𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐌𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 ; 𝘉𝘺𝘭𝘦𝘳

𝟖.𝟓.

Bowling Alley | Sat 4:56 PM
Lucas Sinclair
(Interlude)

Erica is a woman who loves her free samples of ice cream. But, those free samples became no more once the manager of Scoops Ahoy came in one day, saw what she was doing, and brought her to the back. Taking her picture and hanging it on the wall so that all the employees knew not to let her have anything unless she's paying upfront. So, after complaining about it for a week Erica finally found a solution: she needed to get a job.

And she got one, at a bowling alley. Lucas had a new job too now, which was making sure she got home safely and driving to get her every day. His car was in the shop though after he got a little too wasted last weekend and crashed it into a tree. He was fine but the car was dented so badly that the engine blew. And that is how he ended up in the truck with the jocks, only needing them for a ride and not signing up to watch them bully people who were just minding their business.

"You alright luc? Some bitch got ya depressed?" James asked, still holding the slit in his cheek. You'd think after getting stabbed once he'd stop messing with gay couples, but hopefully he'd get it after the third time.

Lucas rested his elbow on the struck, staring away from him and sighing. "I'm fine. Just tired."

More like uncomfortable. If he told them to stop being homophobic and to just leave them alone, they would've started berating him and thinking he's gay, so he kept his mouth shut. Labeling yourself as anything other than straight was like committing social suicide.

"Whatever happened to you and Max?"

"I don't really wanna talk about it."

"What happened? You caught her—"

"Hey James? You mind shutting the fuck up for just like a second? He said he doesn't wanna talk about it." Patrick jumped in, poking his head out of the window and twisting his body around. Coming to Lucas' rescue.

This guy had only been hanging with them for a couple days, but he already has more respect than all of the football players do combined. There was something about him and his enigmatic demeanor that made him wonder what his secrets were; it seemed like everyone had at least one in this town. And he knew he wasn't hanging out with the football players for the popularity.

"Lucas, back there, the taller one. That was Anthony Walsh wasn't it?"

"Troy's real name is Anthony? That's hilarious! We've gotta make that a thing—"

"Interrupt me one more fucking time."

James was instantly shut up, staring down at his fiddling thumbs and feeling intensely intimidated by Patrick. The other guys feeling the same way. Except for Lucas.

"Yeah, he just doesn't go by that anymore. We've been calling him Troy since 8th grade. You know him?"

"Yeah, used to. That was my first time seeing him, we haven't run into each other at Hawkins."

"He goes to Woodlake now. It's a little down the road, passed the hospital."

They finally got to the bowling alley parking lot, Lucas hopping out of the truck and walking up to it, pushing the door open and escaping the bright sunlight. They only let Erica work in the day time when things aren't that crowded, her coworker, Randy, coming in for night shifts.

"Hey Eri, you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'll just wipe this counter though until Randy gets here so Frank won't say nothing."

Her supervisor told her she doesn't do anything, and when she yelled at him and said there was nothing for her to do and that because the place looks so boring from the outside no one wants to come in, she almost got fired. Now she was doing the most random tasks just to spite him.

"Anyone come in today?"

"Just a family and a gay couple," she says, Lucas knowing exactly who that gay couple was. "When are you gonna find somebody?"

He almost laughed. "I'm fine on my own."

Saving him from having to say anymore was Randy, coming in and tying his hair up in a man bun.

"Damn! What took ya so long!" Erica said, grabbing her purse and opening the counter's gate.

"The stars weren't aligned today...and there was a lot of traffic."

The boys had to drive him there, but he was happy he didn't have to ride with them home too. Instead, Lucas and Erica went to the bus stop, boarding the vehicle and sitting in two empty seats in the back.

The only other empty seat next to Lucas had a newspaper on it, and so he grabbed it out of curiosity and just to drown out Erica talking to some random person next to him. Coincidentally, the article taking up most of the space on the page was a sexuality study. About people who could feel no sexual attraction.

According to the article, they way he felt was scientifically a real thing. Asexualism the article called it. But it's symptoms didn't quite match him completely.

He loved Max, he really did, but he never wanted to do anything more than love her. And it's most of the reason why they broke up. Other than her claiming to have found someone else. He felt like not loving anyone at all was a bit extreme. He remembered his heart beating fast when he was around her, or similar feelings for other people. And just quite didn't match what the article was trying to tell him.

So after finding a place where he was comfortable, he was once again confused by his entire existence.

To be continued...

At first I thought he would be aro too but I kinda wanna do something with him so the question is: homoromantic , heteromantic , or Biromantic? (+ everything else)

[2/25/21| 996 words]