Look After You

Chapter 22

Nolan couldn't get the cheesy smile off of his face as he stared down at his phone. It was the end of biology and they were doing anything. Since it was the day after the test they had done notes all class so that they could start the new unit. It was only half way through his last hour but Nolan was growing antsy and couldn't stay off his phone. Him and Xander had planned on going to the diner to grab lunch and work on their homework together. Nolan couldn't wait.

Xander [1:04] : you excited for our date tonight?

Nolan [1:05] : definitely. Was thinking maybe afterwards we could go to my house to play Xbox?

"Nolan!" The teacher scolds. "What are you looking at?"

Nolan's face goes red as he looks up from his phone at his teacher. "I'm... uh... nothing?" He lies horribly. Nolan wasn't used to getting into any sort of trouble in class so even this caught him off guard.

"Looks like your phone is more important than class today. If who ever you're talking to is so important why don't you just read the messages allowed for the whole class?"

Nolan's eyes widened. There had been times where his teacher had caught other students in his class on their phones and made them read their messages allowed. Most of the time they weren't very funny but just normal conversations, but Nolan knew there was no way he could read his out to class. Otherwise everyone would know.

"It's nothing. I'm putting it away now," he says quickly. He goes to tuck his phone into his backpack, but before he could someone grabs it. Nolan gasps and looks up to see the same bully from yesterday with his phone in his hand.

"That's okay, Nolan. If you can't read them out loud I'll do it for you. I'm just a nice person like that," he says, giving him an evil grin. The boy clears his throat before looking down at the phone.

"Stop give it back!" Nolan yells. He lunges for the boy but he just shoves him back.

His eyes widen as he reads the text. "Oh my god... Nolan and Xander are dating! Here look!" He says. He then turns the phone around for the class to see and almost everyone races out of their seats to take a look.

"That's enough!" The teacher yells. "Everyone get in your seats now!"

By now Nolan had already sat down. His face was red and his vision was blurry with tears. He knew crying in front of everyone would just add to the embarrassment but he couldn't help it. He was terrified and anxious. He was afraid that Xander would resent him now that he let their secret get out and if that was the case he didn't know what he would do.

Throughout the rest of class kids kept staring at him and the bully kept whispering things like "Nolan the queer" and "what a fag" in his ear. It was downright the worst experience in Nolan's life and so when the final bell rang, he damn near jumped out of his seat. He quickly grabbed his bag and shoved past everyone to get out into the hallway.

Xander was standing out front of the school waiting for him and he grinned widely when he saw him. "Hey you... Nolan what's wrong?" Xander's smile turned into a frown when he saw how upset Nolan was.

Nolan bites his bottom lip as he feels it tremble. "I... can we just walk? I wanna get away from here?"

Xander nods quickly and starts to lead Nolan down the street. "Did something happen in class?" He asks quietly.

Nolan didn't know whether he should tell him or not. He didn't want to lose Xander but he figured in the end he would find out anyways. "Okay please don't be mad.... but everyone knows," he whispers.

"Knows what?"

"About us, Xander. I was texting in class and my teacher caught me. He wanted me to read my texts aloud and when I refused some kid read them for me. I... Please don't be mad at me," he mumbles nervously.