‘‘Come on, kid, it can’t possibly be that bad… He’s your father. And he cares about you if he sends people looking for you. Besides, they said the group can help you find your brother…’’

David was sitting next to Tundra in the back of a truck.

‘‘Why are you here ? I asked you not to come. I told you I’d get back to you. I didn’t want you to come…’’ he said bitterly.

‘‘We talked about this, Tundra. We’re in this together now. I can help you escape. And then I’ll help you find your brother. And then I’ll keep sticking around because we’re a team now. You can't get rid of me that easily… Besides, I thought you didn’t want me out of your sight.’’

‘‘I’d rather have you out of my sight than anywhere near my father. And I thought you didn’t like me treating you like a toddler.’’

‘‘He’s your father ! You should show him a little respect, these kinds of links are important. What could he possibly have done that makes you hate him like this ? I understand things are difficult sometimes but you can always work them out. And show a little compassion, it must be so hurtful for him that you’ve been trying to evade his men. I know if Lena had-’’

‘‘Shut up !’’ Tundra interrupted him, ‘‘You’re not him ! He’s nothing like you ! I’m sure Lena never would have had a reason to stop talking to you ! But I do. I have reasons why I hate my father and I didn’t want you here because I didn’t want you to know. Things aren’t that simple… But now you’re here, and I can’t keep lying, and he’ll tell you the truth and then you’ll hate me ! People always hate me when they find out…’’

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Tundra was zoning out in class, forgetting to pay attention to his teacher’s monologues about… whatever. It was raining outside, the patter of raindrops on the window made such a relaxing sound, he might have fallen asleep if the bell ringing hadn’t pulled him out of his daydreaming. Like a robot he stood up, stuffed his things in his bag, and walked out of the classroom. Around him, other kids were talking to their friends or looking at their phones. Someone laughed loudly. He probably would have been joking around with Damian if he hadn’t skipped school. Instead he pulled out his phone and stared intently at the screen in the hopes no one would speak to him. Suddenly, he froze.

Ah, fuck, not now !

He headed to the restroom, put his phone back into his pocket as he entered. He had mastered the art of being silent, and as a group of boys came in, certainly hiding from teachers, they probably didn’t realise someone was in one of the stalls. He couldn’t help but listen in on their conversation.

‘‘Hey guys, I’ve got something crazy to show you, look !’’

There was a pause as he showed the others something.

‘‘Yeah, okay, what about him ?’’

‘‘Don’t you recognise him ? He’s been in our school a few months now.’’

‘‘Yeah, I recognise him, but what about him ?’’

‘‘I found something out, I’ve got an older photo, check it out…’’

‘‘Holy shit. He’d fooled me. He looks pretty convincing, to be honest. But still, he thinks he can fool us with a change of looks ? No, we know the truth now. We’ll make him regret ever cheating us.’’

‘‘Wait, but guys, we don’t even know his name.’’ a third voice interjected. ‘‘He’s never spoken to any of us. So why do any of you care if he’s pretending ? He’s not actually hurting anyone other than himself…’’

‘‘Both of you, stop saying ‘him’, because…’’

He interrupted himself when he saw Tundra. He stared at him in silence for a few moments, shocked, then he suddenly looked angry.

‘‘What are you doing here ?!’’

‘‘I’m using the restroom…’’

Tundra tried to ignore him as he washed his hand. The soap dispenser was empty, as usual, but he still ran water on them to try to get them clean-ish.

‘‘You shouldn’t be here !’’

‘‘Listen, if you’re worried about me telling a teacher or something, don’t. I’m not a snitch, I won’t tell anyone that you’re here…’’

‘‘We were talking about you !’’

Tundra froze as he was opening the door, then he closed it and turned around to look at the three boys, feeling scared.

No, not again…

‘‘I found a friend of yours from your old school. You’re a pretty good actor, I’ll give you that, but did you seriously think the truth wouldn’t come out at some point ? All of school will know soon.’’

‘‘I didn’t do anything wrong, I didn’t do anything to you, I-’’

‘‘Shut up.’’

===

As soon as he walked inside, his mother appeared, a looming figure of anger. She stared down at him with her arms crossed, as if waiting for him to say something. When he didn’t, she took the matter into her own hands.

‘‘Tundra. I got a call from school. They say you got in a fight. And I didn’t really believe them but now you come home all bloody ?! What the hell, Tundra ? I don’t have unlimited resources, you know ! This time turned out okay but what do you think will happen if you get into a fight with a kid whose parents decide to sue ? Do you think of the consequences of what you do ?!’’

‘‘I didn’t start it…’’

‘‘Oh, you didn’t start it ?! That’s great ! Great defence there, Tundra ! You were still in a fight. I told you since you were a toddler, no hitting, no scratching, no biting, no nothing ! I don’t care if your friend tripped you, kicked you, nothing ! I want you to be the mature one in these situations ! You walk away ! You’re in trouble now…’’

‘‘I didn’t want to hit anyone. A group of three boys decided they wanted to beat me up, two of them held me back and the other one punched me. I couldn’t just stand there and let him hit me like that ! I didn’t even do that much, I kicked one of them in the balls, threw one against the wall, and then I left…’’

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

‘‘People don’t just go up to someone and hit them for no reason, Tundra. I’m not trying to blame you, because they never should have turned to violence, but try to reflect on why th-’’

‘‘They found out !’’

For a moment they were both silent. His mother was too stunned to say anything. She felt guilty for having a go at him now that she knew it really wasn’t his fault.

‘‘They found out, okay ?! By tomorrow the whole school will know. I just wanna be alone right now… I’m getting my stuff and then I’m going out.’’

‘‘You’re going to hang out with Damian ?’’

‘‘One last time before he finds out and hates me too…’’

‘‘But, Tundra, it’s getting dark. I don’t want you outside this late. It’s bad enough that you didn't come straight home after school !’’

‘‘I don’t care. Don’t even try to stop me. It won’t work.’’

‘‘I said no.’’

‘‘And I said I don’t care.’’

Tundra pushed past her and went straight to his room. He stuffed what he needed in a backpack and exited through the window when he saw her blocking the doorway. She watched him leave, dumbfounded.

‘‘Goodnight !’’ he shouted as he left.

‘‘Jesus, dude ! They beat you pretty bad… Did you even bother to clean yourself up before coming here ? Where were you all afternoon ? I rang your mom and she said you weren’t home.’’

‘‘I don’t know.’’

‘‘What do you mean, you don’t know ?’’

‘‘I just wandered. I don’t really remember what I did. Whatever. Not a big deal. Is anyone else out or is it just us tonight ?’’

‘‘Well, you know, I’m the only one without parents to tell me what to do, so, the others couldn’t join us… Actually, I’m surprised your mother let you come out this late, she’s usually the worried type…’’

‘‘She didn’t.’’

‘‘Oh… Oh, wow, dude… You disobeyed her ? That’s not like you…’’

‘‘Whatever, I couldn’t be around her tonight. And I really needed to see you.’’

‘‘Careful, dude. If you talk like that, someone might think you’re in love with me.’’

‘‘Haha, very funny.’’

‘‘No, but… I get it… Why you’d rather be here than at home right now. I- I saw the screenshots…’’

Tundra droze.

‘‘I don’t think there’s anyone in school who doesn’t know by now. Except maybe Tech Terror, I heard he broke his phone again last week. And, er… Listen, I thought it was important that you know, I don’t give a fuck. Okay ? As far as I’m concerned, you’re my best friend Tundra, 16 year old dude who should really loosen up. Secret identity or not. I don’t care.’’

‘‘You mean that ?’’

‘‘Yeah, you really should loosen up. I mean seriously, you’re such a good boy. You should try doing something you’re not supposed to.’’

‘‘Well, about that, since I thought this was the last tile we’d hang out before you started hating me, I bought all my paint stuff. You wanna be a graffiti artist for the night ?’’

‘‘Awesome ! Have you ever painted on walls before ?’’

‘‘Yeah, but never without asking the owner first…’’

‘‘I know where that idiot who sent the screenshots around school lives. You wanna go redecorate his home ?’’

‘‘Won’t he or his family hear us sneaking around outside ?’’

‘‘He lives in an apartment. We can paint something and he’ll see it when he leaves in the morning. And I’m sure a photo of your awesome art will inexplicably go around school tomorrow as well.’’

‘‘Thanks dude…’’ Tundra smiled. ‘‘I really thought I was gonna end up alone again.’’

‘‘It’s nothing. You’re my best friend.’’

===

‘‘So what should we paint ? Just writing something isn’t enough, we need this to be a masterpiece…’’

‘‘Paint a rainbow ! And one of those pride fist things !’’

‘‘Oh yeah ! Wait, no, even better ! I’m gonna paint a landscape ! Blue sky, pink sunset, a white beach, and then all that reflected in a lake !’’

‘‘Oh, I see what you did there !’’

‘‘Yeah ! And you can paint the reflection !’’

‘‘What ? No I can’t, I’m really bad at drawing…’’

‘‘That doesn’t matter. This is fun. I’ll tell you exactly what to do. Besides, the reflection is supposed to be a little hazy… I’m gonna paint a castle on the beach. Just to make it extra clear that it’s a landscape.’’

‘‘Well, if you’re sure…’’

They started working on it, perhaps seeing a little big but they didn’t really care. For a moment, Tundra felt more free than ever before. He wasn’t hiding anything from his friend anymore. They were doing something he loved as a ‘fuck you’ to a jerk. It was fun. They kept interrupting themselves with stupid jokes. Giggling and bantering like children. By the time they were done, their clothes were covered in paint and they were breathless from all the laughing they’d been up to.

‘‘Hey, Tundra ? Can I add a rainbow in the sky ? I just… I really want a rainbow in there…’’

‘‘Oh, sure. Why ?’’ Tundra asked, handing him his Posca markers.

‘‘Well… There’s something I haven’t told you. I had a secret from you as well…’’ Damian explained as he started to paint the red. ‘‘But since your secret is out, I want to tell you mine. And, it’s less scary to say now.’’

‘‘I’m listening.’’

‘‘Okay, so, the thing is… Fuck, this is still pretty hard. Well, er… I’m gay. That was the easy part.’’ he paused, switching to orange. ‘‘There’s a guy I like. He seems completely oblivious to it. Like, honestly, I’m not sure how he doesn’t see it. I always ask him to hang out. I stand extra close to him. I play games, because I’m scared he’ll make fun of me when he finds out. Well, I was scared. But he doesn’t see it…’’ he started painting the yellow. ‘‘I call him my best friend, maybe that’s why he hasn’t noticed.’’

‘‘Damian…’’

‘‘Tundra, I like you.’’

He stopped painting. Turned to stare at his friend. His arm fell back down, forgetting the rainbow, the painting, everything. Tundra could feel his heartbeat growing faster, his ears burning. He stared back at Damian, his mind blank, not knowing what to say. They were silent for a while.

‘‘I think I like you too. But… probably not like you like me. I- I don’t know how to explain it. I don’t think I like people the same way as others. I don’t think I can really love people. Not in the romantic way. I feel different about you, though. Not like a friend. Shit, I don’t know what I’m saying, uh…’’

He was interrupted when Damian kissed him. It wasn’t a perfect kiss. It wasn’t even a good kiss. Neither of them had any idea what they were doing and it was awkward and weird. Their noses were squashed together which was painful after the beating he’d received earlier. But he couldn’t say he didn’t like it.