More Than Friends (boyxboy)

Chapter 1: The rush

"I hate my new school."

☆

"Bay...Bay!"

The bathroom door continued to be pounded, but he didn't want to be disturbed just yet. He lets the bathwater submerge his face as he holds his breath. The sound of his older sister protesting on the other side of the door is dulled just a fraction, as the muffled sound of the bath water fills his senses. Just a little longer before he had to face another day without Archie being a constant by his side.

They had known each other all their lives, spent nearly every day together until his mother dropped the bombshell that she and his father were divorcing... and they had to move all the way to the other side of the city. Granted, it was only the other side, only an hour by car, a little longer by bus, but Bay was determined that it wouldn't change their friendship and was also why he was up at such a time, so he didn't have to change schools.

"Bay...I need the toilet!" Comes the holler once again from the other side of the door. It forces him to get up and out of the water, causing it to slosh around and spill a little over the edge.

"Ok ok." He shouts as he steps out of the bath, grabbing his towel from the radiator and hurriedly dries, to stop himself from getting too cold. He tucks his towel around his waist and unbolts the door. " I'm done." He mumbles to Gia, his sister, as he looks at her through his messy wet bangs.

"About time" she grumbles as she pushes past him, barging his left arm a little. "What were you doing for so long....oh...no don't answer that." She waves her hands in dismissal as she shuts the door behind her, leaving Bay standing momentarily on the landing.

He heads to his room to see his younger brother still sleeping. He takes a stuffed Yoshi and throws it at his head. "Sim, get up!"

The young boy turns in the bed, frowning at Bay. "Where's mum? She usually gets me up" he begins to stretch on the bed.

"She had to work. Hurry and get washed and dressed. Gia is taking you and your sisters today." Bay says as he heads for his drawer to pull on some underpants.

"Can't you take me. They all gang up on me." Sim sits up in the bed, pouting his lips at his brother.

Bay sits on the end of the bed. He looks at his brother smiling. "Come on, Sim, you're 10 years old. Are you gonna let two 6 year old brats trample all over you?"

Sim looks ahead in thought. "No. I guess not....but will you take me next time?" He looks at his brother with hope.

"You know I can't. Not since I now have to get a bus." He sighs as he ruffles Sim's hair. His brother looks down with disappointment.

"I hate my new school."

"You will soon make new friends." Bay says, trying his best to be positive, though he knew he was no good example. He had taken the supposedly easy option to stay where he was. All for the sake of his friend.

***

The bus pulls up against the kerb and Bay clambers on, making his way to the back and settling into the reasonable comfort of the back seat. Here, he was out of the way and finds his head take rest against the window, as the bus pulls away on it's long journey.

30 minutes pass. That was when 'she' got on. The new girl who seemed to have caught the attention of everyone at the school. Bay didn't know what it was about her exactly which was the pull. Maybe it was the way she was feminine, yet tomboy at the same time, her short hair, long enough to be tucked just behind her ear, with her black beanie hat so cutely placed on top. Her discrete black nose stud, which she would remove the stop before school, then pop back in on her return journey. She had to wear the same school uniform as everyone else, but somehow it just looked so much better on her. Bay felt a strange kind of curiosity when he saw her. He admired and envied her at the same time. She made the ethos of self love and confidence look so easy. He wished he could be like that, but he couldn't. Not even with Archie, who knew him the best.

She gets on and sits a few seats in front, with her friend, completely unaware Bay was even there, with his mind on her, just like everyone else. He turns his face to the window, he plugs his ears into his music and closes his eyes.