Who Knew?

Chapter 19:

POV- Ruben

At the moment, I'm freaking out a little bit. Midterms are but three weeks away, and It feels as if everything I've learned over the last four years have blown away in the rapidly cooling breeze. Fall is flying by quickly, almost as if we skipped right over into winter, which is odd considering it rarely gets very cold here. At least that's what I've heard. 

I've been camped out in the library for the past two and a half weeks, pouring over textbooks like they're a religion. I've never been really worried about my grades before, but all it took was failing my calculus exam and Bio project to help me realize I'm really going to have to hunker down to pass senior year and graduate. 

Wyatt has been helping me study, tutoring me in math and science, but none of it will matter if I fail midterms. Even finals won't matter because it won't be mathematically possible for me to pass. I need to pass. 

Wyatt is sitting beside me at a table, reading Moby Dick for his English Midterm. That's the one class that I've got a perfect one hundred average in and I've been helping him with it. 

I jump in my seat when the book hits the table. "I'm bored," Wyatt announces. 

I finished solving my equation before looking at him. "Hi bored, It's nice to meet you. I'm Ruben. I think you might know my boyfriend Wyatt? I heard you two were good friends." 

Wyatt glares at me and I snicker at my own joke. "Funny ha ha. Now seriously, I've gotta fucking do something before I start bouncing off the walls. There is nothing to do in this boring ass town and I'm tired of school work. I gotta get out Ruben, I gotta get out!"

I chuckle at his faux desperation and he smiles. Collecting my stuff, I stand and nod at the door. "Come on."

He lurches up and stumbles after me. "Where are we going?" 

I glance at him over my shoulder. "I thought you gotta get out, gotta get out!" 

Wyatt gasps and puts a hand to his chest. "Oh, how your mockery wounds me. But yes, point taken. So where are we going?"

Pausing to throw my shit inside my locker I say, "It's a surprise."

I grab hold of his hand and pull him towards the doors. Last week, Wyatt came out to the school, announcing that he and I were together. Well, it was less of an announcement and more of just being ourselves and acting more coupley in public. Anyway, most everybody took it pretty well which is amazing. There are always those couple of kids who make us feel like crap for being who we are, but even they don't make a huge deal about it. Well, except this one guy on the football team who's been harassing us lately, but we both know how to handle ourselves, and even though I can see that it kind of bothers Wyatt, he recognises that not everybody gets it. 

We're both happier now that it's finally out in the open at school. Now, we can go about our days not hiding from our peers and friends. Wyatt looks lighter than he's ever looked to me. There's still that weight though. The weight that comes from lying to your parents, the people who raised you. It's a weight I know well. 

I pull Wyatt outside and open the passenger side of my door for him, then close it once he gets in and move around to the driver's side. "Are you going to tell me where we're going yet?" he asks. 

I shake my head adamantly. "Nope," I say, popping the 'p' at the end of the word. The idea to take him where we're going now came to me a few days ago. I was just waiting for a good enough opening to take him. Boredom is the perfect excuse. 

I turn onto the highway and Wyatt starts fiddling with the radio. When no good stations come up, he hooks his phone up to the car to play his own playlist. The first song that comes up is an old One Direction song, one from their first album, Up All Night. I refuse to admit how I know that.