Hold My Heart (Kellic)

Chapter 12

At first when Vic suggested going to a basketball game at school together, I thought he was insane. He knew that we weren't making our relationship public, and going to a game together might make it just a little bit obvious. It took a lot of convincing, but after explaining that his best friends and his brother were on the team and he wanted to cheer them on, I reluctantly agreed. He assured me that nobody would assume anything, and I believed him. If only I had known what was to come.

Vic picked me up at my house that night and drove me to the game. There weren't many cars there, which we assumed was a good thing. There would be less people to see us, less people that could become suspicious of us. I knew that I was just being paranoid. It was normal for two friends to go to a basketball game and hang out, right? Still, if we forgot for a moment and kissed or held hands, I knew that we would get ridiculed in school. I heard all of the derogatory names the 'popular kids' called some of the people at our school. We would never hear the end of it, especially Vic, who was a lot higher in status than I was. I tried to push these thoughts back from my mind when I felt Vic's hand over mine. We we sitting in his parked car in the school parking lot.

"Are you ready to go in?" he asked. I bit my lip and nodded.

"Don't worry, nobody will know. It'll be hard trying to stop myself from pouncing on you the entire time, but I'll control myself," Vic joked. I smiled and rolled my eyes, climbing out of the car.

Like we had predicted, there were only about a hundred people filling up the long rows of bleachers. The gym could fit almost a thousand people if we used the bleachers on both walls and packed everyone in tight. Only one side was unfolded now, all of the audience scattered among the open seats. We arrived just as the game was starting up, and took spots near the bottom row on the left side where the fans cheering on our team were seated.

I had never watched a basketball game before, so I had a hard time keeping up at first. Vic tried to explain to me what was happening, and eventually I caught up. Vic talked with his friends Tony and Jaime when they were benched, which was only for a few minutes each. They were both star players. He also briefly introduced me to his brother Mike. At first I couldn't tell if Mike knew about us, but he seemed oblivious. Either that or he didn't care. Vic eventually explained that Mike knew that he was gay, but he hadn't said anything about our relationship yet.

Before I knew it, the clock buzzed telling everyone that it was half-time. All of the players walked off of the court to go cool down and strategize for the next half of the game. Vic tapped me on the arm and I turned to face him.

"I'm gonna go get us some popcorn," he said. I nodded and watched him as he hopped down from the bleachers and walked out of the gym. I sat there, absently tapping my foot and waiting for his return. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed someone making their way up the bleachers, but decided to ignore it. That is, until they were standing right beside me. I looked up and was surprised at the face I saw staring back at me.

"Jesse?" I questioned. The red-haired boy smiled and sat down next to me.

"Hey Kellin," he replied. "I haven't talked to you in a while."

"Um, you kind of told me not to," I said cautiously. I had no idea why he was talking to me now. The last time I had a conversation with him twelve days ago, he was telling me that I had to choose between him and Vic. It was obvious who I had chosen, so I didn't know why he was even bothering. All I knew was that it couldn't be good.

"Look, I know that what I did made me look like a dick, and I don't blame you for going with Vic. But I really need to talk to you about something. In private," he said. I sighed.

"Can't you just tell me here?" I asked. Jesse shook his head.

"No. Come on, it'll just take five minutes," he begged. I looked behind me to see if Vic was on his way back. He wasn't, so I hoped that I could get back before him so that he wouldn't wonder where I was.