The Sons of Ipswich: Tyler's Secret

The Sons of Ipswich: Tyler’s Secret

Chapter 2

It had been three days since the conversation between Reid and Tyler in the hall way. Almost as if the Gods had granted Tyler a favor, Chase Collins had completely absorbed the minds of all of them for those three days, and Reid didn’t have time to question Tyler anymore. Everything seemed to be back to normal between them; the near-death experience of their friend Caleb had distracted them from their fight. Tyler even dared to hope that Reid had forgotten about it – the teen was so scatterbrained normally that he wouldn’t have been surprised. If only that damned Aaron hadn’t said anything…

“Hey, Garwin!”

“Aw, shit,” Reid muttered, stopping and turning to face Aaron Abbot. Tyler stopped and turned as well, prepared to hold Reid back.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Garwin and his little bitch, Sims,” said Aaron, his two friends laughing behind him.

“Hey, Tyler could kick your ass any day,” said Reid, stepping forward. Tyler put a hand on his friend’s shoulder and muttered, “C’mon, man. No more fights.”

“Yeah, Garwin. Listen to your boyfriend.” Tyler shut his eyes. If only Aaron knew…

“I couldn’t help but notice…,” Aaron began, with a smirk. “That you two showed up at the Fall Fest…together.” Aaron’s friends began to make ugly kissing noises at them, one of them dangling his wrist as though it had gone limp.

“Yeah, what of it?” asked Reid defensively. Tyler felt his heart beating wildly. If it was obvious to Aaron, the class idiot, how obvious was it to everyone else?

“Well if I had known two fags were allowed to go to the dance, I would have started a petition.”

“Fuck you, man!” Reid shouted, starting towards Aaron. Tyler grabbed Reid’s arm and blocked his path.

“Let it go, do you want to get suspended? Come on!”

“Yeah, listen to your girlfriend, fag,” said one of Aaron’s friends with an ugly sneer.

“Don’t call him that, you fucking tool –”

Tyler didn’t know what happened but before he could process his actions, Aaron’s jacket sleeve caught fire.

“What the fuck! Shit get it off me, get if off me!”

Reid snapped his gaze to Tyler’s and saw the black of his friend’s eyes. Tyler grabbed Reid by the arm and dragged him away from the three teenagers who had begun to wrestle Aaron out of his jacket. The two warlocks broke into a run and headed for their dorm, classes forgotten.

*          *          *

“Man,” gasped Reid, bending over and resting his hands on his knees once the door had been shut and locked. “Tyler…that was close, man. If Caleb knew –”

“Oh, like you’ve never done anything like that….”

“I’ve never set someone on fire!”

“I didn’t set him on fire, I set the jacket on fire….”

“Oh, well that’s okay then,” said Reid, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Tyler fell down onto his bed, hands covering his eyes. He’d never lost it like that. He didn’t even remember summoning his powers. Usually it took a second before he was ready to cast a spell. He’d have to focus on what he wanted to do, unlike Caleb, who had Ascended. Even Pogue and Reid were quicker than he was when it came to using. He had always supposed it was because they were older, even if by a slight margin.

“Look, man – Aaron’s said worse than that before,” said Reid slowly. “You sure there isn’t anything you want to talk about?”

Tyler’s pulse began to quicken. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, we’re not starting that again,” Reid muttered, sitting on his own bed. “You’ve been whacked ever since the beginning of term, at the bonfire. At first I thought it was because of – you know, stuff. But then that whole thing with Chase happened, and so I thought it was because of that – but he’s gone, dude. What’s up?”

Tyler stared at the ceiling; he couldn’t believe Reid had put that much thought into his behavior.

“I guess – I guess I’m just feeling more aware of my powers….”

“Really?” asked Reid, leaning forward with interest. “How do you mean?”

Tyler shrugged, trying to fabricate a lie. He was so bad at lying…. “I don’t know…I mean, back there. It didn’t take any thought at all….”

“Wow, so you mean you just…set him on fire?”

“The jacket, I set the jacket on fire.”

“Whatever. So it just…happened?”

“Yeah….”

“Sometimes that happens to me…usually when I’m really pissed about something – you sure it wasn’t just because of what Aaron said?”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“So like I said, Aaron’s said worse –”

“Well, whatever – I mean, I don’t know, I guess I just had it, you know?”

“Yeah…” said Reid, looking at him with a curved-down mouth.

‘He does that when he’s thinking,’ thought Tyler distractedly. ‘Great, way to be obsessed with your best friend, Sims.’

“What?” asked Reid.

“Huh?”

“You were staring at me.”

“Oh, I – uh”

“I mean, I know I’m gorgeous, but seriously. Is something on my face?” Reid brought a hand to the side of his face and wiped something imaginary from it.

“Yeah, that huge honker you call a nose,” said Tyler quickly. 

“Shut up, bitch,” said Reid, falling back onto his own bed. “You keep that up and I’ll tell Caleb. He’d kill you, you know.”

Tyler rolled over to face the wall, glad that he had successfully diverted the conversation. It wasn’t easy to put one over on Reid.

“Hey,” he said suddenly. “How much trouble do you think we’ll get in for skipping?”

*          *          *

            “Alright, hit the showers, boys!”

            Tyler quickly headed towards the men’s locker room, desperate to get a shower as far from Reid as possible. Usually, if he got there in time, Tyler would take the shower in the corner, and someone usually took the one next to him. He also knew that Reid took long showers, so naturally, Tyler took quick ones. It was amazing how much planning and thought went into the simple act of an after-swim shower.

            Tyler grinned to himself as he successfully claimed his usual spot, shampoo and soap in hand. He turned the water on quickly, trying to create as much steam as possible. It was great when it got so thick that he could barely see anyone.

            “Hey, Tyler.”

            “Oh, hey Caleb,” said Tyler, lathering up his hair.

            “I heard Aaron caught fire this morning. You know anything about that?”

            “What?” Tyler asked, trying to act innocent.

            “Look, you don’t have to cover for him all the time, man,” Caleb said quietly, leaning forward.

            “I – I don’t –”

            “Tyler, you know you can’t lie for shit. It was Reid wasn’t it?” Caleb moved even closer, his dark eyes borrowing into Tyler’s deep blue ones. Tyler swallowed, trying to hold his older friend’s gaze. He was right, Tyler couldn’t lie to Caleb, he couldn’t –

            “Woohoo! Hey Garwin, Caleb’s moving in on your turf!”

            “Yeah, Reid, Caleb’s after your girlfriend!”

            “Aw, give it a rest, Bael,” said Caleb, moving away.

            “What’s going on?” asked Reid, appearing through the steam.

            Tyler turned his face to the wall, trying to ignore the fact that the man of his dreams was only a few feet away, wet and very naked.  

            “Caleb was trying to score on your boy, Reid. Better watch out for him!” The two offending teenagers guffawed and left the showers, slapping each other’s backs in approval.

            “Jerk-offs,” Caleb muttered, moving away as well.  

            “Hey, what was that?” Reid asked, taking Caleb’s place. Tyler couldn’t believe it – this day couldn’t have gone more wrong. What was with everyone making comments about him and Reid? Was it that obvious? Had Aaron been spreading rumors?

            “Nothing. Just more of Aaron’s friends. You know, revenge and all that.”

            “What did Caleb want?” asked Reid, soaping up next to Tyler.

            “He found out about the fire,” said Tyler, eyes focused directly in front of him.

            “Yeah? So what’d he say?”

            Tyler swallowed. “He – he thinks you did it.”

            There was a pause. Tyler winced inwardly. Surely Reid would explode in anger, and another fight would break out between them….

            “Alright. Yeah, I did it.”

            Tyler couldn’t help it; he turned and looked at Reid. “But – but I –”

            “It’s about time I looked after you, right?” asked Reid, giving him a somber smile.

            Tyler felt a warm feeling spread throughout his chest, and his mouth curved into a smile.

            “Thanks,” he said quietly.

            “No problem, baby boy. I got you covered.”

            Tyler grinned and turned back to the wall. One of his secrets – he’d soon have to make a list – was safe. He just hoped the rest of them stayed hidden as well.  

TBC. Thanks to the reviews so far.