My Lion. || BXB

chapter fifty-four.

it was currently lunch time on a monday morning and i was sitting with mari and her friend group. lionel and i walked to school together and we decided that he was coming to my house after too.
"hunter what do you think?" elsie spoke up, but i wasn't really listening.

elsie is one of marianna's friends that i've been hanging out with for the past few days. elsie was a dark skinned jamaican girl with dark red hair that was in knotless braids that were curly at the bottom. her dark brown orbs were captivating and she had a well-kept eyebrow slit. elsie also had matching dimples on her cheeks, which popped out when she smiled. she was a very trend, cool girl whom i did enjoy hanging out with.

"huh?" i responded, awkwardly.
"she asked if we should all go watch the new barbie movie at the cinema together." penny said, flashing me her pearly whites while she spoke. penelope was another one of mari's friends. she was known for wearing some sort of pink at all times, she was blonde and had bright blue eyes. but her most noticeable feature was probably her false eyelashes that she wore on a daily basis, they were big and bushy but she somehow pulled them off. even her tone of voice was high and pretty, to match her cheery, positive personality.

"oh, sure! i've been wanting to watch it." i nodded encouragingly, and all of us started discussing dates and times for when we were going to do it. this was going to be the first time i've hung out with them outside of school.

"i'm coming too." the last of marianna's friends said as he approached our table. this was jacob.

jacob was tall with jet black hair and dark blue eyes that looked like a rainy evening in alaska. he often wore hoodies over his school shirts for more individuality, and also had an eyebrow piercing for this exact reason. i liked jacob, he seemed cool.

eventually the bell went for last period and i had maths, with cormac, so i was dreading it. i hated this, feeling so awkward to go to my own lessons just because of who i sat by. but i felt powerless in the fact that i knew if i asked mr taylor to move me he'd decline in an instant.

nevertheless, i made my way to the classroom and scanned my desk. cormac wasn't here yet so i walked over there and took my seat. the desks were in two's in this room, so we were completely isolated which didn't help, but the closest person to me was probably harvey who i met in my first week here in pe. he's a nice guy, but he sits by his new 'girlfriend-of-the-week' so he pays me no attention.

the second bell went, meaning anyone who entered the room now was late and would get a detention. cormac wasn't here yet.

i started writing down the date in my book and then the title of the lesson. lord, i hate maths. but my attention was taken when the door opened and cormac was practically pushed through it by archie cooper.

"you're both late." mr taylor stated simply before turning away and back to his computer.
the boys didn't bother apologising, instead they made their way to their seats and started scribbling down the dates.

"i was barely late." cormac groaned. i wasn't sure whether i was supposed to respond or if he was talking to himself. i didn't answer him.

"mr murphy." the teacher spoke. cormac looked up like a deer in headlights. "what is the missing calculator equation; cosine, sine and..."
"uhh—" he stuttered, flicking through the pages of his book in desperation. i took pity on him, so i turned around to hide my face from the teacher and whispered, "tangent." and he copied my words aloud.
"correct." then, mr taylor moved on swiftly.

i turned my head back around and continued writing notes from the board, not expecting any sort of conversation to spark from that interaction.
but, cormac whispered back to me "thanks." and i nodded silently in return.

even if cormac did apologise to me, which i don't expect he will do, i'm not sure if i want to be friends again. after all, how can someone be so quick to through away a friendship without hesitation? was there really any sort of strong friendship in the first place? clearly not on his end.

i was strolling out the school gates when the infamous lion came tracing up towards me. everyone just assumed he and i were friends now due to the incessant amount of time we spent together during school - despite having no classes together. i was happy people weren't so shocked to see us together now, atleast we could walk down hallways together without getting weird looks. as long as we kept the PDA to a minimum in school, we'd be fine.

"hey." he said to me, wrapping an arm around my waist. this is exactly what i mean.
"hiiiii..." i chuckled, sliding his arm off and dropping it to his side, "we're meant to be a secret remember? your whole speech about wanting to be feared and known as a lone wolf?"
"well maybe i'm starting to lose interest in that image." he shrugged while smirking cheekily. i rolled my eyes, not taking any sort of seriousness from his tone.

when we reached my house my dad was sitting on the couch in the living room and instantly took notice of us, "oh! huntley you didn't tell me you were bringing lionel over, i would've made some food or something." he stood up in a quick motion, dusting his clothes off to look more mature.
"that's quite alright, mr thompson. i'm not hungry." lionel said in a formal tone. i glanced up at him in a surprised manner, never having heard him speak like that before. it was hot.

"if you say so!" my dad smiled before sitting back down. "how was school?" we moved into the living room but didn't sit,
"it was alright, i'm still hanging around mari and jacob's group."
"jacob?" lionel questioned. i figured he probably hadn't seen me with him before as jacob did change around groups frequently so he wasn't with us that much this week.
"i'll tell you about him later." i shook him off, "how was your day?"
my father shrugged, "boring, mostly."
"hm."

"well, you boys can go upstairs if you'd like."
"yeah, okay." i agreed, taking lionel's hand and leading him out the room then up the stairs.
"and keep the door open!" we heard my dad shout from downstairs but we just sniggered in response.

we slouched down on my bed and instantly got into a comfortable cuddling position with lionel sitting against the headboard with his legs open and straight, then me sitting in between and my head resting in his lap.

i started playing my playlist out of my speakers, and then we started chatting.
"so, jacob?" he questioned, and i chuckled at the mention.
i started to describe the boy, "jacob williams, he's in my grade. black hair, hoodies.." trying to get lionel to recognise him.
"ohhh, yeah i think i've seen him around before. didn't know you were friends."
"yeah, he hangs with mari and us lot sometimes. he's cool."

"cooler than me?" he asked, his hands sliding down my neck and started unbuttoning my school shirt from the top. i, of course, let him.
"nobody's cooler than you." i said simply. he bent over and kissed me from upside down, i chuckled at the awkward positioning but kissed back nonetheless.

"i want you to be my boyfriend — officially." he stated, and my eyes widened before sitting up and facing him.
"wow— really?" i really wanted to make sure lionel was 100% on this, the last thing i wanted was to get my heart broken.

but my response only made his grin widen; "yes, really. to me you're already mine, but we might as well make it official. i love you, hunter and i want you as my boyfriend." and then he kissed me again, pulling me into his lap and then again and again. "so what do you say?"

"i say yes.

and i'll say yes every time."