Book I: Burnt Bliss [BoyxBoy]

Chapter 25: Fire at Will

And so a few hours later, Will returned home in the early evening from his rather casual meeting with Sarah and a couple of his other friends. After they had all met up for their late lunch, they walked for quite some time, near the edge of the river, talking & getting to know Sarah better. He actually felt much more open around her in that kind of setting. A large, beautiful sun was just starting to settle on the horizon as Will came home.

He walked inside through the front door past the living room. As he came in, he found his mother in the dining room, sitting at the table drinking tea

"Do tell me of your latest meeting with Sarah." She requested. As he saw no harm in it, he paused and sat down.

"So," she asked, raising her tea to her lips, "how was your time together?" She drank, and Will had a split second to create a convincing reply.

"Lovely, thank you." He nodded, hoping she would ignore his anxious eyes. "We connected a bit, actually. Being away from home made me more at ease." But that wasn't enough. Now he had to lie. "We're very excited for next year."

"Really?" She tilted her head, intrigued.

"Oh, yes." He smoothly lied, wearing a large nervous smile. "I know I haven't shown it, but i'm quite enamored with her, given how attractive she is."

That sounded realistic, right? Convincing her was really important...

"Is that so?" She set down her tea.

She believed that, didn't she?

"Absolutely. Still waters running deep, if you will."

"So this is a good match, yes?"

Didn't she?...

"Indeed; a fine match, in fact." He smiled, his feigned heterosexuality practiced and rehearsed.

"A fine match." She echoed, then paused. "Hmm. I don't believe you."

"I'm--sorry?" Will's voice twitched slightly as his nerves took over. That did not sound good. Did she try and corner Augustus while he was out? Ask him inappropriate questions?

"I don't believe you." she repeated.

He laughed a little, anxiously.

"Why?"

She stared him dead in the face and held something up.

His journal.

Yes, the brown leather book with the little strapped lock he'd been keeping since Christmas, was now in her clutches. The one he'd started before Augustus was even living with him.

Which had just about every single detail of their relationship.

From when he started having strong feelings...his disinterest in Sarah...the drawing he made at the river! Their first kiss! Countless interludes and affections no one else had ever known about or noticed were now on display for both his parents to judge.

Making matters worse, he had spent both sides of three pages describing the night of his birthday, with a mere four paragraphs describing the party itself, and only a few lines about seeing Sarah. Everything else concerned details about their first time. Yes, he decided, that was the worst one of them all.

For the love of God, his mother didn't need to read about that! She wouldn't want to know about that, would she? If she didn't, why would she keep reading anyway?

He began to panic, thinking about what she must've read, which parts she hated the most. Which ones humiliated him the most now that they had seen it.