Chapter 16: Charred Embers by Star

Fulton's POV

I pick up the bottle of antiseptic and slosh some of it onto a cloth. Portman cringes before it even makes contact with his skin.

He's the biggest guy in school and he's terrified of a bottle of antiseptic.

"So, what did the wall do to offend you?" I ask.

"It insulted my mother," he jokes, then snatches his hand away as I dab it with a cloth.

I give him a look and reclaim his hand. I think the only reason he's letting me clean his scrapes is all the touching. "You know, these aren't going to heal up before the dance," I tease back. "No girl is going to want to hold hands with a mess like you."

Urgh, the dance. Tomorrow night. Attendance is mandatory. Eden Hall is being awarded some kind of trophy for the most outstanding athletic achievement in the state. Basically, it's another excuse for the Alumni to pat themselves on the back for a job well done.

They want us to take dates, but we've put our foot down. Ok, we'll go, we'll wear our penguin suits, but we're not going with dates. Too much hassle.

"I don't care, I don't want a girl to hold my hand. I was hoping you'd see the mess my hands are in and want to take care of me." He winks at me.

"You don't have to punch a wall to get my attention." I grin. "So, what happened?"

"I'm not a people person, alright?" he tells me. "I don't know how to talk to them. Especially Banks."

I put the cloth and the antiseptic down and stroke his hand. "It's ok. You tried, and if the look on his face when he realized I knew was anything to go by you probably didn't say anything wrong. He's just really nervous."

"I tried," he says earnestly. "I thought I was using my supportive voice and everything. I can't believe I scared him into kissing a girl."

The look on his face makes me want to laugh, so open and childlike—if you can imagine that. But I don't laugh. Instead I kiss his hand. "And what a girl to pick."

"What do you mean?" He draws circles on the back of my hand with his fingertips absently.

"You remember my friend, Taz?"

"The girl with the purple hair?"

I nod. "Yeah, that's the one. I was just asking her if she'd seen Adam when she caught sight of the two of them. Her reaction was terrifying. When she ran out of curses she started speaking Irish."

"Are you telling me that Adam picked the only lesbian in school to go into lip lock with?" A smile spreads slowly across his face.

"Well, one of the only lesbian couple in school," I respond. "Feel better?"

He smiles at me and nods. "I still scared the life out of him," he says regretfully.

People wouldn't believe it if they saw him now. There's a lot more to Dean Portman than meets the eye.

"I'm going to find Charlie and talk to him," I tell him. "You can stay here and talk to my plant, work on you people skills."

He gives me a sardonic grin. "I'm sure talking to a Venus Fly Trap will inspire me no end."

It's an unspoken rule of boarding schools to never be in your room when someone is looking for you.

And if you are there, always have your room filled to the capacity, making conversation impossible.

So I'm deeply shocked to find Charlie alone in his room.

He doesn't look surprised to see me. I guess Adam's talked to him.

I hold up my arms in a peaceful gesture. "Believe it or not, I'm not here to beat you up, despite rumors to the contrary. Can I come in?"

"Sure. I was just about to look for you myself." He leads me into his room. I'm pleased to note that it's much smaller than mine and Portman's room.

"Is Guy due back soon?" I ask.

"He's out with Connie, dinner and a movie."

I take a seat on one of the beds. "I thought I'd let you know that you and Adam have no reason to be scared of me or Portman," I tell him. "We're not going to tell anyone, and we're not going to beat you up."

Charlie gives me a smile and nods slowly. "I thought that might be the case. Adam… he worries what people might say, it makes him overreact. He was quite scared of Portman."

I twist my fingers nervously. "Can you not mention that to Portman? He feels bad enough about it as it is."

Charlie gives me a look, visibly surprised by my statement.

I feel my blood start to boil, even Charlie doesn't think there's anything more to Portman than his enforcer skills. "He's not a brainless goon, you know."

Charlie holds his hands up in a surrender type gesture. "I know."

I sigh in irritation. I wish people would just stop making assumptions about us. Ok, so we're both enforcers, it hardly makes us the missing link, does it?

I get up to leave. Portman says he's not a people person, well, to be honest, I don't feel like one at the moment.

"Fulton?" Charlie follows me and puts his hand on my shoulder. "If I offended you—"

I shake my head. "No." I shrug. "It's just… there's more to him than you'll ever know."

Charlie nods thoughtfully. When I move to leave again he doesn't stop me.

I stop myself. "Charlie, how were you able to hide it for so long?" I ask. This is a question that's bugged me for awhile.

He gives me a grin. "Nobody ever asked if I was gay."

"No, you and Adam, how did you hide that? I mean, how do you manage to hide something that special? Doesn't it make you want to shout it from the roof tops?"

He smiles, but his eyes look sad. "Yes it does."

The silence is heavy after he says that. I think it's my cue to leave. "Just tell Adam that if anyone gives him—or you—problems, come and get me or Portman. We'll stand up for you."

I make for the door again. And again, I don't manage to leave.

"Fulton, are you—"

I freeze. The question I was dreading. I cut him off. "Charlie, please don't ask me." My tone is far more harsh than I intended. I try again. "I can't lie to you, but I don't want to tell you yet."

He nods again and lets me leave this time.

So he knows about me. Maybe he has all along. I just don't think I'm ready to say it out loud yet.

It's a really scary sentence. Even inside my own head.