That day, Otto and Twister were sitting at the Shack.
"I can't bear it! Let's tell Reggie and Sam at least."
"No, no, no! No way!"
Spring was the time for a great change. Otto was quick to confess: as soon as he stopped fighting himself and embraced his true feelings — it was indeed hard — he told Twister about that. Now he wanted to come out. Yes, he would often lie and conceal something from others, but he was sure bad at this; he preferred to be honest at least in his feelings.
"Why not?!" Otto snapped.
In response to this, Twister could only avert his gaze, silent, thus causing Otto to roll his eyes with a groan. Twister, on the contrary, found it easier to admit his feelings than to tell about them, so he kept silent to the last. Glancing at Ray and Tito, who were busy with customers, Otto dropped his voice as not to draw their attention.
"One day they'll know... we'd better come out on our own."
"But not now, dude." Twister shook his head.
"You mean never." Otto frowned, offended.
The apologetic Twister put his hand under the table and there found Otto's hand.
"I just... don't know... we just..." he started clearing himself, but Otto stopped him by a gesture, while squeezing his hand and feeling unusual warmth he couldn't get used to.
It felt really strange to see the all too familiar details in a new light and put such a high value on them. Both Otto and Twister were drawn to the new sensations, but they couldn't stay alone with each other without raising suspicion.
"Okay, Twist, I got it. You need time to think, to get used and all. So do I." Otto smiled peacefully, then added as quiet as possible, "Besides, I know a chill place where nobody can see us..."
"Where is it?" Twister perked up.
"I'll show you..." Otto said in a conspiratorial voice and took a gulp from his glass. "We can go there right now."
"Let's go, then!" Twister simply put, dragging Otto, but he withdrew his hand from his.
"Wait, we can't go at the same time — they're gonna see us leave together," he said quickly.
"See, you're also afraid of coming out!" Twister said in an injured voice.
"Hey, it's all because of you!"
"Hey, guys!"
The sound of a familiar voice made Otto and Twister turn round.
"There you are, missing the swell!" Reggie said in a chipper voice, her arms around her board.
"Join us!" Sam said, coming up to the table with Reggie.
Otto and Twister shared a stealthy glance, and Twister said, "I can't. Gotta go right now. I failed my test on math and I'm forced to prepare for it again."
With this, he quickly headed to the exit and got on his bike. Reggie shrugged and turned to Otto.
"What about you, Rocket Boy?"
"Um... just let me finish my homework, and maybe I'll join you!" Otto quickly cooked up with a crooked smile.
"Seriously?!" Reggie and Sam exclaimed in utter disbelief. Reggie asked, "Otto, what's up with you?"
"According to all the information I have, choosing studying instead of surfing is completely out of your character!" Sam added.
Otto countered, "Why do you think I can't be responsible?!"
"Because you've never been?" Reg raised her eyebrow incredulously.
"Reggie!" Raymundo interjected when he heard them talking. "Give your brother a chance! I'm glad that my son finally learned how to prioritize."
"Thanks, Dad." Otto gave Ray a grateful smile.
"Fine." Reggie gave in, however, still looking suspiciously at her brother. "Sammy, let's get going. Maybe we can surf with Trish."
When they left, Otto sighed in relief and rode his bike. But when he reached the cul-de-sac, he turned to the other house. He wouldn't dream of ringing the doorbell — he went instantly under Twister's window. As Twister heard something knocking, he jumped to his feet.
"Hey, you're gonna break it again!" he cried, as he opened the window.
"These stones are smaller!" Otto reassured him, standing down there. "Hurry up!"
"I'm going! But I have to sneak past my parents again."
"Again?"
"I did fail the test." Twister closed the window with an apologetic smile; Otto could only grin at the simplicity he loved so much about him.
After a few minutes, Twister came to him with his bike, very cautious, looking round and pulling his camera bag up to the shoulder.
"Nearly got caught," he sighed. "Now if only nobody would come into my room..."
"We'll take that bridge when we come to it," Otto replied lightly, and they rode off.
"Seriously, how far is it?" Twister got impatient by the time he and Otto seemed to have ridden all the backstreets in the town but weren't getting any closer to their final destination.
Otto replied in a chipper voice, "Two blocks uphill!"
This made Twister buck up; with a final effort, he picked up the speed. Otto dashed after him. They stopped when they got to an old private house upon a hill, completely secluded from other houses; next to it was nothing but a forest.
"So you brought me to an abandoned place?" Twister asked incredulously.
"Oh yeah," Otto said slowly.
He left his bike near the porch and opened the ramshackle, creaking door; it revealed a rash of other doors and turns and many holes in the walls, the sunlight coming through them.
"It's sure romantic..." Twister commented apprehensively, following Otto, as he came in.
"Weren't you the one who wanted to hide because you're too afraid?" smirking, Otto elbowed Twister, and the latter rolled his eyes.
"Busted."
"I'm telling you, it's cool here!" Otto pulled Twister towards himself, his arm around his waist, and pointed at everything around with his free hand, while gabbling, "I'm not really into such places, there's usually nothing but old junk, but here... look at these corridors, we could play paintball here... and what a view from upstairs!"
Twister snuggled up to Otto, laying his head on his shoulder, and asked, fascinated, "So we can see the town?"
"Nah! Think, how can you see the town from the second floor?" Otto laughed kindly.
"Then what can I see?" Twister was puzzled.
"Come with me!" Otto dashed to the stairs.
Twister shrugged and followed him, turning on his camera. In the lens were caught the torn off wallpapers, the dusty floor, piled with little brick remnants, the old furniture, and, finally, the waiting Otto at the flight of stairs. Filming the stair railing all covered with cobwebs, Twister went up to him, and Otto dragged him by the hand upstairs.
"What's up with the roof?! Well, um... a half of the roof? Anyway..." stunned, Twister stared upwards, directing his camera there as well: above him, in all its glory, spread the lucid daylight blue.
"It must've fallen. Just like us." Otto chuckled.
"So, where's the view?" Twister scratched his head.
Otto came up to the window and waved at Twister, "Here!"
Twister stood near him; through a frame without glass he saw a plenty of mountains covered with deep green woodland.
"We were there!" he spoke in a happy voice, pointing at one of those seemingly identical mountains, while filming them. "Five years ago, when Lars and his friends challenged us, remember?"
"Yeah," Otto closed his eyes in nostalgia. "What a race it was."
"Maaaaan!" Twister groaned. He turned his camera off to save the energy, put it into the bag and added, "Sometimes I even miss..."
"...your dear elder brother, who ran away from you to college?" Otto giggled, but the joke flowed over Twister.
"I miss how it used to be," he sighed and leaned his head against the frame, his elbows on the windowsill. "Things are really different now..."
"Well, 'different' doesn't mean 'bad'!" Otto tried to cheer him up. Twister felt his arms gently curling around him, turned and hugged Otto back.
"You're right," he said, as he buried his head into Otto's neck.
Twister still wore his old striped kangol — this thing about him remained unchanged. Perhaps, he was afraid of change and so he never parted with the cap for his desire to have at least a scintilla of stability in this ever-changing world. Perhaps, that was the reason he shuddered, when Otto took the cap off his head with a gentle hand, so the latter soothed him by caressing his hair. Twister squeezed him tighter. So they stood there, listening to the silence, feeling the heat of their bodies, leaving in their minds no room for anything but the present moment.
"Twist?" Otto whispered.
"Yeah?"
"That's so cool."
"What?"
"Loving you."
Twister reared his head and met the green sparkling eyes. He gently took Otto's sunglasses and laid them on the windowsill.
"Can you see me?" he asked.
"Oh no, too far," Otto lied. A playful smile on his face, he got closer to Twister to make their noses meet and said, "But now I can see perfectly."
Then their lips met, too. That was only their second kiss: more conscious, sensual, and real, without frantic haste and fear of being rejected, in contrast to the first one. Now they could afford dissolving in their touch, could feel and seize every little detail, and let go of each other with the only purpose of repeating it, exchanging knowing looks and smiles. After that, they sat down right on the floor, still holding each other, and Twister glanced up at the clouds, which were crawling along the sky so slow that the time seemed to slow down, too. And this feeling was even more fueled by Otto's relaxed breathing that caused his chest to be rising under Twister's palm. Since it wasn't so, Twister soon felt the tickling, warm whisper near his ear.
"If you don't want us to be caught together, we better get home in an hour."
"Okay," Twister nodded and even as he touched Otto's face, the latter laid his hand on Twister's and closed his eyes, enjoying the feel.
"Still don't want to come out?" Otto asked softly.
"Don't want to lose this moment," Twister replied and leaned a little down to give him a kiss on the forehead.
Amazed, Otto smiled at how exact was the reply — not the kind of thing you would normally expect to hear from Twister. "Why does nobody listen to me?" he once asked in despair, and Otto replied with a rhetorical question, "Because you're never right?" Defeated, Twister could only sigh. But that was an awful long time ago, and Otto had since seen enough evidence of what a stupid fallacy it was. Otto laid his palm on Twister's chest right where his heart was beating. Twister did the same to him.
"I love you, Ottoman."
"I love you too, Twist."
"Otto, can I ask you a favor?"
"What?"
"Let's keep this place only for us?"
"We'll have it until it's demolished. Better find something more lasting."
Ahead of them were already seen their houses, so Otto and Twister slowed down, afraid of meeting their parents or friends. Until now, they were riding as fast as they could, for they delayed at exploring the ruins and lonely surroundings. After a while, Twister stopped to catch his breath; Otto stopped next to him.
"Nobody's here, I think," Otto said, peering into the distance. Suddenly, he turned to Twister. "Give me your hand."
"Huh?" he replied, confused, even as he let his limp hand hang down, but Otto grabbed it to entwine their fingers.
For a while, they were silently looking both at each other and at the cul-de-sac, then shared a quick, secret kiss, and Twister went home first. Otto waited a few minutes and left, too.
Twister stood in front of the door, undecided. He looked in the window, but it was covered with curtains, so he couldn't see anything. He took a deep breath and turned the handle as careful as he could, then snuck in.
Scarcely had he closed the door, when he heard his mother's loud voice from the kitchen, "Mauriiiiice!"
Frightened, Twister freezed in the hallway dark; his heart near jumped out of his chest because of that shout. However, the next what he heard was, "Come down for dinner! You've been up there too long!"
Twister sighed in relief, though still silent, and tiptoed to the steps to jump on them a few times, as if he were running downstairs.
After that, he entered the kitchen, greeting, "Hi, Mom."
"So how's your preparation?" Sandy asked; she and Raoul were already sitting at the table.
Twister took his seat and replied, trying not to look at them, "It's just fine..."
"I see you've been studying hard all day long and now need a rest," Raoul said with approval.
"Sure I need!" Twister nodded with vigor and started eating.
"Well, you tell us what you've learned, then do anything you want," the mother said.
Twister near choked and had to plaster on a smile.
"Sure, Mom."
In the meantime, Otto got home, too. He, on the contrary, could see through the window that his parents weren't home yet, so he boldly came in. But this was a rash decision, because...
"Hi, Reggie!" he cried, as he ran into his sister right at the door.
She frowned grimly and asked, "So, where have you been?"
"I was... in the garage... cleaning up..." Otto giggled nervously.
"I've just been there." Reggie cut. "I came home an hour and a half ago, you weren't here."
"Maybe it's just you-"
"Otto."
"Fine," Otto sighed, defeated, "I just wanted to skate around town."
"Alone?" Reggie squinted at him.
"Yes."
"Why so?" she tilted her head.
"I just felt like it, you know, sometimes I need..." Otto tried to act distant, hoping that Reggie wouldn't ask further, but then he noticed that she was holding a new longboard that definitely wasn't hers; a familiar logo was perfectly seen on it.
"Hey, it's from Raymundo's shop!" he pointed at the board, and Reggie winced, hissing at him.
"Quiet! Yes, it is."
"Did you take it without asking?" Otto asked slyly, and Reggie let out a heavy sigh.
"Yes. But if no one knows, then nothing happened. Not a word to Raymundo. I won't tell him about your sneaking, for that matter."
With this, she left.
"All right, sis." Satisfied, Otto closed the door after her.