One more minute ~ byler

Chapter 10

Will's POV

It was now eleven at night. Me and Mike had been waiting outside the principals office for five minutes but it felt like an eternity. The janitor was inside the office talking to the principal about us and my mind was racing. I could tell Mike's was too because his knee was bopping up and down like crazy. I put my hand on his thigh to stop him.
"We'll be fine." I said to him. That was a lie though, at least for me. I know he'll be fine, he's paying to be here so the worst he'll get is a detention but my scholarship is on the line here, and if I have to go back home my mom will be devastated.

"You can come in boys." The principal said shortly as the janitor left down the hall. We both stood up promptly, and followed the principal into his office.
"Don't bother taking a seat, I would like to go to sleep so I will make this brief. I don't care where you two were going or were coming back from but if you are ever found attempting to leave school grounds after hours again, there will be dire consequences. From what your mother has told me, you are quite rebellious Mike but I did not expect this kind of behaviour from you, William. Take this as a warning because next time your scholarship will be stripped from you, and I mean that. For now, you will both have in school suspension every weekend for the rest of the month, where you will study in silence for the day's entirety." Me and Mike just looked at each other, shocked the man got all of that out in breath. We didn't know what to do or how to respond to him.
"Off you go, I don't want to see you back here." The principal stated. Me and Mike didn't hesitate, and left his office hurriedly, not wanting to spend another minute in his presence.

"You never told me you were on a scholarship." Mike said to me as we walked.
"I didn't really think it was relevant I guess. Was I just supposed to say like oh 'I'm poor by the way'?" I didn't mean for that to sound defensive. It kind of came out that way though. It's just annoying for me to get judged for it by people like Troy so I just stopped mentioning it to people at some point.
"I didn't mean to offend you or anything, I actually think it's cool. Must mean your like a genius or something." Mike smirked at me, making me chuckle softly. Of course he didn't mean it badly, he never wants to hurt me. That's something I really like about him. But I'm not letting my feelings get in the way.
"I was a genius until I started skipping classes with you." I joked, nudging my shoulder into his.
"That's not my fault!" Mike started dramatically. "You agree to it every time." He crossed his arms to exaggerate his point, huffing like a child. It just caused us to both burst into laughter, and suddenly I didn't feel anxious about losing my scholarship anymore. Mike always made me feel better.

———————

Thursday the 22nd of November, 1987

"You really went through all that just for some burgers?" Dustin questioned. It was the next day at breakfast, and me and Mike had just explained what had happened the previous night.
"They must've been some banging burgers man." Lucas added.
"I mean, what were we supposed to do if we slept through dinner?" Mike asked innocently.
"Maybe not keep falling asleep at the worst times possible? You guys almost miss dinner every day it seems." Max replied. She had a point. It was honestly becoming a really bad habit of ours that I hadn't been planning to make routine. It was just so nice to nap for a bit, even better when we accidentally fell asleep in the same bed, although it's not something I'd ever ask Mike to do on purpose. Mike seemed unbothered, chewing on his toast without a care in the world. I just hoped the principal wouldn't call my mom, she'd be really mad at me.

El and Max began to talk about there science project and we kept talking about it until the bell rang, signifying classes to start. I had Spanish now with El and Max, Mike going to history with Lucas and Dustin having maths. We all sat together in this class in the back. It's supposed to be a table for two but there's not enough seats so we get away with it. I sat in the middle of the two, and today when we sat down they immediately turned to me, staring me down like I was in an interrogation or something.

"What's up with you two?" I asked. They just raised their eyebrows expectantly. This was really strange. The class had started now, but we weren't paying attention to it and no one was paying attention to us either.
"What's up with you two?" Max repeated, confusing me even more.
"Huh?"
"Mike and you." El added. "We see what's going on." This made my heart race. I really didn't want to talk about the feelings I was trying to repress right now. I could feel myself getting flustered but I really didn't want to show it because it would give them more evidence to back their suspicions.
"Nothings happening. I swear." I stated hurriedly, hoping they'd drop it. But of course, they didn't buy it and kept going.
"You got extremely close in the span of like two weeks. And we all see the way you guys look at each other!" I knew this was coming from what Max had said to me yesterday, about me being zoned out. She always seems to be chill, but she's really just observing people. And she does it really fucking well. I know I said to myself I wouldn't tell anyone what happened on Friday, but I mean, what's the harm? They wouldn't tell anyone, and maybe I could get some advice I guess.
"If I tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone?"

———————

I told them everything, from that one hug where I realised my feelings, to the party and what happened that night, the way I lied saying I had forgotten, and the diner and how I was called his boyfriend. It seemed to have left them speechless, as they just sat there with their jaws on the floor.
"You have to tell him you know." Max said.
"Know what?"
"That you remember Friday night. It could either jog his memory or prove to him he has real feelings for you because he literally acted on them before." She said quietly to not be heard by the class. She had a point. She always knew the right thing to say. It was just much harder when you actually had to say what she was telling you to do.
"What if he doesn't have real feelings though and that was just because he was drunk?"
"No." El added. "He would not do that if he didn't see how sexy you are." This made us burst out laughing, and we couldn't stop, until we were interrupted.

"Something you like to share with the class?" Our teacher spoke up.
"Uhm no, we were paying attention completely miss." Max responded, while me and El continued attempting to stifle our laughter.
"Well then, William, would you like to the class your hobbies please? As that is what you should have been writing this class." The whole class turned around in their seats to look at us, and I gulped.
"Uh, si. Me gusta arte, and uh, hamburguesa." I smiled awkwardly, hoping to get away with it. But the teacher just laughed. This grown woman literally laughed in my face like it was so funny for her to be torturing a seventeen year old.
"A burger isn't a hobby, boy. Maybe you enjoy cooking? Or eating perhaps?" She glared at me, the rest of the class following suit, really not helping my anxiety.
"Yeah, cooking." I replied, wanting this to be over as soon as possible.
"Cocinar. Cooking is cocinar." She answered dramatically, as if it was so obvious for me to know that. Not wanting to bring anymore attention to myself, I just nodded and eventually the class went back to normal, but I didn't.

What Max and El said really stuck with me. Should I tell Mike that I remember? I didn't want it to ruin our friendship. And what if he remembered too? I mean, I lied about forgetting so he was perfectly capable of doing the same. That would mean he lied because he probably didn't want to ruin our friendship either, right? I had to tell him because this was eating me alive.

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A/N

I hoped you guys liked this chapter! Also sorry for bad editing on the last chapter. I fixed it if the two people that read were wondering. And thanks for reading so far! I appreciate it a lot when you vote it doesn't go unnoticed and if have any suggestions or ideas please comment, it would be cool to see who you guys are.
I'm going to try post more frequently again as well! I swear 😭

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