Him and His Hoodie

Chapter 2

PS. if this is a short chapter, don't blame me. i wrote 1400+ words but lost all of it because my app crashed even though i was writing for over four hours. (and i do remember it showing this part got saved)(ps. nothing was in the revision history either so i'm sobbing now)

Chapter 2

       While my family was laughing and having some fun in the front yard because the weather was been really great recently, I just stayed indoors. I just wasn't an outdoor person. Yet another thing that made me different from my family.

       I was just sitting upstairs in the hallway on the window bench, watching them all laughing and having a good time. Even my youngest brother William was out there, and he was a one year old.

       I hated watching them have fun without me because I really wanted to go outside with them but apart from me not liking the outdoors, I always felt left out. They were my own family, and I still felt so isolated.

       A car pulled up to the driveway and once it was parked, Ryder's girlfriend Mae and Jerome got out. Great. More people to add to the having fun party and for me to feel left out from.

       However, after talking to my mom for a bit, Jerome walked inside and it wasn't long before I heard him coming up the stairs. He then walked over to me, saying, "Hey. You're not outside with the rest of your family?"

       "Nope," I said. "I don't do outdoors. Or the summer."

       "It's spring," Jerome pointed out.

       "It's still hot out."

        "Okay, but that doesn't mean it's summer," Jerome said and I only shrugged in reply. "Can I sit?"

        I moved my feet so I wasn't taking up the whole bench, and Jerome sat down. As much as I liked spending time with him, I hoped he wasn't here for too long because of my probably insanely obvious crush on him.

       Then again, if it was obvious, my family would have said something about it since they were huge on shipping people. And they would have known I was gay, so I wouldn't be feeling so isolated all the time.

       "So..." Jerome said slowly. "How are you feeling?"

       "What do you mean?"

       "We've been friends for a while now, Nolan. You told me you don't feel like you fit in with your family, so yes, that could be why you're sitting up here alone but... I don't know, I kind of feel like there's something more going on."

       I didn't reply. I just looked down, debating if I should actually tell him or not. Yeah, sometimes, telling our friends something could be a lot easier than telling our family but... Jerome was the only friend I had. And I liked him a lot. Probably way too much even though I had no clue if there was even the slightest chance that he could like me back.

       I didn't want to lose him.

       "Nolan, whatever is going on with you, I won't judge," Jerome said. "Believe me, I won't. I of all people shouldn't."

       I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

       "Okay, I'm going to tell you something I haven't told anyone else before," Jerome said. "Well, Mae knows, because she and her mom helped me out when it happened. The reason why I moved to Miami with Mae wasn't because I wanted a change of scenery or whatever that excuse I used was. The reason I moved was to start fresh. Completely over after..." He sighed. "After my parents kicked me out."