Tiny Little Details (bxb)

chapter nine

The following week was looking lonely for Milo, it was only Tuesday, and yet he'd spent the better part of the school day avoiding his friend group. Instead, opting to spend time at Chelsea's group. Milo felt bad, she didn't want to lead the poor girl on, but what else could he do? He couldn't face Sam, Paige and Jamie feeling like he did. Especially considering the conversation he and Paige had had on Saturday morning when she'd accused him of being gay for Jamie. As he'd said before, there was nothing wrong with being gay, lesbian, bi – you like who you like – it's just, Milo had never once thought about himself being gay. He went through life thinking he was really picky when it comes to girls, that's all. And to have Paige think that the reason he'd never felt an attraction to any of the girls who liked him was because he liked boys? That confused Milo more than anything else.

Needless to say, he didn't feel like talking to Paige or Jamie. Sam, however, he was avoiding by association. He and Paige were either always together or him and Jamie, so naturally, Milo had to start avoiding Sam as well.

Milo wasn't good with confrontation. That much was obvious by now. His method to solving problems was to just bury your head in the sand until it goes away, then continue life as if nothing went wrong in the first place. Ignorance is bliss, as they say. Milo chose to ignore all of his problems until they went away and the dust settled and as of right now, Paige and Jamie were the problems, and he was waiting until everything calmed down.

Milo wasn't very in touch with his feelings, either. In fact, something he despised more than the Winter weather was talking about his emotions. He wasn't sure why he did, it came easy to some people. They'd have deep heart-to-hearts and talk about their greatest hopes and dreams in life. Milo, on the other hand, avoided any kind of conversation remotely close to that. It just felt...weird to talk about. Again, Milo didn't know why he felt this way. Perhaps that was why he closed up so quickly when Paige asked him about Jamie.

Not that Jamie was in any way associated with Milo's emotions.

Sometimes, Milo deflected talking about his feelings with humour. A lot of people did that, so it wasn't that abnormal. He knew it. Paige knew it. His parents knew it. Hell, Amelia probably knew it as well.

Milo zeroed in on the calculus lesson currently being taught to him. The boy sitting next to him was furiously taking notes on what Mr Gregson was teaching, knowing that once he says something, it's unlikely that he'll say it again. Milo didn't have to worry about that though, Sam was an absolute genius when it came to maths and algebra. He'd help Milo before all the big tests, just as Milo would do for him in English. It came as a surprise to Milo when he'd learned just how smart Samuel Rhodes really was. He defied all the jock stereotypes by a ten-fold, proving that he was much more than a sprinter with a pretty face. Milo really hoped the dust settled between their group before the next text, which was approaching quickly because he really needed Sam's help if he even wanted to think of passing that unit.

When the bell mercifully rang, Milo was the first one out of the classroom. It was the end of another school day, and this time Milo didn't have a ride home. He'd packed all his work gear in his sports bag, so he could just walk straight there and still be on time.

He didn't need Paige and her car.

Milo felt guilty about ignoring his friends, but he didn't know what else to do. He knew Paige cared for him a lot, probably more than he deserved, and only wanted what's best for him but Milo couldn't get rid of the feeling that had found a home in his gut since that morning. He knew the conversation, as well as his overdramatic reaction, wouldn't be forgotten so easily, but that didn't mean he couldn't try, right? Sam and Jamie had apparently been asking Paige what was going on, if they'd had a fight or something, Milo was thankful that she didn't tell them what we'd fought about. Hell, did they even really fight? Milo didn't know. Milo was blowing things way out of proportion, and he knew that.