Society | A Evan Lennon Story

6 - "I Like You"

At lunch, we're sitting at our usual spot outside, only now Zamora is here with us, which I don't mind. She's really cool and she seems to keep us in a good mood with her enthusiasm and good energy. She's going on about her life and talking about how Bella embarrassed herself in dance this morning. "And when she saw the look on our teachers face, she knew she heard the whole thing and Ms. Jones gave her two weeks of detention right in front of us, it was hilarious." I laugh with the others and Celeste goes on to say,

"Serves her right. It's always satisfying to see a entitled brat be put in her place every now and then."

I grin and look down. And Zamora says, "Definitely."

After school, I walk out on the field only to be stopped by Barrett, who I hear say, "Evan!" I stop and turn. He smiles nervously. "Can I.. talk to you for a second?" He asks.

I look back at coach to see he's too busy with the other guys to notice me, so I look back at Barrett and smile and nod. "Course." I say. We sit on a nearby bench and I watch as Barrett grows more nervous by the second. I go to comfort him, but he stops me when he begins to speak.

"The fight with Ben, it.. I feel as if it's my fault and I-I know I'm probably just being stupid and overthinking it, but I wanted to say sorry anyway."

He doesn't look at me when he speaks, not even after he's done. I grab his shoulder and say, "Don't be." He turns his head, so his face is completely out of my sight. "And it's not stupid." I say. He still doesn't look at me. I grab his chin and make him look at me then I let him go. I smile softly at him as he stares at me. "You're my best friend, I'll do anything to protect you and keep you happy and safe." He smiles. I nudge his arm. "I love you, man." I say. And he looks at me with a sort of look that simultaneously encompassing shock and joy, like he hasn't heard those words in a very long time. It makes me feel so much more concerned but also happy that I was able to remind him that he is loved.

"Thank you, Evan..." He says in a gentle, fragile voice. I can tell he's on the verge of tears, but doesn't want me to worry. I worry anyway. I pull him into a hug. I know he's caught by surprise because he doesn't hug me back for a few seconds. I hold him tighter and he does the same. I rub his back before I pull away and he stands. I stand too. "I should be going." He turns to leave, but stops when I start to speak.

"I-"

"Lennon!" I hear coach yell.

I look back at him then back at Barrett. He smiles softly. "Do you want to come round mine later?" I ask.

"I can't. I have to study for midterm GCSE exams."

I grin as I laugh. "Exams? We have two months til then."

He smiles and rolls his eyes. "Yeah, well, I like to be prepared." He says. Coach calls for me again. I look at Barrett from him again as he says, "You should go."

"Maybe I could come over and help you?" I suggest rather eagerly. I don't know why I'm so eager to help him, maybe it's because I know he's not as okay as he puts out.

He smiles more and nods. "Sure. Okay."

"Great. I'll be over at 6."

"Okay." I smile at him. He turns and walks away and I join the team. I look as some girls walk by. I notice one girl in particular, a girl I haven't seen til now.

She notices me and smiles. "Hi, Evan." She says and I smile in response. She continues to walk with her friends and I look away.

I knock on the door. Barrett's mum answers after a long time. I smile. "Hello, Ms. Johnson." I say.

She grins. "Oh, Evan, honey, it's so good to see you again!"

"You too."

"Barrett's upstairs. You can just go up."

I nod and smile. "Thank you." I walk past her and walk up the stairs. I knock before I go into Barrett's room. He looks at me from his desk and smiles. "Hey." I say as I drop my bag by the door.

"Hey."

I pull up a chair by him and sit. "So, what are we working on?" I ask. I look at him when he doesn't respond. He's smiling at me but it fades and he looks down. My smile fades too. "Hey, what's wrong?" I ask.

He looks at me, then he looks back down and says, "I'm sorry." I don't say anything. He looks at me again and my heart drops when I see the tears start to fill his eyes. "Something's wrong with me." He says, his voice breaks. I gulp hard. "I..I think that I might.. like you..." I smile softly as he continues. "I know it's impossible for you to like me back and I don't know why I'm telling you this, I guess I really needed to get it off my chest, even though I don't know if what I feel is actually what I feel, I-I don't know, I-"

I place a hand on his cheek and kiss his opposite cheek then I lean back and take my hand away. He stares at me with wide eyes, but his face is red. "Well, how was that then?" I ask.

"..I- it felt nice.."

I smile. "Then I think you have your answer."

He stares at me, smiles then looks down. "How long have you known?" He asks, seemingly noticing that I'm not at all surprised.

I shrug. "A while, the signs were there but I didn't want to assume."

He looks up at me. "Thank you." He says. I smile and nod.

I turn onto my street and walk down the pavement and when I get to my house, I see Zamora sitting on the porch stairs. I stop and stare at her. She seems upset, but when she finally notices me, she stands and grins widely. "Evan, hey!" She says, her demeanor completely changing.

I smile and walk over to her, but I still seem to be somewhat far from her. "Hey. Are you okay?" I ask.

She stares at me for what feels like an eternity until she says, "Yeah. Alright."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah!"

"Cause you can talk to me."

She looks down. It's quiet again. I open my mouth to speak, but was interrupted. "Do you like me?" She looks at me.

"What?"

"It's okay if you don't, I just.. I obviously asked you to the cinema because I fancy you, then you said you weren't ready for anything and I guess.. I just wanted to know if things were still the same..."

"I-"

"And please don't feel like you need protect me from the truth because you don't want to hurt my feelings because, quite honestly, it would hurt more finding out that you didn't like me way into the future than right now."

I stare at her then I look down, fiddling with the keys in my hands, trying to figure out what the right thing to say is. I inhale deeply then begin to speak. "I think.." I look at her. "You're a really nice person with a big heart, you want the best for everyone and you love putting smiles on people's faces, which is the kind of person I like to have around."

She smiles. "So?"

I laugh lightly. "So.. I would like to spend some more time together before I can have a proper answer to your question, if that's okay?" I ask and she grins widely, her hands to her sides in fists and she stands on her tippy toes then goes back into a normal stance, like she had a moment where she let her excitement control her body.

"Definitely." She says.

I smile and nod. "Great." I say and she walks over to me. I stare down at her and a moment later, she hugs me. I smile more and wrap my arms around her.

She pulls away after a moment and quickly kisses my cheek before walking past me. "Bye, Evan." She says.

I look down at my hands as I grin. "Bye, Zamora." I say. I stand there a little while longer before I walk over to the front door and unlock the door and go inside.