This Is Me

Being Supportive (Part Three)

Being Supportive (Part Three)

Apart from the fact that I spent the entirety of my maths lesson and all of lunch doing my best not to stare too much at Leroy and failing miserably, the rest of the day was quite good.

Most of the students seemed to be in high spirits, excited about the party that night. Some of them had even brought balloons to school in celebration. Many of them tried to give them to me, which I found very hard to decline. By the end of the day, I had several tied to my bag.

One thing that wasn't as good as the rest of the day was not being able to avoid Donny throughout it. Sadly, Andy hadn't gotten to him, and I had to deal with him. The good news was, I didn't get my face punched in. Blaire was currently asking all about the encounter as we leant up against my car out front of Blaire's house while we waited for the all-clear from Bradly for my birthday party.

"He really doesn't like you." Blaire let out a laugh as she tried to get more comfortable against my car, though kept her eyes on me.

"It's not a secret," I mumbled, sliding my back left and right across my car, trying to keep warm.

"Is there a reason?" Blaire asked, propping herself up on her elbow.

"I rejected his sister." I chuckled, but I could feel my face heating up.

"Oh, still that? I thought he would have gotten over that. It's been, like, two years."

"Yeah, I'm not that lucky." I pushed off my car and hoped the cold air would be a good excuse as to why my face was red.

"Why'd you say no again? She's pretty."

Mentally, I was screaming. The conversation that was circling was simultaneously one that I wanted to have and one that I wanted to avoid at all costs. Was I going to tell Blaire the real reason? No. I wanted to, more than anything, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"She wasn't my type," I responded, shrugging. "And I didn't say no. We dated for a day. Then I said no."

It wasn't a lie per se, as, technically, she wasn't my type—mainly, because she lacked a particular pronoun.

"That pissed Donny off?" Blaire questioned with a chuckle, and I nodded.

"Yeah, apparently it upset her a little bit."

"Ah, Pete. Such a heartbreaker." Blaire's chuckle turned into a laugh, and I leaned back up against my car.

"Oh, yeah. That's me for sure. Honestly, I don't even know why Donny holds such a grudge. His sister doesn't even care anymore."

"How do you know that?"

"I've seen her at school, and she occasionally will still say hey," I answered Blaire's question with a shrug. "I think she's got a boyfriend now."

Blaire hummed slightly before we both fell silent. I felt as though Blaire was thinking a few things over, and I couldn't help but hope she didn't start asking questions about my dating life. It was bad enough I had lied to Andy and Leroy about liking Blaire, I didn't need to spin another lie to her.

Thankfully, saving me from the possible onslaught of new questions, was my parent's car pulling up beside mine.

"All right, everything is set," Bradly's voice drifted to my ears as he stepped out of the car.

"You could have just texted," I said, and he shrugged.

"He wanted to wish you a happy birthday in person," my mum said, rolling down the driver's side window, and I saw my dad lean across the front seat to look at me out the window.