In The Spotlight - Solangelo

Chapter Sixteen

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't really that interested in the actual competition. Sure, it was kinda nice to see a bunch of hot boys half naked, but... I was still quite self-conscious about my own sexuality. And none of them really stuck out to me.

I found myself spending more time staring at Will than watching the swimmers. At some point Percy left the group to get changed into his kit, but I didn't take much notice. I was too busy analysing Will's hair. The way his golden curls fell in front of his eyes, and way he would occasionally move his hand up to wipe them away. As the competition wore on, my eyes drifted down to his eyes. The excited glint in his blue eyes, the way he look generally interested in the competition even if he wasn't friends with the people competing... My eyes glanced to his lips. I resisted the urge to reach over and-

Snap out of it, Nico! I shouted at myself. You can't just go up and kiss him!

But you know he wants it, a small part of my brain whispered.

N-no he doesn't! I argued.

He said it himself, the voice replied. He has a crush on you. You have a crush on him. You've seen enough movies and read enough books to know how this goes. When two people love each other-

"Shut up!" My friends turned around, looking at me like I was insane. "I-I mean, uh... I-I'll be back in a minute!"

I stood up, and ran a short distance away from the pool. Did I really just say that out loud? If they didn't already after the incident from lunch a while ago, they definitely think I'm crazy now. And now I had to think of an excuse to get away from them and collect my thoughts. Great.

The only thing I could think of was taking a bathroom break, but I didn't know where the bathroom was... Oh crap, I left Hazel behind with a bunch of stran- oh my God, Nico, that doesn't matter for now! Find the goddamn bathroom! I began to walk in a random direction, looking around for any signs of the bathroom. Somehow, I ended up inside a building. I was beginning to get an awful lot of confused stares from staff and from boys in dressing gowns and-

"Nico!" Percy came bouncing up to me. "What are you doing in here, man? These are the changing rooms for the competitors."

Ok, Nico, it's just Percy, and you can ask him where the bathroom is any be on your merry- oh my god, he's even hotter in trunks, goddammit.

"I-I, uh-" I could feel a blush creeping up. "I was, uh, j-just looking for the bathroom, a-and-"

Percy laughed. "You could have just asked the others!" No, I was trying to get away from the others, because I'm a stupid idiot who shouldn't be around other people. "You went in the completely wrong direction! They're just behind where you were sitting."

"O-oh, right." I quickly escaped the room, rushed back to the pool and dived into a toilet stall. I locked the door, and sat down on the lid. I didn't actually need the toilet. I just had to get away from the multiple embarrassing moments I had faced in the past five minutes.

Why had I even decided to come? I was terrible in social situations, especially if there are strangers involved, hot strangers in swimming costumes no less... And Percy was here. I thought I was over him, but... I had to admit he did look amazing in swimwear. Then there was Will, who looked like some sort of freaking angel. I had to keep reminding myself that I didn't have a crush on Will.

No, I had to keep lying to myself. Deep down, I had realized that I did in fact have a massive crush on William Solace, the kindest, friendliest guy in the entire school. This all started because I was paired up with him for a stupid Performing Arts project. It wasn't even a lesson I liked! I could quit at any moment, and this would all be over!

However, I couldn't back down now. I was in too deep. I already had the script memorised by heart, even though I literally got it yesterday. If I quit the class, Will would surely fail. If I purposely got myself kicked out of the class, it would be even worse. I had made friends with Will's friends, so they would begin to wonder what happened. Jason was there as well, a guy who knew my secret...

I didn't know if I could keep it a secret for much longer.