Oliver is a dancer. He's been dancing all his life, and striving towards becoming a professional has always been his focus.
Complications with his transition, skeletons from the past in form of people he knew back from his internet days, and people...
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"So," Advik started, looking down at his sneakers. I stared at him, trying to figure out what he was here to say to me. We were sitting side by side on the mall's bench. My heart was beating, and I was shaking a bit. We haven't been this close to each other in a while. He laughed, scratching behind his ear before letting out a sigh. "I'm not sure where to start," he said, biting his bottom lip before looking up at me.
"Well, you should start. I don't really have time to hang around," I said. I swallowed down, wondering where my firm tone was coming from. Advik sighed, turning to look at me before looking away again. He smiled down at his sneakers, tapping his foot on the mall's tiled floor.
"I think Grace has been trying to get me to hate you," he said, and my eyes went wide a bit before looking away. I had suspected that, and I think it's a good thing Advik picked that up. "She kept telling me odd things, like you being a douche bag and abusive. I knew that was off because that's not you. Quite the opposite really." He smiled a little, and I looked away, not knowing what to say to that. "But I don't know why saying she dated you was what got me anxious," he said, looking down at the floor. I had some thought about you, and the only answer that kept popping into my mind was that I was jealous."
"So..." he trailed. We were staring at each other now. My heart was racing. It's been a while since I've stared into his dark eyes. He licked his lips, hiding his hands in his pocket before he opened his mouth and started talking. "I guess what I'm trying to say — or what I'm trying to do?" he paused, shaking his head before cursing under his breath.
"I guess what I'm trying to do is tell you that I like you and warn you about Grace — she's nuts. I think there's someone else you might know that's hanging around on campus. It's a guy, Roland, was it?" Advik furrowed his brow in thought before nodding. "Yeah, that was it. I've seen them around together, so stay safe, okay?" he said, before looking away.
My hands were shaking now. Roland? What was Roland doing here? Roland was one of my trans friends from my Tumblr days in high school. How did he get in contact with Grace, and what are they planning to do? And does Harry know he's here? I wondered, biting my bottom lip before clenching at my bangs with my hands now. Gosh, I was panicking again.
It's like everything from my past was trying to force their way back into my life, and it left a bitter taste in my mouth — like I had coughed up bile.
"Ollie?" Advik called, making me look over at him. "Ollie, are you okay?"
I blinked before looking away and staring at the floor. "Yeah," I lied through my teeth as the sound of shoppers passing by filled my ears. "Yeah, I'm fine," I said, looking back at Advik. He frowned a bit, and he didn't look convinced, but he just sighed before looking away.
"You know, you can talk to me if you want to—"
"I can't," I said firmly, and I watched as his shoulders went stiff. " I can't I'm sorry," I said. It's not just that I wasn't sure if I could trust him after everything, but I just didn't think he would understand. I had been 'disgusting' to him after all. All this panic was taking over my mind that I couldn't even process the fact that Advik had told me he liked me — I think?
