The Bright Side

Chapter 15 - Part 7

TRISTAN

Sky tastes incredibly intense of tea, his natural flavour reinforced by the cuppa he drank earlier. I want to drown myself in his taste. I pull back, though, rather reluctantly; I could stand here forever and kiss him, but noises from the close by Skate Park, only a few yards away make me uneasy. I can make out the friction of polyurethane wheels against concrete followed by either cheering or booing; three loud male voices, laughing and fooling around. I can tell for each and every one to whom it belongs.

"Are you nervous?" Sky follows my gaze towards the entry of East Coast.

"I'm about to fucking wet myself," I grin. "And also, no, not really."

My heart is pumping fast inside my chest, that's for sure, but I really only just want to get it over with, get it out and go on without that sword of Damocles dangling above my head. What's the worst that can happen really? I don't think that any of them will react badly or have a real problem with me being with a guy; I guess after the first shock has worn off, they'll give me some shit about it and that's it.

That's what my brains have to say about the matter. My body's still tense; the prospect of revealing my relationship with Sky to them, revealing something as private and delicate as my feelings for Sky, to expose myself like this and Sky, too – it makes my heart blunder and my muscles tingle.

"Come on, let's just go," I say and take Sky's hand again and push myself towards the stairs that lead up to the bushes that surround most of East Coast Skate Park.

"So, up front, eh?" Sky follows my lead up the stairs, his hand not quite matching my firm grip. Two more yards and we'll be in full view for them.

"I'm not sure I can do it any other way", I stop besides the bushes. I can hear Matt laugh his arse off about something Gary said. "If you don't want to... tough shit," I grin, but pull up a questioning eyebrow.

"Alright. Let's go", Sky takes a deep breath, clutches my hand more tightly and arranges his features to absolute indifference; it feels like such a foreign expression to me by now.

"Ok".

I peck the shortest of kisses on his cheek and push myself through the overgrown path and then the floodlight that illuminates East Coast by night pierces my eyes. My heart gives a few more frantic beats before I feel absolutely and completely calm. It's too late now anyhow. Sky enters the area right behind me, holding my hand and I take care not to walk too close to him, so our entwined fingers won't be hidden between us.

Matt and Mark are watching Gary, who's showing off some weird kickflip trick I've sure never seen before. Damn, it looks so rad; I want to know how to do that.

"Real nice!" Mark applauds Gary, while Matt looks rather unimpressed, like he's seen it a million times already and maybe he has or maybe he's just already tired from having Gary around.

It takes four steps, four endless steps, before mine and Sky's movement catches Matt's eye and he turns his head towards us. His eyes instantly target Sky's hand in mine and he nudges Mark repeatedly, while his face is rather blank. Mark turns around, follows Matt's gaze and... what the...? They both roll their eyes at each other in a beyond bored manner.

"Oi, mate," Matt speaks up first, shaking his head in condescension. "What's that all about?"

He gestures to Sky's cold fingers clutching mine. Gary, now aware of our arrival, lines up with them, but other than Matt and Mark, he's clearly confused.

"Eh, yeah, well...", I stutter, and I want to kick myself like a vending machine that got stuck. Just say something, you prick. "So, surprise: I have a boyfriend."