Finding Yourself: Book Two

Chapter Twelve: Change

"...Does Avil have any crushes?" Deven asked. Dakota flinched like he had been slapped.

"Excuse me?" Dakota squinted with both curiosity and, seemingly, slightly suspicious. "Why do you ask?"

Devin sighed. He knew Dakota would set a brick wall in front of Avil's secrets.

"Listen, it's too complicated to explain," Devin lied. Then he realized he was lying and then expected to get the truth from it. He backtracked. "Well, it isn't really that complicated, but it also doesn't really have anything to do with me."

"Then why are you here, if it has nothing to do with you?" Dakota pressed. Devin noticed Lucas glancing at the two of them like their conversation was an intense tennis match or a drama show.

"Damn, babe," Lucas commented, "All I'm saying is: detective."

Devin didn't know what that meant, but he was deciding to ignore it.

"Listen, Dakota," Devin huffed, crossing his arms, "I know you don't like me that much-"

"I wonder what gave you that impression," Dakota said sarcastically. Devin, again, ignored it.

"I know you think I'm like the scum of the earth or whatever-"

"Exactly that," Dakota retorted, crossing his arms as well.

"But this isn't exactly my secret to tell," Devin stated. That must have struck a nerve or something in Dakota because the boy shut up. Devin took it as a sign to continue. "I know I hurt Avil before, but trust me, those days are forever over. I'm one-hundred-percent serious when I say this, but I have Avil's best interest in mind." Dakota stared him down for a second- the silence between them echoing. Devin could see Lucas watching with rapt attention from the corner of his eye.

"I'm listening," Dakota pressed.

"I can't tell you unless you answer my question," Devin retorted.

"So you want me to spill Avil's secrets without hearing this supposed secret you're keeping?" Dakota narrowed his eyes and nodded his head toward Devin. "An eye for an eye. A secret for a secret. You tell me your information, and I'll answer your question."

Devin kind of felt like he was bidding his best friend's secrets to a devil child, but in reality, he was just trying to help.

"Fine," Devin agreed, "And only because I owe Avil for beating him. You want the secret? Fine. Tanner has a crush on Avil."

Dakota's eyes widened. He looked like he was suddenly inwardly panicking. He looked to Lucas, back to Devin, to Lucas, to Devin. Lucas was covering his mouth with his hand.

"He- He what?" Dakota spit.

"My exact reaction," Devin countered, "He admitted it to me earlier. Now- when Avil gave Tanner a tour of our house, he seemed a little flustered. I was wondering...does Avil have a crush on Tanner?"

"I can't f**king believe this," Dakota said, throwing his hand up on his forehead.

"Dakota," Devin said forcefully. He was starting to get sick of not having an answer. "We made a deal. Does Avil have a crush on Tanner?"

"Does Avil have a crush on Tanner?" Dakota repeated, his eyes still wide, "Are you joking? He's in love with the dude no matter how many times you've beaten him up. And I bet Tanner just stood and watched, right? Pisses me off. You've got to be lying."

"I'm not," Devin retaliated, starting to get pissed too, "For your information, he didn't stand and watch. We actually had a lot of arguments about it, which is one of the reasons I stopped. I know it's shocking because even I didn't know Tanner was gay until he told me. But you can not treat Tanner like the bad guy because of what I did."