Loud And Clear (boyxboy)

The Rumour Mill

Alex was laughing so hard that Lucas could see the tears making his eyelashes glisten.

Grace meanwhile was trying with all of her might to hold on to her annoyed scowl but her lips were trembling.

Blake was looking at Lucas like he'd grown another head.

"Oh god," Alex gasped, wheezing. "Where do we apply to get you a reality show? You need cameras following you at all times!"

Grace's tough demeanor finally cracked and she burst into laughter.

"He totally does!"

Lucas watched the two of them laughing and questioned his choice in friends.

"I could have died," he reminded them but that only made them laugh harder.

Blake watched the display distastefully. Lucas was glad, at least, that he wasn't joining in on making fun of him, lord new he would have the ammo if he wanted to.

Instead, Blake crossed his arms and looked at Lucas like he was addressing a serious problem.

"You know, if you're going to go for an interview, you should plan out how to get there in advance. It's pretty easy.  Five minutes on google maps and you could have another job right now."

Ouch.

Lucas tried not to flinch.

"Instead, you were reckless as usual," Blake went on. "What if you seriously hurt that guy you fell on? You were lucky."

He said it like it was a warning. Much how Lucas' mom use to warn him back before she'd given up on having a properly behaved son.

Lucas only realized that the laughing had subsided when Alex dropped an arm around his shoulders.

"Go easy on him," he said to Blake, somewhat seriously. "He could have died, remember?"

"Instead he got a free meal," Blake retorted.

Grace smiled at Lucas then.

"It's pretty much the best excuse ever," she said. "I'll tell my sister. Maybe you can meet her at her house next time. I'll walk you?"

Touched, Lucas nodded.

That settled, they started to walk toward the school building but Lucas stopped in his tracks.

The figure stood out to him like a beacon, long, shining blond hair, broad shoulders and long legs, even from the back Lucas could tell it was the boy from before.

He was meticulously taping a paper to the message board. Done, he addressed it for a moment before reaching forward and adjusting the it.

"What are you staring at?" Alex asked, following his gaze.

Lucas realized he'd stopped walking and the others were staring at him.

He flushed.

"That's him," he said.

All three of them whipped around to look.

"Which one?" Grace asked.

"The tall one," Lucas said, "putting up the flyer."

"You don't mean the blond guy, do you?" Blake asked.

"No way!" Grace said. "You didn't mention how hot he is!"

"First of all, how can you tell if he's hot from here? And secondly, do you know the guy?" he asked, turning to Blake.

Blake shrugged.