Serendipity

Sorry for being an ass

After Sydney leaves, Heather pulls me aside.

"I need to ask you something," She says, blue eyes as serious as her tone.

"Yes?" I raise one brow. I'm kinda sad Sydney had to go, but I'm also curious.

"And you don't have to tell me right away- or ever, if you don't want," Heather continues. "But..."

I wait for a few more seconds after she trails off. "Yes?" I repeat after the suspense starts killing me.

She cups her hands around my ear and whispers, "Do you like Sydney?"

At first, my brain doesn't process the words.

"Yeah."

"Oh-" She frowns, obviously thrown off at my easy response. "Really? So are you guys...?"

"O-oh," I cough when her actual question hits me. "As in... Like, like like?"

"Yeah."

"Uh," I run a hand through my hair. "I-I don't know."

"And that's why I said you didn't have to respond right away," She nods. "I know it's confusing."

"Yeah, but, I mean-" I bite my lip and stare at her. Heather seems like someone I can trust... "I kinda know...I'm just not sure."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," I stare at her for another few seconds while my brain fights with the idea, then finally I blurt. "But... I'm bisexual."

She blinks. "Does... He know?"

"Yeah," I blush. "He's the first one I told. Besides my dog."

"And I'm...?"

"The second, if we don't count my dog."

She nods slowly. "Well... I'm glad you felt like you could tell me that. Believe me, I feel honored."

I nod.

"But I just want to tell you one last thing before I leave you alone," She pats my shoulder. "I'm here for you. Oh, and if you break his heart, I'll break your face. We aren't close or anything, but he's special to me."

"That's two," I point out, smiling nervously. Judging by the size of her hands, I don't doubt her ability to carry out her threat.

"Whatever," She rolls her eyes, but she's smiling. "See ya."

Then I turn, my eyes land on where Sydney disappeared a few minutes ago. Somehow I feel like his "it's fine" wasn't entirely truthful.

---

"Hey, Sydney!" I call, jogging over to catch up with him as he tries to quickly escape our classroom. A few heads turn to the source of my voice, but don't linger. He winces slightly when I sling an arm over his shoulder. "Mind if I tag along?"

"What about Heather?" The sour twist to his words make me frown.

"What about Heather?" I shift the tone slightly, hoping he can hear my confusion.

"Wasn't she gonna tell you something?"

"Well, yeah," I wince when I remember her threat.

"So what happened to hanging out with her?" He doesn't meet my eyes. Is he really mad at me? What did I do, exactly?

"I never planned on it," I say slowly as we walk down the hall. When he still doesn't look convinced, I spot the door to the men's bathroom from the corner of my eye and grab his arm so I can pull him inside with me.

He yelps in surprise, then claps a hand over his mouth when he realizes how close I am. I plant one hand behind his head as he leans against the wall.

"Look," I say, shaking my head slightly. "I don't know what's up right now, but nothing happened between Heather and I, if that's what you're thinking."

He blushes. "But-"

"I don't like her," I interrupt him. "Not like I like you."

Then my words settle in to both of our minds, and I feel my face heating up as well. I pull away and run a hand through my hair.

There's silence, then Sydney sighs.

"Yeah. I'm sorry."

"Why?" I frown. I don't need an apology.

"I don't have any right to feel jealous or anything," He sucks on the inside of his cheeks. "And I'm sorry for being an ass."

I snort. "That's okay. I'm used to being around those— and trust me, I much prefer your ass over any one else's."

Crap.

That came out wrong.

Our blushes both burn brighter than the sun, and I stare a hole into the toe of my shoe while I try to regain some of my composure.

"You know what I mean," I mumble.

Sydney laughs. "I do."

"So..." I say after another few seconds. "Are we cool?"

He smiles. "Yeah. Again, I'm sorry for acting like a little kid."

"All forgiven," I agree, offering out my hand. He takes it and gives it a gentle shake.

"I guess we should be getting to the next class then," He slips his hand out of mine after letting it rest for a moment. Already my skin misses his warmth, but I keep my smile.

"Yeah," And he starts to walk away, probably expecting me to follow, but something else comes to my mind. I grab his arm before he can leave the bathroom and spin him around.

He blinks at me with his wide brown eyes. "Yes?"

"Sorry," I release him. "But, uh, I was just wondering if I could...maybe... sit with you at lunch?"

He blinks again.

"Of course," He snorts. "You didn't have to even ask."

"Yeah— but I feel like it'd be weird if I just plopped down and said 'I'm sitting here now, deal with it'."

"You wouldn't say that," He points out.

"Still."

He shrugs. "Again, I don't see why not. Although I'm not gonna deal with your jock friends."

"Oh, yeah, no," I shake my head. "That's partly why I wanted to sit with you instead. Liam's just been giving me a hard time..." And badmouthing Sydney. But I don't want to add that particular bit of information. "And I'd like to sit with you anyway."

"Just can't get enough of me, eh?" He teases, poking my bicep with his finger.

"Yep," I grin. He blushes at my confirmation.

The bell interrupts our exchanged smiles, but as we part ways again, I'm definitely looking forward to sitting with him at lunch.