Two Boys, One Heart

Chapter 1

    I was sitting in my fifth period English class, bored out of my mind. The only thing I liked about English was that I had the most gorgeous boy I have ever seen in it, JT Halley. JT is your classic straight jock. He only likes two things in life, girls and football. Deep down inside, I secretly wished that he could add one more thing to that list, me.
    Okay, so if you don't get the picture by now, I'm gay. At least, I think I am. I'm just like JT in most aspects of my life. I like sports, I have good friends, and I'm kind of smart. But other than that, we are polar opposites. He's popular, I'm not as popular as him. He has girls wanting to be with him, I don't. And if I'm being totally real here, I don't even know him on a personal level...
    So fifth period English class, I'm sitting there, my eyes wandering around the room. Then, they land on a sight that makes my heart flutter. JT is leaning forward on his desk, his shirt lifting up a little. I sit behind him, so I get a clear view of the band of his Under Armour compression shorts. My heart flips three times and I feel my face get hot. I know that I shouldn't be looking, but I am. I mean, come on. What would you do if you were crushing on a guy with a gorgeous body and hot underwear?
     I kept staring until the teacher clears her throat and starts talking about Grapes of Wrath. While she was rambling on and on about stuff I really didn't care about, I couldn't help but daydream about what life would be like if JT and I were together. I pictured us smiling, laughing, cuddling, and kissing. But then, I snapped back into reality when the bell rings, signaling the lunch period.
    I walked into the cafeteria and immediately spotted my friends at our usual table. I sat down and they were all laughing and giggling. "What's so funny?" I asked, curious.
    "We are trying to decide who is hotter," my friend Angelina started. "JT Halley or Austin Winters?"
    "Definitely JT," Alison said.
    "No way, it's all Austin," Madelyn countered. Eliza, Angelina, and Gabby all agreed. I was about to contribute to the conversation, before realizing that none of them, except for Gabby, knew my secret. I've only told four people about me being gay and I really wanted to add to that list. I have known these girls for a year and a half and I really trusted them. I let it slip to Gabby and this girl named Sara at a Halloween party last year. I was drunk and apparently I said, "Don't you guys think JT is just the cutest?" I know, it's embarrassing but they pretty much got the idea. It's funny because now Sara is a total bitch and if I ever get on her bad side, I don't know what she would do with my secret. I've also told my eighth grade best friend Katy and although she doesn't really mind, she also doesn't ask me which boys I like, unlike Gabby. But the very first person I told was this girl Hannah. I guess you could say we were friends in seventh grade, but we kind of grew apart. She was the perfect person to vent to, seeing as how she was bisexual and kind of understood.
     Now, these are the only people I've told. That doesn't mean other people don't know, or assume. On my eighth grade trip to Washington D.C., my former best friend took my phone, went through all my texts with Hannah and showed them to everyone. Now, you are probably thinking, "Okay, so?" Well, she only leaked the texts that mentioned me loving my previous crushes and how I thought they were so attractive. So in the end, I graduated eighth grade with every single one of my classmates knowing that I was in love with this one boy. But I brushed it off and was ready for a new start in high school. I was ready to be "straight Shawn" once again.
    Well, I was horribly wrong.
    About two months into freshmen year, a rumor went around that one of the football players and I hooked up and were dating. That was false. I had texted that boy maybe twice and while yes, he was hot, I never thought anything of him. But everyone didn't believe me when I said I didn't like him. Soon enough, random people in the halls would walk by me and utter his name, or send me pictures of two guys kissing. But, in all honesty, I didn't really care. I liked the attention. People now knew who I was, despite it being for awkward reasons.
    So now flash forward to today, with me sitting at the lunch table while my friends talked about hot boys. Don't get me wrong, I want to tell my friends that I'm gay. But also, this means that I'm confirming to others, and myself that I'm not who I thought I was.
    Suddenly, out of nowhere, JT and our friend Mayley walk up to our table and whisk me away. "What's wrong?" I asked, confused.
    "We need help. Shawn, this is JT," Mayley introduced us. Oh and let me just clarify that JT and I have never actually met face to face. We just kind of knew each other because of Mayley and English class. I smiled at him and he smiled back, making my heart flutter.
    Mayley continued, "Okay so for English, the test is tomorrow. We wanted to know if you would cheat with us? We just don't understand anything." Just by looking at his eyes, I knew that JT wanted me to help. Both Mayley and JT really struggled in English, and honestly, so did I. We only managed to get good test grades because we would cheat off other students. Now that Mayley and I were friends, we discovered that we could help each other out. I just didn't think JT would be included, not that I'm complaining. I gave a slight smile and agreed. They both took a deep sigh of relief and walked me back to my friends before heading off in another direction. "What was that about?" Alison asked, staring at JT's ass as he walked away. I mean, I couldn't blame her, he did have a nice butt. "Nothing," I responded, pretty nonchalantly, despite my heart pounding against my chest like a drum.
    Out of all my friends, I really wanted to tell Alison my secret the most. She was one of my favorites and I honestly really liked her. Her long brown hair fell over her shoulders as she turned to talk to Eliza. The lighting in the cafeteria made her fake tan actually look kind of real. I smiled. The only thing on my mind now was tomorrow's English test.
    The rest of the day was kind of a blur. All I remember are bits of math class, reading something in Chemistry, and drawing scribbles during United States History. Once the bell rang to end the school day, I sprinted to my black Nissan Altima and turned on the engine. I need to get home. Why? Because in order to impress JT, I needed to help him ace this test.