This morning I actually remembered to ask Pepper for her number. She stared blankly at me for a moment before giving me her phone. After I put my number into her contacts she just stares at it. "How come we haven't done this yet? We're supposed to be best friends. This is so weird." I just shrugged at her.
Today Terrence is joining us again. I guess Liam actually helped. I'm gonna thank him tomorrow during track. "Why do you guys call Liam 'crazy art guy'?" I ask the two idiots who are laughing at tumblr on one of their phones. Terrence is the one who answers. "'Cause he's crazy good at art. You should come look at his paintings some time." he says. Then Colton takes over. "We can show you during lunch if you want?" he offers. I shake my head. "Can't. I have to tutor Marie." I explain with a grimace. Colton and Pepper grimace too. Terrence looks at us in confusion. We don't offer him any kind of explanation.
When we arrive at school I immediately spot the senior jocks. They spot Terrence immediately. Their conversation falls silent as we come nearer and nearer. Why do they have to be at the one spot you can't avoid passing by?
"You wanna go for another round?" their ringleader calls out. Terrence tries to ignore them. But I don't. I come to a halt in front of the group. They remind me of a band of gorillas. Mainly because of their weird smell. Do they not shower or something?
"What's this? Is the brother curious too?" the same guy asks. I can see Colton, Terrence and Pepper coming to a halt near the entrance from the corner of my eye. The jock's eyes trail up and down my body quickly. He disgusts me. "No thanks." I say while raising one of my hands. His eyes focus on the movement. I drop my hand again, below my waist, where I make a circle of my thumb and pointer finger while stretching the rest of my fingers. I've seen Colton and Terrence do this to each other in secret for weeks now.
"Oh my God." a jock in the back mutters and starts laughing. Soon others chuckle. The ringleader is not amused. I raise one side of my mouth in a half grin and bite my lip. "I'll give you your punch later." I say and walk off. The gorillas continue laughing. "Dude you got wrecked." one of the guys tells the ringleader. I can feel his gaze burning on my back, but I continue walking at a leisurely pace.
When I catch up to the others Colton wraps an arm around my shoulders and grins brightly. "That was so stupid, but so brilliant. Holy shit." he says and laughs. Terrence is grinning too. "Thanks bro." he says. "Can I be there when that punch happens?" "Sure."
Pepper just shakes her head at us. I think I can hear her mumble something about boys being boys. There's a faint smile on her face though. And for some reason I feel proud of myself.
Turns out that by lunch word about my small act of defiance has spread throughout the entire school. People actually notice my existence. Some even laugh when they see me. Terrence doesn't get as much creepy looks. I'm uncomfortable, but I like this more than Terrence getting creepy looks all the time.
I enter the empty classroom Marie and I use for her 'tutoring'. The girl is already there. "Is the story people are telling true?" she asks. Her accent seems to have gotten the slightest but lighter. "Which story?" I ask as I throw down my bag. A text from Colton tells me that Terrence, Liam and him are coming to the classroom since Terrence wants to meet the 'weird French girl that got dropped into an AP English class'.
"That you did the... Thing. With the hand symbol to that senior." she explains. I give her a small smile. "Yeah. Now I get to punch him. I'm waiting for the right time though. I want to make this dramatic." I tell her. Marie laughs. I turn on the computer and start opening the cabinets around the classroom in search of a dictionary. Pepper enters the classroom shortly followed by the other guys.
I found a dictionary and lay it next to the computer. Then I think for a moment. What should I have Marie do? Oh, idea. I google some crossword puzzles. Then I hand the girl the dictionary. "Good luck." I say and head over to the table the others have occupied. Terrence raises an eyebrow at me when I sit down. Then he looks at Marie struggling behind the computer with my useless assignment.
"You are such a sucky teacher." he says. "That's what I said. But mister Swinn insisted." I reply. He sighs and shakes his head, still looking at her in pity. Then he gets up and joins Marie at the computer. Liam smiles while watching him go. I recognise the look in his eyes.
After school I go to the bus stop instead of walking home. Colton notices this and follows me. "Where are you going?" he asks. "Why are you following me?" I reply. "Touché."
The right bus arrives and I get in. Colton still trails after me. He doesn't say a word. But he fails to sit still so his curiosity is obvious. I smile and put in my earphones to listen some music. He pulls one of them out and puts it in his ear to listen along.
I turn off the music and put away my phone and earphones when the mall comes into view. The bus stops and we get off. Two sentences, two dirty jokes my ruined mind picks up on.
Colton doesn't take his eyes off me. He's following my every move. My feet bring us to the eyewear store. Colton's face brightens up like a fridge being opened at twelve AM in a dark kitchen. "You're getting contacts?" he informs and bites his lip, trying to hide his grin. I smile and nod. He fistpumps the air. What a kid.
After buying the contact lenses Colton forces me to wear them immediately by stealing my glasses. The store clerk is surprisingly amused by this and helps me out so I don't poke my eyes out.
When we arrive home Terrence immediately shoves his phone in my face. There's a facebook post on it from some guy I have never heard of. It says 'not all heroes wear capes'. Underneath it is a video of my encounter with the gorillas this morning. It has about two thousand likes. The top comment says 'who is this savage we gotta find him and honor him on 9gag'. Colton laughs his ass of. I just smile and shake my head. I wish them good luck with finding a guy who has no social media.
YOU ARE READING
The Hills (boyxboy)
Dla nastolatkówHigh school pretty much sucks for everyone, and this is no different for Laurence Hill. As a gay boy it's pretty much a given that he will run into some problems others don't have to deal with. At least that's what he expected. Turns out it's his tw...
