Lay Me Down (MxM)

13. Like a Whisper

Please excuse any typos you see—I did my best to proofread but finished this chapter at 0300! Safe to say I'm quite exhausted, but I hope this tides all of you over until I can get started on the rest later this week. I'm still trying to stick to my bi-monthly weekend update schedule, but because of the creative roll I've been on (and all the sleep I've been sacrificing) I've churned out chapters faster than usual. Heh. I'll be taking Monday-Tuesday to break, due to the medical care I'll need to be giving to my LO. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and as always, I appreciate your patience and support so deeply! I feel so grateful for all the love you guys are showing Lucas and my story!

Lucas

Moments after texting Jae about the incident, I felt his response come in, and I held that stupid phone like a lifeline as I followed Mr. Song into the hall. He placed himself several feet away from the door frame and gestured that I come close. I did, but said nothing, struggling to hold my tears back as I approached. I didn't want the beautiful Ellis Song to see me like this, and I didn't want to have to talk about what had happened either.

I just wanted to run.

He tilted his head upwards to look at me some and crossed his arms loosely, resting his lean frame against the wall. "Are you okay, Lucas?" he asked, his voice gentle and hushed.

I wiped my eyes and shrugged, my mouth forming a tight line.

Song sighed heavily and studied me, his expression empathetic rather than sympathetic, and his demeanor seemed to exude a sense of welcoming. "How about you tell me what happened, can you do that?"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, sniffling back more tears. "Jordan fucking wilder happened, what do you think?"

"Language—" Song interrupted. He glanced around the hallway and eyed me. "I know Jordan was involved, Lucas. I'm asking that you explain to me exactly what happened; what she said. You're clearly upset, and from what I've gathered, she very much appeared to be goading you on, maybe even taunting you in some way, resulting in what you yelled in class. Yes?"

My brain felt like mush, every synapse misfiring in the aftermath of my morning. I was a mess of anxiety, of mixed emotions, some positive about Jae, others full of spite and anger towards Jordan. Convoluted feelings that left me enraged, fearful, and on the brink of falling into tears again.

Song raised his brows and nudged me. "Lucas, talk to me."

I sucked in a breath and wiped my nose. "She was fu—I mean, she was acting freaking weird. Like, at first, she was just making some small talk over text with me... nothing abnormal, just basically asking where I'd been all morning and if I was okay. Then, she asked me to basically go out with her to some party at the lake tonight. We used to date, but we haven't been a thing for a while now, and we aren't close. We barely talk outside of surface conversation in passing maybe, and last I checked, she was dating some guy on the football team..."

Song nodded. "... and?"

I grimaced. "Well, I politely turned her down. I said I couldn't go, cause of my curfew, and I didn't want to go with her anyways. It felt like she was trying to make it like a date, and I'm not interested in her that way at all."

Song shifted his weight on his feet and nodded. "Okay, so then what?"

I shrugged. "I don't know... she just started saying weird shit after that."

He let out a soft exhale. "Lucas, clearly something else happened. I'm not trying to pry all your secrets out of you—I'm just trying to understand what occurred so I can handle this situation appropriately."

I felt like Ellis Song wanted to say more, that maybe he was holding something back, but instead he just came off like the cute, but ever-professional teacher I always knew. Yet, after Jae's text regarding Ellis, I knew we shared a certain something in common—maybe even a someone, I just didn't know how or in what way.

Either way, I chose to share more.

"... well, I was texting a friend of mine..." I felt awkward, admitting to in-class texting, knowing the way he felt about it, but Ellis Song didn't scold me. He just waited and listened.