The Little Mistakes (boyxboy)

Chapter 5

By the end of the day, I was about ready to rip somebody’s head off. Gym class had gone horribly wrong. The teacher gave me an extra set of clothes to wear and told me to find my own gym locker. The guys just stared at me the whole time. Nobody even said a word until I’d finally found an empty locker to use.

But the kids next to it slammed it shut. I was quite taken aback at first. So I just walked around looking for a different one. Once again, two guys stood in front of it with their arms crossed. I’d gotten pissed then. My last resort was a locker in the way back corner. Right next to the showers and on the lower half. No doubt, my stuff would end up getting water kicked all over it.

I honestly don’t even know how I managed to survive that class. We’d had to split up into six teams for floor hockey. Not a single guy bothered to ask me to join theirs. I didn’t really care. Except the teacher finally got fed up and put me on a team that I could tell was made up of the scrawny guys and losers that nobody liked.

And as luck would have it, I was the only one even remotely decent at playing. So we won against the first team all because of me. Then after a rotation, we were put up against a team of six guys who I could easily tell played ice hockey. They were such assholes, too. They pushed and shoved and knocked the kids I was playing with around. And right after I managed to score a goal, one of them tripped me up.

I had landed flat on my back, banging my head off of the ground. That had hurt like hell. The guys just laughed around me. There wasn’t even a single teacher in sight. I was so frustrated that I started to yell at the one who had knocked me down. That hadn’t turned out so well because he immediately started to mock my Kiwi accent.

I shut up and glared at him and his mates. I rolled over with a loud grunt since I was getting a horrible headache. Then I walked right out of the gym and went to change. I knew I was probably going to get chewed out for leaving class early but I seriously couldn't have cared less. Everyone was making me so angry. I was trying not to get into fights here. And the best way to do that was to bite my tongue and walk away.

I was already waiting out in the parking lot by Patrick’s car by the time the final dismissal bell rang. I kicked at the ground as I waited impatiently for my cousins to get out here. I just wanted to go home already.

“Omg, why are you out here?” Phoebe squealed. She ran up to me with a concerned look on her face. “I thought we were supposed to meet at your locker?”

I frowned. “I changed my mind.”

Patrick gave me a skeptical look when he and Aria joined us. I ignored them all as Patrick unlocked the car and I climbed in. I didn’t say a single word the whole drive. I just gritted my teeth and seethed quietly to myself. Phoebe gave me a small smile before she got out of the car at her house. I just nodded at her, staying in the backseat for the rest of the drive.

Patrick parked in the driveway. I opened my door and climbed out. Then I slammed the car door and walked away.

“Watch it, idiot!” Patrick yelled at my back. “This car is worth more than your life!”

I flipped him off over my shoulder. I barged into the house and immediately stomped down the stairs. “Is he alright?” I heard Marck ask.

“Fuck if I care,” Patrick yelled.

I went to my room and slammed the door, locking it from the inside. I dropped my bag onto the floor with a solid thud. I wanted to scream. Teenagers were so awful. And my head really hurt from when that jackass tripped me earlier. I rubbed the back of my head carefully. I found the huge bump right away and winced from the pain.

I checked the time. It was only a little after three. I was dying to talk to Eryn. But I knew that it was still the middle of the school day for him, a full day ahead of me. That meant I had to wait at least another three hours before I could Skype him. I went into my bathroom and locked the second door just in case. I stripped to my boxers and started the shower. This was one way to get rid of the tension.

I let the water run and went back to my bedroom. I flipped open my laptop and sent a short email to Eryn. I just told him to call me on Skype as soon as he got the message.

There was a loud knock on my door. I jumped, caught off-guard, and looked at the door. Whoever it was knocked again.  “Caise, are you okay in there?”

“Yeah, uncle Kris!” I yelled back.

“Did you want to talk?” he asked.

I pursed my lips. “No. I’m fine.”

“Alright,” he said. “Well I’ll have Patrick get you when it’s time for dinner.”

I didn’t say anything. I listened and heard Kristian’s footsteps, walking away. I closed my laptop again and went back to the bathroom. My boxers fell to the ground and I stepped into the shower.

***

“America fucking sucks,” I said.

Eryn laughed. “You can’t say that. You’ve only been to like two cities in the entire country.”

“Yeah, well they’ve both sucked so far.”

Eryn shook his head at me. “Wanna tell me how your first day went?”

“Horrible.”

“I meant details, smart ass.”

I shot him a look. “I thought it was going to be better here,” I said. “I haven’t done anything to any of these people, and yet they still want to mess with me. I just don’t get it.”

“What did they do?” Eryn asked.

“It doesn’t even matter.”

“Come on, tell me. We haven’t talked in days and it sucks.”

I glanced at him. “Alright, fine. I was doing good all day. Except I told these complete slags off at lunch, but other than that it was fine. Then I had gym for the last class of the day.”

Eryn winced. “Oh.”

“It was bad. I got stuck with a shitty locker because all those guys are complete clowns. Then we had to play floor hockey.”

“But you’re good at that game!” Eryn said.

“Not when my teammates don’t even know the difference between a hockey puck and a football.”

“American football or a real football?” I glared at him. “Alright, not the point. Gotcha, continue.”

“Ta,” I said sarcastically. “So some kid I don’t even know tripped me and pushed me to the floor. I’ve got this nasty bump on my head now, too.”

Alarm flashed in Eryn’s eyes. “Wait, you don’t have a concussion, do you?”

“No. At least I don’t think so.” I shook my head. “No, I’m fine. Anyway, when I tried to tell the kid off all they did was laugh at me.”

“They didn’t appreciate the Kiwi accent, did they?”

I looked at my friend. “No. They didn’t.”

“Well they’re just jerks.” I snorted. “You’re better than them. They’ll leave you alone eventually. Just show them you won’t take their crap.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, so I can get suspended and grounded here too? The whole reason I’m even living here is because of that stuff. I was actually hoping I’d stop having to get into fights here.”

Eryn shrugged. “Maybe you can just ignore them, then. Or let them keep bullying you. Take your pick, I guess.”

“You’re so helpful. Thanks for being an amazing friend,” I sneered.

“Hey, don’t piss me off. I can easily stop answering your Skype calls.”

“This is only our first one,” I argued. “Besides, I know you love me too much to do that.”

Eryn froze on the screen. At first I thought maybe the call was glitching. Then I realized what I’d said. It sunk in just how big of a moron I was. Eryn and I hadn’t even had a chance to talk at all since I’d dropped him off at his house last week. Let alone, we hadn’t talked about the kiss.

“Bro, I’m sorry,” I said, feeling bad for bringing it up like that.

“Nah, it’s whatever.”

“Eryn, we should talk about that,” I said slowly.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he tried.

I gave him a pointed look. “Come on. You know what I’m talking about.”

“Maybe I don’t,” he said smugly.

I scoffed. “You want to play it that way? Fine. How about I remind you about you being drunk, declaring your love for me, and then proceeding to try and kiss the crap out of me?” I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows. “Ringing any bells here?”

Eryn looked away from the screen. His cheeks were bright red and I could tell exactly how awkward he felt. I did feel a little crappy for what I just said, but I needed him to talk to me about this. I wasn’t even gay, for crying out loud. I didn’t want this to screw up our friendship since I was on the complete opposite side of the planet.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

I rubbed the back of my neck. “No worries. I just want to know what that was all about.”

“It was pretty obvious, wasn’t it?” he asked. “You just said it all.”

“Eryn, you don’t love me.”

“In love,” he muttered quietly.

I rolled my eyes. “Bro, seriously. You don’t feel like that. I’m telling you.”

“Why are you saying that? You aren’t me, Cay. You have no idea what is going on in my mind,” Eryn argued.

“Well I know it’s not that,” I insisted.

“You know what, that’s just so much bullshit,” he said angrily. “Are you seriously that disgusted by me?”

“No!” I said.

“Are you a homophobe now?”

I glared at him. “You know I’m not. My parents are gay, you ass! And my uncles!”

“Right,” he said sarcastically.

“Shut up, Eryn. I just don’t like you like that, okay? I have that right.”

Eryn clenched his jaw. “Are you straight or are you just scared to be gay?”

“Why are we even talking about this?” I asked, getting frustrated. “I’m not gay. I don’t care if you are, you’re still my best friend. But I’m not into you like that. That’s just how it’s going to be.”

Eryn shook his head at me. “Fine, I’m okay with that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. That’s why I never told you before. Because I know how you are, Cay.” I didn’t say anything. “It was an accident, I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“No worries. I just want you to talk to me about stuff. It sucks to know that you’ve been keeping secrets.”

Eryn laughed. “The only secret I have is that I’m gay and how I feel about you.”

“That’s a huge secret,” I said.

“Yeah, well I knew you’d freak out. Just like you are.”

“I’m not freaking out. I’m simply telling you that I’m not gay. I am straight.”

“You let me kiss you...” he said lowly. There was a glint in his eyes.

I glared at him. “Shut it. You were a mess.”

“I’m just saying I didn’t forget the entire night,” he said slyly. I looked at him suspiciously. “You’re a pretty good kisser.”

“Okay, I am done talking to you for today!” I said.

I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks. I wasn’t gay, though. I liked girls. I’d always liked girls. Well, except for maybe I was a little interested by Landan Robson when I was in Year 10. But he was in Year 13. And he was really good at rugby. I swear I was just envious of him.

Eryn teased me by kissing at the screen. I glared at him and flipped him off. There was a knock at my door. “Hey, dumbass. My dad said it’s time for dinner,” Patrick called.

“Who was that?” Eryn asked.

I scowled. “My rude, unfriendly cousin, Patrick.”

“Sounds like you two have the same personality. You’re sure you don’t get along?”

“Are you coming?” Patrick asked, pounding louder on my door.

“Yeah, just shut up!” I yelled. Then I turned back to Eryn. “And no. We hate each other. But I’ve got to go before he gives me another reason to want him dead.”

Eryn laughed. “Chur, bro. Call me tomorrow?”

I nodded. “Yeah, bye.”

I signed off and shut my laptop.