The Holiday Hoax (4 page)

My hands caught the worst of it, protecting my face. But still, my stuff went flying, and my butt was up in the air. My palms scraped raw. I didn’t move for a second, hoping against hope that JD hadn’t seen it.

“Are you okay?”

Shit.

“Yeah, fine.” I straightened up. Nobody else had to embarrass me. I did a fantastic job of that all alone.

JD rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a tissue. “Here.”

I wiped at the blood on my left hand. “Thanks.”

My mom was there suddenly, calling my name. I crammed the bloody tissue into my pants pocket before she noticed it. She waved her arms frantically as she spotted me, pushing past some others.

“Evan, Evan, Evan!” She pinched my cheeks and then hugged me hard.

When I was small, my mom was my best friend. I know, a total cliché, but nevertheless true. Ann was too bossy to play happily with me, preferring to organize the neighborhood kids into her personal slaves, and Courtney preferred real sports to imaginary things, so I dragged my mother into all my games of make-believe. I turned my bunk beds into a boat, and I was the captain, my mom the first mate. Or we’d play circus, and I was the lion, my mom the monkey. At the time, I thought all moms did that sort of thing, but later, I could see she did it for me. I’d been so into those games and had nobody else to play with. By middle school I had gotten a clue and realized my interests were different than most other boys.

I hugged her back and then stepped away to turn to JD. “Tyler, my mom.”

I was always close to my mom; we even looked alike. I had gotten her light blond hair and green eye coloring, while my sisters took after my dad, with his darker looks. It wasn’t that my mom would be upset with me for not bringing Tyler. She would be sad for me, and that was so much worse. So JD could be Tyler for a week; we could all wrap presents for the tree, and decorate the house, and stuff our faces, and my mom and sisters wouldn’t have to be all full of sympathy for me. Then I’d go back to school and work on finding a
real
boyfriend.

I smiled brightly. “Mom, this is Tyler.”

M
Y
MOTHER
gave us huge heaps of her chicken potpie and two cold glasses of milk. “You boys must be starving. I have plenty here, and cookies for dessert too.”

I was used to this treatment. I’d grown up in a house of comfort foods: mashed potatoes, casseroles, hearty stews. My mother liked to feed with love. JD’s eyes, however, widened at it all.

“Where are Dad and the girls?”

“Courtney should be here any time; she’s bringing Noah. Ann and Dad went to the mall. He had his usual list—you know how Dad loves to shop. Ann went to meet Petra at the food court. They might be gone for hours.”

“Dad considers himself a master of the Christmas sales,” I explained to JD. “He’ll go to seven different stores and find the absolute best price. He views it as a mission.”

I wished at times I could share this passion for bargain hunting with my dad. People always assumed a gay son would love to shop, but with me, they’d be wrong. I found shopping boring, and much preferred movies or books. One year, I’d vowed to go with my dad anyway and shop until we dropped. I had lasted an hour.

“I hope he’ll make it home by dinner. At least he has your sister to keep an eye on the clock.”

“That won’t work if Ann is reliving all her high school glory days with Petra. The two of them should be running some huge company by now.” I tried not to sound jealous as I told JD, “Ann was president, and Petra was vice president. They organized a list of concerns for the principal to do, and Mr. Mason actually did some of it. It was scary.”

Mom shot me a look. “Ann likes to take charge. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

I supposed a little jealousy had crept in. Ann was a decent sister, but she was a hard act to follow through high school.

“I could use her skills to organize my classes,” JD said.

“So, enough about our family.” Mom smiled. “Tyler, tell me about your folks. Their work must be fascinating. Your mother is an ambassador to Thailand, is that right? I’d love to hear about it.” My mom was doing what she did best—digging for information—in the nicest way possible.

“Um, yeah, she likes it. Traveling to other countries gets her excited.” JD’s eyes darted to mine, and I gave him an encouraging nod.

“Oh, well, it’s good to follow your passions. I tell Evan that all the time. Cooking is a passion for me.”

That was true enough. My dad liked to shop, my mom to cook. Unfortunately, neither of them felt too passionate about cleaning, and our house was usually a shambles. One reason that I could do my own laundry was that Mom rarely did it. I examined the piles of mail and clutter on the counters. I wished my family were a little neater and hoped JD didn’t think our mess was gross.

“In another life, I’d have one of those cooking shows.” My mom chatted easily, scooping another spoonful of potpie onto JD’s plate. “I spend way too much time watching them all, I’m afraid. My favorite is that Guy Fieri. Your mom must be an amazing woman. I’m sure she and your dad are missing you.”

JD’s eyes got that bleak look again, and my heart turned over. JD was probably thinking about his real mom, long dead.

“Hey, Tyler. Want to go out back? Any more food and I’ll explode. No offense, Mom. I could use a walk before dessert.”

“Sure. Thanks for lunch, Mrs. Goodman.” JD rose to his feet. He picked up his dish and brought it to the sink and washed it.

“I like him,” my mom whispered into my ear. “He’s a keeper.”

The backyard, white with snow, had icicles hanging from the roof. I loved those. As a kid, I’d break the icicles off and suck on them. Sycamore trees lined our property, and the old swing set sat neglected near the tool shed. My dad had strung lights on the shed, and they twinkled in red and green.

“Guess our backyard is small compared with your farm. How many acres did you have?”

JD shrugged. “Enough.” His face got that tight, brooding look I was beginning to dread.

Not your problem
, I told myself. But I hated seeing JD look so alone.

“Want to swing with me?” I raced over to a swing and dusted the snow off. “It’ll be fun. We can jump off into the snow?”

A ghost of a smile curved JD’s lips. “I haven’t been on a swing in years.”

“Oh, c’mon. It’s like riding a bike. You never forget.”

JD sat down on the swing next to mine. But instead of racing to swing, we simply sat there and looked at each other.

“It’s nice here.” He moved a little on his swing and it creaked under his weight. “It looks like a good place to grow up.”

“It is good, but I can’t see myself living in the suburbs after college. Every fourth house looks the same. It’s all strip malls and highway exits. I want to live in the city, not just for my acting. I love the energy of the city, all the different people.” I looked into JD’s deep, dark eyes. “I want to go somewhere I can be excited about living. Where everybody doesn’t know me and label me. I want to live in a place where life can surprise me.”

He was listening to me, his head tilted close. How often did that happen?

“What about you? Where do you want to be after college?”

“I don’t know. I’m not like you, Evan. I don’t think too much, not about the future. It’s hard for me to….”

“To?”

He blew out a long breath. “To deal with changes.”

His gaze fixated on mine, his expression troubled.

“You have honest eyes,” I said impulsively.
Beautiful. Real.

JD stiffened and then ducked his head away. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

Oh my God
.
He must think I’m so cheesy.

Feeling like a total geek, I swung to hide my sudden nerves. As I moved, the swing groaned in protest. It was not often used anymore. I swung higher before I jumped. Launching myself into the snow, I landed on my butt with a hard thump. Then I turned and signaled JD to do the same.

JD snorted. “No thanks.”

I grinned and swiped the snow off my clothes. “I’ll give you a push.”

“No, you won’t.” JD gave a small smile.

“Yes, I will!” I started toward him with my hands outstretched.

“Hello? Anybody back here?” my sister Courtney bellowed. She and her boyfriend came into the yard. “Oh! There you are, Stinky.”

“Stinky” was Courtney’s childhood nickname for me. I winced hearing it and refused to glance at JD.

“Who are they?’ JD asked in a low voice.

“My sister and her boyfriend.” When I finally turned to look at him, JD appeared nervous.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing. It’s just a lot of meeting people at once.” He ducked his head. “I’m used to being kind of invisible.”

“Aww.” I grabbed his hand. “Not anymore.” I dragged him with me to the edge of the yard. “Hey, guys. This is Tyler.”

“Great to meet you!” Courtney pulled JD into a fast hug.

“You too.” The tips of JD’s ears turned red.

“Oh my God, he’s a hottie,” she whispered as JD and Noah exchanged hellos. “Why’s he with
you
again?”

“You’re a riot, Courtney. Not. Why is Noah with you? Charity? It is the giving time of year,” I added waspishly.

“Geez, I was joking. Touchy much?”

I was being overly sensitive; it had always been one of my worst traits. I got my feelings bruised easily. Being called Stinky didn’t help my mood any either. But then I glanced at JD, who seemed to be over his apprehension. Seeing JD happier made my embarrassment at my nickname fade, and I smiled.

Courtney and her boyfriend Noah were inseparable these days. Noah, like Courtney, was a sophomore in high school. He had a sweet face and messy brown hair tucked under a woolen cap, and even with the last traces of acne that tetracycline hadn’t yet eradicated, he was attractive. He hadn’t quite grown into his height, though; his gawky arms and legs were always in motion. Noah’s parents were in the middle of a bitter divorce, according to Courtney, each of them dragging Noah to their different shrinks, hoping he’d say he wanted to live with them full time, and each trying to bribe him with trips to football games or giving him endless tokens at Chuck E. Cheese, where they’d fill him up on watered-down Cokes and pizza until he was almost puking.

The only place Noah wanted to be was away from his own house. He’d latched onto Courtney sometime while I began college. Courtney already was a knockout, which was weird for me, because just yesterday she’d been a giggling tomboy burping the alphabet and climbing trees. I kicked some snow at my sister.

“What’s your problem?”

“You.” I bent down and made a snowball. “I’m going to get you this year.”

“Oh, no you’re not!” Courtney scooped up some snow. She expertly cupped it in her palms. “I won’t even waste my time on you. You’re easy.”

“That’s what all the boys say.”

I had to admit that Courtney could crush my slight frame in five seconds flat if we did fight. She’d done it often enough on other occasions.

I didn’t care. The Goodman snowball fights were part of our Christmases, and so what if Courtney was always the victor and I was always the one with my face rubbed into the cold snow? It was tradition.

But Courtney had dismissed me, zeroing in on the others instead.

“Snow fight!” Courtney ran full steam at Noah and JD. She flung herself at them, trying to wrestle them into the snow.

“Already?” Noah yelped as she attacked.

JD’s eyes widened as she rushed him.

“Wait! I want to make teams.” I ran up and pulled Courtney off. “Tyler and me versus you and Noah.”

“Fine. Five minutes to work with your partner and then the battle begins. Right, Noah?”

“Whatever.” Noah shrugged, his eyes on Courtney’s chest, which had budded significantly over the past year.

She grabbed Noah’s gloved hand and yanked him with her to one side of the backyard. I pulled JD’s arm.

“Come on. Courtney makes snowballs fast.” We ran to the opposite end of the yard and began to roll our snowballs until we had a nice little stockpile. JD, I noted, was much more skilled than I was at snowball making. My snowballs never seemed to pack on enough, but JD’s all looked rock solid.

“Time!” Noah yelled.

He and Courtney began to hurl their snowballs at JD and me. One hit my shoulder, and I ducked a second one in time. JD flung snowballs back, hitting Noah’s face. As Noah temporarily was out, I took a chance and scurried to a nearby tree, snowballs in hand. I launched one at Courtney as hard as I could, striking her thigh. Before I could dash back to JD, Courtney let out a roar and charged me. She threw two snowballs at once and then knocked me backward into the snow. Here it came—the part where I lost and had my face rubbed with snow.

Suddenly Courtney was lifted away. JD pulled back her coat collar and slid the snowball down, dropping it right under her jacket.

“Ah! That’s cold!” She ran in a circle, shrieking, trying to get the snowball out.

JD quickly offered me a hand and pulled me to my feet. Unfortunately Noah took that second to fling a snowball at JD, striking him dead center in the chest. JD and I looked at each other, and then together we attacked Noah, hurling snowball after snowball.

“I give up!” Noah used his hands to shield himself. “Mercy!”

“We did it!” JD turned and embraced me exuberantly, squeezing tightly before letting me go. “We won!”

“Yeah.” I grinned, breathing hard. The air was cold enough to see our breaths mingling.

Courtney meanwhile had grabbed Noah by the front of his jacket and was kissing him after he’d gallantly rescued her from the snowball down her jacket.

As my younger sister kissed her boyfriend, JD and I simply stood there, our bodies swaying closer, our eyes locked, and for a second, JD’s gaze dropped to my lips.

He wants to kiss me.
I can see it.

“Christ.” JD abruptly backed a step away. He no longer looked at me. His gaze was fixed on some faraway point.

“I, I can’t—”

“Yeah. No. Me either.”

JD rubbed his sides as if he were suddenly cold. “It’s not that I don’t want to—you know.” His voice lowered, making my insides tingle. “But I—” He broke off and ran his hand through his hair. “I can’t.”