''Ian Romero, the person I hate the most in the whole wide world. He turned the entire school against me, and then just left me alone in the hell he created.''
There's no one Cody Walker hates more than Ian Romero, who is the reason he has been bull...
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*Cody Walker's POV
I was supposed to be studying, but my focus was purely on the little device that was on the bed next to me. Ian still hadn't called or texted and I was really starting to freak out. I kept fidgeting and shifting on the bed. Even though I tried to keep my concentration in the books, my mind kept turning back to all the worst case scenarios.
When I was with Ian, I was so happy it felt like the years before meeting him again didn't matter, so I couldn't bear the possibility of losing him. I also didn't think I could possibly go back to being just friends, not when I knew what it was like to love him.
I didn't want Ian to be sad and I was afraid of Sienna making him feel like he wasn't good enough. I was afraid of how much it would hurt Ian, if his mom couldn't accept him as he was or if she was going to despise that part of him. It wasn't like I thought Sienna would be narrow-minded, I was simply worried she would be biased about gays after being deceived and cheated by one.
Then, finally, Ian answered my text: 'She's cool. She wants to invite you for dinner.'
I typed back to him: 'Oh thank god. What else did she say?'
It didn't take long before my phone beeped again: 'I'll tell you all about it tomorrow, ok? Oh, and she gave me the no-glove-no-love speech.. that was fun.'
'Oh yeah, so much fun… I'll study now, so bye.' I was glad no one could see me then, because I was smiling at my phone like an idiot. To be honest, I didn't get much studying done for the rest of the day either.
I spent an eternity staring at the same page and all I could think about was Ian. His smile, his scent, his body, his voice, his everything. I wondered where was the line between being into someone and being in love with someone. How could I know, I had never felt that way before. I was fairly inexperienced when it came to this stuff — but at least I wasn't going to die as a virgin.
***
The semester exams came and went, and even though I didn't quite get the scores I wanted, I could live with what I got. I would have to study more for the next semester exams, but right then I didn't worry about it too much.
The most important thing was that I was feeling happier and more like myself again. I had friends, I didn't completely hate school anymore and I was even seeing someone. I was smiling more often and sometimes when I looked at my reflection from the mirrored closet doors I actually liked what I saw.
Things were simply that good.
I had even ceased to wonder why B, J & K had left me alone that easily and I spent less and less time worrying whether or not they were going to strike again. There was this new sparkle of hope inside me: maybe it was finally over.
I should have known it was all just calm before the storm.
The first sign of trouble sat down at the stands and calmly watched us through the practices. I didn't even recognize him at first, because his hair was longer and the green beanie and the grey woollen jacket were something I wasn't used to seeing on him.
