Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan Read Free Book Online Page B

houses they pass, the shape of the clouds overhead. Then they get to a murmuring stretch, a shallow inlet.
    “Here,” Ryan says. “A drifting spot.”
    They put down their paddles, and Ryan turns his body so they’re facing one another.
    “Hi,” he says.
    “Hi,” Avery says back.
    “I would’ve brought fishing gear, but it’s just so, well, mean to the fish.”
    “I’m a vegetarian.”
    “Me too.”
    A smile. “Of course you are.”
    Avery leans over a little, spreads his fingers in the water. Itfeels good to create a current, however small. The air is light and the water is quiet, the trees bending from the shore to listen to the tiny waves. The boat rocks gently.
    “So what’s your story?” Ryan asks.
    Avery looks up at him, hand still in the water. “My story?”
    “Yeah. Everybody has at least one.”
    For a few uncomfortable seconds, Avery worries that Ryan thinks he’s a mutant, thinks he’s a joke, and wants him to come clean. But then Avery realizes from Ryan’s expression that, no, it isn’t about that. Ryan is trying to craft a conversation, and wants it to be a meaningful one. Because what’s more meaningful than a person’s story?
    “I can start if you want me to,” Ryan volunteers.
    “Sure,” Avery says. “You start.” Because it’s a little safer that way. Avery doesn’t know how he can tell
a
story without telling
the
story, and he wants to be sure Ryan was really looking for something that big when he asked his question.
    “Okay,” Ryan says. “Here goes.” He takes in an endearingly nervous breath, then exhales the start of his story, telling Avery how almost everybody in his family was born here and how almost everybody in his family has stayed here. His father being the big exception. He left when Ryan was three, and Ryan and his mom were stuck for about five years after that, until she met his stepfather, Don. He’s not that bad, as stepfathers go, but he’s not what Ryan would’ve chosen, either. He’s very old-fashioned about what men do and what women do. Ryan’s mom is fine with that—she likes him being the boss. But Ryan’s not as okay with it. They had two kids together, Ryan’s half-sisters, Dina and Sharon.
    “Dina’s really sweet,” Ryan says, “and Sharon is going to grow up to be a monster. She’s only eight, but you can tell. If things don’t go her way, the world has to pay for it, you know?”
    Avery nods, and Ryan continues. “So yeah. That’s the background. I grew up here, and I get into fights sometimes with my parents. My aunt Caitlin saves my life daily. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. She saves my life
weekly
. She totally called it on me being gay. My mother was too lost in herself to notice, and Don didn’t want to see it, so he ignored it. Caitlin waited for me to catch up to her. I had other things to think about at first—with Don, and then my sisters, and just fitting in to Kindling. Little League, that kind of thing. But eventually I noticed who I was staring at, and it wasn’t the girls. I’ll be honest—it freaked me out. I tried to like girls instead. I really did.”
    “How’d that work for you?” Avery asks, letting his voice joke a little.
    Ryan mocks up a sigh. “Well … I went out with Tammy Goodwin for almost a year, in fourth grade. Really serious. I mean, we bought each other stuffed animals on Valentine’s Day. That’s practically marriage in fourth grade, right? By high school, I knew who I was. And when I told Caitlin, she wasn’t shocked at all. She took me out on this river, in this canoe, and we’d talk about things. She’s not a whole lot older than me—she’s about to turn thirty—and she’s had about as much luck with guys as I have. She’s the one who convinced me I shouldn’t try to hide. She said hiding never worked. She told me my dad spent so much time hiding that it was impossible for him to be happy here. He isn’t gay—I guess that makes it sound like he’sgay. He isn’t.