Pencils and Pool Water (Complete)

Chapter Three

I was just minding my business, riding my bike to the grocery store to pick up some milk for Mom when  I saw him. 

Well, practically ran over him. 

"Jesus!" I shouted and crashed into the pavement. Immediate pain blossomed where my knees hit the concrete and I could practically feel the skin ripping on my elbows. 

"Ohmygod are you okay?" The stranger- who looked around 15 or 16- rushed to me, setting his groceries down. I felt tears sting my eyes and I bit back a cry. Molly's told me before that I'm a bit of a wimp when I become injured, and I refused to cry in front of this surprisingly attractive stranger. 

He had reddish blond hair and lightly tanned skin, giving him a light glow. His eyes are this startling shade of golden brown. He looks panicked. 

"I'm so sorry! I should've been looking!" 

"No, no- I should've been looking," I say weakly, standing up on shaky legs. I examined my skinned up knees and the burn of dirt in my elbow scrape with a sigh. 

I still have a scar on my elbow from that. Molly's right- I'm still a baby about the fact that I can see it. 

He seems to blush, but I'm not sure. "Uhm, I'm Colin. I'm new here- moved here from Georgia." He talked a little slower, having a bit of a southern drawl. I felt a twist in my stomach, a twist that was permanently there when Calvin was around...

I looked at him, surprised I was feeling like this. "I'm Simon. I live down on Victoria Avenue." That wasn't so bad, I thought. "Lived there since I soiled diapers." 

Aaaaaaaannnd cue the weird word vomit. 

"I live on that street, too!" He replies cheerily and picks up my bike and his groceries. Stronger than he looks, I think without shame as I admire his arms, subtlely. 

Yup. That's me- Simon Lake, the Pervert of Victoria Avenue. 

"Really? I didn't think there were any houses for sale," I look at him, a little bit of Stranger Danger going off in my brain. 

He blushes, and this time I'm sure. "I'm moving in with my dad for the school year, and if I like it, I'll, err finish high school there." 

"High school? I'm going to high school too in the fall. I'm going to be a sophomore," I held in a wince at my tone, I sounded a bit like a boastful idiot. 

"I'm going to be a sophomore as well," Colin's lips quirk up into a little grin that makes me smile back. 

I look down at my knees, remembering the situation. "Uh, I have to get groceries." 

"Do you mind if I hang out with you?" Colin says eagerly, helping me park my bike. 

"No, not at all!" 

Colin and I hung out the rest of the day, and he even helped put a band-aid on my elbow. 

We made eye contact when his hand brushed my skin; my breathing picked up a little bit, and his eyes seemed to widen. He blushed and mumbled something (he's a bit of a blusher, I discovered). 

My mom made us hot dogs and I learned a lot about him by hanging out. His parents are divorced and he's an only child. He wants to be a romance novelist when he's grown up (he blushed so hard I almost died from the adorableness) and his favorite color is dark gray. "Like your eyes," he pointed out, voice straining a little, though I consider my eyes to be blue. 

Even though I learned all this stuff about him, one question was nagging this guy (moi, of course).

Is he gay? Is. He. Gay?