My Other Thirds

Chapter Three (Grayson)

As the lunch bell rings, I head over to mine and Keyan's favourite lunch spot– room 222. I sit down and take out my lunch as I wait for my best friend. I wonder how he likes his new math class?
A few minutes later, I hear his voice at the door: "Yeah, I usually eat here with my friend Grayson during lunch." I look up and see him walking through the door with another person. Why would Keyan bring anyone else to our special lunch spot? I start feeling jealous until I see who the person is.
I immediately recognize him as he steps through the door. Even after that brief encounter in the hallway, I feel like I could never forget that face that seems to be engraved in my memory. He looks at the ground as he follows Keyan over to me, his cheeks turning a light pink. "Grayson, this is Bryson. He sits next to me in math." Keyan says. "Bryson, this is Grayson, my uh- best friend." Keyan stares directly into my eyes as he says this, giving me a weird look I can't really put my finger on as he hesitates with his words. As we hold eye contact, I wonder what he could be possibly thinking about. It definitely isn't the same as what I'm thinking. Sitting there, gazing into that face I'm so familiar with, I think of how much more our friendship could be if only he felt the same way.
*CRASH* A loud noise startles me out of my thoughts, breaking mine and Keyans eye contact. I turn my head to see Bryson sprawled on the ground, his chair flipped and his papers scattered around him. I stare at him in shock while Keyan starts laughing beside me. "Bro, how did you manage to just fall off your chair??" He wheezed as I helped Bryson awkwardly scramble up. "Bryson, are you ok?" I managed to say in between laughs. "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks." He says quietly as he puts his papers in his bag. Strangely, he doesn't seem too bothered about it, unlike that time in the hallway this morning. It's almost as if it wasn't an accident.