Chapter 6: Mick’s Resolve

 

Mick returned to his room, feeling numb and dazed. He lay back down on the bed where moments before, he'd almost had his first kiss.

 

Thanks, mom. Mick sighed, and he could almost imagine the lingering scent of Om's deodorant in the air. Had the handsome senior really tried to kiss him? Or was it just his imagination? Things had progressed so fast from the day before it made his head spin just to think about it. He sat up, needing a cold shower badly. He started emptying his pockets and his hands came across a crumpled piece of fabric.

 

Om's handkerchief. He stared at it a while. He wondered why he'd even stolen it. It felt like such a good idea at the time. He smiled, remembering how tender Om had been while attending to him. Was it just the affection of a senior towards his junior? Or perhaps something more? Mick sighed again, and tossed the hanky into the washing pile. Now he really needed that cold shower.

 

Dinnertime was an excruciating affair. His mom alternated between gushing about Om to berating Mick in front of his sister. As for her part, Jen just complained about the noise they were making while she had been trying to study.

 

"At least it was quite beautiful," his mom said in their defense. "I can't wait to attend your performances, Mick."

 

"I'm just in the marching band, Ma. Maybe next year," he said, rolling his eyes. He didn't tell her about Om's plan to include him in the Live Show. He was sure she'd want to come and film him or do something equally embarrassing.

 

"And how come we haven't seen this handsome Om guy before? He's quite a bit older than you isn't he?" She asked.

 

"He's my senior, of course he's older. He's in the 11th grade, Ma."

 

"You should have seen him," his mother addressed his sister. "He was very tall and handsome, too. And such nice manners." Now it was his sister's turn to roll her eyes. "You could learn a lot from him, Mick."

 

"Yeah some kind of manners would be nice. You nearly gave mom a heart attack this afternoon. I had to go with her around your school asking everyone if they'd seen you! It was so embarrassing," Jen said to Mick angrily. "All those...boys...staring!"

 

"I'm really sorry," Mick said in a small voice. How many times would he have to apologize, he wondered. It wasn't as if he did it on purpose. "I won't do it again." 

 

"Make sure you don't," Jen said. "And you're so doing the dishes for the rest of the month."

 

"Week!" He countered, and they bickered back and forth before agreeing that he'd do two weeks' worth of chores to make up for his lapse.

 

Back in his room, Mick checked his laptop for messages, and to his surprise, he got a few more invites on Facebook, all from strangers who seemed to have one thing in common - They were already friends with Om. 

 

Hi, you're cute, can I get to know you? Said one. Mick felt himself start blushing unconsciously. Cute? Me?

 

Are you single? Asked another. He had no idea how to reply to that.

 

While others were just friend requests without any message at all, including one each from Film and Per. He felt flattered, but confused at the sudden attention. What had happened? He decided to just accept them all for now and not reply.

 

And then he opened a message that contained an attachment that made his blood run cold.

 

It was a picture of Om and Mick at the food court. Om's back was facing the camera, but Mick's face could be seen clearly, and a hand could be seeing touching his lips with a handkerchief. The sender's name was TheTruth AboutMick.

 

Mick's heart pounded as he scrolled through more pictures. Again, a picture of Om with his arm around Mick, taken from the back. And one more, of them entering the cab together. None of the pictures contained Om's face, but Mick could clearly be seen.

 

There was a single message below the three pictures: I hope he knows you like to do it in the toilets.

 

Mick stifled a cry of alarm. It had to be the same guy! The one who'd cruelly trapped him in the toilet after school the day before. How had he known Mick and Om would be at MBK Centre? No one knew about their little excursion. 

 

Except Heng, Mum and Loy. And Om himself, but that was ridiculous. It had to be one of those three, or someone those three had told. Om hadn't told them where he was bringing Mick, but National Stadium was the last stop after Siam, and there was only one place of interest he could've brought Mick so that wasn't hard to piece together. But why would anyone stalk them like that? 

 

He clicked on the profile but it was empty. The profile picture was a zoomed-in one of Mick at the food court, looking surprised as a hand was touching his lips. TheTruth AboutMick. Mick narrowed his eyes in anger. 

 

On impulse, Mick typed back: What do you want? Why are you doing this?

 

Immediately he saw that the message was read, and a reply came back:

 

Stay away from Om.

 

Mick leaned back in his chair. So it was someone who had feelings for Om too? 

 

We’re just friends, he typed, but the message didn’t deliver. There was an error: User not found. Either the guy had blocked him or had deleted the account, he wasn’t sure. Mick prayed he wasn’t using it to message other people and spread god knows what about himself. 

 

Mick's first reaction was to reach for the phone and call Om. He'd know what to do. The senior always did. He wasn't too concerned about the pictures, actually. He had nothing to hide, but he was worried for Om. What if the senior got spooked by the pictures and decided to avoid Mick entirely? Or worse…avoid Mick anyway, for his own good? He couldn’t bear the thought of not being able to be with Om anymore.

 

He realised he’d fallen for the senior - hook, line and sinker. He never thought he’d be this happy with anyone, but when he was around Om, the world somehow felt more exciting and vibrant. Every glance he gave Mick was mesmerising, every touch an electric bolt.

 

I won’t give in to this bully, whoever he - or they - are, Mick swore. I won’t ever give up Om!

 

***

 

It’s been eighteen hours and twenty five minutes since I’ve seen Om, was his first thought when Mick woke up the next day. The young teenager felt like he was going a bit crazy. How can a person possibly miss someone this much? 

 

He’d spent half the night tossing and turning, unable to erase the almost-kiss from his mind. Even the creepy message he’d received hadn’t managed to damp his spirits. The more Mick thought about it, the more sure he was that Om had intended to kiss him. He’d sent a goodnight message to Om, but it hadn’t even been read yet, even though it was almost noon now. 

 

Mick hadn’t even checked his computer since last night, for fear of finding more threatening messages. Normally it would have been one of the first things he did on weekends, and he cursed his bullies for taking away yet another one of his few simple pleasures in life. So he busied himself by putting on his headphones and doing homework while listening to music.

 

His phone beeped at him. Mick grabbed it, hoping it was Om.

 

Are you free in the afternoon? 

 

Mick yelled a loud “YES!” and was promptly answered with a “Shut up!” by his sister next door. 

 

Oh god, what to say? Should I play it cool? He felt like replying yes immediately, but would that make him sound desperate? 

 

Just wondering if you could come over to my place later. My parents won't be in, so we'll have the place to ourselves.

 

Mick looked at Om’s message, stunned. Did he just…? Was he serious? Mick felt nervous, excited and apprehensive, all at the same time. This was beyond his wildest dreams. This was also too fast, too soon.

 

He really liked Om. He was dying to kiss Om. But did he want to do...more? What if Om wanted to, could he say no? Did he want to say no? 

 

Mick had watched of course, both gay and straight. He remembered the first time he’d tried to google it, he was so afraid that some shadowy Anti-ography police would track him down, break through his door and arrest him. He’d then make front page news the next day and he’d just have to throw himself out the window if that happened. A lot of the things they did in the gay videos he’d seen frightened and excited him at the same time, and he kept wondering if it would be painful. 

 

Maybe he could somehow convince Om to go slow. He didn’t think Om was the type to have after just one date (did yesterday count as a date?), but then again the senior was two years older than him, and had probably done everything already. Even in his own year, Mick had overheard some of his classmates bragging about being with girls from the nearby convent, but he’d never paid much attention to them. Maybe Om was like one of those guys, after all, Mick thought sadly. Maybe that’s why he paid for Mick's phone repairs, and why he was suddenly so nice to him. 

 

Mick even contemplated asking his mom for advice. She'd always said he could approach her with anything but he hadn’t even told her he liked boys yet. She’d just have too many questions. And he was sure she’d stop him from seeing Om, despite the “gift" of condoms she made earlier this year. He never thought he’d might actually use them this soon. 

 

He stared at the screen, unsure of what to say. Om would have seen that he’d read the message and would be waiting for an answer. Mick closed his eyes and decided to go for it. He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life wondering what would happen if he didn’t. 

 

Okay. What time? He typed with trembling fingers. This was going to be it. The day I lose my ity!

 

About 1pm. Mum and his band are coming over, they want to see you. Come earlier if you can so I can prepare you a bit. Bring the horn.

 

Oh. Duh. Mick hit himself in his head with his own phone several times. 

 

All that effort hyping himself up and it was for nothing. Mick felt very stupid, and at the same time slightly disappointed, but relieved. Stupid that he'd been so quick to jump into the conclusion that all Om had wanted was to have . Disappointed that Om hadn’t wanted to see him personally, but relieved that Om wasn’t the sort to just jump in bed with anyone. Although maybe one day Mick would want to be in his bed, somewhere down the line. He smiled ruefully to himself at the thought.

 

Suddenly Mick realised that he’d be meeting Heng, Mum and Loy. The same three from the train last night. The only ones who could have sent that threat. Were all three of them involved or just one? Mick had no idea. He packed his French horn with some apprehension. He’d just have to be more alert, that’s all. And somehow find a clue as to the real culprit. He couldn’t help but recall those words the mystery guy had sent: Stay away from Om.

 

And now he was going to Om’s home. Mick suppressed a shudder. Whichever one it was, he wasn’t going to let them win without a fight.