Page 8 of Antidote

“Oh, I hear ya,” I growl, shoving him. “But you call my brother a faggot again, and I’ll knock your goddamn teeth out.”

“He is, though.” He chuckles, and my hands fist at my sides. “An ugly fucking faggot.”

I throw my head back and laugh. “Are you blind?” I roll my eyes at him. “Ollie is fucking beautiful.” And then I throw the first punch. He did what I told him not to do, and I have to back up my words.

My knuckles hurt as they split over his jaw, and I draw my arm back and punch him on his cheekbone again. It fucking hurts, but I ignore the pain. Especially because Ian’s whimpers fill my ears, bringing me a great sense of satisfaction. He doesn’t even try to fight back.

With one last punch, Ian falls to the ground.

Maybe it’s too much, and there’s a commotion with all the students screaming, fight, fight, fight. But I don’t care. He had it coming. He can’t disrespect my brother without consequences. And fuck him for betraying him. They’ve been inseparable for years.

I look back at Ollie, and he’s looking down at Ian with a trembling bottom lip. I tilt his chin up to me. “It’s okay, Ollie boy.” He nods rapidly. “I took care of it. I’ll take care of you.” A wobbly smile tilts up his pretty lips, and a smile also blooms on my face.

Even as the principal parts through the crowd, I don’t move. Instead, I grab Ollie’s hand and squeeze once, then turn myself in. I don’t bother looking back at Ian, who I’m pretty sure is still on the floor, and drag Ollie with me to the principal’s office. They have a zero-tolerance bullying policy here, so hopefully, that works in our favor. Either way, I don’t care. I’ll take my punishment willingly.

I just wonder what Dad will say about it now that he knows Ollie is gay.

The day is sunny, and I can feel my shoulders burning as I stand waist-deep in the pool. Now that we’re sixteen, we have more privileges. Hunter has been using those privileges to bring his friends over. Dad doesn’t mind. In fact, he encourages it. Mainly because those friends talk about girls and hockey. I know my dad doesn’t want me to influence Hunter now that I’m out and proud. We’re still close, much to my dad’s chagrin. But Hunt would never abandon me, of that I’m sure.

I lower myself further into the water, relishing the calm whooshing in my ears. I can hear them horsing around even from down here, and I roll my eyes.

Can I ever just have a moment of peace?

Swimming toward the opposite side of the pool, I grab onto the steps and lift myself up as my head breaks through the surface. I sit on the shallow steps and peer over at Hunter. They’re playing Marco Polo as if we’re little kids, and it makes me roll my eyes again.

Hunt doesn’t look sixteen anymore. In the past few months, he has grown inches and bulked up. Then again, we’ll be seventeen in October. I guess it makes sense that he looks more like a man. He’s already past six feet tall. And I’m still standing at five-nine. I wonder if I will grow much taller, but probably not. Mom says I have like an inch or two left in me, and it makes me laugh. I honestly don’t care that much about it. The type of guys I’m attracted to will like that I’m shorter.

Speaking of guys I’m attracted to, I’ve been purposely keeping my eyes off Hunter as much as possible. I don’t want him to suspect my feelings for him, but I also don’t want my parents to notice. They’d freak out and probably send me away. Especially my dad. Lucy always defends me, even though he’s still cold toward me. He’s an asshole. My biggest concern however, is how Hunt would react. We wouldn’t be Green and Blue anymore. We wouldn’t be brothers. I don’t know what we’d be.

We have decided to apply for the same college next semester, and even though we wouldn’t live together, I have no doubt that we could go back to normal. Inseparable as we used to be. He is the only reason I’m here, after all, in the pool with these jocks. I do everything he wants me to do without question. And maybe that’s a problem. But it’s a problem for another day.

The game of Marco Polo is over, and one of the guys glances back at me. He narrows his eyes, and I suddenly feel self-conscious. Does he know I’m gay? Does he think I’m checking him out? I’m not. Hunter is the only one I have eyes for. But he doesn’t know that—they don’t know that. So maybe he thinks I’m staring at him.

“Why is Oliver always around?” the guy asks. I don’t even know his name, and he’s being an asshole. I don’t know any of their names, mostly because I don’t care enough. “He just stares and doesn’t hang out with us.”

“He’s my brother,” Hunter growls. “Wherever I go, he goes.”

My stomach drops.

He’s my brother.

That’s all I’ll ever be to him—his brother.

I get up and out of the water, heading up the pool steps to the chaise lounge, where my towel is draped over the back. I grab it and dry myself, then go back into the house. Thankfully, Dad is working right now. Lucy is at the kitchen island, making food for us all. I try to ignore her and walk past the kitchen, but she clears her throat.

I turn around, tilting my head in question.

“Where are you going?” She raises an eyebrow at me, and I sigh. “The food is almost done.”

“I’m going upstairs,” I reply, trying to hide my sadness. “I’m not feeling the pool anymore.”

“You’re not hungry?”

“Nah.” I shake my head and keep walking. “I’ll be in my room!”

My steps are loud as I run up the stairs and lock myself in my room. I also make sure to lock the Jack-N-Jill bathroom that separates my room from Hunter’s. I know it’s going to piss him off later, but I can’t bring myself to care. He should just focus on hanging out with his friends. I’m the odd one out either way, and I don’t want to be out there.

I drape my towel over the bed and sit on it, not bothering to change out of my swim trunks. I turn on the TV and flick through the channels, not finding anything. I sigh, an exasperated sound echoing in my ears. Instead of trying to find something to do, I lie back and close my eyes.

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