The Boys and Me

51. F is For Friends

THURSDAY:

"I swear to God if he even fucking stares at me for one more day, I'm knocking him out!" I complained in homeroom on Thursday morning.

What had happened?

Oh, nothing much. Just Elton staring at me even more, going to talk but then walking away.

Heath kept telling me to give him space and give him time but it was beginning to annoy me and I just wanted to confront him.

"Al, give it time" Heath said yet again, causing me to groan.

"I've given him three weeks. I wouldn't care but he keeps coming up to me! Like he wants to talk to me but he can't find the balls to do so" I said, folding my arms and slouching in my seat.

"Yeah well lately you need a lot more than balls to approach you" Zane said with a laugh.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" I asked and he shrugged.

"Given the way the last weeks have gone for you, who you're involved with and stuff. Can't really blame the kid for not wanting to talk to you in public." Zane said with a laugh as I rolled my eyes.

"That's not a good excuse" I huffed, Zane and Heath both shrugging.

"It may not be great but it's probably true. Take it or leave it Holt" Zane said as I looked out the door. At that exact moment, Elton was walking past quickly, obviously late for homeroom.

"I choose neither" I said, standing and walking out of the class, surprising everyone.

I ignored the calls from Heath and my homeroom teacher, continuing until I got closer to Elton.

"Hey!" I called out and he spun around and saw me before turning away and attempting to walk faster.

Which only made me run after him, naturally.

"Elton!" I yelled, finally grabbing his shoulder and spinning him around to face me.

"What the hell man?" I asked as he held his hands up, shocked most likely.

I didn't even give him the option of speaking before I was going off at him again.

"How come you've been avoiding me but also staring at me, every damn chance you've gotten, huh?" I asked and he cleared his throat.

"Uh, I uh" He stammered, unsure of what to say or how to say it.

"You uh what? You wanna give me an explanation?" I asked.

"I was trying to find the easiest way to approach you, without those five being around. They've been watching me like hawks lately, they don't make you the easiest person to approach" He said, confirming what Zane had thought. I sighed and let myself relax.

"You've been trying to talk to me?" I asked and he nodded.

"For weeks now, but every single time I saw you, at least two of them were with you. And Heath told me you were living with him-" He said, cutting himself off as he realised.

"Heath told you what?" I asked, calmly. Elton sighed.

"Elton" I demanded and he looked at me, nodding.

"Heath came around to my house and told me to talk to you. He never threatened me, never even raised a fist. He came in desperation to see you happy, he showed me a new side of him that I didn't even know existed. Please don't be mad at him for this. He's genuinely crazy about you and making you happy" He said and I pondered it.

"He never threatened you?" I asked and he shook his head.

"Not once. Never raised his voice. He almost begged me to talk to you because he couldn't stand what this was doing to you. He told me that you made them agree not to mess with me" He said, making heat rise to my cheeks.