Another Stupid High School Romance

Chapter Four: The Great Escape (Failed)

It sucked. There's a million poetic and beautiful well strung words to possibly describe what young Grayson was feeling but none of those words works as well as sucked. Childish and vague, something those who were childish and vague would twist into something stupid and provocative. It sucked. It just. Sucked.

That boy. That red head. Having him in the back of his damn mind. It sucked. He didn't like it. He couldn't help it. His eyes that were so vibrantly green they made you feel like you were walking through a forest on a dewy day, with soft sunlight casting speckled patterns of leaves along the ground. That smile that looked like it was spray painted on with a stencil, the lines so crisp and corners so perfectly pointed. That hair. That god damn bouquet of those orange tulips, such a gorgeous shade it made you wonder how nature could pull it off effortlessly. And that sheath of freckles, like dirty raindrops sputtered softly against the sun bleached pavement. All these paralyzingly annoying thoughts spun around Dick's subconscious, intertwining with his day to day processes. And honestly, it just.... Sucked.

Wally practically lived in the back of his mind. Making appearances in his dreams. Never a main character, never doing anything extraordinary or even saying anything. Just aimlessly walking, making eye contact with Dick, and smiling like he knew something he didn't. This annoyed the living hell out of him. He wanted to wipe that stupid grin off his face, (interpret that as you wish), but could never bring himself to do it.

Dick saw him at school. A lot. It's like he didn't exist until their introduction and suddenly he was everywhere. Walking down halls. Sitting around texting. He had a habit of sitting on tables, he noticed. Talking to Roy; They looked like they were close. They way they stood, the way they looked at each other, they looked more at ease side by side than he'd ever seen them with anyone else. Like they were brothers. And they both had that blazing hair to match. Wally never noticed him, as far as he knew, and that's exactly how we wanted it. Part of him wanted to escape that smug looking asshole as much as possible before his swirling mess of thoughts turned into... Well... Feelings. I mean Dick knew he was bisexual, (he was teetering on pansexual but was still figuring it out), but he never had a full crush on a dude. It was always more of "Do I find that guy attractive? Check. Am I attracted to him? Check. Would I actually get into a romantic or sexual relationship with him? Check. Okay cool time to move on with my life." He would just accept how he felt and moved on without any real longing to pursue said feelings. But he just... Couldn't get this kid off his damn mind. And he hated every second of it. All he needed to do now is listen to some sad love songs while wistfully looking out a window and watching rain pour while thinking about his laugh or whatever. Ugh. His life was just a swirling pool of hippy-dippy bullshit, hard core detective work and the incredible need to punch some drug dealer in the face to release his anxiety. And it was making life a bit complicated for the boy wonder.

At school the next day he spent another English class ignoring the teachers repetitive ramblings on Shakespeare and casually glancing at sleepy red headed kid, trying to figure out what the hell was so captivating about him. Second block spare he didn't want to sit around for an hour so he decided to walk to the coffee shop nearby. He was listening to some music Tim recommended him. He glanced down at his phone and squinted to see the title through the glare the sunlight was casting on his phone. The song was called "Bleed" by a band named "Slowdive". Tim listened to a variety of music. Most could be put under the blanket terms of "alternative" and "electronic", but he usually sent Dick whatever he thought was cool. This song was sluggish and grungy and pretty chill. It added an interesting ambience to his walk. It was a pretty sunny day. A little bit windy. It was nice. Pleasant. He made it to the coffee shop, still listening to the trippy, echoing, twang of guitars and slightly accented talk-singing of the lead vocalist. It was a bit too "messy" sounding and retro for Dicks tastes but if Tim liked it he thought he'd give it a shot. The coffee shop was pretty empty. Standard hipster coffee shop. Brown walls and a few couches. Generic artwork on the walls and popular indie music playing. There was a few students sitting around and... "Oh god" Dick breathed quietly. There he was. That damn ginger again. Wearing a red flannel shirt rolled up to his elbows and a black t-shirt that appeared to be a band tee, he couldn't tell from a distance. He was considering turning around and leaving but before he could Wally caught his eye and let one of those smiles that you'd only see in a toothpaste commercial spread across his face. "Hey! Rich boy!" The fall, the constant thoughts, the chance encounter at the coffee shop. He was starting to wonder if he was in some sort of gay romantic comedy. 'Oh god' Dick thought 'I'm the mysterious wealthy one. He's probably the eccentric bad boy. Ugh I hope Barbara doesn't turn into the romance advice giving female supporting role'. He would have rolled his eyes at his own internal monologue if those piercing green eyes weren't staring directly at him. He couldn't just turn around and leave the cafe. And he didn't want to ignore the guy. So he decided there was only one thing left to do, see what this episode of "my life is a gay soap opera" has in store.