Years And Years (Birdflash)

Acrobat

Wally stares at the page in his English book. The teacher is reading out an extract from some old novel. He's not listening. Instead of her voice, he hears Dick's. Singing that stupid old song.

"He soars through the air with the greatest of ease, the daring young man on the flying trapeze"

Wally can't get him out of his head. Especially in the classes that aren't maths or science. Ever since realising his...crush, he's been thinking about Dick even more often than usual. It doesn't help matters that he knows what kissing Dick's lips feels like -

"Wallace."

Wally is snapped out of his daydream by Mrs McEnroe. She's standing at his desk with her copy of the textbook in her hands and frowning down at him. He feels himself go scarlet.

"Uh."

"Can you please read from where I stopped?"

Wally looks back down at the page. Shit. A few of his classmates are trying to mask their snickers.

"Or, could you tell me what the extract is about?"

He reads through the entire page in a few milliseconds, but it doesn't help him understand it any bit. Wally shakes his head.

The teacher asks to see him after class, tells him to pay attention and then gets back to reading aloud. Wally's eyes follow the words on the page but his mind drifts away again.

Dick has a nice singing voice. He doesn't use it often. Most people don't get to hear it, but Wally has heard him sing many times, both properly and jokingly. He's a natural performer. Wally could listen to him for hours. The Teen Titans should do a karaoke night.

Wally tries not to sigh out loud. What's the point? He still hasn't apologised to Dick for kissing him and running away. They haven't talked properly for weeks. But he knows that Dick is in a gymnastics final today. Wally will just about make it if he leaves right after school.

After class is over, and the teacher is done lecturing Wally about the importance of classical literature, he finally leaves the classroom. He knows that he needs to apologise, but how?

Frances bumps into his side and joins him in walking along the busy hallway to the cafeteria, "Hey. You okay? You look kinda out of it."

"I'm hungry. I need food."

She tilts her head to the side, "And...."

"I'm...thinking about you-know-who again," Wally admits after some hesitation and glances around him. Frances knows exactly who he means.

"It's so weird seeing you lovesick. Like, for real lovesick and not just pretending."

"I'm not...How do I make it go away? What do you do when you get a crush that you know is hopeless?"

"Fantasise anyways. There's nothing wrong with thinking about someone. Acting on it...is another thing."

"Me acting on it is the reason my...crush isn't talking to me," Wally says miserably. He pulls a chocolate protein bar from his pocket and tears it open.

"You need to figure out how to apologise."

Wally says I know, but it's muffled by a mouthful of protein bar.