michael
"no but you should totally join my band!" luke says, laughing. i blush. why am i blushing?
"i don't really sing much.... and i barely play...."
luke pulls out his earbuds, handing one to me. i take it and our fingers touch. i look down as i feel him staring at me. i pop in the earbud, asking what song he would play.
as the music fills my ear, i recognize the song immediately. "all time low.." i whisper to myself, grinning. i glance at luke. his eyes are shut and he's completely enjoying the music, every beat. i've never seen anything like this. he's so.... happy.
"luke. luke?"
he jolts a bit, turning toward me. "mm?"
"this is my stop." i hand him the earbud, gathering my things.
"bye, michael." he smiles at me.
i stepped off of the bus. "bye, luke." i mumble to myself.
i unlock the door to my house, greeted by the smell of axe and fast food. i don't have any parents, but i'm old enough to take care of myself now. the house is small and white and bare. i despised being alone. i wanted to have someone to hold me.
the next day was kinda the same old same old, except for him. luke was all but the same. he was different and fun and interesting in this rather boring town. when i got off the bus before luke, i took off to my locker. i nearly dropped all my books in the process. as i locked my locker and turned around, two jocks in their uniforms shoved me into my locker, causing me to hit my head.
"go away." i mumble, holding my head in agony.
in the corner of my vision, luke appeared and froze.
"what's that, gay boy?" one of them taunted.
"bro, leave him alone." luke said, pushing them off of me. i fell to the ground, shocked.
the other boy grabbed me by my collar and tugged me up so that i was standing. he punched me on the cheek. luke yelled, shoving the boy off of me and hit him over and over again. my vision was clouded by tears. i felt helpless. i pulled luke off of him, yelling "enough, enough!"
luke finally did, and he huffed. he walked with me to my class. "luke, you don't have to do this..... -walk me to my class..."
"what if they find you again? they'll hurt you even worse.... it just pisses me off so god damned much!" he yelled, kicking a nearby locker. i flinched, looking down. "you're not even gay!"
i stopped walking immediately, a big lump forming in my throat.
"w-what's wrong..... mikey?"
"luke....... i... i am gay." i whispered, crying.
he froze, his features lightening up. his eyebrows furrowed. "oh. i'm so sorry. i.... i did not mean to offend you."
"that did not offend me."
he put his small hand on my shoulder, and looked at me with his big, blue eyes. "i don't know what i am." he spoke. i could tell he wasn't lying by the way his voice caught when he said what.
"you should get to class." i whispered. he didn't let go of my shoulder for a long time until he took in a short breath, gave a quick nod, and slowly walked down the hallway. i remained frozen in place, with tears streaming down my face.
