Second Chances in New Port Stephen - Chapter 24

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Second Chances in New Port Stephen - Chapter 24

He felt the air shift as Nick came to stand beside him, hands perched on his hips, his head tipped
back as he stared up at the portraits too. “Do you ever think

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about what a fucked-up place this was?” he asked. “Like, from the very start, way back when.”
“A rotten foundation,” Eli murmured. He snuck a glance over at Nick, taking in the shadows that
hid among his cheekbones.
“I don’t think I ever told you—I didn’t want to sound like a whiner, probably—but it was weird,”
Nick said, “being one of about four Asian kids in this school.”
Eli considered this. “No, you never told me before.” He waited, letting the empty air between
them be the invitation.
Nick shook his head. “The way teachers were always mistaking me for the other two guys, even
though we looked nothing alike. I remember we laughed about it at the time but—I hated that. I
still hate it.”
Eli reached over and put his hand on Nick’s bare forearm. He squeezed lightly, wishing he could
say or do more, but his voice was caught in his throat. He dropped his hand before it could be
construed as overly familiar.
He walked down the long line of principals’ portraits to put some distance between them,
staring up at the ghostly faces in the frames. “There was only one out gay kid in the entire
school, remember? Fuck, what was his name? He was a year ahead of us, and they bullied him
so much he dropped out.”
“Lane,” Nick said quietly. “His name was Lane.”
Eli whirled his light back to Nick’s face. “Yeah. That was it.” He hadn’t thought about that kid in
ages. He gazed up at the portraits, wondering what had happened to him. “The teachers, the
rules, the actual school itself—the biggest lesson this place taught us was that you had to
pretend to be normal at all costs. You had to.”
“Hey.” Nick came out from behind the desk, light in his hand. “We survived, didn’t we?” He
reached out like he was going to touch Eli’s arm.
Eli moved back a step so he was out of reach. “But it didn’t have to be so hard.”
Nick stared at him in the wavering light for a long moment. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been meaning to
apologize.”
“What?” Eli scoffed. “You were the one bright spot when we were here. Why would you need to
apologize?”
“Because it wasn’t just the teachers, or the school, or whatever. It was never just one thing. It
was all of it together—and I was a part of that, whether I knew it or not.” Eli made a dismissive

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sound, like a horse huffing, but Nick wasn’t deterred. “I commented on your body all the time
when we were dating. I treated you like—someone you aren’t.”
Eli remembered; of course he remembered. No other girl on the team has an hourglass shape
like you do. I love those hips of yours. Geez, look at your legs.
He shook his head. “Sure, but I wasn’t exactly the most enlightened white kid. I made those
shitty jokes about your dad’s accent.” He still cringed when he thought about it. “God, why did
you put up with me?” Eli’s flashlight lowered to his feet. He looked off to the side, into the dark,
and sighed through his nose. “I was a total jerk. You were just being a good boyfriend.”
“Okay, so we were both products of our time,” Nick said. “So what? I was trying to be normal,
too, I guess. But now I’m older, so: fuck normal.”
“Fuck normal,” Eli repeated. It felt right, so he said it again, louder. “Fuck normal!” It echoed
through the dark chamber of the school. He was shaking; his flashlight shivered along the floor
with it. “I want to punch something.”
“Me?” Nick asked.
“No, not—Jesus, you really are a glutton for punishment.” Eli looked around the already trashed
library. “I want to punch the whole thing right in the face. How do you punch society?” He spied
a boxy wooden chair nearby and gave it a one-handed shove. It barely moved, it was so heavy.
“Stupid fucking piece of—” Eli lifted his leg and kicked, sending it tumbling end over end into a
shadowy corner. A tinkle of broken glass and the crunch of damage followed.