Brothers (Phan)

9

One month later

Things are calm here. Violet and I hanging out anytime we could, Phil basically ignoring me and hanging on Scarlett. Although it hurts me, I try to keep my mind off of Phil.

Violet and I made three new friends recently. There's a pair of twin girls, Alexandria and Azariah Dawn. We just call them Alex and Zari. They moved here three weeks ago and their assigned seats in chemistry were right across from me and Violet. They were tall and thin with long mousy brown hair. They both had a fringe across their foreheads, except Alex's went to the left and Zari's went to the right. Zari wears mostly dark colors, and Alex wears mostly purples and greys. They both like the same music and stuff as we do. Zari is dark and secretive, Alex is basically the definition of pastel goth. They both have bright blue eyes with long eyelashes and full pink lips.

The other is a guy, Jace. Jace showed up three days after Alex and Zari, and he talked to me during math, while Phil turned to him and glared. He's tall and muscular and very, very good looking. His dark curly locks compliment his deep green eyes, and he's always smiling. His face lights up when he sees me and it makes me feel warm and bubbly. He makes me feel the same way as when I see Phil.

Currently we're all at our lunch table. Jace is sitting next to the wall, the twins on his other side. Across from them, Violet and I are sitting shoulder to shoulder, Violet likes closeness and affection. Violet has a half eaten apple in her hand. She's arguing with Zari about something I'm not really paying attention. Zari's eyes are wide and sparkling as she laughs at their play fight. Alex is texting somebody, a small grin on her illuminated face. And as for me and Jace, we're glancing back and forth between Violet and Zari, but occasionally we turn and stare at each other before turning back to the conversation. I don't know what this means, but it's making me happy.

The bell rings, releasing us to our next class. The girls have art together, Jace and I have study hall in the library. We toss our trash in a nearby bin and head to our lockers. Since the four others are new, they all took the empty lockers next to mine, which works out great. Jace and Violet are next to me, and the twins share a locker next to Violet. Violet turns to me and asks if she can come over after school.

"Well we're taking the last of our stuff over tonight, and moving in tomorrow morning, but you can come help." She nods and shuts her locker, waiting for the twins. I grab my geometry book and turn to face Jace. His hands are empty, meaning he doesn't have any homework.

"Ready?" He asks me. I look at my pale pink sneakers and nod. I follow him up the stairs to the library. We flop into our chairs in the corner, secluded from everybody else. I open my book and try to get my work done, but I wasn't really paying attention during the lesson. I tap on Jace's arm and he looks up at me.

"Can you help me with my homework?" I ask him quietly. He nods and leans closer to me. He's so close I can smell his cologne. He scans my paper and looks at the textbook. "Well you see, you're supposed to use the angle addition postulate here, not the congruent angles theorem..." He explains it to me as I jot it all down.

He looks up at me and grins. "That pink sweater looks cute on you Danny." I blush and twist the earring in my ear, looking for a distraction.

Jace sits back in his chair and takes a deep breath. He sighs and looks back at me again.

"Can I tell you something? You have to promise not to tell." He asks me. I nod.

"I'm."

"Bisexual."

He glances down at his shoes and back at me.

"Please don't hate me. Last time people hated me for it."

I shake my head and laugh, setting my hands on his shoulders. "Jace it's okay. I'm gay." He grins and stares into my eyes.

"I have something else to tell you."

His eyes flick down from my eyes down to my lips and back up. Before I know it, his lips are pressed against mine. This takes me aback, but after a second I eagerly begin kissing him back.

I pull away from him and look at him. His cheeks are slightly flushed but he's smiling.

"Jace...I...."