Growing Pains

1

“He’s really nice.” Jack said, an embarrassed smile curling his lips. He looked adorable. So adorable that Will wanted to find the he Jack was referring to and strangle him. He didn’t want Jack making that expression because of another guy. He didn’t want their alone time in Will’s bedroom to be wasted talking about how nice another guy was.

“You’ll like him too.” Jack met his eyes, and his gaze scanned Will’s lips as he waited for a reply.

“I don’t know,” Will said, and he signed it too just in case Jack misread his lips. “His dad is a hunter, isn’t he? He kills animals for a living.”

“An environmental specialist,” Jack corrected. “He’s here to save the bog up near O’Malley’s bridge.”

“Why does the bog need to be saved? That part isn’t even being cut anymore,” Will said. If anyone but Jack heard him, they’d know how bitter his tone was. He couldn’t help it. The boy Jack was gushing over had gone to their school for years, and all of a sudden Jack was just so interested in him? “It would be better to replace it with a field. Or a gym. A volleyball gym.”

Jack’s deliciously pink lips twitched. “The environment is important.”

Will stared at him.

“A gym would be nice…” Jack admitted softly.

They wouldn’t have to try to play in the local school gym that way. It was always filled with either kids’ clubs or other sports teams, none of which wanted to surrender their share of what was already a tiny space. Especially not to a sport as unpopular as volleyball. Will was always the one who had to deal with people trying to kick them out. He didn’t want Jack to be in the line of fire. After a few botched negotiations, Will ended up joining the soccer team and got them to crack from the inside.

“I invited him to the party next weekend,” Jack revealed.

“ What? ” Will forgot to sign. He was glad Jack was deaf and couldn’t hear the way his voice squeaked. He couldn’t help it. Jack liking someone else was one thing. Jack acting on it was totally different.

Jack shrugged, his shoulders thin and lean. “Why not? He’s shy, so he doesn’t really know anyone.” Will relaxed until he saw red entering Jack’s cheeks. “Plus, he’s—”

“Really nice.” Will snapped the words out before Jack could compliment the boy for the second time in two minutes. “Yeah, he sounds like a peach.” Will closed the maths sums in front of him. There was no way they were getting anything done now. “What was his name? Bird? Brent? Bertie?”

“Birch.”

“Wonderful.”

Jack frowned. His eyes scanned all of Will’s face, not just his lips. “Why are you angry? I thought the…uh, should I not have invited him? I know we all agreed to go together, I didn’t think—”

Will listened to Jack mumble and his heart cracked. He swallowed his jealously, an emotion that was far from rational anyway considering that Jack wasn’t even gay, and signed, “It’s fine.”

Jack’s gaze shot to his lips.

“It’s fine,” Will repeated out loud. “I’m not mad. I’m just…it’s the first party since school started. I wanted it to be just us, you know? Me, you, Amanda…”

Jack relaxed and smiled at Will. “We’ll all still have fun. Don’t worry.”

Will was worried. Worried that he’d get to the party and have to watch Jack swooning over some stupid—what was his name again? Birch? A tree. Jack was in love with a tree, not him. Great. Before Will could say something stupid, his bedroom door swung open.

Will’s older sister, Leah, came in wearing cat print yoga pants and an oversized purple hoodie. Will stared at the hoodie he’d been missing for weeks now, noticing how it came to the middle of Leah’s thighs, even though she was only a few inches shorter than him. Her dirty blonde hair was tied back into a high pony tail, and even at that it reached halfway down her back.

“What’s up?” he asked.

Since she’d come home a few weeks ago, Leah had spent all of her time either in her room or at the local library working on an academic paper. It was something to do with psychology. Will couldn’t understand her opening paragraph and had decided not to read the rest, but according to both her and Mom, what she was doing was really impressive. He just took their word for it.

“I’m getting pizza.” Leah showed off her phone. “You want any?”

Will tensed. The digital clock on his desk read 6.45. Jack was only meant to stay until seven, and as much as Will would have liked to have him hang out longer, he was hoping he’d leave before dinner. Will had a hard time eating big meals, like dinner, in front of people. “She asked if we want pizza,” Will repeated for Jack, who hadn’t seen Leah talk and had missed the chance to read her lips. “Are you hungry?”

Jack looked at the clock. “No, thank you. My dad is cooking tonight.”

Will shuddered in relief. “Want me to drop you home now?”

Jack smiled. “That would be great.”

“Pizza will be here when you get back, Will,” Leah called as they went out the front door.

Will’s car was an old Ford Focus that rattled when he drove over bumps and potholes. Ferns and trees lined the stretch between their houses, but the closer you got to Jack’s place, the more you could see of civilization—a cottage in the field, signposts, and in the far, far distance, shops.

“I told Birch we’d be there at nine,” Jack said. Will squeezed the steering wheel. They usually drove in silence because it was hard for Jack to read his lips when he was facing the road, but apparently he felt the need to talk about the tree. “And if he gets lost, I’ll meet him at the end of the road.”

“That’s nice of you,” Will said. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Jack looking out the window. If Jack didn’t read your lips, that meant he wasn’t expecting a reply. Which meant Jack just wanted to gush about the tree, and Will wanted to cut down every tree on the side of the road and then scream at them.

“I’ll see you at school,” Jack said and smiled a goodbye.

Will tried to smile back, but it felt like a cringe. He watched Jack practically skip up to his front door and go inside the bungalow. Once the door closed, Will pulled away.

*

As soon as he stepped inside the house, the smell of pizza made his mouth water. Leah was at the kitchen table with a slice in her hand. She didn’t interrupt her chewing, just pointed to a plate with three large slices on it. The tomatoes and mushrooms had melted into the cheese, and it looked delicious.

“Thank you,” Will said and took the plate with him to his room. He sat at his desk and took in a few deep breaths of the pizza. His mouth watered. He picked up a warm slice and stared at it. Nausea swirled in his stomach. He rubbed his abdomen, and then his sides. The full bowl of cereal he had this morning sat heavy in his stomach. Rationally, he knew that the cereal had long since been digested, but that wasn’t how his body felt. And if he went stuffing in more food when he could feel the last meal still in there, he knew he’d just end up in the bathroom, forcing himself to—

“I’m hungry,” Will told himself. “I’m hungry, and one slice won’t make any difference to my weight.”

There was a bulge on his side that felt like flab. He felt it and felt it. Tears welled in his eyes as the sickening feeling grew too intense. He put down the pizza and rubbed his eyes. “Stupid tree.” He cursed.