22 – A Hot Day in June (4)

 

Stellaluna wandered the off-limits hallways, eventually coming across one of the many sitting rooms. Voices filled the air, drawing her in. She peeked her head through the doorway to find Barry, Waylon, and Will sitting on a couch, talking about a baseball game. The news played on the TV. Something about tornadoes in the Colonial States.

“Now, let’s move on to something less depressing,” news anchor Dave Asher said.

“Are you telling me there’s news that isn’t depressing?” news anchor Jimmy Rodgers asked.

“There is when the mayor’s son is involved!”

Waylon jerked his head towards the TV.

“Oh yeah. And the son of the owner of Pieway, right?”

Will jerked his head to the TV.

“That’s right.” Asher looked directly at the camera. “Sebastian Barstow and Jake Williams got into a kerfuffle at a pool today.”

“And not with each other this time. We have video footage of Jake starting a fight!”

“What we’re about to show you is sensitive for children and women. Viewer discretion is advised.”

Stellaluna leaned in as a video played of Jake punching a man. Soon after, another man swooped in and punched Jake down. They kicked him a few times, a third man joined them, and Sebastian entered the picture. He fought each man valiantly. Two of them ended up in the pool. Impressive.

The video cut back to the two news anchors.

“That was messed up,” Rodgers said. “Those poor men were just trying to enjoy a trip to the pool. What did they do to deserve that?”

“Nobody knows, but…” Asher snickered. “They got back at Sebastian real good.”

Rodgers held his fist over his mouth, covering guffaws. “It’s hilarious. Watch!”

The screen cut to Sebastian walking. One of the men from before snuck up behind him, and pulled down his swim trunks. Stellaluna’s hand flew to her mouth. Although the offending parts had been blurred out, it was still awful to watch. What a cruel prank!

The news cut back to Asher and Rodgers, laughing.

But Waylon, Will, and Barry weren’t laughing.

“I knew I should never have allowed Sebastian to go to that pool!” Waylon shouted. “I knew it, but I let him go anyway.”

Personally, Stellaluna thought Sebastian shouldn’t need permission for anything. Wasn’t he a grown man?

“At least it was only a fight,” Barry said.

“Yeah. One started by your son,” Waylon spat at Will. “Can’t you keep him under control?”

“Jake doesn’t start fights,” Will said calmly. “There must be something we’re missing. I’ll talk to him when I see him.”

“Well, keep him away from my son. He gets in enough trouble on his own.”

Stellaluna found herself siding with Will. Where was the proof Jake started it? To her, it looked like the fight was already in full swing in the beginning of the video. One of the other men could have thrown the first punch.

Celine walked up to Stellaluna from behind. “Hi Stella. I was wondering where you were.”

The three men turned around to see Stellaluna standing next to Celine.

“What did I miss?” Celine asked.

“While you were taking your time in the bathroom,” Waylon said, “our son was on the news!”

Celine sighed. “What did he do?”

“He and that Jake beat up a few boys at the pool. There’s video of it and everything!”

“That’s it?” Celine leaned against the doorway. “Boys get into fights all the time.”

“They started it, unprovoked! Sebastian nearly killed them.”

“The news always exaggerates things. I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation-”

“And he’s clearly hanging out with that Jake!” Waylon whipped his head towards Will. “Isn’t he?”

“I’ve never seen them together. It had to be a coincidence.”

“It better of been. The last thing I want is Sebastian being friends with a-”

“Stellaluna!” Barry interrupted. “What are you doing here? I thought you were with Bailey.”

“She left.”

“Well, I certainly hope you didn’t see any of the news. You know how I feel about you watching it.”

Stellaluna wanted to say she did. Wanted to state her opinion on the subject. The video wasn’t proof Jake started the fight. Obviously, there was missing context. Context they would get if they simply asked Jake and Sebastian.

But that wasn’t what Barry wanted to hear.

Will had his eyes on her. Being from the ES, he might be open to her opinion. Maybe she should state it, in case he planned to yell at Jake later. “There’s no proof Jake started it.”

“You watched it?” Barry asked, with a hint of menace in his tone. “When you knew I wouldn’t approve?”

“The video-”

“Shows Jake threw the first punch,” Waylon interrupted. “He started the fight.”

“But the video clearly started mid-fight! We don’t know what happened before-”

“No it didn’t!”

“Watch it again! You’ll-”

“Stella…” Barry warned.

Stellaluna closed her mouth.

“It could’ve started in the middle of the fight,” Will said, to Stellaluna’s relief. “Jake wouldn’t have done something like this without a good reason. I want to hear his side of the story first.”

“Like he’ll tell you the truth,” Waylon grumbled.

“I trust his word over the news.” Will glared back at them. Tension filled the air. Stellaluna leaned forward with bated breath. And…

“Good news!” Asher said on the TV. “Power has been restored throughout Gilran!”

“But don’t crank that ac too high,” Rodgers said. “We don’t want another outage!”

“Finally.” Waylon stood up. “I’m going home. I need to have a serious talk with my son.”

“As do I.” Will bid a goodbye to everyone except Waylon, and left.

Waylon and Celine follow shortly after. Leaving Stellaluna alone with Barry. She stood, shoulders hunched, waiting for a good, long scolding.

“I shouldn’t have to lecture you.” Barry’s tone was cold. “You already know better.”

“I’m sorry,” Stellaluna said flatly.

Barry slapped her across the face. The sound echoed in her ears. “Don’t do it again.”

Stellaluna clutched her stinging cheek, and nodded, as he walked out the door.

 

~~~~~

 

Sebastian spent the rest of his afternoon hanging out in an air conditioned van with Axel, Jake, and his dog. They all sat on the floor, passing around the box of cheese crackers. Every so often, they’d check the power outage map for updates.

Axel had moved his van down the street from Sebastian’s house; in case his father came home and saw it in the driveway. Once they found out power had been restored, Sebastian grabbed Tibby and left. He just hoped the sidewalk wouldn’t be too hot on his paws.

Waylon’s car was in the driveway. Great. Sebastian had hoped to beat his father home. Now, he’d have to make up some excuse as to why he was out with Tibby during a heat wave. He opened the front door quietly, and a rush of cool, refreshing air hit him. The power was definitely back.

Sebastian closed the door behind him, just as quietly. Maybe if he snuck up to his room, he could pretend he'd been there all along.

Too bad the stairs were next to the family room, where both his parents sat, watching something on TV. Now what? Pretend he was in the backyard the whole time?

Tibby trotted into the family room, his jingling tags catching the attention of both parents. They looked over their shoulders at Sebastian.

“Where the hell have you been?” Waylon asked with narrowed eyes.

“At the pool. Remember?” Sebastian side-stepped the couch to make his way to the stairs.

“If I recall, you left the house without that dog.”

“I did.”

“Then why wasn’t he here when we came home?”

Sebastian shrugged. “He must have been hiding somewhere cool.”

“You also left the house in swim trunks.”

Shit! Sebastian hadn’t realized he still wore Jake’s shorts, his trunks forgotten somewhere in Axel’s van. Or Jake’s room. Sebastian couldn’t remember what he did with them.

“Where’d those shorts come from? I’ve never seen them.”

“Because I never wear them.”

“They look well-worn to me.” Waylon stroked his chin. “And they’re gray, like what they wear in the ES.”

“Lots of clothes are gray.” Sebastian wrapped his fingers around the banister. “I’m really tired, so-”

“I know they’re Jake’s. You spent the day with him, didn’t you?”

Sebastian’s mind whirled. How had his father jumped to that conclusion? Just because he had on a pair of gray shorts?

Waylon answered the unasked question. “Your fight made the news. They even aired a video of it.”

Seriously? A fight at a private pool made the news? Did news anchors have nothing better to report? “They started it.”

“I don’t care who started it!” Waylon raised his voice. “Everyone thinks Jake started it, and you jumped in to help him.”

“Because it was three people against one! It wasn’t fair-”

“And now everyone thinks you’re good friends with that queer!”

“I’m not!”

“Then why were you at the pool with him?”

“We ran into each other.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes!”

“You’re not secretly dating him?”

“I- what?” Sebastian gaped at him. As much as he hated to admit it, Jake was attractive. But dating him? “No!”

“Bullshit! You’ve been way too happy lately.”

“Waylon-” Celine interjected.

“You stay out of this!” Waylon snarled at her. Celine complied, and he resumed hounding Sebastian. “What’s got you so happy, if it’s not Jake? Why do you keep going out? Who have you been seeing?”

Sebastian swallowed, unsure of how to answer that. Of course, he was only seeing Axel and Jake- as friends. But his father wouldn’t approve of him hanging out with either of them. He’d keep it vague and leave it at “a couple of friends,” but his father would push for details. “I can’t be in a good mood for no reason?”

“Let me see your phone.”

Sebastian’s heart raced, along with his thoughts. Thankfully, he didn’t have Jake’s number. But he had so many texting conversations with Axel. So many phone calls. He doubted his father would figure out Axel was the mechanic he yelled at, and there weren’t any “I love you” type texts. But he would ask questions. What if he demanded to meet him? He’d recognize him instantly.

His mother jumped to his rescue. “Is that really necessary?”

“If he’s not secretly dating someone, he shouldn’t have anything to hide.” Waylon held out his hand. “Want to convince me there’s no reason for your good mood? Let me look through your phone.”

What was the last thing he and Axel texted about? Confirming the pool plans? Jake’s name might have been mentioned. If not lately, then at some point. Did Axel ever imply Jake was his boyfriend? Or that he himself was gay?

“Well?”

No particular instances stood out, and Axel was the type of person who’d be cautious about what he’d write in a text. Especially since it was texts that got him blacklisted.

Waylon put his hand back on his leg. “That’s what I thought. You’re hiding something. Whatever it is-”

“I have a new friend, okay?” Sebastian pulled his phone out, and unlocked it. He navigated to his lists of texts. Only three people showed up. His mother, his father, and Axel. He showed the screen to his father. “See. No Jake. Just my new friend.”

Waylon snatched the phone, and tapped Axel’s name. The last text from Axel asked, Are you still coming to the pool today? Sebastian had texted back a simple “yeah.” He had spent at least five minutes deciding whether to add a “can’t wait” or a “see you there” after it. Whether to add exclamation points, or include emojis.

“So you went there with this… Axel?”

“Yes. We went to his house after, but the power was out. He let me borrow his shorts, and we stopped here to see if I had power. We ended up driving around in his car to keep cool. I brought Tibby so he wouldn’t die of heat stroke.” Sebastian took advantage of the possible subject change, and grabbed his phone back. “It was real nice of you to leave him behind in a hot house. He was nearly passed out when I found him! How could you do that?”

“You know dogs aren’t allowed in the mansion.”

“Barry would have made an exception for you.”

“Whatever.” Waylon flicked his hand towards the staircase. “Go to your room. I’m done with you.”

Sebastian was more than happy to do that.