w i l l *
Kyler and I are walking towards campus when it gets brought up.
"So..." I begin, kind of nervously. "I might be talking to someone..."
Kyler turns to look at me. "Really? That's good!"
I nod, and silence falls around us.
"Are you going to tell me about her?" he asks a few moments later, breaking the silence.
"No, because it's not a she..." I say, trailing off.
"It's a he?"
"Yeah..."
"Oh." Is all he says. There's something in his voice; whether it's anger or jealousy, I can't tell.
After our class, we both have a break which we take in the library, a couple of buildings over. Kyler is still acting weird.
"Why are you acting like this?" I blurt. "Like you're angry at me or something..."
"Because I like you!" He blurts.
I stop walking. "You what?!"
"Nothing. Nevermind, I don't want to talk about it." He says finally and storms off.
"Kyler!" I shout after him, but he doesn't turn around--in fact, I think he starts to walk faster.
I get to the library about three minutes after he does, and go over to the table we sit at with our friends. They look up as I enter.
"Kyler?" I say gently.
"I said I don't want to talk about it, William," he says curtly as I sit down and pull my books out of my bag.
"You can't just say something like that and walk off!" I snap.
"Watch me!"
"Kyler, I just want to talk about it!"
"Well, I don't! So, that's tough."
"Kyler!"
He ignores me.
I slam my book, that I'd just opened, shut and throw it in my backpack.
"Fine. Whatever, Kyler." I snap, slinging my backpack over my shoulder and storming out of the library. I hear a sharp intake of breath from a few friends as I storm out of the library and let the door slam shut behind me. I walk to the building of my next class and sit outside on the bench to wait for my next class to start. I feel someone sit down beside me and look up from my phone.
"What was that about??" Asks Alyssa, one of my best friends, and Kyler's cousin.
"I told him about the guy that I might be talking to," I say. "And he said, 'I like you' and stormed off and now he doesn't want to talk about it."
"Oh. Oh. Well..."
"I have no clue what to do."
"Just give him time, Will. He'll come around, I promise."
"I-I like him too, though," I say, finally admitting the one thing I'd held inside of me since seventh grade.
She whips around. "What?"
I look at her and nod.
"Since when?" she asks softly.
"Since seventh grade,"
"That long? Why haven't you said anything?"
"I thought he wouldn't like me back."
"Will, I'm going to tell you something, and --please don't tell him I told you this, he's liked you since in ninth grade."
"Why didn't he say something then?!" I exclaim.
"The same reason you didn't. He was afraid he would get rejected."
"How do you even know this?"
"We're cousins, Will! We used to have sleepovers and we would see each other all the time. We told each other a lot of things."
"How long have you known?"
"Since tenth grade."
I sigh and bury my face in my hands. "It'll be okay, Will, I promise it will. Everything will work itself out." She says, putting a hand on my back and rubbing it a few times back and forth.
The bell rings and students come pouring out of the buildings. Alyssa and I file into the building and go into our next lecture hall, taking our normal seats. When the rest of our friends--and Kyler-- walk into the room and take their seats, Kyler deliberately takes the seat furthest down the row away from me.
When the class is over, I'm the first one from my row to stand up and leave the classroom, 'accidentally' bumping into Kyler. I feel the anger and hurt start to bubble up inside of me. I didn't think he would react this way, and now I don't know what to do. Do I try to make up with him, or do I continue to develop my relationship with the other guy and see where it goes? We have another free period on today's schedule, so I head towards the library again, this time picking a table far away from everyone else, and by myself. I look up when the chair across from me is pulled out. I look up and find myself looking at Alyssa. She sits down and looks at me.
"You look like you're going to cry," she says.
"Can't promise I won't," I say simply.
"Will, I promise it will be okay."
I look up as Kyler walks in and look back at Alyssa. "No, it won't," I say, grabbing my backpack and storming out of the library for the second time today, leaving Alyssa at the table by herself.
