Page 61 of The Way We Swing Back

Then I saw his smirk and realized he was trying to pull the same stunt he had last year when he’d locked Tanner and me in his room.

That had worked out rather well; neither Tanner nor I would have ever had the guts to start being friends again if he hadn’t forced us on each other. I’d never thanked Gavin for that, but I was pretty sure what he’d done was technically kidnapping, so I wasn’t going to go out of my way to thank him for committing a felony.

Zach and I needed to mend things, too, and I figured the present would be as good a time as any. Zach didn’t have a clue what was going to happen, though, as he continued to fidget with the system.

“Hey, Zach,” Gavin said, his teeth showing in his smile.

“What?”

“You and Easton have been dicks to each other since he moved in. You’re arguing all the time. I think you guys need to fight this one out.”

Zach stood, his chest flexed, his shirt a size too tight. It used to belong to Tanner, and Zach had long since gotten bigger and stronger than him.

“No.” He walked toward the stairs, dismissing Gavin’s plan completely. I swung my body in the seat, expecting fireworks to go off in the basement, wishing I had a bowl of popcorn.

Gavin stood his ground, puffing his chest and looking well out of place. He’d started to put on muscle of his own and had grown another couple of inches, but Zach’s strength still dwarfed Gavin’s by a country mile. “You two need to make up.”

“Move, Gavin,” Zach said, his hands balling into fists.

“No. Just talk to him,” Gavin said, his own hands forming fists at his sides, everyone in the room knowing Zach could beat Gavin to a pulp if it ever came down to it.

Zach grabbed Gavin around the waist with his right arm, his left arm going to Gavin’s throat, and he lifted Gavin into the air.

My mind snapped between the present and memories I wished I could forget—visions of my dad doing the same motion to my mom. His hand had tightened around her throat days before she’d strung a rope around her neck and hanged herself.

“STOP!” I screamed. Blurriness stung my eyes as I dashed between the past and the present. Whether I was yelling at Zach or Dad, I wasn’t sure. “Let go!”

Sweat poured down my arms as I tried to regain focus. I had to protect Gavin, to save him, to stop him from using the rope. If I steadied myself and was stronger, I could get there. I begged my feet to move, to get to Gavin, to protect him like I hadn’t been able to protect Mom.

“Whatever.” Zach’s voice came through to me from the distance.

I fell to the floor, my breathing erratic and my vision still impossible to find. I was back in the past, hearing Mom’s screams after Dad had punched her then, later, her voice desperate for air as his hand had squeezed her neck. I felt my heartbeat pounding in my chest, trying to escape, to be anywhere but in my body.

“Easton,” Mom said. Or was it Gavin?

My mind kept swirling, the nights mixing.

“Easton, are you alright?” he repeated. Gavin.

I shook my head, more to shake my thoughts back to the present than to answer him. The basement came back to me: the blurry TV, Gavin the rainbow, the smell of chalk from the pool table.

“What happened, dude?” he asked, sitting across from me against the wooden TV stand.

“I just... I thought he was hurting you.” I pulled my knees up to my chest, goosebumps on my arms. My breathing refused to stabilize, switching between half pace and double speed.

“He was just messing with me. He’s done that to me a million times before; he didn’t hurt me.”

“Are you sure?” I said.

“Yeah.”

I stared at a spot on the floor. Gavin had been my biggest supporter (non-Tanner edition) since day one. Didn’t he deserve the truth at this point? “I never told anyone this. Not even Tanner. So don’t repeat it.”

“Okay,” Gavin said. He lay on the ground now, his hand propping his head up as he made a triangle with his arm.

I exhaled slowly then started. “I lied when I told everyone I only saw Dad beat up Mom once. I saw it all the time. Including her last night. He choked her all the time, too. So, when Zach choked you, I freaked out. I saw her getting choked again, not you.” I looked away. There was no taking that back.

“Whoa, dude,” he said, sitting back up. “Swear he didn’t hurt me. It’s a game we’ve played for years when I piss him off. I’m sorry you had to see all of that, though.”