Lay Me Down (MxM)

14. Blue Skies & Bruised Hearts

Lucas

"Tell me about Jordan Wilder, Lucas."

Jae's voice, although calm, held emotion I could only describe as righteous anger. I dropped my backpack on the cement and slumped against the brick walling that made up most of Sherman.
My heart ached, and I sniffled there, choking back tears, and wiping my eyes until my skin burned every time I rubbed it against the fabric of my sweatshirt.

"Lu, talk to me." he said, voice softening in my silence. "What did this 'Jordan' do?"

I wiped my eyes once more and grimaced, dropping my head between my knees in defeat. "She's my fucking bitch of an ex, and she was acting fucking crazy jealous, that's what."

There was a pause on his end, and I could hear him inhale a bit. "She, huh? Not sure why, but I sort of automatically assumed Jordan was male..."

I let out a morose chuckle. "Yeah... no, she's very much female and pretty much tried to fucking out me in class. In fact, I'm fucking sure she succeeded." My chuckling faded into tears, and I did my best to choke them back, wiping more away.

"Please come get me Jae, I can't spend another godforsaken moment in this cursed place." I whispered, averting my face as a member of staff popped outside, passing me on the way to their car.

Jae sighed heavily on the other end of the line. "Lu, I can't just come and take you out of school... you know that."

"Yes, you can!" I protested, looking around for any possible eavesdroppers. "Y-you can, right?"

"I could, but then you'd miss class time and fall behind in some of your studies..."

I cursed under my breath, sniffling loudly. "I mean, yeah... I guess. My studies don't feel that important right now, though."

"I know Lu, and I don't blame you for feeling that way all things considering." Jae's voice drifted off as he thought, and then he followed up with another question.

"This girl, Jordan... your teacher gonna deal with her?" His voice was tenser than before. I liked it, I liked that Jae seemed, once again, protective of me.

I tilted my head upwards and watched the clouds blow by. The wind was whipping at the school flag and trees wildly. Braced against the brick of the school though, I was somewhat shielded from every gust, and I felt some semblance of comfort in my little spot as I thought.

Each passing cloud let some burning blue sky shine through, for only just a moment, and part of me wondered if Jae could be, or would be, my sliver of burning blue in the grey clouded shitbowl that had become my life.

I was a pathetic mess. No better than a stray dog desperate for an owner, for a human to love him in ways no one ever had. If Jae knew I thought these things, maybe he would fear me; we hardly knew each other, after all. Maybe he would be turned off by my utter need for him, maybe he would decide I was no more than an infatuated young adult with no sense of self-preservation, and zero rationality in mind.

Maybe, he'd think I was the pathetic teenager in a bizarre state of puppy love, and run away...

"Lucas... you there?" His voice brought me back to reality, and I realized I'd wandered off in thought.

"Yeah, I'm here." I muttered, tucking my phone between my shoulder and neck so I could pull the oxy out of my pocket. The pain was coming back in full-force, and I couldn't handle it anymore. I didn't have any water on hand, so I swallowed it down dry, grimacing as the tablet began to dissolve on the back of my tongue as I tried to force it down. I retched, face twisting in disgust at the bitter taste.