Boyfriend Shirt

Chapter 1

Keegan's POV

I flipped the page in my book as everyone stood up, cheering for the touchdown the football team scored. Particularly, the "touchdown" that Christian Nelson had scored.

Glancing up, I watched Christian as he grinned at the crowd, his black sweaty hair falling into his brown eyes. Careful, might knock a tooth out if you keep your helmet off for too long. For a minute, Christian stopped grinning, glancing through the crowd with a hopeful look on his face. Probably looking for his girlfriend.

If he was looking for anyone in this crowd, he'd never find them. Of course, there was a chance he might. Not a very likely chance, though. But I knew that the one person he wouldn't find, was me. Because, I wasn't even in the crowd. In fact, I was still in the classroom, happily away from the screaming and yelling of the crowd. Happily away from the potential concussions. Happily away from Christian.

It's not that I don't like the guy, it's just that I don't particularly care for him. Or his group of friends. Or any popular or jock-type person, really. I've had bad experiences with those types of people, and I'm not going to make the same mistakes.

The school bell chimed, signalling​ the end of the school day. Standing up, I stretched out before gathering my stuff and heading towards the bus loop.

As I walked, I felt a large pair of hands push on my back. In an instant, I found myself of the floor, a throbbing pain running through my nose. Turning, I was met with the laughing faces of the football team.

"Oops," Snickered Nick. "Didn't see you there. You're so short, after all. Are you even a guy?" I said nothing. "Aww, is the baby gonna cry?" Honestly, I don't even know how Nick got into highschool. His grades are bad, and so is his attitude. "What did you just say about me?" Crap, did I say that out loud?

He fisted my shirt, pulling me closer. I stared at him, unfazed. If I'm gonna get bullied anyway, might as well have some fun. Give them a reason to bully me; make it worth my while. "Careful there, Nick. Unless you actually want to kiss me." Nick's face contorted with disgust as he pushed me away. "Gross. I'm not gay like you are. I actually have standards."

"Standards? You mean woman who like to spread their legs for anyone with cash?" The football jocks snickered, but I refused to acknowledge that they found that funny. Rather, I accounted it to there being someone who can bruise Nick's pride in any way. "Say that again. I dare you."

Again, I remained stoic. "Nick, you seem awfully interested in me for someone who's not gay. Anything you want to tell us?" His face turned red, either from anger, embarrassment, or the fact that his lackeys completely lost it, falling over and clutching their sides.

I noticed Christian standing by the side, a worried expression on his face. He didn't laugh, and he didn't join in. Must be worried about a test grade. Or maybe his girlfriend didn't show up to the game earlier.

Nick, finally getting his group back in control, turned to me. "I'm not done with you yet. Watch your back, Jones." With that, the group walked away. Christian looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it and instead handed me my bag, and ran to catch up with the group.

"'I'm not done with you yet,' he says, as he walks away." I stared blankly at the bag in my hand. A moment passed before I shrugged it off. It was nothing, I'm sure. Probably just a 'thank you' for putting Nick in his place.

---

"I'm home!!" Silence met my greeting, and pain filled my chest. Not home again today. I began to remove my shoes when a voice greeted me. "... Welcome back." My brother smiled at me, leaning against the doorway. "Josh!? What are you doing here?!"

He shrugged, his smile growing wider at my surprise. "Finally got a break from work, so I thought I'd drop by." I ran over, pulling him into a hug. Josh chuckled, wrapping his arms around me. After a moment he pulled away and frowned. "What happened to your nose?"

"Oh, uh... Nothing. Really."

"... Okay then."

My older brother works for a large corporation responsible for the making and distributing of woman's clothing. His job kept him away, working on new designs as well as traveling to debut them, and I hardly ever saw him. My father passed away when I was young, and my mother worked full-time​ at a nearby hospital. With our hectic schedules, there was barely anytime for any of us to interact. Honestly, I was the only one that actually lived in the house.

"Actually," said Josh as we ate dinner. "I'm going to be staying here for a while. With the new line being super popular, we don't have a need for new ones, so we've been able to take a break and go home. I'll be here for at least a month, if you can live with me that long." I nodded enthusiastically.

We continued to talk animatedly, and I enjoyed every minute of it. It was rare for me to have a conversation with someone, and I wanted to tell him everything. Everything except for what was going on with Nick. If he knew, I'm sure Nick would no longer be going to the school. And that would cause the entire football team to hate me more than they already do.

My brother was overly protective of me, and had developed what most people called a 'brother complex' or, as I like to call it, 'annoying personality.' But, regardless of his personality, it was nice to see him again. He was one of the two people who acknowledged the fact that I was gay and was okay with it. The other person was my mother. I suppose that's partly why he's so protective.

"Do you want me to drop you off tomorrow?" Josh asked once we had finished. "I've got a date, but I can give you a ride." I nodded slowly. "Sure, as long as your girlfriend's​ okay with it." Josh chuckled, running his hand through my hair. I smiled. If only it were like this every day.