Some Sugar and Honey (Boy X Boy)

Chapter 5 - Inside Out

      By this point in time everyone was expecting the "Golden Boy", aka Maddox to return from his slightly extended vacation.  Of course, none of us knew why it was extended so suddenly as many assumed he was just being lazy, a rumor started by his so-called "friends".  Me, on the other hand, wanted to assume it was extended for a much more legitimate reason.  When Maddox finally returned, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to think, should this be considered a good excuse for missing two days extra, or not?  It seemed so silly yet for him, this must have been a perfectly reasonable excuse.

      For the two minutes of homeroom there was no Maddox in sight.  People probably began assuming he was ditching with no prior warning.  Soon after the teacher started attendance I noticed the handle on the door turn (since I sat closest to it).  My heart pounded hard in my chest, I immediately knew it was Maddox.  

Everyone turned to the door as it began opening, probably curious to see if he had some injury or something, but after he stepped in everyone seemed to freeze for a moment, taking in the scene.  To be honest, even I felt a little shocked.  The last thing we all expected was this, it wasn't much, but still enough that everyone could plainly see.

      "Givens."  The teacher spoke out, as she did everyone began whispering here and there, some greeting him cheerfully.  It was obvious to me that they were all acting so that later they could talk about this behind closed doors.  "Did you turn in your excuse to the office?"  He kept his lips tight for a moment before replying roughly, "Yeah."  He turned, looking over us, a look in his eyes that I never saw before, they were nervous, quaking with silent fear.  

As this happened, I took it all in.  In place of the petite, "prince charming" we all expected was a small, plumper version of said "prince".  How this could have happened in two weeks was beyond me, or anyone else I'm sure.  Of course, it wasn't a huge difference, his face was always round and chubby like, a little more padding on there made him look cuter, his thin fingers and delicate like hands were barely plumper, but still the extra fluff there and on his body made him cuter than he was before.  From the angle he was at the thickness on his body was more noticeable and this made me question whether he knew that or not as he stood like that for a while, though quite frankly, I didn't mind.

      He seemed hesitant about going to his seat, like he knew something bad would happen if he did.  The teacher, as she was filling in the attendance sheet, spoke out to him, "Please get in a seat."  He seemed to flinch a little at this, but did so, slowly.  He looked over the desks, his eyes stopping momentarily at me.  I felt my heart skip as I noticed this.  He seemed hesitant, but sat in his assigned seat right in the middle of his group.  I slumped a bit in my seat, questioning whether or not he would continue talking to me anymore.  The thought made me worry tremendously, especially considering this unexpected change of events.

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      The morning went on like usual, the only difference being Maddox.  He was acting off compared to his normally proud, extroverted self.  Now he barely spoke to anyone in his group nor did they speak to him.  They seemed to tread away from him, leaving him to travel on his lonesome.  I tried hard to determine whether they were leaving him or he was avoiding them, either way, he didn't appear too happy and I was desperate to change that.  Of course, I was never one to start conversations so I needed a way to start one, no matter the future consequences.  We had nearly every class together so I had plenty of chances to try and bring up conversations.  I gulped, thinking about it made me rather nervous though.  

As these thoughts were going through my head, I noticed Maddox pass me, not even stopping to say a word, though I did catch him glancing at me quickly.  I almost stopped when I did.  He keeps doing that, doesn't he?  I wondered about that for a few moments before heading forward again, wanting to catch up.

      I spent the whole first period attempting to come up with a good excuse to start a conversation from things like falling and tripping to "Can you grab that for me?", just a bunch of stupid "accidental" encounters pretty much.  

      First period passed and second period begun, English aka Graduation paper.  I assumed this may be one of the better times to try and talk with him as I felt like I could help him catch up and explain things to him since none of his group members bothered asking the teacher about what he needed to do.

When we entered the room we all went for our laptops, Maddox was one of the first in the room so he was in the process of grabbing his as I entered.  My heart throbbed harder as I attempted to speak to him, feeling slightly dizzy as it did so.  As he turned to get up he jumped back slightly, apparently not having realized I was right behind him.  This is perfect!

"A-aah, s-sorry."  I apologized, keeping my voice at decent room level for once.  He seemed to glare at me as he pulled his laptop closer, "It's fine."  He almost sounded hurt as he turned away, walking towards his seat.  Not.... not at all what I expected...

      "Nnn this sucks hard..."  I uttered under my breath as I pulled my paper up on screen.  I wanted to talk to him badly but something seemed wrong.  He didn't seem like his normal self, he didn't seem at all like the Maddox I had last spoken to the day before his departure.  What could have happened, and what could have caused his weight to triple up the way it did?  I felt myself blush slightly.  I inhaled deeply, trying to get him out of my head.  I had to admit it, something wasn't right with me either right now.  So many things weren't right right now.

      I immediately did as I said I would and printed my final page.  As I went down to the library to retrieve the paper I couldn't help but worry about Maddox.  If he doesn't get this paper done he can say goodbye to graduating.  I wanted to help so bad, but he didn't seem like he was interested in talking to anyone.

      As I entered the library I caught sight of Maddox.  He was standing by the printer, arms crossed, foot tapping like crazy, in short, he appeared overly frustrated.  When did he leave?  I questioned to myself as I walked in.  He quickly glanced to me, then back to the humming printer, lowering his head a bit as he did so.  

For a short period of time neither of us spoke.  He seemed incredibly aggravated with the slowness of the printer and me... I was too awkward to start up a conversation on my own, especially around him.  After a few more brief moments Maddox ended up breaking the silence.  "Is this always so slow?"  he was just barely room volume, but I caught what he said loud and clear.  "Mmm.  It's been like this for a while."  I shrugged, keeping my gaze up to the ceiling.  I heard a slight hum from him as a reply.  

A couple seconds after the printer became louder and slowly papers spewed forth, forming piles.  I heard a heavy sigh of relief from Maddox as he began digging through the pile.  I felt a bit confused and wanted to ask what he had printed but shied away from it for a few seconds before pulling out the courage to ask, digging through the pile myself.  "Umm... what did you print?"  He looked at me from the corner of his eye, a look of confusion upon his round face.

"Um... my title page."  I felt my heart drop.  That's really all he has done?  I chuckled a little as he pulled his paper out.  He moved out from before the printer, giving me better access to search for my page.  "Mrs. Ritchey..."  He started, pausing momentarily as I stopped to look back at him.  "She... told me to ask you about the paper..."  He shoved his free hand into his pocket as he sighed, throwing his gaze over to the clock.  I slowly nodded, grabbing my paper from the stack.

"Yeah..."  I turned to face him, not sure what else to say.  He slowly returned his gaze to me, his head still turned towards the clock.  "So..."  he spoke in an awkward tone, swaying his arm back and forth, his paper swaying along as well.  "Think you can... guide me through this?"  He held his paper out towards me as he finished.  I couldn't really understand what just happened, I needed a minute for my brain to register this all, but I couldn't help but agree and respond with the most vocal "yes" I could ever give.