Star Gazers [BXB] [COMPLETED]

Liar

By the time I finally reached my house, it was eleven o'clock. The walk home had been dark, lit only by the occasional flickering street lamp, and needless to say, I was glad to finally be somewhere with a dependable source of light and a door to hide behind.

Quietly opening the door and stepping into the house, I peeked into the living room to see my drunk ass father passed out on the couch with a mountain of beer bottles beside him on the floor and the title menu of some movie playing on repeat on the television.

I'd only seen him sober about four times since my mother's funeral. Drinking was his way of dealing with the grief, I supposed, but it still turned him into a pitiful excuse of a father. He couldn't hold a job anymore, and I was convinced the money he used to pay for the house, utilities, and his alcoholism was coming directly from my college fund.

And there was nothing I could do about it.

As quietly as I could, I crept up the stairs. I managed to avoid the step that creaked as if it were about to give way and made it to the top. There, I turned and walked through the short hallway to my bedroom.

There were no pictures on the walls anymore. I remembered a time when almost every inch of available wall space was taken up by a family photo of some sort, but not anymore.

After my mother's death, my father went on a drunk rampage, ripping the frames off the wall and smashing them into the floor. It was a mess, and I was only able to save a few of the pictures from the sea of broken glass.

Now they were hidden in the bottom of my sock drawer, where my father would never find them.

Sighing, I entered my bedroom, threw on some pajamas, and curled up under the covers.

Turning off the light beside my bed, I closed my eyes and willed sleep to drag me into that dark abyss.

But as I laid in the dark, I couldn't help but replay what had happened with Ben.

I knew there was a high possibility of losing my best friend by coming out, but I never expected it would be like that.

I felt so hollow and empty at the thought of being alone again. Ben had been the one to pull me out of a bout of major depression after everything that happened, and I feared that without him, I would slip back into it.

But maybe this fight wasn't as bad as I thought. Maybe we'd be fine in a few days, when he realized how much of a douche he was being.

Maybe.

×××

Knowing I for sure didn't want to ride the bus today, I woke up extra early and pulled my mountain bike out of the garage. In the end, it was slower than taking the bus, but it was better than being trapped in that big yellow rectangle of hell.

Adjusting the straps of my backpack and kicking up the kickstand, I hopped on and started pedalling towards the school.

It was still rather dark out, but the sun was just starting to peek up past the horizon, turning the dark sky a shade of slightly lighter blue and shunning away the stars.

Luckily, I lived south of the school, so the sun wouldn't be shining directly into my eyes on my way in.

Sighing as my thoughts took over my mind, I found myself stopping at every intersection on autopilot.

By the time I reached the school, I had hardly realized I had gone so far.

I hopped off my bike and rolled it into the nearest bike stand. After locking it into place with a bike lock, I smoothed down my shirt before steeling myself to go inside.

Ben was in there. Probably.

Letting out a calming breath, I pulled open the front doors and dove into the sea of chattering students. They seemed a bit livelier this morning than they usually did, but oddly enough, when I walked past them, they seemed to quiet down a notch.

Deciding it was all in my head, I ignored the students and weaved my way to my locker.

Ben was usually waiting for me there, since his bus always arrived a bit earlier than mine, and the fact that the area around my locker was now empty was a bit disheartening.

I knew I shouldn't have felt so disappointed, but a small part of me wished yesterday was just a dream, and that I still had my goofy best friend to pop out and scare me at random intervals during the day.

But unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

Spinning in the combination to my locker, I lifted the latch and pulled it open, only for a hand from behind me to reach over my head and slam it shut again.

What the actual fuck?

Turning around, I came face to face with Derrick Peterson and his cronies.

"Look boys," he said with a grin that made me feel uneasy. "We finally get to meet our own little resident faggot."

"What?" I asked with a furrowed brow, "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Relax, Coley," he snickered as he shoved me back into the lockers. "We know all your little secrets. Our new boy Benny told us everything, didn't you Benny?"

I watched as Derrick slung his arm over Ben's shoulders like they were good friends. Ben wouldn't meet my eyes. The cowardly bastard...

I couldn't believe he'd do something so low. In fact, I could do little more than stare at the boy I used to call my friend as I tried to piece together why he would tell the whole school something so private. So personal.

"Hah," Derrick let out a clipped laugh as he looked between us. "You were right, Ben. He is totally in love with you! How embarrassing!"

After that, I seemed to find my voice again.

"Okay, hold the fuck up. I am not, was not, nor ever will be in love with that lying son of a bitch-"

"Oh save it, Dicker. He told us all about how you practically molested him last night."

"I didn't..." I felt tears pricking at my eyes as I looked at my ex best friend. Why would he say those things? Why would he do this to me?

"Aww, is he going to cry?" One of Derrick's friends cooed in a baby voice.

I shook my head and shoved past them, running to seek refuge in the nearest bathroom.

"He's totally gay!" they laughed after me, but thankfully did not follow me.

Once alone, I locked myself in the largest bathroom stall and tucked myself into the corner, curling my legs up to my chest as I willed the tears not to fall.

They did regardless.

×××

A/N

Whoa, hey! Sorry I've been MIA the last few days. Calculus is kicking my butt! Hopefully I'll be back on track now!

Anyway...

Totally not related to any of my future books *cough*, if you were to find a wild merman... What would you name it?

Thanks!
-Anon