- Roberts POV -
A few days ago, I had the biggest crush on this guy named Dylan. Which is really weird because I've always thought that I was into girls. But whatever, that's not the point. The point is that that was a few days ago. Well, yesterday changed everything for me. There's this other guy, his name is Aaron, and he was the first person to be there for me.
So yesterday I woke up to my parents arguing again. It has become a part of my daily routine at this point, so I got used to it. They'd usually fight about the same stuff every day: money, taxes, alcohol, the house being a mess, and so on. I passed by the closed kitchen door, where they were screaming at each other. But then I overheard something. They were fighting about... me? They mentioned something about custody, and I felt like I was about to throw up. Were they getting a divorce? I quietly left through the front door and walked to the train station. The whole way there, I thought about my parents' fight. With whom I'd rather stay, where my father or mother would move to, whose new family I'd like more... I almost didn't notice the people standing in front of me. As soon as I saw their faces, I froze. My bullies from middle school were standing in front of me. Luckily, they didn't notice me, so I snuck past them, praying for them not to be in the same train as me. But today must've been my "lucky day" because I saw them enter the same wagon I did. I hid myself in the back, praying that they wouldn't notice me.
As soon as I arrived at my stop I got out of the train. I looked back to check if they exited, which I shouldn't have done because one of them saw me and told the others something, and just like that, all of them were looking at me. I turned around and started running towards my school. As soon as I got inside, I slowed down. I took a few minutes to calm down and breathe. I was the first student to enter the school. I walked up the stairs, up to the second floor, where i tripped over my own feet and fell face forward. I scraped my knee, and it started to bleed, so I took off my bag to look for a band-aid. I heard some footsteps, but I figured that they were from other students. As the footsteps got closer, I finally found the band-aid in my bag. I put it on the scar and stood up. Someone violently turned me around, and all I could see was the face of one of the guys from the train before he punched me right in the face. The guys laughed and continued to torture me until they heard someone walking up the stairs. They ran away and left me there, full of blood and tears.
Luckily, the person coming up the stairs was Aaron. He looked at me with a shocked expression, not knowing what he should do. He asked me if I was okay, and I just wiped my tears and nodded. He asked me again, and I couldn't help but tell him what happened. Then he hugged me. That was the first sincere hug I've ever gotten. He let go of me, and I just pulled him in again.
"Hey, this sounds like a weird idea, but do you want to skip school today?"he asked me, "You don't have to, but I recommended this cause -"
"Yes, please. I really don't want to stay here right now, "I told him. Without thinking, I grabbed his hand, and we got out of the building. We went to a park and talked the whole day. It was nice having someone to talk to, someone who actually understood you and your feelings.
"Thank you so much for spending time with me. I never knew that a person who does not even know me that well would treat me better than someone I actually care about, "I told him.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, there is this one guy, his name is Dylan, and I care about him a lot. A lot. Well, I guess I can say that I cared about him. Lately, I've been realising that he doesn't feel the same way about me. I guess that I was wasting my time completely since the first day that I talked to him."
"I always thought that you two were together, honestly," as soon as he said those words, I wanted to laugh at them.
"No, we are not. But at some point in my life, I wished that we were. I don't feel the same towards him anymore, though. And again, seriously, thank you for staying with me. Dylan would never do this for me. You make me feel really special right now."
I think that was the moment I realized that I liked him. I did like him before but, you know, as a friend. But now? He's so much more than a friend in my eyes.
I thanked Aaron again and hugged him. "I can take you home if you want to!"he offered, his smile was so contagious.
"Oh, no, there's no need for that, I don't want you to go through all that trouble just for me!"
"It's no trouble at all! Please, the least I could do is to make sure that you get home okay", he insisted. I couldn't help but smile at his stubbornness. I agreed.
We spent the whole drive to my home talking about our shared interests. We have way more in common than I would've thought.
Aaron even walked me to my front door. We hugged again, and I went inside. As soon as I entered I looked for my parents. My father was usually at work at this time of the day, but my mother should've been home. I looked everywhere but I couldn't find her. I figured that she was at the bar since that's where she usually goes if she's not at home when she should be.
I took a shower, made myself some food, ate it, and then went to bed. Before I fell asleep, I sent Aaron a text, thanking him again and telling him good night.
I couldn't fall asleep for like half an hour. All I could think about was the way this guy made me feel. The feelings he gave me were just like the ones Dylan made me feel, but 10 times more intense. Am I falling in love..?
