The Tide Began to Rise - 7. Chapter 7

“Brent what is this?”

“That’s the packet that Snodgrass gave me.”

“Ok, then why is it already filled out?”

“Ummm……………..I wanted to try and see if I could get any of them right. Did I?”

“You got them all right.”

“Really?”

“What’s going on Brent?”

“OK fine, I’m not bad at math. I am actually really good at it.”

“Then why did you fail that quiz?”

“So I could meet you.”

“Wha……………………..” What the fuck. Did he just say what I think he said? What I heard was that he purposefully failed a quiz to meet me. That means that he planned this out. But why? Why was he scheming to meet me?

“I’m sorry Tyler. I didn’t mean to lie to you. I just wanted to get to know you better.”

“Then why didn’t you just come up and talk to me. You didn’t have to set this whole plan in motion to meet me.”

“Well I guess I thought I did with the way that you act. You seem to seclude yourself. The way you dress makes it seem like you hate everyone. So when I heard that we were having that quiz, I figured that that would be my chance to set something up.”

“Wow” was all I could say. Now that he said something, I can see what he means. I dressed in dark clothes. I can see how Brent could see that I seclude myself. I don’t talk to many people, just my normal group of friends. That is my comfort zone. I can see how he thinks that I hate people. I do. There are only a handful of people that would give me the time of day. There are way more people that would go out of their way to do something to me. So yes, I do hate people. I just didn’t think that I made It that noticeable.

“I didn’t do anything wrong did I?”

“No you didn’t. Truth be told, I was setting something up as well. When I finished my quiz I looked over and saw that you were have trouble with it. So I started thinking that I could offer to tutor you to get to know you better. Pretty silly now that I think about it, since you’re good at math.”

“Yeah it’s sort of funny that we both set up a plan round the same event.”

“Yeah”

There was a long pause between us. I figured we were thinking the same thing. “What is the real reason the other set up their plan?” Well that’s what I was thinking’s. There has to be a more then he just wants to meet me. I decided to take a leap and ask him.

“Umm, Brent, can I ask you something?”

“Sure”

“Why did you want to set this up? I know that you said that you wanted to get to know me better, but how so?”

“Well, ummm. I have wanted to do this for a while. At James’ party I saw you starring at me. Then it hit me, that’s why all last year I caught you looking at me, you like me. So when I saw you starring at me then, I decided I would find a way to talk to you. Then this whole math thing started.”

“So are you saying that you know I’m gay?”

“Well I do now.”

“And you don’t care?”

“No, I don’t. because that is how I want to get to know you better. I’m new at all of this. I don’t know when I look at you, my heart races.”

“Really, Your…………….and you like…………………oh my god.”

I started to cry. I never thought that through my planning, that I would ever really get the chance to be with Brent. I’m so happy. My dream has come true. Then Brent came over to me and gave me a hug. I winced in pain.

“Oh, did I hurt you?”

“It’s fine, I have a bruise.”

“From what?”

“Umm………………I can’t tell you.”

“Tyler, no secrets. What is it? I know this is the same reason why you ware the clothes. Isn’t it?”

I didn’t say a word. I just sobbed. This time Brent lightly put an arm around me, careful not to hurt me. I cried for what seemed like days, but when I saw the clock it had only been about 45 minutes. All the while Brent sat there.

“I’m sorry. This is just something I don’t want to talk about.”

“No, don’t be sorry. You’ll talk when you want to. Let’s go down stairs and watch some TV.”

We headed downstairs and into the family room. That’s what he called it. The room had a TV, and chairs. To me it was a living room. He turned on the TV and started flipping through the channels. He stopped on channel 30 which is USA.

“Ooo I love this show. Do you?”

“What is it?”

“NCIS.”

“I don’t watch much TV.”

“Ok we will watch this; it is so funny, and great.”

As we watched this “NCIS”, I asked questions. I asked who each of the characters were and what they did. I thought I was being annoying. It didn’t seem to bother Brent though. After a while I started to understand what was going on.

“Brent, I’m home, what should we do for din………………..” Brent’s mom came into the room. She looked at me and stopped dead in her tracks. She was looking me up and down.

“Hey mom, this is Tyler. He’s a friend from school. Hopes its ok that I brought him over.”

“Yeah, that’s fine, just startled me. Hi Tyler, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you to M’am.”

“Oooo, you’re so polite…..I like him Brent. You can come over any time you like………Have you guys already eaten?”

“Yeah but I’m sure we could find some room for you cooking.”

His mom left the room and we continued to watch NCIS until she came back with some food.

“I thought mini hamburgers and fries would be good while we watch the best TV show there is.”

We all sat there and watched the show in silence while we ate. Every now and then my phone would vibrate. It was my dad calling. I just kept pressing end. Each time driving another nail into my coffin.

It got to be around 10:30 when Brent’s Mom left the room to go to bed.

“What about your dad, when can I meet him?” I asked Brent

“I guess the same time I get to. He left my mom before I was born. So I’ve never met him.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s cool………..I’m getting pretty tired. You ready to head to bed?”

“Oh I’m staying the night?”

“Unless you went to go home.”

“No, I will stay.”

We went upstairs to Brent’s room. He closed the door. He stripped down to his boxers (which are black with red and pink hearts all over them) and climbed, into his bed. I just stood there.

“Are you going to stand there all night or get in the bed? It’s big enough to share, and I won’t bite you.”

I started to climb into the bed. “Are you going to sleep in your clothes?”

“Umm, I guess not…..’ I slowly undid my pants and dropped them to the floor. Then I just looked at Brent. Now he is going to get to see the one thing that I never wanted anyone to see. The shame of what my dad does to me. I very, very slowly started to take off my shirt. When I got it off, I looked at Brent. He has a sick look on his face.

“Oh my God Tyler, what happened? You need to see a doctor.”

“No, you can’t tell anyone. Promise me. Please.”

“Tyler, I don’t know. That looks really bad.”

“Please Brent. You can’t say anything to anyone.”

“Ok, I won’t tell anyone, but I think that you should.

With that I climbed into the bed and laid my head down. I laid there awake, thinking about what has happened. I came out to the man of my dreams, and he didn’t run. My plan fell apart because he had a plan to get me. Brent saw what my dad did to me. And I’m lying in bed naked next to him. What will happen tomorrow? I fell asleep, and for the first time in many moons, I had a smile on my face.