better. (a cake au)

one.

My shoulders slump as I drag my feet into the horrible hell hole that is school. There are four categories at my school. Cool kids, regular kids, losers, and me. I only have one friend. His name's Calum. Calum has always been my bestfriend, yet he's never seen me. He's blind. Has been since he was 3, so he's pretty accustomed to it. Calum, how ever, is not a loner like I am. He has a swarm of girls following him around everywhere, I guess they think it's cute that he's blind. I have no idea. Calum is arguably one of the cool kids. The only reason he didn't ditch me when we got to highschool is because we've always been friends. I know him better than anyone does. He knows me better than anyone else does. But there's a couple things I haven't told him. One is kind of big. I'm gay. I've known that since 9th grade. I'm too afraid to come out though. Way too afraid. Like, even to Calum. So I just keep acting like I'm not. Fun.

I trudge to my locker, which is right next to Calum's, and spot him being lead over by a group of girls. I roll my eyes and unlock my locker, stuffing some textbooks I was carrying into it. "Hey, Cal." I mumble as he walks over, a girl on each of his arms.

"Hey, Luke." He says with a smile. "Thank you ladies, I can handle it from here." The girls nod and giggle, then turn and walk away, smiling and talking to eachother about who I can only assume is Calum. "I've heard there's a new kid today. Have you seen him? From what I've heard he has purple hair."

"I think I did see someone with purple hair, actually. I wasn't paying much attention, though, I guess." I say and slam my locker shut, throwing my backpack over my shoulder.

"Some of the girls were talking about him this morning. They were being pretty nasty. I think you should talk to him."

"Why?"

"Because you're nicer than everyone else. Just go find the kid with purple hair and talk to him. We have 20 minutes before class starts."

"Okay, fine." I groan. "I'll meet you back here before class."

"Sounds good." Smiles Calum. I look around in the hallway, but don't see him, so I head back up to the lobby. I see a glimpse of purple, and turn to see a boy, sitting awkwardly on a bench with his head buried in a book. I chew on my lip as I walk over to him.

"Hey." I say, and his head whips up from his book. "Um... I'm Luke." I say awkwardly and hold out my hand. He shakes it shyly and half smiles.

"I'm Michael."

"Nice to meet you." I say with an awkward smile, and sit down next to him. "So, you're new here?"

"Yeah. It's a bit scary." He says with a small laugh.

"Yeah, I've been going here for 3 years and it's still scary." I nod and look at my hands. "I'm sure you'll fit in better than I do. It's hard to fit in worse than I do."

"I'm pretty good at not fitting in." He says and looks at me. "So you never know."

I look back and him let out a small sigh. "Well, maybe we'll make good friends then."

"Yeah." He says, and his eyes crinkle slightly as he smiles. Woah. His eyes. They're beautiful. I shake my head of the thought, knowing he probably isn't interested in me. At all. No one is.

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michael.

michael.

michael.

He's all that's on my mind the rest of the day. While in class. While on the bus. While doing homework. And now while eating dinner. It's just Michael. Michael, Michael, Michael.

"Luke?" I hear my mothers voice say and my head snaps up.

"Huh?"

"I asked you how school was?" she says, and I swirl my fork into my spaghetti.

"It was good." I nod and stare down at my plate.

"You seem distracted." Says my dad and I chew on the inside of my cheek.

"I'm just tired." I say with a nod.

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The next day, my usual dread to go to school turned into a kind of nervous excitement. The good kind of nervous, though. The kind where your whole existence is placed on that one thing, that one thing that makes you so excited, yet so completely anxious. That one thing that keeps you on the edge of your seat in a world of complete boredom. That kind of nervous. Although it's all probably for nothing, the whole of the weekend had been spent thinking of that gorgeous boy with purple hair whom I'd met only once, yet I could not get off my mind. The boy who probably hadn't given a thought to me all weekend. However, that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was Michael. Michael, Michael, Michael.

I arrive at school and open the door to the lobby, looking around for that purple hair. And there it is. A smile spreads across my face and I rush over to Michael. But then, when I get close, I don't rush. I just walk. Is this how you play it cool? I quickly make sure my hair is in order before approaching him, this time he's sitting on a bench farther away. "Michael." I say with a smile.

"Oh, Luke!" He says, and his head jerks up. "Hi!" His excitement surprises me, and I smile at him.

"How are you?" I grin.

"Good. I'm so happy to see you, I hate sitting alone." He says, and stands up.

"Trust me, I understand." I say and awkwardly adjust my backpack strap. "Um- I want to introduce you to my friend, Calum."

"Okay. I'm all up for meeting new people." He says with a small smile.

"Awesome. He should be over here surrounded by girls." I say and laugh, starting to walk towards my locker. I spot Calum and push through the crowd towards him. "Hey, Cal." I say and place a hand on his arm.

"What's up, Lucas Pucas?" he says with a grin.

"I'm with the kid with purple hair. His names Michael, he's right next to me." I say and Calum turns to him. He's gotten extremely good at telling where people are without being told exactly. It's kind of scary. It's like his 6th sense. Well, 5th I guess.

"Nice to meet you, Michael." He puts out his hand and Michael shakes it. "I'm Calum, and if you're wondering why I'm wearing sunglasses, it's because I'm blind. Might as well clear that up now." He says.

"Well, nice to meet you, Calum." He says with a small laugh.

"So, Luke, go ahead and describe to me what he looks like so I have a mental image."

"Well, he's about.... Um... 6'3 I'd say? He has purple hair, as you know. His eyes are...." I trail off as I stare into his eyes. My mouth hangs open, trying to form words, but it can't. It's like this part of my brain that I've never felt the feelings from before is all of a sudden feeling.

"His eyes are what?" Says Calum after a moment, and I turn away from Michael.

"Green. They're green." I say quickly.

"Okay. So green eyes, purple hair, tall. Is he like, lanky tall, or like husky tall?"

"Lanky." I say with a nod.

"Alright. Got it." The bell rings, telling us we have 10 minutes til class. "Escort me to class?" Says Calum, offering me his arm. I link mine through his.

"Your first class is trig, correct Michael?" I ask.

"Yup." He grins.

"Alright, well that's where we're headed." I smile and we all start the walk to class together.

Michael.

Michael.

Michael.

I am completely, totally infatuated. And I've only met him twice.