Skeleton In The Closet

Chapter 2

Max crossed his arms in annoyance as he watched his boyfriend & his longtime friend walking back to the school down the cement pathway, perturbed about their assessment of his social skills. Nevertheless, class was starting soon, so he had to get back to class as well. He walked into the room, its four beige walls constructed of cinder blocks & mortar. They were kind of ugly & reminded Max of a prison block, appropriate given his feelings about school. He took his seat in between Neil & Nikki. Though the last three classes were only 45 minutes each, they felt to drag on for hours. When their last class was finally over, the three met at the front of the school.

Nikki began. "Well, I have track practice so I'll catch you later. see ya later, Romeo." She said as she turned around walking away. "You too, Juliet." She added.

"Wait, who's Juliet in this scenario?" Neil called out to her.

"I'll leave that to your imagination. Remember to leave room for Jesus." She jokingly called out to them before heading to the school's track field for practice.

Neil sighed. "I don't understand her." He said

Max responded. "No one does, babe. Let's go. We'll miss the bus if we wait around any longer."

The two proceeded down the path to the bus. They got on the bus & moved to the back, ignoring the rabble & dodging the occasional paper airplane or airborne pen. Neil was looking especially tense from all the noise & movement, shaking a little & rifling through his bag. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" He said to himself.

Max saw his boyfriend getting more & more tense & asked him "What's wrong Neil? Feeling a little too stimulated?" He asked with a worried expression.

Neil nodded. "I can't find my headphones, & it's really loud here. I don't like it." He said, shaking a bit.

"Don't worry, Neil. I've got you covered." He reached into his canvas messenger bag & pulled out a pair of headphones with padding to help cancel out noise. "Here you go." He said, handing them to his boyfriend.

"You're a life saver, Max! Thank you so much." Neil replied.

"Not a problem. I got a pair to carry around just in case you ever forgot yours. Guess it paid off, huh?"

Neil just nodded & put them on, a look of instant relief spreading across his face. Max started scrolling through his phone when he heard someone address him. "Aww always thinking about your boyfriend, Max." It was Nurf, making jokes at Max & Neil's expense.

"Don't you have a more productive use of your time than picking on people who've done nothing to you?" Max asked without looking up from his phone, keeping his head down to hide the slight blush across his face, embarrassed by the close call. When they finally got to Neil's house, they stepped off the bus. They walked up the drive to the large, white house. Neil handed Max his headphones back as he began opening the door.

The two went inside the house & threw their bags aside. They entered Neil's room & lied back on Neil's bed, breathing a sigh of relief that the school day was now over. His father entered the room, greeting the two boys. "Heya son. Hi, Max." He said.

"Hey, dad." Neil responded.

"Same." Max's added.

"Well let me know if you two need anything."

"Will do, dad." Neil told him. "& please close the door on your way out."

His father nodded & did as Neil requested. They took a minute to breathe before Max broke the silence. "I'm bored. Whatcha wanna do?"