Page 6 of Unexpected Boyfriends

Axel is waiting for me when I get back out there with a face-splitting grin on my face. He smiles at me as I almost bounce in my excitement.

“That was amazing! I have to do that again!” I enthuse.

I do better at selecting a wave this time, and Axel helps me with timing again, and I get another great ride. This time I’m smarter and stop myself before going over the end of the sandbank.

We spend the next hour or so bodysurfing and by the end of that time, I’m a pro (in my own mind) and I’m also exhausted. We collapse on our towels, although it’s probably fair to say I’m the only one actually collapsing. Axel looks like he could still manage a jog or something now, but he can probably see I’m unaccustomed to this sort of exercise and he doesn’t push, for which I'm grateful.

“You’re so lucky growing up here,” I say, as Axel strips off his rashy, making me avert my eyes, and we lie on our towels, drying off in the late afternoon sunshine.

“Yeah, I am. I love it here, which is why I’m still living at home. Wasn’t always easy living here though.”

“How come?”

“W-e-l-l,” he draws the word out as he thinks how to answer. “A lot of the people here are… I don’t know, tight-knit? Cliquey? So that can make it hard when you’re surfing. A lot of the surfers behave as if they own their local break, and if you’re not from there you can run into a bit of trouble.”

“Did that ever happen to you?”

“Once or twice, not much though. I know a lot of the local guys, and my mum has taught most of them, so they tended to leave me alone. Couple of my friends got beaten up pretty badly though.”

“Jeez, that sucks! Just ‘cause they weren’t locals?”

“Yeah. We’re a fairly isolated community down this end of the peninsula, and people get some pretty funny ideas.”

“How badly were they hurt? Any long-term effects?”

“No physical effects, but one of them quit surfing and moved away. He was quite traumatized and never felt safe here after that.”

“I never surf on the weekends anymore anyway,” he continues. “I go out midweek, early before work when it’s quiet. There’s too many surfers on the waves now – and a lot of them don’t know the rules, drop in on the established surfers, cause accidents and stir up all kinds of shit.”

“And some of the locals are really badass. They’ll pick on a surfer just ‘cause they don’t know him. Could still be a local, but just not a regular. Between the entitlement of the locals and the ignorance of the tourists, I like to keep away from it all.”

“So… from the sound of it, it’s not a very inclusive place.” I take a breath, then plunge on wondering if it’s wise to show my hand,“Did… did you know any gay guys growing up here? What was it like for them?”

There’s a pause, then Axel answers slowly.

“Yeah, for sure. They copped a few slurs, but I don’t think they hadmajorproblems. I’m sure they didn’t feel safe though. There were a few serious hate crimes committed in the area about that time. Bad enough to make the news. Hard to know if that was locals though or just people from outside coming here to cause trouble. Mostly they never got caught.”

Axel shrugs. “That was a while ago and society’s changed some since then.”

“True,” I say.

After a moment, Axel asks, “What’s it like in Melbourne?”

“Surfing? I don’t surf and none of my friends do either, so I can’t tell you if our surfers are territorial or not. Probably are. As for the other… I haven’t had any problems.” I watch him carefully as I drop this one. Figure I might as well put it out there sooner rather than later. I see a slight flicker in his eyes, but other than that there’s no reaction to what is, effectively, an announcement. Probably confirming what he already suspected. As I said before, most young people have me figured out real quick.

“Good to hear.” Axel says, approvingly. “Times are changing, right?”

I’m surprised he’s taking this so well. There is one thing that gives me pause though.

“Um, I haven’t…my family doesn’t know,” I blurt out.

“I figured,” Axel responds. “Don’t worry, I know how to keep my mouth shut.”

“Thanks.” It’s kind of embarrassing in this day and age to not be able to come out to your own family, but I know it won’t go down well with mine and I’ve got no plans to go there any time soon.

“Rested?” Axel asks, smoothly changing the subject. “Ready for more fun?”

I nod. The conversation has strayed into heavier topics and I want to get back to the light-heartedness and playfulness of before.

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