Chapter 2 #2
Caleb didn’t need him to move his hand to know what the page held. Posters like it were displayed all over campus, and as soon as he saw the header—“ A Different Dare Fashion Show” —he pushed hand and paper away. His stomach turned over even as Angel opened his mouth.
“You seen this kid’s designs?” He grinned. “Thought of you right away. You know he’s looking for models, right?”
Caleb shrugged. “So?”
“So?” Angel snorted and flung himself back on the futon couch across the room. “ So, you’re perfect. Look at you.” He waved a hand. “Skinny, tall… Do you up right and you could pass?—”
“Shut up,” Caleb snarled.
“I’m just sayin’,” Angel held up his hand in surrender. “He needs models. Not much of a fashion show if nobody walks the clothes down the aisle.”
“I’m sure he’ll find people. He must have friends.”
Angel said nothing.
Caleb’s gut twisted tighter.
“Levi, tell him,” Angel said, flinging a hand in Caleb’s direction.
“He’s not a fan of high fashion,” Caleb muttered, shooting Levi a warning glance.
Levi ignored him and wrinkled his nose. “I’m more a fan of—” He broke off when Caleb grabbed his wrist just before he managed to grab a handful of Caleb’s ass.
“ Seriously ?” Caleb snarled at him.
Levi grinned.
“Why do you care, Angel?” Caleb turned his back on his lover and began tossing away the crumpled failures of his homework, trying to restore Levi’s room to some semblance of tidiness.
“Student Council,” Angel said, as if that explained anything.
Caleb cocked a brow at him “What about it?”
Angel drew in a deep breath and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Larry Shank,” he said.
Caleb growled as he moved on to collecting dirty coffee mugs and soda cans. “What about him?” He picked up the coffee carafe and emptied the dregs from the basket into the compost bin.
“He’s been harassing you?—”
“Somebody always is. Nothing new since third grade.” Handing the mostly empty coffee pot to Levi, he offered a wan smile. “Go fill that, will you please?”
Levi stared at the pot, then at him. “‘Scuse me?”
“Please? With a cherry on top.”
“Yours?” Levi grinned, but the jibe was too soft to really stick.
“You wish. Go.” He shoved the pot into Levi’s chest and let go.
He wasn’t in the mood to play. He just wanted to figure out what Angel was getting at so he could get rid of him.
The feel of Levi’s hands on silk, of his caresses through the fragile material, was too fresh.
Caleb’s irrational mind wanted Angel, any outside intruder, as far from that calm peace as he could get them.
Levi caught the glass jug before it fell and grumbled his way into the washroom.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Caleb spun, poking a finger at Angel. “You just leave Shank and his shit alone. I do not need to give him another reason to get up in my grill.”
“I see how he treats you. Do you think Levi doesn’t? Do you think everyone just doesn’t see?”
“It’s no one else’s business.”
“And what about how he treats Levi?”
Caleb snarled. “He lays a finger on Levi and I will fuck him up!”
“That’s just my point.” Angel flopped onto the bed. “You need to bring his crap to everyone’s attention.”
“Right.” Caleb laughed. “Because I do so want to be the grown man who can’t handle a petty bully. Leave me alone.”
“If that’s all it was?—”
“I said leave me alone!”
“It isn’t just about you! It spreads. He starts in on you and encourages his buddies and they branch out, and we have first year students—who aren’t grown men, by the way—battling thugs and not having anywhere to turn.”
“So, what the hell do you want me to do about it?”
“Be there for them. Be there for this Mitchell kid when he comes to the Council and asks for space to do his show. Because he will. Because kids like him expect us to help them.”
“I’m not on the Student Council.”
“But Levi is, and you’re his boyfriend. Everyone knows that, and if you’re there…
” He paused. “Well, you’ll get all that.
” He waved at the flyer. “You understand this. Him. What he’s fighting against. It isn’t just a fashion show.
It’s his mark for the class and he’s going out on a limb to prove something.
That takes guts and he could use all the support we can give him. ”
“You going to walk down the runway in his skirts?”
Angel shrugged. “If I have to. If we can’t find people who will actually look good in them to do it”—he met Caleb’s gaze—“like you. Look…” He got up and took the pop can that Caleb was crushing into a squashed mess.
“I know it’s a lot to ask. But you know what Shank is like.
You know he’ll be all over this, and the only way I can think of to deal with that is to show him his shit is not going to fly except in his own face, right?
Because if he can’t get to you, he’ll just turn on some tender first year kid, and someone has to stand up for them.
There are more assholes on this campus than just Shank. ”
“Thank you.” Caleb spun away and jammed the coffee basket closed. “I wasn’t aware.”
“Look—”
“No, you look.” Caleb whirled and pointed a finger at Angel’s chest. “I have been dealing with this shit since I was five years old! Fighting this battle every time I step out the door, so don’t you—Mr Star Athlete, captain of the basketball team, Student Council President, engaged to your dream girl—tell me how to deal with it! ”
“Hey!” Levi chose that moment—when Caleb’s chest had begun to tighten, his breath becoming too short—to bull his way back into the room. “Caleb?” The coffee pot clattered onto the desk and Levi gripped Caleb’s shoulders. “Cally?” he whispered, leaning close. “You okay, babe? Need your puffer?”
Caleb shook his head. “I’m… fine.” He pulled in a deep breath between words. “Fine.”
“You should go,” Levi suggested, looking over his shoulder at Angel.
“I’m sorry. I just…”
“I know. Just… not the time.”
“Okay, okay.” Angel raised both hands in front of him. “I thought… hoped… sorry, Caleb.”
“‘S fine.” Caleb tried to sit as Angel shuffled out of the room, but Levi turned his attention back and kept him on his feet.
“Cally, where’s your puffer?”
“Bag.” Caleb nodded at his backpack sitting on the floor beside the desk.
“Just hang on a sec. Stay on your feet for one minute.” He pushed Caleb’s shoulders against the top bunk, straightening him out and somewhat clearing his airways before he rifled through Caleb’s bag to find the inhaler, which he handed over.
After a couple of puffs on the nasty contents, Caleb felt his airway open up again and he nodded at Levi, still hovering close and concerned. “I’m okay, Lev.”
“I should kick his ass, or something.”
“No.” Caleb sighed. “You shouldn’t. Wasn’t his fault. Just…” Caleb shook his head and sank into the chair behind the desk, poking at the ledgers once again. “Not his fault.”