Warning: Offensive gay slur used again
Alex's POV
John and I rode down the elevator in silence, but it wasn't awkward. I looked down at our entwined hands, my heart pounding. I certainly hadn't meant to grab his hand, but I couldn't help it. I had longed to touch him since when I first saw him enter our dorm room. Although I didn't expect him to feel the same. But there he was, fingers wrapped around mine.
What did this mean? Was this normal? Did straight friends hold hands? I glanced up at John's face, and he gave me a shy smile. Okay. maybe this was platonic for him, but it sure as hell wasn't for me. That smile undid me.
The elevator door slid open, revealing the dorm hall's large lobby. John and I stepped off and made our way towards the front door. We were about halfway there when suddenly a paper ball careened across the room and hit John square in the head. He let out a little yelp of surprise and dropped his hand from mine.
"Hey, Turtle Boy!" came a jeer. "I see you brought your boyfriend. Now you have someone to be faggy with!"
We both turned to the source of the voice. A man who looked to be about 20 stood across the room, smirking. He had short brown hair that fell halfway across his forehead. I hated him immediately.
"Good god, Charles, can't you leave me alone? You had your fun yesterday. Enough is enough," John said. He was glaring at the boy, but otherwise seemed unaffected. How could he remain so calm? I was totally ready to fuck that kid up.
"Aww look at the little turtle boy speak up! How cute!"
"Hey, leave him the fuck alone, or I'll beat you to a pulp," I said, taking a threatening step towards the bastard.
"Oh, and how old are you? Twelve?" Charles snickered.
"That's enough," came a new voice, just as I started to lunge towards Charles. John caught my shoulder. I looked to the new voice and saw, to my surprise, that it was Burr.
"Charles, leave them alone. Honestly, we aren't in high school anymore. We're all adults here."
"That's the second time someone's said that," Charles muttered, but reluctantly walked away. I turned to Burr, still furious.
"Why are you here?" I demanded.
"I believe the words you're looking for are 'thank you'".
"I didn't need you and your 'talk less' bullshit to interfere."
John nudged me gently towards the door. "Alex, leave him be." He turned to Burr. "Thanks I guess. Sorry about my...friend."
I turned away from Burr. "Whatever. Come on John, let's go get breakfast." I stalked off to the door, John at my heels. As soon as we stepped outside, he turned to me angrily.
"What the hell was that? Do you feel the urge to fight with everyone?"
"Well, I met Burr yesterday, and he's really annoying. But that other guy was being horrible to you! How do you handle that shit?"
His anger seemed to fade away a little. "You just need to learn self control. It comes with practice." His eyes looked shadowed, as if he spoke from experience. I wanted to ask him about it, but I didn't want to invade on his privacy.
"I'm sorry," I said instead. John laid a hand on my shoulder.
"It's okay, Alex. I just don't want to see you get hurt." I met his eyes and he smiled that smile again. Oh god, I wanted to kiss him so bad. But I just met him yesterday...there was a very high chance he wasn't even gay.
