Trouble Comes in Twos (Finding Jet Book 1)

by Alice Mura

  “I did...”

  “Then don’t question it. Look, my dad left me money for pizza. Why don’t we just go order something and watch TV or whatever?”

  “Okay...”

  Jet stood up but Liam didn’t follow him. He looked up nearby pizza places on his phone then looked at Liam sitting on the bed, seeming to stare at something invisible on the ground.

  “Are you going to be okay?” said Jet. The amor had ebbed away like a low tide, leaving a shadow of despair. They had been amazing together, so why was Liam freaking?

  “Yeah...I just need to wrap my head around what happened.”

  “What do you like on your pizza?”

  “Meat lovers.”

  “I’m vegetarian so I’m going to get half meat lovers and half veggie lovers. Is that alright?”

  Liam didn’t answer. Jet ordered the pizza and turned the TV on to cover the silence in the apartment. The delivery guy didn’t even blink when Jet answered the door in full girl clothes. The smell of sizzling cheese and pizza dough wafted through the rooms. Once Jet had paid and closed the door, Liam finally left the bedroom. Was Liam ashamed to be seen with him now? Jet found some paper plates in the kitchen and handed one to Liam, who only stared at it.

  “Dig in. You can have the entire meat lovers half.” Jet could feel the tension in the room as he served out two slices each. It was like the roof above them was sinking in, slowly compressing the air. Liam had gone from excited and playful to despondent like a switch had been flipped.

  “I think I should go,” said Liam, staring at his uneaten pizza.

  “What, why?” yelped Jet, putting his food down.

  “I’m not really hungry anymore.” Liam moved to leave but Jet stepped in front of him.

  “Please don’t go. Don’t leave like this. If something’s bothering you, tell me. I’ll listen.”

  “I just need some time alone right now to figure things out.” Liam tried to step past Jet who moved to block him. Jet clung to his shirt with both fists.

  “Please don’t. This was so wonderful. This night was wonderful. If you’re hurt or confused, we can talk about it.” Tears pooled in his eyes and his insides felt like a blizzard of whirling pebbles slicing him to shreds.

  “I can’t talk about it with you.” As Liam made to step past him again, Jet was pressed against the door pleading.

  “I can be a girl for you! I promise. I’ll come to school in a skirt with full makeup every day. No one will question your sexuality. I can totally be a girl for you. Please don’t leave!”

  Liam removed Jet’s hands from his shirt and held them. “I would never…could never ask you to do that in order to be with me. You said it yourself; you’re a guy.”

  And with those words, Liam left. Jet collapsed against the closed doors sobbing his eyes out. Everything had been going so perfectly. They were bonding and spending time together. Liam was actually attracted to him. They had sex. Why hadn’t he just lied and played along with Liam’s girl fantasy? Looking back, it was so obvious what Liam wanted from Jet. But between the excitement, the hormones, and the weed, Jet hadn’t been thinking straight. He had been completely honest about his feelings. Shit, he’d even said he loved Liam. His one moment of bliss was melting like sugar in the rain. Everything had been so perfect, and it was all snatched away from him. Was he born just to be miserable? God took his mother, and then his father turned into an alcoholic wreck who abandoned his son. He’d endured endless abuse in foster care. When he had finally found a foster family he loved, God took that away too. He had made an incredible friend and lost him, all in the same day.

  Now Jet would have to return to school friendless and alone, with an angry bully hunting him. The appointment with child services couldn’t come soon enough. Why couldn’t he just be a normal boy with typical interests, attracted to girls? Why did his life have to be so messy and confusing?

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Jet tossed and turned in bed, thinking of all the different things he could have said to make Liam stay. The events of that evening played over and over inside his mind like a demonic treadmill torturing him with regret. Tears flowed every time he remembered Liam’s exit. He had come on too strong. He had been too accommodating to Liam’s sexual interest. If Jet hadn’t pushed for a sexual encounter, they would still be friends. At least then he’d have a friend. Maybe more if he had built up to it slowly and given Liam some time to figure things out. But no, he had wanted everything and ended up with nothing. The worst part was he had no one to talk to about these things. Paula was sweet and kind, but he couldn’t talk about his sex life with her. His dad was trying his hardest, but this wasn’t something he would understand. Jet contemplated calling his old friends in Redondo but felt like they would resent him by calling just to complain. He was alone with his pain.

  Jet woke that morning to the sound of pounding on the door. “Jet, get up. We have to get you to school. You’re going to be late.” Tony knocked again.

  He reached for his phone to check the time and discovered the battery was nearly dead. He’d forgotten to put it on charge. Shit, he only had fifteen minutes until last bell. Without thinking he leapt into the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and washed away the tear streaks on his cheeks. Pulling on sneakers, he found his dad zipping around the house.

  “Keys, phone, wallet, files. I wrapped some pizza up in tinfoil for your lunch. It’s in the fridge. Thanks for ordering me the meat lovers, but you should have put the leftovers in the fridge. I guess you didn’t know when I was coming home.”

  “Sorry...”

  “It’s fine, kiddo. Let’s get moving.” Jet’s dad pushed a travel mug and a foil-wrapped package into his hand as they dashed down the stairs. Only when he sat down in the passenger seat did he realize he was still wearing his girl clothes from the night before. This was going to be a very long day if he didn’t change into something more heteronormative. He debated telling his dad he needed to change, but they were already on the road. If he was late to class, it would start showing on his record, and dad would get a notice, then child services would be involved. Besides, Jackson already hated him so wearing a skirt wouldn’t change that.

  Jet slipped on his seat belt as his dad blew through a stop sign on the way to school. When they got there, only two cars sat in the drop off zone. The car didn’t even come to a complete stop as Jet unbuckled his seat belt and leaped from the vehicle in one fluid motion.

  “Bye.” Jet sprinted to class. No one was hanging out outside the school. Jet pounded upstairs to his first class when the bell rang. He cursed to himself as he sprinted for his class. Flinging the door open, he was shocked to see a different teacher and room. The room number was 204 and he was supposed to be in 202.

  “Sorry,” he said as he slammed the door shut. Jet popped into room 202 to find the pretty blond teacher had already begun her lecture.

  “Bright and early, Mr. DeVille,” said the teacher with a hint of sarcasm.

  “Sorry I’m late,” he said, keeping his head down as he hurried to the back of the class. The class murmured among themselves but not much considering a boy in a skirt had just popped into their classroom.

  “Did you even bring the supplies listed in your syllabus?” said the teacher with a hint of remorse. Jet hadn’t even bothered to learn her name.

  “No...my family’s poor.”

  The teacher was visibly taken aback by his admission. “I see...” Jet’s teacher went through the drawers of her desk and produced a spiral notebook and a mechanical pencil before handing them to the student at the front of the row. “Please pass these back to Mr. DeVille.”

  The meager supplies made their way back to Jet who hadn’t even remembered to bring his Algebra book.

  “Here, you can share with me,” said the girl from yesterday, scooting her desk closer to his so he could read from her textbook.

  “Thanks,” Jet whispered.

  “See me after class, Mr. DeVille.”

  Jet
ducked his head to avoid the teacher’s measured stare. The rest of the lesson carried on. At one point the teacher called on Jet, and they were both surprised to find he knew the answer. Once the bell rang, the teacher returned to her desk, and Jet approached as the rest of the kids emptied out.

  “You wanted to see me?” said Jet, holding his notebook across his waist with both hands.

  “Why are you always late to my class?”

  “Well, I mean, it’s only been two days.”

  “And you were late both days. Is someone giving you a hard time before homeroom? Is someone bullying you?”

  Jet’s heart jumped. Did she know something? If he told her, could he possibly end his troubles at school? Maybe stick around longer and try and mend things with Liam? He met her narrowed brown eyes. Or, he could humiliate himself and anger Jackson even further. He sucked in his bottom lip.

  “It’s my first week here, and I still don’t know the layout of the school. I was late today because I overslept. That’s all.”

  His teacher studied him a moment. “Alright, then. I want you to know if you’re having problems at school, you can come to me. I don’t know how they did things at your old school, but we take care of our students here. You’re not alone, Jetsam.”

  “Ah, thanks...”

  “You don’t know my name, do you?”

  “I’m sorry. My syllabus is in my locker.”

  “It’s Ms. DeVille. I’ve never met someone I shared a name with. I’ll be keeping an eye on you.”

  Jet felt his eyes jump wide open. A warm, sticky wave of mommy issues washed over Jet as he stared at his young, attractive teacher.

  “I should go. Better not be late and all that.”

  “I’m here if you need to talk,” Ms. DeVille called after him as he left.

  Jet hunched against the crowd around him as he walked to his next class. He greeted teachers and students automatically, opened and closed textbooks without seeing them. At lunch time he ate his cold pizza in a classroom he found unlocked. He sat with his back to the hall-side wall so no one could see him. The only time he came alive was when scanning the crowds in hopes of catching sight of Liam. His phone died at 1pm, with no messages received.

  After lunch, Jet trudged to Ms. Raizar’s art class. He had forgotten to go to the office to see about switching art classes, and right now he wondered if there was any point. His dad would take him to the education office in a fortnight, and Jet would demand to find a college, or maybe an online class to get his certificate. He’d wash his hands of high school forever. Ms. Raizar cast several small glances his way as she conducted the lesson but didn’t say anything. Jet took time to work on his sketches.

  After the bell rang, Jet gathered his things and left the classroom blindly. He was the last one out. Someone grabbed him in a headlock. Jet dropped his books and pencils and grasped the arm, trying to force it off. The grip was sunk tight around his neck. He staggered down the hall, fighting and gasping. The person cinching his head dragged him into the boys’ bathroom and shoved him hard against the urinals. The porcelain slammed him in the ribs. Jet staggered and fell. His side flamed as new pain mixed with yesterday’s bruise.

  “Jimmy said you had art after lunch,” Jackson hissed, clenching his fists. His lips curled in a sneer, revealing pointy canines. “Fucking arty-farty faggot.”

  “What do you want from me! I didn’t even do anything to you!” shouted Jet through angry tears. If he had a knife, he would have stabbed Jackson right then. Rage and pain boiled through him. Liam wouldn’t help him this time. Liam would probably never look him in the eye again. He couldn’t stand one more thing in his fucked-up life. “Leave me the fuck alone!” he screamed.

  “Nope. I want you out of my school, and if you won’t leave, I’m going to send you away in an ambulance.” Jackson took a step closer. Jet’s memory flashed with the image of Liam talking about punching Jackson in the face. With all the anger and frustration of his childhood, Jet rocked forward on his knees, throwing a looping punch at Jackson. It glanced off the guy’s ribs. Jackson kneed him in the face, making Jet’s head bounce off the wall. Grey fuzz crowded the edges of his vision. Jackson blurred into two terrifying figures of red adolescent rage. Sound buzzed in his ears.

  Through the mist in his eyes, Jet saw Jackson unzip his pants. He knew what was going to happen next. Jackson was either going to humiliate him by pissing on him or assault him like his foster brothers. Whatever the case, he wasn’t going to let himself be humiliated or coerced again.

  Jet slashed Jackson’s penis with his nails, making Jackson howl in pain and tumble on top of him.

  “You fucking faggot! I’m going to fucking kill you!” Jackson screamed, raining down punches on him. Jet fought back trying to slash his face, but sudden fiery pain knocked the wind from him as Jackson drove his knee into his groin. Jet doubled over, his guts heaving up his lunch.

  “What are you doing?” someone yelled. Dimly Jet became aware of a girl in the boy’s bathroom. “There’s someone being thrashed in the boy’s bathroom!”

  Jackson swore and lurched to his feet. He turned to run but someone even bigger than him grabbed him by the arms and shoved him against the wall.

  “Your days here are over,” said the man restraining Jackson. A teacher maybe. As his attacker was forced from the bathroom, a girl knelt down beside Jet who lay on the floor, curled up around his clutched groin.

  “Can you stand?” she asked. Through the shadows in his vision, Jet made out her face. The girl was classically cute with dark hair and beautiful wide eyes. The extra flesh on her face was creased as she frowned in concern. Her pouty lips parted as she spoke again, but her words were lost on him. She reached out a hand to help him up, but he ignored it.

  “One sec.” Jet gasped. “My balls are killing me.” He rolled over onto his back and puffed.

  “We should take you to the nurse,” said the girl. The walls of the room began to take on a solid white shape and the floor stopped seething.

  “We need to take him to Nordstrom and find out what happened,” said another male voice behind her. A teacher Jet recognized from his history class stood there, one hand clasped to his head as if he had the mother of all headaches.

  “He needs to see a nurse first! He could have a concussion,” said the girl.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be in AP Biology, Ms. Weiss?” said the teacher.

  Jet sat up with a groan and scooted away from his vomit. The girl offered her hand again and Jet took it, gingerly testing his ability to move.

  “Some things are more important. I’m going to take him to the nurse’s office. Then, if he wants to see Mr. Nordstrom, I’ll take him there too.”

  The teacher, a bald man with thick arms in his fifties, looked on disapprovingly, but the tone in the girl’s voice sounded like she had already made up her mind.

  “Go...I’ll tell your teacher you’ll be late.”

  “Are you okay to walk?” she asked, pulling Jet’s arm around her to help carry his weight.

  “Yeah...”

  The girl led him out of the bathroom. They found that a small group of students had gathered to check out the action.

  “This isn’t a live stream. Get out of here!” she shouted, waving her free arm as if to shoo them. Some left, and there was enough room to move down the hall. Jet hung his head.

  “My name’s Amy. What’s yours?” said the girl as they cleared the crowd.

  “Jet.”

  “Really? What a cool name.”

  “What were you doing in the boy’s bathroom?”

  “I left something in class, then saw your dropped books, and got worried. I’d seen Jackson go by the door as class ended and I know he’s got a problem with some people, and I was worried about you. I guess my suspicions were right, as usual.”

  “You saved me...” Jet could put weight on his feet, but every step renewed the ache in his balls from when Jackson kneed him, so they had to walk slowly to the nurse
’s office. He breathed fast, trying to distract himself from the sting of needles in his privates.

  “I’m sure a dozen kids saw it, but everyone is afraid of Jackson.”

  “You weren’t.”

  “I’m not afraid of him. I’m afraid of people who won’t do anything about bullies.”

  Jet stopped a moment to look Amy in the eyes. Amy had a round face and pink wire-frame glasses. Just by talking to her a few moments, Jet could tell she was intelligent.

  “Thank you.”

  Amy took Jet to the nurse’s office, where he was examined for a concussion. The nurse shined a small light directly in each eye as she held his head.

  “You seem fine, but there’s a bump on your head. Rest here a bit, let me know if you feel nauseous or dizzy,” said the nurse, taking her seat at a metal desk. She started filling in a form.

  “Take as much time as you need,” said Amy who stood at the doorway with her arms crossed as if she was Jet’s personal bodyguard. Though Jet and Amy were about the same height, Amy probably weighed more than him. Jet was rail-thin while Amy was pleasantly chubby. Jet blinked in surprise as he discovered that he found her attractive. Was it just because she had saved him? Or because he had hit his head? Or was it something else entirely? Since when did he feel attracted to girls? Sure he could appreciate prettiness, but it had never made him feel like he wanted to explore that beauty. He sighed and closed his eyes. It was too much for one day. Too much for one lifetime, more likely.

  When his breath had finally slowed and he felt like he could move his legs without wincing at each step, Jet sat up with a groan. There was plenty in his body that still hurt. “I guess we should probably get this over with.”

  Amy smiled encouragingly and led him to the principal’s office. Jet had been bracing himself to face Jackson, but there was no sign of him. Jet breathed a sigh of relief. His eyes flicked across the room to confirm, and caught sight of Liam sitting in the waiting area, probably waiting to be dispatched on page duties. Their gaze met, and the two exchanged a silent meaningful look. The only thing that mattered was restoring his relationship with Liam. Even if they could only be friends, it would be enough. Liam stood up, but at that moment Jet was tugged away into Mr. Nordstrom’s office.