Chapter 2
Luke stands outside the Northern Appalachia Center for the Arts, not quite sure whether he’s ready for this.
The NACA Summer Youth Artists Program is kind of a big deal, and he knows his parents and his aunt spent a lot of money to send him here.
He also knows that, once he goes through those doors, he’s going to have to perform for other people, and there’s a big difference between singing in his bedroom and singing in front of a room full of other teenagers.
Just go in there and get it over with, he thinks to himself, but he still doesn’t move.
“Um…are you going to go in?”
He jumps at the sound of the unexpected voice, and when he turns around to see who scared the shit out of him, he's surprised to see someone his own age standing there. He’s handsome, Luke notes right away, with fair skin and blonde hair in an untidy, curly mop, dressed in a pair of boot-cut jeans and a shiny gray shirt.
He makes Luke–dressed in his simple T-shirt and jeans–feel a little shabby.
Wow, Luke thinks, followed by: Okay, take it easy. You don’t want him to know you’re into him, do you?
Luke’s known since he was about five years old he’s not like other boys in his small West Virginia town, but he’s not going to make it obvious, not to this guy he’s just met.
“Hi,” the other guy says, sticking out a hand. “I’m Mikey. What’s your name?”
Luke eyeballs his hand for a second and then shakes it, making sure to give a firm handshake like his father always taught him.
Mikey’s palm is smooth, and he finds himself wondering whether he’s ever done a day’s work with his hands, or whether he’s the kind of city boy his father and brothers are always making fun of.
“I’m Luke,” he says. “It’s nice to meet ya.”
He’d meant to say “you” rather than “ya,” and he cringes inwardly. He’s worked hard to try to sound proper–he doesn’t want to embarrass himself in front of his future classmates at NACA–but old habits are hard to break.
“It’s nice to meet ya, too,” Mikey says.
Luke doesn’t think Mikey is fucking with him, because he already senses he’s the real deal. He has an authenticity Luke finds really (really) attractive, and though he tries to fight it, he can feel a blush creeping up his neck.
Mikey turns his head to the side. “Are you okay? You look a little flustered.”
“I’m fine,” Luke blurts out. “Can we just go inside?”
He’s sure he sounded rude, even though he hadn’t meant to. Mikey looks a bit offended at first, but then he smiles. Luke gets the feeling Mikey does that a lot in order to hide what he’s really feeling.
“Sure,” he says with a shrug. “Let’s go inside.”
They step inside NACA, both of them going quiet as they take it all in.
It’s the first time Luke has actually been in the building, and he’s even more blown away than he thought he’d be.
Everything about it is fancier than he’s used to: the red carpet, the way the tall pillars reach up to the ceiling, the painted walls… it’s all a lot.
Painted walls? He thinks. Who paints their walls?
The only other place he’s seen with painted walls is the Oglebay Mansion, and so he’s always associated it with rich people. To see it here, and to know he’s going to be spending every evening for the next several months surrounded by this kind of luxury is a bit overwhelming.
Mikey, though, just takes it all in stride.
Luke wants to ask him where he’s from, try to find out more about his family–or his “people,” as his grandmother would say–but he can’t quite seem to get the words to come out of his mouth.
Mikey’s just so damn pretty and confident, and Luke doesn’t know how to talk to someone like that.
He tries to look at Mikey without seeming to look at him, but every so often the other teen will catch him looking, and his face will light up with a big smile, a laugh flickering at the edge of his lips, and the queasy feeling inside of Luke gets more intense.
He tries not to let it get the best of him but, as they slowly make their way to the auditorium where they’re going to have orientation, it’s all he can do to keep walking in a straight line.
“You okay, dude?” Mikey asks.
Luke thinks he stammers out something like, “Yeah, I’m fine,” but he’s not entirely sure. Mikey just gives him another knowing smile, and they finally get to the auditorium.
At this point, surrounded by all of the other teens who are there for orientation, Luke is sure Mikey’s going to find someone else cooler he’d rather spend time with.
To his surprise, though, Mikey gestures for him to accompany him to a pair of seats in the back, and as they sit down Mikey’s leg touches his own.
The sparks are immediate, and again Luke blushes. He’s tempted to jerk his leg back–to show Mikey he’s not at all interested–but he doesn’t.
For his part, Mikey gives him a little smirk.
“It’s okay,” he says, so softly Luke isn’t sure he’s heard him correctly. “I don’t mind.”
Luke lets his leg rest there, and he’s surprised by how right it feels.
He thinks briefly of what would happen if anyone else saw them, or if word got back to his father and brothers–or his mother, or his aunt, or anyone else in his family–of what’s happening right now.
What would they think, say, or do, if they knew their boy was getting intimate with another boy?
Sure, it’s just a leg touching another leg, but he knows how they are, knows how they’re always on the lookout for any signs he might not be the type of man they’ve raised him to be.
He doesn’t take his leg away from Mikey’s.
They both sit there and listen with half an ear while the teachers tell them all about what they can expect from their summer with NACA.
Luke is still very excited about the chance to really experience music, to dig into why certain songs work and others don’t, but the truth is he’s much more interested in Mikey at the moment.
He takes a chance to really study him. Luke can easily imagine him on a stage right now, captivating everyone in the audience with his undeniable charisma.
He feels a little spike of jealousy at just how easily it all comes to Mikey, when it’s always a struggle for Luke to find the right words, to be able to speak–let alone sing–without his tongue seeming to tie itself up in knots.
When, at last, the boring segment of orientation is over, they’re sent on their way, split up into small groups so they can do ice breakers and get to know one another better.
Luke hates it, but he’s separated from Mikey, each of them being sent to be in a different group, despite the fact they’re both there as part of the singers contingent.
Luke ends up spending the ice-breaker time with some actors and aspiring playwrights and dancers.
They’re from all over Northern Appalachia–from West Virginia, obviously, but also from other places like Pennsylvnia and Ohio and Maryland; there’s even one person from the Southern Tier of New York–and so they all bring new and varied experiences to the table.
Despite himself, Luke actually finds himself enjoying learning about their lives and their upbringings.
By the time lunch has been announced, he’s even managed to make friends with a dancer named Leslie–she’s the one from southern New York–and a playwright named Jack from near Pittsburgh. At least if Mikey doesn’t want any more to do with him he might have some other friends here.
To his surprise, though, as soon as they enter the cafeteria Mikey is already there, his face breaking into a radiant smile when his eyes light on Luke.
He takes a few deep breaths to calm down, and then he sits down across from Mikey. As soon as he does he Mikey’s foot brushes against his own, while that devilish smile never leaves his lips.
“How was your group?” he asks.
“It was good,” Luke says, looking briefly to see whether Leslie and Jack are around and whether they’re pissed he abandoned them.
To his relief, though, they’ve found a table of their own and are way too busy paying attention to each other to care what Luke’s doing.
“I met a couple of new people I think are pretty cool.”
He nods toward where Leslie and Jack are getting as close to kissing as they can without actually doing it. “That’s them over there.”
Mikey looks where he nodded and smirks.
“Oh yeah, those two definitely have the hots for each other.” He turns back to Luke and lowers his voice. “You know places like this are always pressure cookers for hormones. I wouldn’t be surprised if half the people here end up hooking up with each other.”
“You really think so?” Luke almost asks Mikey whether he’s thinking of hooking up with anyone, but he immediately decides he doesn’t want to know.
“Oh yeah,” Mikey nods sagely. “You bet your ass.”
“Huh,” Luke says, then follows up with the question he’s dying to know the answer to.
“Are you staying here or are your parents bringing you in every day?”
Some of the attendees of the Youth Artists Program stay in the dorms at Center, while others, like Luke, live close enough his parents can bring him every day. It’s a bit more inconvenient for all of them but, on the whole, it’s cheaper, which ultimately matters more.
“My parents are dropping me off,” Mikey says. “Though sometimes I drive myself. We live pretty close by.”
“Oh yeah?” Luke asks. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”
“Oh, well, we just moved to Wheeling,” Mikey says.
“My dad moves around the state a lot for his work, and we’re staying here for my senior year of high school.
I’m supposed to go to Linsly. I wasn’t thrilled about moving away from my old school, but…
” He shrugged. “This program seemed to be a good fit, and I want to learn to sing better, and they’re pretty good about connecting their alumni with people in the business, so here we are.
Maybe I’ll get a contract with an agent and won’t have to go to senior year at all. ”
Luke has about a dozen more questions he wants to ask, but he doesn’t want to seem nosy, so he just nods appreciatively.
They settle into a comfortable silence as they eat their brown bag lunches, and all too soon it’s almost time to go back to classes.
Fortunately, however, they’re not separated again, since they’re both going to be taking voice lessons while they’re here, and Luke almost bursts with happiness.
It’s just so nice to be with someone like Mikey–he’d insisted they sit together when they got to their classroom–someone who just seems to get him.
Though he’d love it if something romantic happened between the two of them, he’s okay with things just staying platonic. For now, it’s enough to just be close to Mikey and to learn more about music. In fact, it’s more than enough.
It’s everything.