Whispers Beneath The Waves (Boy x Boy) [Shortlisted for The Wattys 2018!]

Chapter 9 - Drive

Hey guys! Thank you so much to those of you reading and letting me know your comments on the story so far, it really give me motivation to keep writing when I know people are enjoying it!

This song came on shuffle when I was writing this scene and it felt like the perfect car radio track for Lennon & Kye ... :)

Hope you like this next installment!!
Becky xx

Chapter 9

Drive

Kye slept all afternoon, all evening and all the following morning. And while he slept, Mum and I came up with a cover story.

She'd already sourced a spare identity we could use from one of her helper connections in Scotland. Robert Johnson. Not the most Kye-like name, but we'd simply say Kye was an old family nickname that he preferred to go by.

I don't know how they did it, but the underground helper network was sprawling with names and numbers, covers and codes. People who made false passports. People on the inside who could assist with forging a whole new person out of nowhere. It was like being part of a witness-protection programme or something. I was so scared that we were heading into dangerous territory, but Mum assured me no one had ever been caught.

Yet. There was a first time for everything. But it was probably better not to think about that...

It would be a few days for all the paperwork and false documents to process, so the next step was coming up with a logical reason why Kye was staying with us. For most acquaintances, we could simply say he was a long-lost family friend coming to stay. For closer friends (and one best friend in particular) that story wasn't going to fly. I had to be a little more inventive. Luckily Mum was on hand to help during my morning text exchange with one Miss Keiko Kobayashi.

Hey Lennon! How did the rest of your snooping go? Did you find any answers? Did you find Kye?! You've been so quiet, I hope everything's OK??? K xx

Hey Keiks. Yes, I did. Don't worry everything is sorted now. It was all a huge misunderstanding. Will explain more when I see you. xx

I was totally hedging. There was no possible way I could explain away any of this without some serious holes in the story. However, Keiko was not the type of girl to give up easily. She was involved now whether I liked it or not.

What do you mean everything is sorted?! You found him????!!! So who is he? Where is he? Why was your Mum going so crazy about him? How did he know who you are? WHAT'S GOING ON AQUA MAN???!

"Give me your phone," Mum instructed, holding her hand out. "Don't worry you can check it before I hit send. And I hope you know I'm not happy about this whole snooping business. Keiko is a bad influence on you."

The irony of A-star perfect student Keiko being a bad influence on Uni-dropout me wasn't lost on either of us. Mum smirked a little as she wrote back, pretending to be me. She did a worryingly good job. I guess she knew me pretty well by now.

OK, brief explanation... It turns out Kye is actually the son of Mum's old school friend and he ran away from home. He's been really troubled and recovering from some kind of breakdown. That's why he was in the water like that. I think he realised a little too late that he didn't actually want to drown and thankfully I found him just at the right moment. We used to play when I was younger, that's how he knew me. And I guess his Mum has passed on stuff about me that she knows from my Mum. It's all really weird, I guess he's fixated on me because he wants a life like mine instead of his own.