“Look into my eyes, dammit,” he said, glaring at me. His eyes were much older than mine, and somehow I recognized them as a part of my biology.

“No,” I said. “I don’t want to!”

Before I knew it, his hand smacked against my face. The blow took me entirely off guard. I fell to the wood floor and glanced upward at the man who hit me. That man was my father.

I thought I could trust him, but in one instant, that trust vanished. I knew he was my enemy, even if I still had love for him. I gritted my teeth and spat blood against the wood floor. The tears fell from my eyes, catching against my lips.

I felt so weak that I let him see me like that. Crying and feeling desperate, I lunged at him. I pinned my father against the wall and raised my fist into the air.

That’s about the time when I realized my errors. I was following in the same footsteps as my father. I had heard stories of my grandfather dealing out harsh abuses toward my father. It seemed like an endless cycle, but I couldn’t continue it. I had to be the bigger man, even if I was only thirteen years old.

Seeing the fear in my father’s eyes shattered my world. I lowered my fist and stared at him in the eyes. I knew that he could see my pain now. At least, he could in that quick moment. I saw his eyes tear up, betraying his tough patriarchal exterior. He was just another man, and I could see that now.

“Don’t touch me,” I said. “Or you’ll get worse. You’ll never see me again.”

What else could you say to your father at such a young age? I didn’t have the words to articulate my pain back then. All I had were my strong emotions and the sense that there wasn’t enough happiness in my home.

I let my father go, and I ran out of the house. My dad eventually grabbed his courage back. He screamed, “Then, be gone for good! What do I care?”

But I was already gone. I was running toward Piper’s house, the only friend in the world that I had. He would know what to say. Piper would know how to hold me. I wouldn’t feel alone when I was in his arms.

My father didn’t seem to want to move on from his bad habits. He never stopped throwing insults and violent acts of abuse my way. I caught them over and over again, and each time, I learned how to smile through the pain.

It takes a little getting used to, and a lot of your soul gets sucked into the fray. It was how I found the courage to leave this shitty town, full of judgmental assholes. Eventually, I laughed in their faces as I stepped on the bus. But, on the other side of that, Piper stood waiting for me in silent melancholy.

“How are you feeling?” Piper asked, leaning in the doorway to my room in the basement.

I opened my eyes and yawned. A smile formed on my face when I saw what he was wearing on his shoes. A single rose petal was pinned to the front, just visible enough for me to see.

“You’re wearing a rose petal. That was our thing,” I said.

Piper shuffled his feet back, but his stance was stronger than it had been. “If anyone asks, I’ll say that it’s in honor of your father. They won’t be able to say anything after that,” Piper said.

I shuffled out of bed. This time, I was wearing some underwear, but it was still a little too revealing for the strict household. Piper’s eyes focused on my body as I slid into my pair of black jeans. I grinned and gave him a wink.

“Jacob’s gone for the day,” Piper said, all of a sudden. “He has to study for the funeral.”

I shook my head in annoyance. “I can’t believe that turd is acting as the speaker. Then again, maybe I can. They’re two peas in a pod, my dad and him,” I said.

“I thought we could go for another walk,” Piper said, but he seemed to instantly regret it. “That’s wrong of me, right? I have a boyfriend.”

“He’s not your boyfriend out of choice,” I said. “You were forced to start dating. I’m surprised they didn’t force you to get married.”

Piper coughed. “Well, he has been talking about it more lately. At first, I refused, but that was so long ago, Cole. I don’t know how I’m going to say no this time. The whole town is watching me like a hawk. I’m one of the oldest non-married people here.”

“Oh, Piper,” I said, moving my shirtless body toward him. I opened my arms and hugged him tightly. “Please don’t tell me you’re considering that. You have so much to live for, so much to say and do. Don’t let your life go so easy.”

When you see your best friend manipulated by everyone around him, it’s only natural to want to help. Most of me wanted to punch the parents, teachers, and betas in the face. But the other side of me wanted to hold him forever and whisper, “It’s going to be okay.”

“Will you walk with me? Please?” Piper asked. “It’s the only thing I want to do right now. I can’t talk about the bad things anymore.”

I let go of him, dragging my forehead across his before standing back. “Of course I’ll walk with you,” I said. “Let me grab a shirt and some things first.”

I grabbed the nearest shirt I could find and swung my tote bag over my shoulder. Inside was a notebook, a camera, and a blanket. There were also a few undeveloped rolls of film. I took those photos before I left this town, and they were all of Piper and me.

Outside, the weather had shifted. Usually, it was beautiful and sunny, but today, there were some dark clouds in the sky. I saw Piper shiver, so I reached into my bag and pulled out the blanket. I threw it over his shoulders.

“You’re sweet,” Piper whispered. “But we should go on this small street here. It’s safer.”

I nodded and walked until we were near our old school. It was summer, so it was deserted. “Should we go inside?” I asked with a smile.

Piper was hesitant, but he wanted to go in with me. I could see it in his eyes. “I still know the secret way in,” he said, smiling.

“By the gym? The fire escape ladder to the second-floor hallway?” I asked.

He nodded, proudly. “It’s still in working order. They haven’t locked it up,” Piper said.

It was terrific to see Piper starting to act like himself again, but I did worry about where we could go with everything. If he left this horrible place with me, we’d have to take on the whole community, and these were not people who took things lying down.

On the other hand, did I really give a fuck about what they thought? Hell no. I only cared about two things: Love, and the freedom of expressing who we were.

Near the side of the gym, above the metal dumpsters, was a small rusty ladder. I gave Piper a leg up, just like I used to. He grabbed onto the ladder and started to climb. I followed him.

As I climbed, I closed my eyes and felt the wind against my back. I heard the rustling of the leaves on the tree branches, and suddenly remembered the sounds of the schoolyard: children laughing and playing, teachers whistling loudly, and the two of us kissing, hidden.

We stepped into the second floor of the school, and I breathed in the weird smell that seemed to filter from the floors. “Ugh. I kind of miss this creepy place,” I admitted.

“I don’t,” Piper said, laughing. His voice echoed off of the lonely walls and empty lockers.

I glanced down the hall. It was a weird sight to see. When I noticed the poster on the wall, I sighed. “Betas Rule!” it read in big, blocky letters.

“Oh God,” I whispered, pointing. “I definitely don’t miss that. Gross.”

Piper grabbed my waist and leaned his head against my shoulder. “Yeah. This place is a training camp,” he said.

I smiled a little when a devious thought entered into my mind. I reached into my bag and pulled out a black marker. I began walking toward the poster. “If these schools are training young minds to be intolerant, maybe we should put up a little fight,” I said, laughing.

“Cole, no. Let’s just keep walking,” Piper begged.

Of course, I was too rebellious to merely walk away from my dangerous side. I popped open the marker cap and held the marker up to the poster.

Something weird happened at that moment. As I lowered the marker closer to the print, I remembered holding my fist near my father’s face. The pain I felt back then skirted right through me, latching onto my stomach. I suddenly couldn’t find the urge to deface the poster.

“Never mind. You’re right. I don’t know what I’m doing,” I said.

I put the marker back into my bag and felt Piper’s loving hands run across my shoulder. “It’s okay. I understand,” he said.

I knew that he did. Any type of pain that I experienced or felt, he did too. We were so much alike that it almost made no sense how we ever split apart.

As we walked, we saw our old English classroom. That was our favorite class because the teacher was actually pretty lenient, considering the options he had.

“Mr. Ingles,” I whispered.

Piper smiled and tapped his heels with excitement. “Remember when he showed us that band? What were they called?”

“Pelada? Oh my God. He almost got fired for doing it too!” I exclaimed. “Damn. I totally forgot about him. He’s probably the reason why I write. Whatever happened to him?”

“He left too, eventually. Things have gotten really weird here now, Cole. It’s the same, but different. Everyone has grown up, and they’re even stricter. It’s almost like a religious cult,” Piper said.

“Piper, it is a cult. They make you mate with people you wouldn’t normally talk to,” I said.

Piper looked down at the floor and sighed. “Yeah. I know,” he said.

I hugged him quietly and quickly kissed his cheek. His skin was so soft. Piper was still innocent in so many ways, and once he felt my lips, he pulled away and started walking.

I ran to catch up to him, but neither of us wanted to admit what had just happened. It wasn’t a deep and passionate kiss, but it was a connection, and I knew he wanted more. Still, we weren’t willing to take the next step. Not yet, anyway.

“You know, all my books are about you,” I said. Piper stopped walking. His heels stood heavy on the first stair down to the science & biology wing of the school. “You know, different moments that we’ve had together. I change it a little to fit the story, but I always picture your face, Piper. You’re so—”

“Come on. We should go,” Piper interrupted me. “I think I hear people outside.”

“You’re handsome,” I finished my sentence. “And cute. And funny. And wonderfully sweet. You’re incredible, Piper.”

“Thank you,” Piper whispered. I knew that he wasn’t able to say it back to me. He just wasn’t there yet, and that was okay. Maybe he wouldn’t ever get there. If not, I would still be his friend from afar. I wouldn’t push any agenda onto him.

We left the school and walked toward the park. The day was growing older, but it wasn’t over. Plus, we still had a few hours until Jacob came home from preparing for my dad’s funeral.

Both of us were silent for a while, but when we sat down on the swings, we started talking. “A lot of the residents are on summer vacation,” Piper said.

“I was wondering why the park was so empty,” I said.

“Well, the kids don’t really come here that much anyway,” Piper said. “To be honest, there aren’t that many children anymore.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, staring at the lush green trees around me.

“I mean that no one has kids anymore. Well, not no one, but you know what I mean,” Piper said.

“But they are getting married?” I asked, trying to wrap my head around everything.

“Well, yeah. Their parents force most of the people to get married. The traditional rite and all. But not many have children,” Piper said.

I laughed and shook my head. It was so ludicrous that it felt almost comical. “It’s because they don’t freakin’ love each other!” I yelled. “What is wrong with these people?”

“Cole! Calm down. Not everyone has gone away for the summer. They could hear you.” Piper’s eyes were wide with fear.

“Sorry,” I said. The passion in me quickly faded. We both jumped from the swing, feet slamming into the sand beneath us. As I looked forward, I saw a couple walking toward the park.

“Shit,” Piper muttered. “Come on. Hurry. Those are Jacob and I’s friends from his work.”

Both of us turned around and started walking fast toward an opposite street. Piper threw the blanket over his head like a shawl and proceeded to walk. The men noticed us. “Piper?”

“Keep walking,” Piper whispered through his teeth.

“Piper! Hello?” The men yelled after us, but we were quick enough to find an alleyway.

Out of breath and full of fear, I noticed that Piper was crying. His tearstains shined against the sun as he leaned against the brick wall, chest pumping up and down.

“I knew it. I knew this would happen,” Piper said.

“It’s okay. I don’t know if they really knew it was you,” I said. But as I glanced behind us, I knew that they recognized him.

“Are you kidding me, Cole? They knew. This isn’t some big city. This is our little town. We have a thousand residents in total, and how many live in this neighborhood?” Piper asked, trembling. He lowered his body closer to the street and held his knees in his arms.

“I don’t know. I guess like fifty,” I said, knowing how wrong I was.

“Yeah, exactly. I’m fucked. Jacob is going to find out now. What am I going to do?” Piper asked the sky.

I felt an overwhelmingly emotional knot form in the back of my throat. I paced the alley, thinking, but there was nothing I could do except apologize. “It was wrong of me to tempt you yesterday,” I said. “And now, I feel like I’ve created a huge problem. I’ll leave right after the funeral. I promise.”

“Good,” he said. “Because I don’t think we can see each other again.”

Even though I understood why, it still hurt nonetheless. I still loved him, and now it was really over.