Free Heatstroke (extended version) by Taylor V. Donovan

before?" Dad asked at the same time
     
Mom put her glass down on the table hard enough to spill water all over the place.
     
"Michael Richard Spencer, shut your mouth right now," Mom yelled at him. "I can't believe you
     
just said that!" She busied herself re-arranging her utensils. "I am so mortified right now."
     
Michael wasn't extremely concerned about embarrassing his mother.
     
"Grandma went to see Café Au Lait when it first opened in Broadway," he said in a tone so
     
gleeful, both his parents looked at him suspiciously. Michael cleared his throat and turned to look at
     
his grandma. "Is it true? Do I really look that much like Richard Bancroft?"
     
He tried to sound innocent, but he knew he'd failed.
     
He didn't care.
     
"What are you talking about?" Grandma demanded in what Michael was sure was an attempt to
     
divert everyone's attention from the subject at hand. "What do you mean you got caught making out
     
with your boyfriend?" Her eyes opened to the size of saucers. "What do you mean?"
     
"He didn't get caught," Mom clarified as she shot him a dirty look. "I would've killed you had you
     
gotten caught." Michael had no doubt of that.
     
He grinned at his mom, and she rolled her eyes.
     
"How do you know Mom went to see that musical?" Dad asked, and Michael was extremely
     
pleased he'd picked his interest.
     
"You meant to say with your girlfriend, right?" Grandma Elizabeth said. Her eyes darted from
     
Michael, to his father, to the laptop screen where the opening musical number of Café Au Lait was
     
playing, and back to Michael again.
     
"I meant boyfriend," Michael confirmed, a crooked smile forming on his lips. "I'd never make
     
out with a girl. They have cooties."
     
"Michael, what is wrong with you?" Mom glared at him. "You've been acting so out of character
     
for the past two days. You've been hiding in your room, and you were awfully quiet on our way
     
home this afternoon," she said. Then to his utter surprise put her hand on his forearm and squeezed
     
it lightly. "Does this have anything to do with… you know… that school situation?"
     
"Not at all," Michael said.
     
She reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "Are you in love with that boy?"
     
"What?" He snorted. "No, I'm not."
     
"Do you miss him?"
     
Michael rolled his eyes. "I barely knew him." He missed someone all right, but it certainly wasn't
     
Paul.
     
"You're still grounded, but if you need to talk to him or something…"
     
Michael groaned. "I'm not in love, Mom."
     
Not with Paul, anyway, but he was in love. Unfortunately for him, the object of his affections
     
didn't swing his way.
     
"But I heard you crying in your room after he called the house," she said softly. "I thought—" Could the floor open and swallow him already?
     
"Mom, no! Seriously!" As annoyed as he was, Michael made an effort and smiled at her. Yes, she
     
was being a mother hen and totally sticking her nose in his private business, but she sounded
     
genuinely concerned. He didn't want to worry her. "That thing with Paul was just screwing around."
     
And trying to stop himself from making the biggest mistake of his life by making a move on a
     
friend, but he didn't share that with his mom.
     
"Are you sure?"
     
"Yeah…" He glanced at his grandma. "I just have some shit on my mind."
     
"Language, Michael!" Mom said, and he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
     
"Does the shit on your mind have anything to do with whatever you're up to?" Dad asked in a
     
serious tone, then, without waiting for an answer, shifted his gaze and focused on his mother. "I
     
thought you were born and raised in Seattle, Mom," he said. "When did you go to New York?"
     
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Grandma Elizabeth asked Michael, squirming on
     
her chair but ignoring her own son.
     
"If you think I'm saying I like boys, then yes," Michael rushed to say, more than happy to bug the
     
shit out of his grandma.