Rocco picked Mike up at his house promptly at 6. This was going to be Mike’s first experience as a band assistant. His job was to help unload the equipment, help with the set-up, and other duties as assigned. The other duties would most likely include fetching water and cheering the band on to get the audience keyed up—and be Rocco’s groupie, of course.

  Troy Brighton was one of the popular kids that frequented the Haven although he did not play any sports. His parents owned and ran one of the car dealerships in town which afforded him instant access to cars—immediate popularity. His family was well known in the county since most of the parents had a car from Brighton Motors. He was a fit guy with brown hair and green eyes. His hair was done in a standard bowl cut with a side part. His popularity allowed him to date one of the cheerleaders. It would be inevitable that all the popular kids including most of the football team would be at the party. Troy requested that Fred play mostly late 80s/early 90s rock music like Bon Jovi, Motley Crüe, etc. The band members accepted this play list but would surprise the audience with an occasional skate punk song. Most of the partygoers would be so wasted that they would not even notice.

  Rocco and Mike arrived at Troy’s house around 6:15. The house was a two-story brick colonial. Troy had a wooden stage set up in the back where the party would take place. There were plenty of dark spots in the large back yard for more nefarious activities. There would be sparse DJ music—the band would be the primary source of music. Rocco pulled up next to Austin’s car. He saw Austin and Wendy sitting in the front. When Rocco got out of his car, Austin saw the boys and started to open his car door.

  “Hey Austin, you ready?” Rocco asked as he and Wendy got out of the car.

  “Indeed, I am,” Austin said. “Hey Mike, this will be the premiere of your logo design. I still love it so much.”

  “Thanks!” Mike said smiling broadly with pride. “You guys ready to put me to work?”

  “Absolutely. You can start by unloading the drums,” Austin said unlocking his back doors and popping open his trunk. Even though Austin drove a bigger car—one that would be more appropriate for a grandparent—the drums were still a tight fit.

  Wendy came over to Mike. “First a hug!!!” she said and gave Mike a huge squeeze.

  “Ah shucks!” Mike said and blushed.

  “My comrade in groupie status!” Wendy squealed making Mike giggle.

  Mike, Austin, and Rocco started to unload the drums from the car when Pete and Raz pulled up behind Austin’s car. Pete got out of the car and immediately spotted Mike.

  “Assistant, some assistance please!” Pete barked and snapped his fingers in the air just like the diva he was.

  “How may I be of assistance?” Mike said in a waiter-like voice.

  “Actually, you’re doing just fine. I just wanted to say that,” Pete said and mussed up Mike’s hair. “Such a cutie-patootie, you are!” Pete pinched Mike’s cheek.

  “Hey, he’s spoken for,” Rocco interjected with fake jealousy. Mike laughed at Rocco’s display of mock possessiveness.

  “Hey Raz, need some help with your guitar?” Mike asked.

  “No, man, I’m good. Looks like you got a lot going on with those drums,” Raz replied and got his guitar out of the back seat of Pete’s car. “On second thought, you can help with the amps.” Mike happily obliged.

  Even though Mike was charged to transport all the equipment, the band members were already so used to it themselves that they made Mike’s job easy. Once they had moved all the equipment to the stage, Mike began helping Austin assemble his drum set first. Austin had to guide him through all the steps of setup since he had never put together a drum set before. When the drums were in place, Pete directed Mike on where the amps, microphones, and guitar pedals should be placed on the stage. Troy had already had the speakers set up on the sides of the stage, so Mike’s last job in setup was to connect all the equipment so the band could do their sound checks.

  The party was not supposed to start until 8. By the time everything was set up, it was only 7 giving them at least an hour to chill out. They would likely start playing between 8:30 and 9 and end around 10. They had a full hour-long song list practiced and ready to go.

  “Okay, let’s test out the equipment. Mike, I’ll need you to go out in the yard about halfway between the front of the stage and that line of trees,” Pete pointed to some trees in the back yard. The area between the trees and the stage would be the audience pit. Mike gave him a thumbs up and found a spot to Pete’s liking. “Okay, that’s going to be the center of the audience. We are going to start testing our equipment one by one. You give us a signal if we need to turn it up or down.” Mike gave him another thumbs up in understanding.

  Pete first started by saying “Test 1-2, 1-2” to which Mike motioned for him to turn his mic up a couple of times. Pete then started to sing a few bars of the first song to which Mike gave him a thumbs up. Next was Rocco who started to play some random notes. Mike asked for some more volume only once before Rocco started to play a couple of riffs of the first song. Mike gave a second thumbs up. Raz was next requiring a couple of adjustments followed by Austin who sounded perfect the first attempt. They all played the first few lines of music all together. Mike gave an enthusiastic two thumbs up. He was enjoying this job.

  “I think we are all set,” Pete said turning off his mic. Troy was standing off to the side the entire time watching them—unbeknownst to the band members.

  “You guys sound fantastic!” Troy said in a calm tone.

  “Thanks for hiring us,” Pete replied.

  “We’ve got some drinks and snacks set up for you guys in the kitchen if you want to chill out before people get here,” Troy said and pointed to the back door.

  “Cool, thanks,” Pete said and motioned for everyone to join him for a potential cocktail. Hopefully, Troy was just a liberal with the libations as Tiffany was a few weeks ago. It was always nice to have something to get rid of the pre-show jitters. The band went into the kitchen to find a full array of liquor, beer, and nibbles. Pete went over to get 6 cups. He spaced them out all next to each other. He grabbed a bottle of whisky and liberally poured at least a couple of ounces in each cup. He divvied out the cups to all the band mates as well as Mike and Wendy.

  “Here’s to our first paid gig!” Pete said lifting his cup to toast. Everyone else joined him in the toast and downed the fire water—all of them making a face as the liquor went down. Troy came in after their first drink missing the opportunity to toast with the band.

  “Do you guys have everything you need?” Troy asked as a few cars started to pull in early.

  “Yep, I think we are good,” Pete said making another drink.

  “Great. You let me know if you need anything. Looks like I’ve got some early arrivals to greet. We will get you on the stage at 9?” Troy asked. The band members nodded and made themselves comfortable.

  Mike and Rocco found a seat on a nearby couch and sat next to each other.

  “You did very well,” Rocco said smiling at Mike and placing his hand on Mike’s thigh.

  “Thanks! If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Pete was flirting with me,” Mike said and laughed.

  “Yeah, I know! I was getting jealous!” Rocco said taking a sip of his drink.

  “I only have my eyes set on you. But it was hot to see you defend my honor,” Mike replied taking a sip.

  “And defend I shall!” Rocco said in a half English accent making Mike giggle.

  A few of the early arrivers came inside to make a drink before the rest of the partygoers arrived. This must be the pre-party crew. It was mostly cheerleaders and football players including Joe and David Wick. Joe spotted Mike and Rocco on the couch.

  “Hey, Rocco and Rocco’s assistant!” Joe exclaimed. Mike and Rocco waved. “You ready to rock?”

  Rocco gave a thumbs up. Joe returned the gesture. David noticed Rocco on the couch but only gave him a look of disdain. At best, to David, Rocco was just the hired help. David did not need to acknowledge his presence. He took a Solo Cup and filled it three-quarters of the way full of vodka and splashed in a bit of Sundrop. His intention was to get as drunk as he could. He chugged half of the drink and refilled the cup with vodka. He did not even bother with the mixer for the refill. The pre-partiers hung around the kitchen—the entire time, David giving Rocco an evil eye look. Rocco pretended not to notice but it was difficult. Rocco felt David’s glare no matter how hard he tried to ignore it.

  It was getting close to 8:30 when the pre-party crew made their way out to join the rest of the attendees. David must have refilled his cup at least three times. By the time he made his way out the door to join the party, he was well into the tipsy stage of drunkenness. When David left, Rocco felt a sense of relief from being out of the glare of this hateful guy. Hopefully, he would just pass out soon and no longer be a concern for Rocco.

  “Dude, that one football player was giving you the stink eye,” Raz leaned over and said to Rocco.

  “Yeah, David Wick. The football dick,” Rocco replied and took a sip of his drink.

  “What’s his beef with you?” Raz asked.

  “He’s got a real problem with gay guys. He’s the one who always taunted me and called me names,” Rocco recounted. Mike quietly listened. It clicked that David Wick was for Rocco what Stanton was for himself.

  “Well, fuck him,” Raz said and sat back.

  “Yeah, fuck him,” Rocco repeated and finished his drink. He was about to fix himself another one when Troy came in.

  “I think we are about ready for you guys. There’s already a crowd so let’s get the party started.” Troy said and went back out.

  “Damn, I didn’t even get a chance to get a refill,” Rocco said.

  “That’s my job, isn’t it?” Mike said and smiled.

  “So it is,” Rocco said and smirked. “Boy, get me a drink.”

  “Boy???” Mike said jokingly defensive making Rocco laugh.

  “Actually, just a Sundrop. I don’t want to be drunk on stage,” Rocco said. Mike gave an ok sign and went to fix his drink.

  “Alright, guys, you ready to rock?” Pete exclaimed.

  “Ready!!!” Raz, Austin, and Rocco said in unison.

  They started to make their way out when Mike interrupted, “You guys want me to bring anything out for you?”

  “Bring me a glass of water to start,” Pete said. Austin and Raz declined.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  The band members made their way to the stage. The yard was already surprising full of popular teenagers. Mike followed with the beverages a few minutes after the band members got their equipment turned on. He handed Pete his water and Rocco his Sundrop. Mike then found a spot in the front but off to the side next to Wendy. The crowd started to cheer when Pete looked out waved.

  “We’re Fred and we are here to rock,” Pete said. The crowd let out lots of cheers and woos. “Alright, 2… 3… 4….”

  They started to play their first song, a request from Troy. The performance was different for Rocco. At Tiffany’s party, he was taken to an alternate universe while he played. This time around, he stayed on this planet fully aware of the audience. This performance was not as transcendent as his first one. Though he technically played the right notes and kept time, this performance just did not have the same magic as Tiffany’s party. It didn’t help that a drunk David Wick was standing front and center in the audience. He looked like a big dumb rock standing among a writhing and enthusiastic crowd. He just sneered and drank for most of the set. A few cheerleaders tried to get him to dance but he refused to budge.

  The band played the second of their surprise punk songs. As they anticipated, no one really noticed the change in tone. A few people could be seen giving a confused look but then went along with the song. When they finished the song, the crowd cheered even though most didn’t know what they had played. There was a lull in the frenzy as they began to transition back to Troy’s playlist. Rocco and Raz tuned their guitars up while Pete started to thank the audience for their applause. Out of nowhere, a voice from the crowd yelled.

  “Hey, faggot. Play Freebird!” the voice yelled. It was David. The liquor had hit.

  Rocco looked up and into the audience. So did Mike. The crowd went silent.

  “Not cool,” Pete said loudly into the mic.

  “Play Freebird, you fucking queers!” David yelled.

  Rocco went over to Pete and whispered something. Pete smiled and nodded. Rocco went back over to his spot.

  “Okay,” Pete yelled into the mic. “We will play y’all some Skynyrd.” He pointed over to Rocco who started to play the first few characteristic bars of Sweet Home Alabama.

  Pete chimed in when he was supposed to sing “Turn it up”. Instead of sticking to the traditional lyric, he yelled, “Yeah, we are queer as fuck…here’s your goddamed Skynyrd, you fucks!”. Rocco sped up the tempo of the song to make it a punk version of Sweet Home Alabama. Pete scream-sang the entire song. The band members smiled and joined in on the new tempo. Halfway during the song, David huffed off in anger.

  As the song came to an end, Pete yelled into the mic, “Thanks to dickhead, that’s the end of the show. Good night, fuckers!” He dropped the microphone and walked off the stage along with the rest of the band. Most of the audience cheered for an encore but the band went into the kitchen. They were done. Troy quickly followed them.

  “Oh man, I’m so sorry about that. I can’t believe that asshole,” Troy said sincerely.

  “Fuck the money. We aren’t going back on stage,” Pete adamantly said. “That’s what you get for dissing one of our band members.” Rocco could have kissed Pete for standing up for him like he did.

  “No, man, keep the money. That was uncalled for. You guys enjoy the bar. Chill out, please, stay—as long as you like,” Troy said pleading. Pete shrugged his shoulders and made another drink.

  “Just keep that dickhead away from us,” Pete said.

  “You got it…. absolutely. You won’t see him again,” Troy said and smiled apologetically. As Troy left, Mike and Wendy rushed in. Mike went over to Rocco.

  “Are you alright?” Mike asked.

  “I am,” Rocco said confidently.

  “You handled that like a pro!” Mike said and hugged him.

  “Thanks!” Rocco said.

  “That was by far the best song in the show,” Mike said holding Rocco’s hand.

  “Yeah, totally unpracticed,” Rocco said proudly.

  “If I could be honest…” Mike said then stopped.

  “Go on…” Pete said.

  “You guy sounded good, but something was missing,” Mike said.

  “You noticed it too?” Rocco said looking at the rest of the band members. “I wasn’t feeling it with those songs until we played our punked up Skynyrd at the end.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Raz nodded in agreement.

  “Yeah, okay.” Pete said. “From now on, we only play music we want to play. Fuck the money.”

  “Fuck the money!” the rest of the band members said as a chant in unison.

  “Alright, you guys want to pack up the cars? If you want to stick around, it’s your call,” Pete asked. The group agreed and went outside to dismantle the stage. The crowd had dispersed around the yard a bit so there were no shouts for an encore. A couple of people came up to Pete to ask about playing their party. He got names and numbers and said he would get back with them. He mentioned their gig at the skate park—doubtful that any would attend. People were too intoxicated at that point to tell them that they were only playing songs the band wanted to play. He figured that conversation could wait until people were more sober. The band started to load the instruments into the cars. Once the drums were in Austin’s car, he and Wendy decided to take make their way out for their own private party. Raz, Pete, Rocco, and Mike stuck around for a few more minutes before Pete decided it was time for he and Raz to head out.

  “Do you want to stick around? Maybe check out the woods in the back?” Rocco said with a smirk.

  “Well, we can but we can go to an even more private setting,” Mike said returning the smirk.

  “Let’s do that,” Rocco said and unlocked the car. He leaned over and unlocked Mike’s side of the car. “Where do you want to go?”

  “Well, my parents are still going to be up. What about your place?” Mike asked.

  “Yeah, I can scope out the situation at home,” Rocco said and started the car.

  He pulled into the dark part of the lot where he had parked that first night they snuck into his room. The living room lights were off which was a good sign. “Okay, I’ll take my stuff in and go to my room. I’ll wave you to the window like last time.” Mike nodded and patiently waited for Rocco to complete his reconnaissance. Within a few minutes, he saw the light on the side come on followed a few seconds later by a hand waiving out the window. That was his cue to get to the window. He locked both doors and made his way to Rocco’s window. Rocco was waiting at the window with his hand extended. Mike grabbed Rocco’s hand and hoisted himself into Rocco’s room. Mike reached around Rocco’s waist and pulled him towards himself eager to get a passionate kiss. Rocco was still moist with sweat which did not deter Mike in any way.

  Afterwards, the two laid in Rocco’s full-sized bed staring at the ceiling. Mike had his head on Rocco’s chest listening to his heartbeat inside his chest. Rocco ran his hands through Mike’s cool auburn hair causing Mike to quake.

  “I’m so looking forward to our little camping excursion,” Rocco whispered to Mike.

  “Yeah, I can’t wait either,” Mike said dreamily.

  “You know, isn’t there a dance associated with the Halloween Festival?” Rocco asked.

  “Yeah, a dress up dance,” Mike answered.

  “You want to go with me?” Rocco asked.

  Mike looked up from Rocco’s chest. Rocco was still staring at the ceiling but looked down when he felt Mike look up.

  “Are you being serious?” Mike asked a bit shocked at the question.

  “Yeah, I’m serious,” Rocco confirmed. Mike sat up in the bed.

  “How are we going to do that? No one outside of our group knows about us,” Mike said in a serious tone.

  “Well,” Rocco looked off still covered up, “it is a dress-up party. We could go in good costumes. No one would know who we were.”

  “They would eventually, don’t you think? I mean, if we went in masks, they would get too hot to wear at some point,” Mike answered.

  “Yeah, that’s true. But we could keep them on at first and dance together. Then, as the night progressed, we could swap being maskless,” Rocco pondered.

  “People would catch on eventually, Rocco,” Mike said.

  “So what?” Rocco asked.

  Mike thought this over a minute. “Are you going to be ready for that?”

  “I will. But the question is will you be ready?” Rocco asked.

  Mike thought a little more. “I could be.”

  “Then, let’s do it. If you decide down the road that you don’t want to, then it’ll be fine if we back out,” Rocco said and placed his head in Mike’s lap.

  “Okay,” Mike said. “I’ll think it over.”

  Rocco sighed and looked off to the corner of the room. They were silent for a moment.

  “I think my dad figured out about me,” Mike said breaking the silence.

  Rocco immediately sat up in the bed. “What do you mean?”

  “We had a talk about yesterday and, oh shit,” Mike realized mid-sentence that Rocco didn’t know about his altercation with Stanton. “There’s a lot that happened yesterday.” Rocco sat quietly as Mike recounted how Stanton treated him and how he punched Stanton in the jaw. That was likely the reason Stanton did not go to Troy’s party. He told Rocco about his heart-to-heart with his dad and about how, even though he didn’t explicitly state his sexuality, he didn’t deny anything to his dad. He also told Rocco about how his dad did not seem to mind.

  “So, you’re pretty sure he figured you out?” Rocco said after hearing what Mike told him.

  “Yeah, I’m pretty sure,” Mike said. “If he can accept it, I don’t really care about what anyone thinks. Stanton is the worst I’ve encountered, and I did a decent job at defending myself. I even met a new friend, and I was completely honest with him about us.”

  “Really?” Rocco said stunned.

  “Yeah, this guy from my junior high. I never really talked to him until yesterday, and I really enjoyed our conversation. I was feeling so relaxed and comfortable. I was just honest, and he completely accepted it.”

  “Wow. The people in this town never cease to amaze me,” Rocco said.

  “Yeah, he may be a fan. He saw you playing at Tiffany’s party and thinks you rock,” Mike boasted on his boyfriend.

  “Is that right?” Rocco said. He was building up a fan base.

  “He says he’ll be at the show at the park,” Mike said.

  “Who is this guy?”

  “His name is Jared,” Mike said scratching his head.

  “Do I need to be jealous of this Jared?” Rocco asked half-jokingly.

  “No, he’s cute, but why bother when I have someone even cuter right now,” Mike smiled and kissed Rocco.

  They got out of bed. As Mike got dressed, he grabbed Rocco’s sweaty t-shirt and put it on. It felt nice to have a piece of Rocco with him whenever he wanted. Rocco smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up. He drove Mike to his house and returned home going through his window. He laid in bed thinking about how lucky he was to have found a great boyfriend—one who adored him more than he knew. He drifted off to sleep thinking of Mike.

  The next morning, Rocco got up and went into the kitchen to fix a bowl of cereal. He didn’t eat before going to bed. He was starving. Playing with the band always built up an appetite, but he was not thinking of food last night.

  “Good morning,” Rocco’s mom said as she started to make a pot of coffee. “How did the show go last night?”

  Rocco poured the cereal and milk in his bowl and made his way to the attached living room. “Very well and we got paid.” He wasn’t going to mention the events with David Wick. The less she knew about his struggles, the better. She would inevitably make his struggles all about her. He did not need that right now.

  “That’s good. I can’t believe it’s almost October,” his mom yawned and poured a cup of coffee. “What are you thinking about college?”

  Rocco put his cereal down on the coffee table. “Mom, I told you. I want to go to UCLA.”

  “I thought you were joking about that,” his mom said taking a sip of coffee. “You can’t be serious about that.”

  “I am serious,” Rocco was shocked this hadn’t sunk it with his mom.

  “Marcus, sweetie, there’s no way you’re going to college all the way in California,” his mom said.

  “Why not?”

  “How are you going to afford that? And how are you going to afford to live out there?” His mom put her coffee down.

  “I can do work-study or get a job or something. I can figure it out,” Rocco replied.

  “Honey, you need to be realistic. There’s no way I can pay for you go to school in California,” his mom said.

  “You don’t have to do anything. I’ve got good enough grades that I could get a scholarship,” Rocco explained.

  “You’re being serious, aren’t you?” his mom said suddenly adopting a serious tone.

  “Yes, Mom. I don’t know how many times I need to tell you this,” Rocco said defensively.

  “Well, you just can’t move to California. I won’t allow it,” his mom said definitively. “It’s a ridiculous notion that I won’t let you entertain.”

  “It’s not really up to you,” Rocco said as the anger started to build up.

  Tears started welling up in her eyes, as she sensed Rocco’s obstinance. “What will I do with myself if you go to California?”

  “You’ll be fine,” he said. He was going to be 18 at that point. She needed to let him go.

  “Why there? Why so far away? There’s plenty of schools close by. I won’t be able to drop by if I wanted to,” his mom said.

  “That’s the point. I want to be as far away from this place as possible. I want to be able to find out who I am,” Rocco tried to explain.

  “I didn’t realize it was so awful here,” his mom said crying.

  “It’s not awful for you. This place is just not me,” Rocco replied feeling the enormous guilt sink in.

  “Why is this place not you? What’s been so terrible here that you have to move clear across the country?” his mom demanded to know.

  Rocco sat there staring at his now soggy cereal for a few minutes. He was thinking about ripping the band-aid off and telling her everything. Since she was already upset and crying, why not just tell her all of it and be done.

  “Well?” his mom asked impatiently.

  “You really want to know what is so terrible?” Rocco started. “Ever since we moved here, I’ve been picked on for being too sensitive or for being a sissy. Then, guys would pick on me because they thought I was gay. And guess what? I am gay. That’s what’s so terrible about this place. But my friends are okay with it. I even have a boyfriend now. And I have snuck out of the house when you are asleep to be with him. Just last night, I snuck him into my room. So, yes, I want to go to California because I want to be in a place where I’m not viewed as some aberration against God. So, there it all is.” Rocco didn’t realize that he was yelling as he got to the end of confession.

  His mom sat silent for a few seconds then started to sob. It was a bittersweet moment. Rocco felt relieved to have everything out in the open, but he was angry at himself for making his mom weep.

  “I had no idea you were going through all of that,” his mom sobbed out.

  “Yeah, well, there wasn’t anything you could have done about,” Rocco was still angry.

  “You could have told me,” his mom sniffled.

  “What would you have done? Everything must be hunky-dory here. Anytime I had a problem, you always have to blow it out of proportion. I could never just be sad for a few days—you think I’m suicidal and start booking me appointments with a shrink. I could never tell you I was just going through some normal growing up stuff—you’d always call the teacher and the principle and make it ten times worse. That’s why I never I tell you anything. That’s why I want to move to California. I want to be an adult and figure things out on my own. You still treat me like I’m 5 years old” Again, Rocco was yelling. These were some feeling that were deep down in him that he was finally getting out.

  His mom got up and went to her room. Rocco exhaled deeply and went to his room. While it felt good to get all of that off his chest, he felt terrible for how it all came out. It was all true, but his brutality in telling the truth was a step too far. He had learned a valuable lesson that sometimes the truth requires tact.