uploaded his videos at some ungodly hour during the night. "I know I haven't made any videos for a few days, so I'm super sorry about that, and as a token of my apology, I decided to invite everyone's favourite loser to join me!"

"Yo! Erm... bitches!" Reima scooted into the camera shot behind Veikko, and the two giggled at Reima's paltry attempts to emulate his twin brother's signature sassiness. You're just not gay enough, Dom thought to himself with an adoring smile. More's the pity.

Veikko liked to upload a vlog every couple of days, usually talking about his favourite subject, which was himself. He was witty, funny and adorable, and he had a pretty decent following. Nearly a hundred thousand followers on his Youtube channel, numbers increasing now that Reima was starting to make more frequent appearances. Every couple of weeks, the twins would record themselves playing a competitive game, with the winner getting the privilege of shoving the loser's face in a dessert of some kind. Dom laughed heartily when he watched Reima win for the fourth time in a row and gleefully ram his brother's face into the cheesecake, reveling in the joys of victory. Veikko did a brilliant job of ending the vlog, acting as though he wasn't covered from hairline to chest in dessert while Reima fell apart laughing. Oh, Dom was undoubtedly going to bring this up when he saw the twins at school today.

It was nearly time for him to get going, and he'd barely even started getting ready. There wouldn't be enough time for a wank, he thought sadly. Should have just gotten out of bed instead of spending nearly forty minutes trying to decide whether or not it was worth the effort. He rinsed himself off in the shower, barely able to get all of himself wet under the weak, dribbling showerhead and threw on a pair of loose, baggy black shorts and a wine-coloured tank top. It was going to be a bloody hot day, and he could already feel the Summer heat. He made an effort to change the sheets of the bed, wary of how much sweat trickled from him during his restless sleep. His father worked so hard on the night shift; he deserved to rest through the day on some nice, clean sheets at least. Good luck to him, he thought. How Pop managed to sleep at all during the summer days without a working air conditioner was beyond his understanding. Dom could barely survive the much colder nights. He was late coming home this morning, but by eight-thirty he heard the keys jingling in the door and Tayn made his way inside with a long, weary sigh. He looks exhausted, Dom thought with a frown.

"Hey Pop," Dom greeted him, forcing a smile on his face and greeting his father with a hug. Tayn gave his son a big kiss on the forehead.

"Sorry kiddo," Tayn yawned loudly, patting Dom on the back. "I had to stay late and then got stuck in peak hour traffic. What are you up to today?"

"Um... school?" Dom's eyes darted between the calendar and his father, who seemed not to understand for a short while.

"Oh shit, that's right, that's today," Tayn murmured in the thick New Zealand accent his son shared. Dom's accent was weaker than his father's, but it was still very distinct.

"Yeah. Monday the 29th," Dom couldn't help but laugh. "First day back. I need to start walking now if I'm going to be on time, so... can I have my pill, please?"

"Oh, shit, yes," Tayn cursed, fumbling with the keys until he found the one that unlocked the medicine cupboard. He popped out a pill from Dom's Lexapro prescription and handed it over to the boy, who reluctantly popped it into his mouth without even a sip of something to wash it down.

"You know, you wouldn't have to do this every day if you just let me take my own medication," Dom suggested testily. He hated when his doctor, therapist and father treated him like he was some irresponsible seven-year-old. Tayn glared at him, though, locking the cupboard again.

"I'm too tired for this conversation," he answered, his voice hoarse with drowsiness. "When I'm satisfied you're ready to take the antidepressants by yourself, I'll trust you with them. This is how it's going to be for now."

"Seriously Pop?" Dom sighed, slipping his bare feet into a pair of well-worn flipflops. "I'm not about to overdose on a few Lexapro tablets!"

"You have work at four," Tayn reminded him, stripping off most of his clothes and getting ready to sleep in the bed he was forced to share with Dom. "I want you home by three-twenty at the latest, please."

"Um... I thought maybe I'd hang with Veikko for a bit after school?" Dom sheepishly ran his hand through his black curls.

"No, I'd feel better if you came right home," Tayn told him sternly, sitting down on his bed. "You've got some jobs to do before you go to work." Dom drew in a breath through a clenched jaw before exhaling. Just humour him. It's the least you can do.

"Yeah Pop, I'll do it," Dom nodded, but he couldn't bring himself to fake a smile this time. He was tired of feeling like a prisoner. "Can I have a few bucks for lunch, at least?"

"No," Tayn scoffed, looking at him as though he'd asked for a brand new car to drive himself to Peatsland. "You should have already made something for your lunch today. Go to the fridge!"

"Yeah I thought about it," Dom replied angrily. "But there's nothing here. I didn't even have brekky."

"What do you mean there's nothing here?" Tayn marched over to the fridge and opened it, his face falling when he saw that his son wasn't exaggerating. There was a bit of orange juice, some milk and the remnants of strawberry jam, but that was all. He opened up the pantry and empty shelves greeted him. There was just nothing.

"I had the last of the bread for dinner last night," Dom explained. "Had to skip brekky today, I was hoping you'd swing by the shops on your way home, but apparently not, so can I please have five bucks for lunch?"

"Don't you have your own money?" Tayn asked him gingerly, his eyes now full of shame and desperation rather than indignance.

"No, because we spent all my pay on the last lot of groceries," Dom started to lose his temper. "You really make me miss being a prisoner at that stupid hospital, you know? Maybe I'll do us both a favour, open up some veins at school and get sent back. At least they bothered to feed me!"

"Dom," Tayn's eyes filled with tears. "Don't say horrible stuff like that, please. I'm trying my best, kid. I am. I'm always worried about you, and I hate that you feel this way. I just don't know what to do. Look, there might be a few bucks in my wallet. Take as much as you need."

"No, you're right," Dom sulked, picking up his old school bag, filled to the brim with the textbooks and notepads he'd need for today's lessons. "I'm not worth it. I'll be back right after school. Probably a good thing. Nobody needs me hanging around anyway. I'm better off stuck here day and night all by myself without even any fucking food, right Pop? See you later."

He heard his father getting upset, trying to talk him back, apologising for his mistakes and pleading him to take the money, but Dom wasn't interested in speaking or listening as he left the room they rented in the sharehouse. After he waved his goodbyes to the other tenants in the house behind him, he used his tongue to fish out the Lexapro tablet from the darkest corner of his mouth where he'd hidden it. He took it out of his mouth with his fingers and flicked it into the neglected garden bed like he'd done so many times before. Poison.

It was a gorgeous day outside. A gentle breeze and the sun beating down on his warm brown skin. What he wouldn't give to skip school and head to the beach with Veikko. He couldn't, though. If he were even late to a lesson, the school would ring up his father, and that was a debacle he'd prefer to avoid. It's funny, he thought miserably as he walked. There's so little difference between a record for attempted murder and attempted suicide. Everyone already looked at him differently. They treated him like he was dangerous or unstable. Even when he beat the odds and had a good day, his friends or father would have to point out to him that it was nice not to see him so fucking miserable for a change. When did he stop being Dominic Faye and start being a diagnosis?

Peatsland sure was a pretty school. It was a miracle of budgeting and government assistance that Dom was still able to attend this year. A single building, four stories high. Most of it appeared to be windows, letting in as much sunlight as possible from every angle. The walls, inside and out, were white, very white. Lush, green grass covered most of the grounds, even in the current drought. Green and white. That's what Peatsland was. It was gorgeous, and for the first time, Dom felt okay about the day. Really okay, not putting on a brave face for someone else. Students were starting to trickle in, being ten minutes to nine o'clock. The twins would most certainly be here somewhere, probably killing each other at the homeroom, Dom thought with a smile. The thought of Veikko with cake on his face made him laugh again. It had been far too long since he'd seen his favourite person in the flesh and not through their daily video call.

As Dom climbed the steps to the fourth floor, he could start to see the view he'd been missing so much. From up here, the ocean was visible, and so were the school grounds and gardens. Terrific. Maybe the world wasn't such a miserable, ugly place after all.

"Bitch!" He heard Veikko's voice long before he saw him, as he usually did. The tiny Finnish boy nearly tackled Dom over with the force of his hug, wrapping his arms around his friend. Dom happily nuzzled Veikko closer.

"Koko, how have you been, bitch?" The bigger boy asked with a laugh. He pretended to be happy. For Veikko's sake, please be happy today. He smacked and grabbed a handful of his friend's bony butt, causing him to squeak in what could have been interpreted as surprise, joy, arousal, fury or any combination of those. Still, Veikko didn't make any attempt to move Dom's hand from him. He never did. The boy was hopelessly attracted to him.

"Missing the fuck out of you, that's for sure!" Veikko planted a kiss on Dom's neck, one that wasn't welcome and made the big man uncomfortable. He released the hug, and Veikko reluctantly followed suit.

"You managed to wash off all the cake, then?" Dom teased him, and Veikko's smooth face twisted into a playful scowl.

"Why? You wanna taste?" Veikko kissed the air between them, and Dom shook his head and rolled his eyes. He's insatiable - although it had been a long time since they'd had a sleepover and relieved stress together. Maybe he'd sneak Veikko into his room while Tayn was working the night shift.

"I think we've molested each other enough for the moment," Dom let him down gently and grabbed him by the wrist, hauling him towards the homeroom. "Come, I wanna congratulate Rei Rei!"

"Ew, why?" He heard Veikko protesting, but he wasn't too interested. He wanted to see the other two members of their close-knit group. He wasn't surprised to see them holding hands and canoodling together in the back row of seats where they always were. Reima Carlisle, the straight twin, and his girlfriend, Selena. It was remarkable to Dom how the Carlisle twins were physically identical in every way, except perhaps a bit more muscle on Reima, but anyone could tell at a glance which one they were talking to. If he was a flamboyant twink with an attitude problem and a tongue piercing, it was Veikko. If he was a masculine jock without a care in the world, that would be Reima. While younger, he enjoyed the company of both brothers equally, but as they matured through puberty, he found himself getting closer to Veikko, the two connecting through a mutual attraction to men and each other. Selena, a heavy-set girl with bleached, platinum-blond hair and a pretty face, saw him first and got up to squeeze him tightly.

"Hey, pet!" She cooed into his chest. She was five foot nothing, small and round. Dom was nearly six foot four, towering above both Selena and the short-arse Carlisles. "Oh my gosh I've missed you! How are you? How have you been? It's so good to see you! It's been too long!"

"You could have visited!" Dom was beaming at her when he said that, but the tone of his voice conveyed the bitterness he was feeling, and Selena and Reima both picked up on that immediately.

"Hey man, I'm sorry I didn't see you in the hospital," Reima cut right to the point, fondly wrapping his arms around Dom when Selena finally let go of him. He was a good hugger, Dom thought. Better than Veikko, at least.

"That's okay Rei Rei, nobody did," Dom's passive aggressive reply caused all three of his friends to uncomfortably look away from him. Good, you should feel guilty. You call yourselves friends? Pfft. "It's fine, whatever, it happened, let's put it all behind us, yeah? Nice job with the cheesecake, though! I've been keeping up!"

Reima started laughing again and accepted a high five from his friend while Veikko protested from the side. Dom dropped his heavy bag to the floor and took a seat between the twins, not having the motivation to play referee for them today and knowing they'd eventually argue about something. To his chagrin, he didn't feel as good as he thought he would after seeing his favourites. That sucked. He'd been counting on that to get him through the school day. Rather than the laughing, joking and gossiping that would always happen on the first day of school, all he could think of was that he spent nearly an entire month in a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt and not one of them bothered to come and see how he was doing. He wanted visitors. He was allowed visitors. He just didn't get them.

"Oh my god," Veikko suddenly nudged Dom, getting his friend's thoughts out of the black hole and back into the real the world. "Are you serious?"

"Ahh... can you be more specific?" Dom asked him. Veikko sighed, irritated.

"Don't look now, but guess who's here!" Veikko's eyes were wide open, a hazel colour that popped under his dark brown hair. "Don't look!"

"I'm gonna look, and you can't stop me," Dom shrugged off Veikko's attempts to play games. He wasn't in the mood. He did grin when he saw him, though. Christopher Lynch! Well, bugger me dead.

"He's so tragic," Veikko muttered quietly, close enough that Dom could smell his minty breath. "Is he actually coming to Peatsland? Is this a joke?"

"I dunno Ko, it is starting to look a bit like that, don't you think?" Dom answered sarcastically as Topher uncomfortably sat at the far corner of the room, wheeling his expensive luggage bag and parking it by his feet. The most gorgeous guy in the whole city was also a super pious straight boy. More's the pity. Perhaps it was fitting, Dom thought, a flutter coming over his stubborn, sad heart. There was no doubt in his mind that Topher wasn't just the local priest's kid - he was an angel from heaven. How else could he explain how being in a room with Topher was making him already feel better about everything?

"Ew, what is he wearing?" Veikko continued his campaign of bitchiness. "You can tell he's still a virgin. He'll probably still be a virgin when he's thirty. I can't believe he's here, though. Doesn't he go to some super fucked up Catholic school?"

"You know, for a guy who gets his head shoved into all these desserts for a living, you're not all that sweet," Dom remarked, earning himself a slap on the bare shoulder from his friend.

"You're in a horrible mood today," Veikko shifted closer. "What's going on? Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine," Dom lied, putting on his happy smile. If he was happy, nobody asked questions. "I just slept like shit. You know, hot and humid and stuff."

"Then I wish you'd video call me!" Veikko playfully poked his tongue out and put his smaller hand in Dom's. "I'd love to see you all hot and sweaty in bed, tossing and turning. Mmm!"

"You saucy bastard," Dom shook his head, and a laugh found its way out. "I think I'm all good, thanks."

"I wasn't joking, Dommy," Veikko squeezed tighter, his voice losing its camp, facetious edge. "You can video call me whenever. If you're having a bad day or you can't sleep or whatever, you give me a ring, okay? You don't even have to be naked. I mean it. I don't want you being sad by yourself. If you're going to be sad, then you should be sad with me."

"Aw!" Dom swooped down and gently kissed Veikko on the lips. "You're a cheap slut and a diva, but you do sometimes make me feel better. I might do that, Ko. Thanks."

He saw a few people looking at him when he showed affection to his best friend, the friend he sometimes shared his body with. Although it might have been a scandal in the past, nobody was surprised anymore. Dom and Veikko had been kissing since they were twelve, experimenting with each other since they were thirteen and came out together when they were fourteen. The only thing that seemed to confuse bystanders was that the two were not in a committed relationship, and as far as Dom was concerned, they were never going to be.

The 11-A homeroom teacher was a middle-aged woman called Miss Ross, with red streaked hair, an unsightly birthmark on her left cheek and lips like she spent the morning sucking on a lime. The first homeroom of the school term was never very interesting, but this time they'd lost six students since Tenth Year. There were fifteen of them this time, so few. If 11-B lost a few more, the two homerooms would probably be combined for the Twelfth Year, and Dom didn't fancy that idea much. 11-B contained some of the more unruly boys that Dom and Veikko preferred to avoid. Kellan McLeod and his gang of gorillas, as well as that psychopath Maverick Matsuda. The worst 11-A could throw at him was Madison Ramsey and her gaggle of budget Regina George clones.

"We don't normally do introductions because you've all become very familiar with each other over the last four years, and I've got a cheat sheet with your names and photos. We do however have a brand new student joining us for his VCE years," Miss Ross didn't even look up at the class as she spoke to them. Dom guessed she was even more miserable about being here today than he was. I feel you, Rossy. We should both have just played hooky. "Chris Lynch? Stand up for us, Chris. Come on, don't be shy, we don't have all day."

Topher, looking like a deer in the headlights, got to his feet, brushing his long bangs to the side. His eyes were so blue, Dom thought. So blue.

"Hello," Topher gave a nervous wave. "I'm Topher if that's okay. Not Chris." Without talking further, he sat right back down.

"Thanks, Topher! Welcome to Peatsland, and I'm sure you'll fit right in here."

"Why would you ever want to call yourself Topher?" Reima quietly asked from his left, and Selena told him to shush. Man, were the Carlisles always horrible people or was Dom just a miserable piece of shit?

"Do you think he--" Veikko whispered with a smirk.

"Just shut up, Ko," Dom cut him off. "Please, I can't hear any more of this negative shit today. If you wanna just bitch about Topher Lynch, do it with someone else, okay?"

"What's up with you?" Veikko asked, now annoyed at Dom's attitude. "Have you forgotten everything those bible bashers have done to us?"

"Don't you get tired of being angry at everyone all the time?" Dom asked wearily, making Veikko roll his eyes and purse his puffy pink lips. "I mean it, Ko. I'm fucking exhausted by it and it's five past nine. Last I checked, Topher isn't some nutcase, and I don't think he's going to gay bash you. If he does, then we'll give him the kiss of life."

The kiss of life was their pet name for a method of public humiliation when a homophobic guy dared to put their hands on Veikko - it was always Veikko because he was the weaker prey of the two of them. Dom, and sometimes Reima, would restrain the fucker and Veikko would force a long kiss on their lips. They'd treated four guys to the kiss of life so far, and none of them had ever dared to put their hands on Veikko again.

"Like I'm going to kiss Topher Lynch," Veikko snarked, his arms folded. Dom smiled. That makes one of us, he thought. He'd love to kiss Topher, but certainly not under those circumstances. Miss Ross finished her start of year lectures about the seriousness of the final years of study, growing up, acting their ages and applying themselves with thoughts to their future, then sent the students to their lockers. Dom was thrilled to find that there were enough top row lockers for everybody and he wouldn't have to break his goddamn legs scooping things out from the floor this year.

"Hey, Toph!" Dom greeted the new, pretty boy, who had the locker beside him, putting his books away. Topher looked at him nervously.

"Hi. You're Dominic Faye," Topher smiled, but it was a courtesy, Dom could see. Topher looked intimidated by him. Please don't be.

"Yeah, you remembered," Dom extended his hand, and Topher shook it with a weak grip. "Are you alright, dude? The first day at a new place is scary shit, I know. Seriously, when I first went to school in Australia, I was too scared to talk because I thought everyone would make fun of my accent."

"Did they?" Topher's smile looked real this time around.

"They still do," Dom laughed. "What brings you to Peatsland? I thought for sure you were in a religious school."

"Saint Joseph's," Topher nodded, turning to line up his books neatly. Everything about him was neat, Dom noticed. His collared shirt was buttoned to the chin and tucked into his immaculate white pants. You could practically smell the rich, white Christian privilege coming from him.

"Well, I'll see you around," Dom closed his locker door with his English textbook under his arm. It was apparent Topher wasn't going to talk about the move between schools, which was unfortunate, because Dom was so curious. Everyone who knew Topher would be grilling him, no doubt. He was the type of kid who wouldn't even eat a sandwich at the beach without saying grace. Seeing him in a very atheist school was jarring. English was in Room 408. A mandatory class that everyone from the homeroom was taking. Luckily there were still too many students in Eleventh Year to justify combining both classes into one. Peatsland went out of their way to keep classes at twenty-two students or less, something of which Dom was very grateful. Back at his school in Christchurch, classes sometimes had up to thirty-five kids in them. This was a much better learning environment, and he was happy his father worked so hard to make sure he could afford to send his son here. And how do I repay him? I try to kill myself. You're the fucking worst, Dom. A piece of shit. He'd be so much better off if you were just gone.

He retained his place in the seating plan - sitting between Veikko and Reima, his best friend and his other friend. Reima and Selena had been together for two years now, but they weren't publicly affectionate. In stark contrast, he and Veikko were not together but were always touching each other. Funny how things work out that way.

"Hey, Toph!" Dom called out when he saw the loneliest looking person in the world make his way into the classroom. "Come sit with us!"

"No fucking way!" Veikko angrily told him. "Dom, no!"

"Swap seats with me, then," Dom shrugged, but Veikko defiantly stayed where he was.

"Fuck off, Christopher," Veikko hissed when the boy approached, loud enough for the whole classroom to hear. If Mr Faulkner were here, the little guy would have been given detention on the spot. Topher jerked to a halt and his face fell. His mouth opened a little and his eyes showcased how wounded he was.

"Veikko!" Reima was open-mouthed in shock at his brother's rudeness.

"Sorry," Topher slunk away and sat by himself next to the window. Dom, Reima and Selena all looked in horror and fury at Veikko, who screwed up his face indignantly.

"What? I hate him," Veikko said defensively.

"No, you're just a dickhead," Selena asserted, making sure everyone around was clear that she didn't support Veikko's actions one bit.

"If you felt like not being a cunt for one day, that'd be great," Dom's voice was sad rather than angry. There were a lot of ways Veikko made him happier, but they didn't always make up for what a mean-spirited person he was. Whatever, I've had enough of him. Dom scooped up his pen case and his books before abandoning his friends. Selena looked at him almost proudly, but both of the twins were looking at him as though he were insane. Rema was confused, but Veikko was very offended. Hah. Good. Who even has all that time and energy to devote to being the world's most diminutive prima donna? It's fucking exhausting being a part of that.

"Hey Toph," Dom slid into the vacant seat next to the blond kid, who looked cautiously over at him.

"You don't need to take pity on me," Topher said somewhat defensively.

"Pity is a strong word," Dom made an uneasy grin. "I guess I'd prefer to call it understanding if that's okay. Man, it must be rough starting at a new place and not having any mates. Legit, I know all about what that can feel like."

"I suppose you do," Topher managed to smile this time. You don't have to smile for my benefit, Topher. I know how it feels when smiling is the last thing you feel like doing.

"Please don't listen to Veikko," Dom pleaded sadly, and Topher's mouth twitched.

"How could I not? I'm pretty even my friends at Saint Joseph's heard that," he quipped, small crinkles appearing to the sides of his eyes. "It's alright. He's just making his feelings clear."

"No, it's not alright," Dom argued, reaching back and tying his annoying curls into a small, tight ponytail to avoid them getting in his face. He should cut them off, but grooming was such an ordeal these days. "That was shitty of him. Yeah, he doesn't like you, but that's his problem. He doesn't need to be such an arsehole when I'm only trying to introduce you to my buddies."

"That's thoughtful of you. Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah mate, shoot."

"Why does Veikko hate me so much?"

"Ahh, okay," Dom wasn't entirely sure of the answer to this question either. "Ko has this weird problem where he thinks the whole world's against him, I guess. I mean, he's the gayest kid I've ever seen, and that gets him a lot of hate and shit, and this isn't a shot at you or anything, but a lot of that comes from religious people. Like your mate Zack. I think he was well out of line today, but I can see why he thinks you're some threat, and Ko doesn't know any defence except for offence."

"Wow," Topher looked back out the window sullenly. "That was Zack, though. It wasn't me. I would never do that to somebody."

"Yeah but you saw your mate getting into it with Veikko and you never did anything to stop him," Dom tried to make his point gently but firmly. "Can you blame him for being a bit mad about it?"

"I guess not," Topher sighed, and Dom couldn't help but stare. The handsome face, the soft hair and eyes. Mr Faulkner finally arrived, flustered and vocal about being late because his schedule was wrong. If the young, dark-haired man was ever on time, Dom might have believed him, but he was rarely on time, if ever. A man after my own heart, Dom thought cheerfully. Mr Faulkner was more welcoming to his class than Miss Ross had been, and the lesson wasn't a very productive one. Every time Dom looked behind him, Reima and Selena were doing their thing, but Veikko was sulking by himself with his arms folded. Why do I even bother with him?

Mr Faulkner discussed what to expect in the eleven weeks of the first school term, the criteria and due date of future assessments and which books the students were to read. Dom didn't have his copy of Pride and Prejudice with him today. Forty bucks for a brand new book? He and his father could have eaten for nearly a week with forty dollars. It just wasn't in the budget, so Dom was going to have to borrow a copy from the library. He looked to his left to see Topher staring out the window again, and he couldn't blame him. It was a terrific view out there. He could see the beach and the blue of the ocean. The same colour as Topher's twinkling eyes.

"What's up?" Dom asked shyly, and the Catholic boy seemed to snap out of a trance, putting on an obviously instinctive smile and looking over to him.

"Sorry, I was miles away," Topher laughed. "I need to sit somewhere else next time. The beach is too distracting!"

"Oh, I know, dude!" Dom chuckled, craning his head to get the best look he could. "I was fantasising about skipping class to spend the day down there. What I wouldn't give to piss off and have a swim instead."

"No kidding," Topher agreed, looking longingly out the window again. "I've already been today, but I'd spend all day on the sand if I could! Are you a beach kid too? I don't think I saw you down there at all."

"Ahh, no," Dom shook his head, guiltily letting his eyes fall back down to his brown hands. He didn't have the tan he would normally have by this time of year. "I spent most of the summer in the hospital, so I wasn't able to have fun on the beach."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that!" Topher sounded like he was genuinely sorry to hear that, but he didn't attempt to pry. Dom knew that word would reach Topher before long, but he did appreciate that his new friend respected his privacy. "Well, it's still only January! The bay isn't going anywhere, so you have loads of time to get wet. We could even go together after school today if you like?" He beamed, showcasing a mouth full of beautiful white teeth and creating dimples in his cheeks.

"That sounds like the best idea in the world, man," Dom admitted. "I have work after school, though. Like, nearly every day."

"Every day?" The blond boy looked shocked. "Like, even on the weekends?"

"If I'm lucky, yeah," Dom certainly didn't feel lucky to have the privilege of working between thirty and forty-five hours a week in addition to his schoolwork and only retaining 20% of his paycheck... and that was a good week.

"Okay. Well Dominic, please let me know when you have some free time and we'll go for a swim in the bay! How about recess, then? Do you have a few minutes to eat with me, maybe?" Topher's eyes were full of hope. Dom couldn't have said no even if he wanted to.

"Sure, man! And it's just Dom if you don't mind. Otherwise, I'll have to start calling you Christopher," he wanted to punch himself for making such a lame joke, but Topher grinned with all his teeth and turned his eyes back to Mr Faulkner. He's terrific, Dom thought happily. Why didn't I ever bother to speak to him before? All those times we were at the beach together. He gave a slight moan of bemusement when he remembered. He turned his neck to have a look at Veikko, who was already glaring at him. Veikko shook his head and rolled his eyes, turning his head away. Maybe a new friend is precisely what I need, Dom thought. Only one morning into his new friendship and Topher was making a real effort to spend time with him. Six prior years of being best friends and Veikko never even came to visit him in the hospital for twenty-six fucking days.