Against The Rage (Gay Romance)

Chapter Two: A Date with the Past

                After a tremendous long talk with Mr. Rawson about how school is important, and the making of one’s future, Alex left school feeling worse than ever. How’s he supposed to know what the future might have in store for him? To him it was blank, all he saw was a pitch black screen with no one in the audience interested to see what happens next – not even himself. The future seemed too far away to be something to worry about.

            But, it wasn’t true. “Your future is only around the corner. All you have to do is walk there.” The line Mr. Rawson spoke haunted him for the rest of the night. Anxiety hit him like a brick to the face; his stomach cringed from even the thought of how his future might turn out.

            In truth, he never really thought about the future as happening now. He always thought of the future as a distant time. A time that is always ahead, a time that truly never comes.  But in reality, it was happening now, and he was more lost than a mouse in a maze, with no cheese to guide him in the right direction.

            A light flashed red on Alex’s mottle freckle face as his alarm clock changed to 2:07am. He held himself tighter under the covers, hoping his own body heat would kill off the chill that settled in his bones from his walk home in the rain. Summer passed by like a leaf in the wind, taking even the smallest ray of heat along with it, and in its place came rain and clouds.

            He watched the time on his clock change several times before he got impatient and lay restlessly on his back. “I’m not even good at anything,” he whispered to himself in the silence of his room, thinking back to his future. ‘I’ll probably just settle with a mediocre job. Like a cashier or flipping burgers for the rest of my life…’ and as the thought settled in, Alex sighed in defeat and pushed the thought aside.

            It was times like these where Alex wished he could be someone else. Someone confident and not afraid to speak their minds. Someone whose life is handed to them, instead of having to struggle and find it themselves. He wanted an easy life.

***

            ‘Don’t be late ;)’ Alex read the text message from a number that wasn’t stored in his phone the next morning. His mind instantly went to the new boy who had asked for his number yesterday in the locker room of the school Gym. Since when did I start giving out my number in the guys locker room...?

            His chestnut eyes didn’t leave the text until the light on his phone dimmed down, not knowing what to text back. Every answer he thought up sounded lame and boring. He eventually gave up and settled with ‘I’ll try not to’, and got out of bed to get ready.

            Before making it to the bathroom across the hall, his phone vibrated in his hand. ‘Promise?’ he read as a smile he could not control spread across his thin lips.

            ‘Sure’

            And to his own surprise, Alex had arrived ten minutes before the final bell rung, having time to walk to his locker – instead of running – and got out his English Lit book for first hour. It wasn’t until he shut his locker, when Alex noticed Wayne leaning on the lockers in a weary slouch.

            Wayne let his hazel eyes scan over Alex’s petite frame, resisting the urge to let out the scream that’s been building inside of him. Everything about him had Wayne going crazy. He was the giant prize hung on display that was impossible to win. The rain splattered his brown hair to his forehead, making his deep honey eyes wide and vulnerable. “You’re actually on time today,” he said taking a drink from his fresh cup of coffee.