Creek - Crush

Chapter 1

It's the first day of my senior year of Highschool. I live in a small town in Colorado, I've been with the same class of people since elementary school. We all formed cliques pretty early on. 

My group consists of five people. All of us are boys.

First, there's me. Craig Tucker. I'm the second tallest of my little group. I get along with everyone but sometimes I have a hard time with my emotional regulation, and my sense of humor is pretty cynical. I have short black hair that I often hide under a blue winter hat, I'm self-conscious about my hair.

My best friend is Clyde Donovan. He's average in pretty much every way. Average height, smarts, popularity, personality. He's predictable, but that's why I like him, he doesn't keep me guessing. I get stressed when things are out of control. 

The oldest of us, Tolkien Black, is the only one that is taller than me. He has dark skin and short black hair. He is incredibly talented in everything he does, even if he's trying it for the first time. He's a cool guy. Sometimes too cool.

Jimmy Valmer is the comedian of the group. He was born with Cerebral Palsy so he uses crutches to get around. He doesn't let his disability hold him back, he has big plans for the future. I have confidence that he will make it big one day.

Last but certainly not least, is my friend Tweek Tweak. How do I begin to describe him? Physical appearance, he's short with messy blonde hair. He has constant bedhead, even late in the day. He has immense anxiety and freaks out over everything. The exact type of person I would usually hate, but he is the exception. His unpredictability comforts me. It makes me want to look after him.

I like him. In a very gay way.

I'm not sure when my little crush started, I think maybe around puberty. Middle school maybe? 

It takes a while to figure out you're gay. I thought I was just hyper-fixated on him, but Clyde talked me into the idea that it might be romantic infatuation, and it turns out he was right. 

Every year I tell myself that I'm going to tell him. "This is the year," I say to myself. Never once have I succeeded in telling him how I feel. My stomach ties in knots and my heart goes crazy. It only gets harder with time. 

It's senior year, I only have this year to tell him before we go off to college. I'm running out of time. I need to tell him.

Tolkien's birthday is the day before school starts in the fall. He invites us all over to his huge house. We usually hang out in his basement, his house has everything you could think of to have fun.

I arrive at his house around 2 pm. It's the time he suggested, but I'm a few minutes late.

I ring the doorbell and wait. Tolkien opens the door and lets me in.

"Craig! Good to see you again! How was your summer?"

"Good. I didn't do much, just work and stuff..."

"Well, it's senior year. We are gonna rock this."

"Ha. We better."

I give him a fist bump, it's our greeting.

"Hey, I'm gonna wait up here for the others. You can head to the basement and settle down. There are drinks and stuff down there."

"Am I the first one?"

"No, Tweek got here a few minutes ago. He's down there."

I take a gulp. Even the mention of his name makes me nervous. I really need to get these feelings out.

I go down to the basement. Tweek is on one of the couches, already under a blanket.

He is so fucking cute.