High- School Strangers || DreamNap

XI

ᎻᎪᏢᏢY ᏢᎡᏆᎠᎬ ᎷᎾNᎢᎻ! YᎾᏌ ᎪᎡᎬ ᎪᎷᎪᏃᏆNᏩ ᎡᎬᏩᎪᎡᎠᏞᎬᏚᏚ ᎾF ᏔᎻᎪᎢ YᎾᏌ ᏞᎾᏙᎬ ᎪNᎠ ᏔᎻᎪᎢ YᎾᏌ ᏆᎠᎬNᎢᏆFY ᎪᏚ!! ᴡᴇ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡɪsʜ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴇsᴛ! <3
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Strangers....

That word seemed to morph as Nick sat on the swing and watched a much taller boy kneel down to pick up a flower, a stranger that would disgust him was now becoming more of an acquaintance that would disgust him a little less.

A stranger with forest eyes that made Nick want to stab them out suddenly made Nick want to stare into them, wishing he could find a forest as pretty as them.

It was disgusting....

"LOOK!" now that stranger had caught his attention with a capturing voice, one that's hard to ignore. "I got a flower." The smile was evident in clays tone, he held out the flower to show Nick. "It's a daisy." Nick muttered with a small smile that somehow washed onto his face like seawater on a beach.

Nick couldn't stop the stupid smiles that washed over like waves, his eyes following every movement Clay made. "Come swing with me!" Nick accidentally yelled out, it was just a simple thought that was blurted before thought process.... Though the blonde looked as if he could cry. "O-oh! Okay!" He smiled and quickly ran over to the swing next to Nick, taking a seat and starting to swing.

"You gotta lift up your legs!" Clay pouted as he pointed at Nick who was lazily swinging, the raven gave a small giggle and started to put forth effort. "We can get a bunch of momentum and then jump off and do a cool pose!" Clay exclaimed like a child talking about its favorite cartoon, Nick found it sweet in a way.

"I'll get a video." Nick stated as he stopped and propped up the phone, hitting record and going straight back to swinging. "Can we hold hands?" If water was in nicks mouth, it would be on the floor right now. "WHAT? No!" Nick glared, he had already agreed to this random hangout with the biggest asshole in town and now they have to hold hands? Nah.

"Pleaaaase! It'll be so cool in our video!" Clay whined like a kid would do for a Lego set, even going the extra mile with puppy dog eyes. "Oh okay! You pull out the puppy dog eyes?" Nick half wheezed at the situation, the sun setting reflecting in clays eyes; making the once sparkling bright eyes seem enchanting and calm.

"F-fine! Just stop that weird face you freak!" Nick exclaimed as he looked anywhere but that stupid freckled face, he quickly peered at the hand that reached out, hesitantly putting his hand in clays as they started to actually swing.

The swings had been here for years and sat at the top of a hill, there was a play scape attached and it was in a forest. It showcased a beautiful sunset, the pink hazy sky making nicks cheeks heat up. Though As far as Nick knew, no one owned the land nor swings.

It was actually quite peaceful, the wind wrapping around them like a cool breezy blanket, making Nick feel content in his current situation. His hand felt warm... he couldn't help but gaze at the hand that held his so confidently.. how does he do it?

Nick is sure that he's blocked the other from anything even remotely related to a relationship of any kind yet somehow the other gets this strength and confidence to just... continue.

"You seem lost in thought." Clays voice cut through his thoughts, the raven nodded with a content sigh. "You... you can tell me stuff y'know?" The blonde encouraged before fumbling at nicks face, "-Well! okay- o-only if you want too but you get w-what I'm saying-" his voice faded as he realized the younger was laughing, like actually laughing.

"Hey! What are you laughing for?" Clay pouted but he knew that he was smiling slightly, the beautiful laugh that floated around him was enchanting. It slowly faded away though, small breaths of air were heard instead. "S-sorry! You just... you just- forget it." Nick quickly dropped it and looked away, his stomach doing flips now.

It didn't help that they were swinging, but the view kinda helped. Nick decided he needed to speak up, no better timing right? "Why... why do you keep trying?" His voice was softer and quieter then he pushed it out to be, the blonde almost immediately blushed.

"What do you mean?" That golden retriever tone was back, Nick often realized the blonde would act like a puppy when he was nervous. It didn't necessarily bother Nick because it was quite funny and cute but it was odd for sure.

"I've pushed you away so many times yet you act as if you've known me forever!!" Nick exclaimed, he ripped his hand away with a frown. His emotions getting the best of him like they always do, the tears already welling up within his hurt eyes.

That innocent golden retriever look quickly washed away into a more concentrated and shy look, why?

"I-...." The taller looked embarrassed, his usual sparkling freckled face was know dim and flustered. "I'm not sure... I just know there's something in you that needs help and no one else will do it so... I thought maybe I could?" Clay sounded ashamed, like he has destroyed the raven.

The raven gave a sad look, looking down at his feet before deciding this cannot continue. "This needs to stop Clay." Nick stated as he stared down at his cold hand, the feeling of warmth left it long ago and he misses it oddly enough.

"What?" A more concerned tone was laced within that now seemingly scared voice of the usual confident blonde. "You aren't going to help me, I know I'm some big football joke! I.. I can't do this." Nick didn't mean to freak out but the world seemed to be closing in on him, his airways of breathing suddenly shriveling up into nothingness.

"What? No Nick- what's going on? What did I do?" The desperate and cold pleads fading away from Nick as he quickly got up and grabbed his phone. "I-I'm.. no. I gotta go." The situation only got worse when a warm hand reached out, Nick quickly leaving and ignoring the begs of the other.

He didn't mean to ruin the moment that could've been sweet but he had a good feeling that clay didn't want to be friends, he just wanted twenty bucks from hanging out with a weirdo. Or maybe he was wrong to assume that but Nick didn't really care, he wanted to just graduate and move away.

The last thing he wanted was to get stuck with some stupid joke and get mad fun of for the remaining 4 months of his senior year. Another thing he didn't want was to go home. Sure his parents weren't home so he could do whatever but it was boring inside.

Maybe that's why instead of turning dow the familiar street, he instead went the opposite way.