“Someone pulled them apart then put them back together so I wouldn’t notice they weren’t attached properly, that’s how. When I used them at cheerleading practise, there was ribbon everywhere. I was so embarrassed. People laughed, Leif. People laughed. At. Me.”
“I see,” Leif said.
“And that’s not the worst of it.” She was upset. The space above her eye was twitching. “Someone stole all the cut-out letters I was doing for my art project, too. A whole box full of them. It took me ages to cut them out and now I have to do it all again.”
“What did you say?” Leif asked, sitting up straighter. I did the same.
“I said that someone sabotaged my pom poms and they exploded when I went to use them. Weren’t you listening?”
“No, no. The other thing you said.”
She cocked her eyebrow and flicked her hair. “I’m not repeating myself. Are lamington boys always so hard of hearing?”
Leif rummaged around in his pocket. “Look at this, Britney.”
She examined the paper thrust before her—again Leif did it so she could read it but not take it from him. “Hey, those are my letters. Where’d you get that?”
“What do you mean where did we get it?” I blurted. “It’s a ransom note for Leif’s dog who got kidnapped yesterday.”
She blinked, seemingly taken aback but not in a shocked way. “Then you’ll get your dog back soon, because it’s all over Snapchat and Instagram that Ben and Edwin are hot for each other.”
“What?” I pulled out my phone from my school pants front pocket, using the thumb ID to open it. Sure enough, when I opened my Instagram account, there was Ben and Edwin joined at the lips and with heaps of comments and hundreds of likes.
The photos posted were all from today.
Leif suddenly got up, taking me with him for the ride. “What is it, Leif?”
“We’ve got to get to my locker.”
“Why?”
“Because I have a feeling Mister Metaxas is in trouble, that’s why.”
Seconds later, we were dashing through the school’s halls towards our goal. I was short of breath in no time, sweating, too. “But you heard what Britney said—he’ll be okay, won’t he?”
Leif stopped by a water fountain, his breathing deep and erratic. That familiar worry had returned to his eyes. “Don’t you get it, Lyle? We were supposed to post the evidence that Ben and Edwin were dating…or cheating on Britney or whatever. Not anyone else.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“We failed the ransom note’s demands and Mister Metaxas could be in danger because of that. We might not see him ever again.” His eyes became watery and he hiccupped. I squeezed his hand, but he didn’t tell me through his touch that he was all right.
Now I was worried. “Oh, crap!”
“Yeah...exactly.”
After taking a sip from the fountain, Leif was running again. I was now as determined as ever to get to his locker as he was. Because if he was right, the only way we’d know would be with another note.
There was another note with Britney’s cut-out letters pasted onto paper inside Leif’s locker, as he suspected. I was both relieved and worried at the same time. Pain stabbed at my stomach to reinforce my emotions.
We read it together: Sorry, lamingtons, but you didn’t do what I told you, did you? At the same time, you didn’t know that Ben and Edwin were boyfriends for real and Britney was their ally. So, I’ll give you another chance. The deadline remains the same, but I want you to post photographic evidence of Jasper’s dirty little secret. If you don’t, you won’t see Mister Metaxas again.
I felt sick to my stomach. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse. Now Jasper was involved. But how?
“What does that mean?” Leif asked, taking the words from my mouth.
“I don’t care what it means. I’m not posting anything about Jasper, secret or not. He’s my brother, and even though he’s been a jerk lately, I still love him.”
“I agree.”
I felt defeated. “What can we do then?”
A smile crawled over Leif’s lips. “We keep investigating.”
“But where do we start? We don’t exactly have many suspects, do we?”
“We can eliminate people from the list.”
“Who?”
“Well, the note was put in my locker today, because the images of Ben and Edwin were only just posted, I saw the time stamp on them. Lucy’s sick, so that eliminates her.”
“She still might know something, and she could have lied to cover it up. Or she could have made the ransom notes and given them to someone else to put in your locker.”
Leif tightened his grip in my hand. “That’s true, but she’s not the kidnapper, is she? I don’t deny she may know something, but do you remember there was a dog barking when we were at her house. If Mister Metaxas was there, he would have joined in. No, Lucy didn’t take him.”
“I suppose you’re right.” I nodded. “Then who do we question next?”
Leif sucked in a breath. “As much as you don’t want me to say this…I think we need to talk to Jasper.”
Jasper wasn’t difficult to find.
He was a loner without many friends except a short, weedy boy named Austin who sometimes hung around him. Today, Jasper sat on the steps by the soccer oval all alone, watching the grass grow or whatever.
Jasper ate his lunch there most days, too.
When we approached, he hurriedly shoved his phone into his blazer’s inside pocket. If I wasn’t mistaken, he had been looking at a lady’s fashion website. He’d also been crying, his eyes red-rimmed.
I pushed that from my mind. I had other things to worry about, not what my brother looked at on the internet, but why he was upset. Even if we hadn’t been close lately, it tore at my heart to know he was hurting.
“What do you want, Lyle?” Jasper snapped.
I really didn’t know how to talk to him; our distance lately had widened to become a chasm. Thankfully, Leif had it under control. “Can we ask you a few questions, Jasper?”
“Depends.”
He didn’t say no. That was a start.
“Did you know that Mister Metaxas has been kidnapped?” Wowsers. Leif didn’t stand on ceremony, did he?
Jasper looked up at us, eyes squinting from the sun in his face. “I did.”
Okay…
That was established.
And he was involved somehow.
I squeezed Leif’s hand, urging him on to ask another question. He complied. “Do you know about the ransom notes, too? What they’ve demanded?”
But that’s when Jasper shut down. He turned away with a sigh. “I can’t tell you that.”
Leif let go of my hand to kneel beside Jasper. “Please, if you know anything about where Mister Metaxas is, I have to know. I miss him so much.”
“I can’t. I’m sorry, Leif.” Jasper sighed again. “And I know what you both think of me…but it wasn’t me who sent you that text calling you a fag yesterday, Lyle.”
“Then who was it?” I blurted. I felt frustration claw at my thoughts. Was he being deliberately obstinate? “It came from your phone.”
He put his hands on his face to cover his eyes, hide them from us. I felt for him in that moment. I’d been selfish. He was hurting and I should be there for him. I yearned to reach out, pat him on the back to reassure him I was, but I stopped myself. I didn’t know how he’d react if I did that. Had too much water passed under the bridge? We hadn’t exactly been close lately. That thought hurt even more, and my stomach knotted. I really wanted to help Jasper but would he want me to do that? I didn’t know, and that scared me.
Leif put his hand onto Jasper’s back, rubbing it. Doing what I couldn’t. I swallowed, guilt now dominating my selfishness. He said, “Please, Jasper. Tell us something. It’s okay. We’re your family. We love you.”
Jasper snorted. “You’re only saying that because you want something from me. Now go away, the b
oth of you. I just want to be left alone. How hard is that for you to understand?”
Leif looked at me, gesturing for me to say something with a tilt of his head. I sucked in a breath. “We’re not just saying that, Jasper. You’re my brother. We are family.”
“And do you love me?” Jasper was sobbing, even if it was quiet and personal, as if he was afraid to let it out.
My insides twisted now. I sure felt love for him, that wasn’t in doubt. “I do. I love you, Jasper,” I replied honestly.
He snorted again; his exhale filled with heaviness, like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. “Yeah, right.” He then put up another roadblock. “I’m not telling you nothing more. So, leave me alone. It’s better for everyone if you do, trust me.”
Leif got up, dusting off his trousers.
He put his hand back into mine. “C’mon, Lyle. I think Jasper needs some time to himself.”
“But he didn’t answer anything,” I said. “We’re no better now than what we were before we talked to him.”
At my words, Jasper stood up as quick as a flash, his face inches from mine, seconds later. His eyes were filled with tears. “You haven’t got a clue, have you, Lyle? You think everything is about you and how important you are. Well, some of us have issues, too, just so you know.”
“B-but, Jasper,” I stammered, feeling the intensity of his closeness and his emotion-filled eyes bore into me. My stomach knotted tighter, making me wince. “You h-have to tell us.”
“I don’t have to tell you anything.”
“Jasper…please…if you know s-something.” I put my hand onto his arm to try and calm him.
He swatted my arm away, his eyes fierce. “Get lost and leave me alone, Lyle!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.
To say I was shocked was an understatement. I was scared. Jasper had never reacted like that before, even when we fought.
My ears rang and I couldn’t process what had just happened. “Jasper, I—” But I didn’t get to finish my words.
Jasper pushed me away. The force of it not enough to hurt or wind me, but to let me know he’d had enough. My little brother was running towards the school’s main building before I could blink.
He was crying.
An eternity passed. All I could do was stand there.
Where had it all gone wrong between us? Was his issue something to do with Mister Metaxas being kidnapped? That had to be it. Why else would Jasper react like that when we asked him.
Finally, Leif squeezed my hand.
The action told me in no uncertain terms that he knew Jasper knew something, but we would give him the space he needed. Perhaps my brother would tell us in time. At least, I hoped so.
The Friday deadline was looming.
What Leif said next couldn’t have been more profound. “I think once we find out who’s got Jasper so scared, we’ll solve this mystery.”
“I have a feeling you’re right. And that proves it’s not Lucy. Jasper wouldn’t be scared like that if it was her.”
Chapter Ten
Nothing is What it Seems
That evening, while Leif and I sat down to dinner, Dad joined us and tried to make small talk. Leif and I reciprocated as best we could, but it was getting awkward.
There’s only so much I could talk about when it came to the weather or how my day had been without revealing too much about how we were investigating Mister Metaxas’ kidnapping. And Dad never made small talk. Which meant there was something going on.
The tension sure was high in the house.
Jasper hadn’t come out of his room since he got back from school. Mum had spent all afternoon with him—she had given him his dinner in there as well.
The tension didn’t ease when Mum made an appearance. Worry marked her brows and her lips were pursed tight.
“What’s going on with Jasper, Mum?” I asked, not for curiosity, but because of genuine concern. This wasn’t like Jasper at all. Normally, he’d be hitting me or make rude comments about my sexuality if he was upset, not sulking in his room.
“He’s working things out,” was all she offered.
Okay, now I was really worried. “He’s not dying of cancer or something, is he?”
Leif nudged my foot under the table and squeezed my hand so tight I regretted opening my mouth now. Yes, it was a stupid question, but I’d never seen Jasper like that. The image of him screaming at me by the soccer oval still vivid in my mind.
Dad gave me “the look” to make sure I understood how foolish a question it was. I knew I’d stepped over the line, but I had to admit, everything was getting to me lately.
Mum didn’t reply.
I didn’t deserve one.
We ate in silence until we were done. When coffee was poured, Mum said, “Sweetheart, it’s your turn to clear up and stack the dishwasher. I’m sure Leif will help you.” Leif and I both nodded. “You can then both get in the shower. But Jasper’s going first tonight.”
“Sure, Mum.”
I didn’t see Jasper leave the bathroom. By the time Leif and I had cleaned up, he had finished in the shower, which was also worrying. Normally, he spent ages in there and I ended up banging on the door for him to hurry up.
“I’m really worried about Jasper,” I said once Leif and I entered the bathroom, locking the door. Strangely, the smell of mum’s perfume was thick in the air.
I shrugged that thought from my mind when Leif came closer.
“So am I.” He held me around my waist. I shivered delightfully, his touch more than appreciated, as tender and caring as he was. “But for now, can we just be with each other? I need you, Lyle. It’s been a tough day.”
“Of course.” He was right. I had been a tough day—for the both of us.
After kissing Leif and kissing him again to the point where I melted and my knees almost gave way, we took off our clothing and got into the shower. The water was as warm and lovely as he was. We touched each other until our relief and a lot of the days tension was washed down the drain. I loved watching Leif’s expression, eyes squeezed tight and his twitching mouth agape with sheer joy. I smiled knowing I’d done that to him. That I gave him a moment where he didn’t have to think about anything else but being with me.
We then washed ourselves.
“What are you doing?” Leif asked as he rubbed soap over his chest and stomach.
“What do you mean, what am I doing? Just like you did, I’m cleaning under my—”
“That’s it!” Leif dropped the soap and it clattered around the shower cubicle. He grabbed me by my shoulders. I froze.
“What’s it?”
“Don’t you see, Lyle? I know why Jasper’s been the way he has. Why didn’t I see it before? He was hiding something, but it was still there if we looked carefully enough. And because I know that now, we’ll soon find out who’s kidnapped Mister Metaxas! I know it!”
Leif became so excited I’m sure he’d burst. His eyes were wild and when he planted a kiss square on my lips, all wet and sloppy and with a smacking sound to complete it, I was sure he’d split his sides with excitement.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Lyle. You’re the best!”
To say I was shocked once I recovered from my frozen state was an understatement. Although, being in a constant state of shock was common these days. “You got all that from me washing my dick?”
But Leif hadn’t heard.
In fact, before I could add anything that would give me a clue as to what he was talking about, he’d bolted out of the shower cubicle and charged out of the bathroom, the door clattering on its hinges in his wake.
“Leif!” I called.
I hoped he realised he was dripping wet and covered in soap suds. Not to mention he was also completely naked and now running through my house. I couldn’t even contemplate what my parents would say when they saw him—talk about total embarrassment.
I got out the shower as fast as I could. After I’d towelled off and slipped in
to my pyjamas, I went into the kitchen wondering where Leif had got to.
I didn’t have to guess for too long.
Leif was sitting at the kitchen table. Mum had given Leif a glass of milk, no doubt to calm him. His hair was still dripping wet but at least he had Dad’s coat covering his nakedness. He was smiling. Bless him. Even when my parents saw him in his birthday suit, he didn’t seem too worried.
I would have died if my parents saw me like that.
Although, Dad was standing next to Mum with his mouth agape, holding a macadamia nut cookie as if he’d drop it any second. Perhaps they weren’t as happy as Leif was about the whole streaking through the house thing as it seemed.
I then saw Jasper.
Inhaling, I understood why Dad looked shocked.
Jasper and my parents had clearly been talking, because my brother was also sitting at the table, a large plate of cookies in front of him along with a glass of milk. But what surprised me the most out of all of what I saw was the fact Jasper was wearing girls’ pyjamas. They were pink and covered in cat graphics. They were so cute, I was almost jealous.
“Um…what’s happening here?” I asked, because aside from it being an obvious question considering what confronted me, it was so needed.
“I figured out Jasper’s genderfluid, Lyle!” Leif blurted. “How cool is that?”
“Ah.” It all made sense now.
I’d noticed Jasper wearing girls’ clothing under his own more recently without realising what I’d seen—from the pink singlet underneath his school shirt when he apologised for telling me I wanted butt sex with Leif, to the underwear when I saw those bruises on his stomach and ribs.
Now that I thought about it, that was why he said I stole the limelight when I came out. Jasper was questioning himself as well. Which, when I thought about it, that also made sense. When I did that, he had to wait so Mum and Dad didn’t die of shock or whatever. Not that they would have. But he wouldn’t have known that.
Jasper wanted to be accepted on his own terms and without hindrance, and I had got in the way of that for him.
The Fabulous Adventures of Leif & Lyle Page 7
