High school: Auggie x Jack Will

Siblings

*I'm so sorry this is so late, life's been mad weird, and I have two chem tests to take tomorrow so I'm clearly doing great :P

Auggie's POV
I'm sitting on my bed, tearstained and not having a good time, debating on whether I should give Jack a call or not. I think I weirded him out. That's not cool.

I doubt he'll want to talk to me, but being completely honest, I'm not entirely sure I want to talk to him either. I don't know what's going on, but he was acting really strange today, and whether I'm the source of the problem or not, I don't want to make things worse, and I don't want to be around him when he's sad like this.

I don't have a clue on what could possibly be wrong. We just started a new school, yeah, but there are far worse things, and I know for a fact that Jack is stronger than that. Me no, but Jack is good at getting through whatever is bothering him, a reason why I've stuck around for so long.

He's like my big brother, or I guess just my much more attractive, better-at-figuring-stuff-out twin. Siblings are supposed to be able to talk stuff out. That's pretty much the only reason people need them. If I can't talk to my metaphorical brother about what's bothering him, I guess my real sister could do. I FaceTime Via.

Jack's POV
Summer's face is super unreadable, unless she's smiling. And if I know one thing for sure, she's definitely not smiling right now.

That usually doesn't bother me, I don't hold someone's good genes that cause them not to have overly expressive faces against them, but in tough situations, like when you just told a person for the first time ever that you're not straight and have a crush on your totally straight best friend, it's not very reassuring.

I can see her lips starting to form words, but she still hasn't said or done anything, really. She has yet to react. She's intimidating me more than usual, and believe me, that's a lot.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. Yeah really."

Her face shifts to something a bit more readable, puzzlement. I can tell because of the way her eyes narrow and her nose scrunches. She kind of looks offended.t

"Jack. You know it's okay, right? You know it doesn't matter to me at all if you're gay, straight, bi, whatever? Jack, all that I care about is that you're my friend."

I actually don't know that, no.

"That's sappy as shit, Summer."

"No, Jack. I'm being serious. You know that, right? You're perfect the way you are."

"I mean, I guess."

"Don't guess. Know."

"I guess I know now."

"Good. Come here. Give me a hug, okay?"

"Olay. Thanks."

I walk over and sit right next to her on her bed, wrapping my arms around her. It helps.

"I just don't know what to do. I know he doesn't like me and I know it's not possible for him to ever like me. Sound right?"

Summer looks around for a bit. She looks like she's plotting something, like she knows the truth but thinks she has to tiptoe around it to make me feel better. That's appreciated, but I've already accepted it. It's never going to happen. My life is going to be a living hell for the rest of high school, probably even the rest of my existence because of it, but that's just how it is. That's life.

"Summer, I know it. He doesn't like me. You don't have to say anything otherwise unless you one hundred percent know it's true. And don't guess. Know."

"Oh, Jack."

That's where my tears come in. I've been bottling this up for the longest time, and now that someone else knows, and knows that the one thing I need so I can be okay is something I'll never get, it's surreal. There's officially no hope for me. I break down.

Summer puts her arms around me this time, and I lean my head on her shoulder. There's nothing I can do to escape the stupidity of my life. I'm not okay about it.

"Jack, come on. There has to be something we can do. I'm not saying it's guaranteed, but if we make some sort of scheme to win him over, it might just happen."

I giggle, wiping my tears with my sleeve. She really does crack me up. She's such a serious person, so determined, and it's admirable. I doubt she's right, Summer's determined, not necessarily always right, but at this point, I have nothing to lose.

"Okay. I guess."

She picks up a pencil from the shelf over her bed. No notebook or anything, she just uses it to tap around on her leg to focus.

Just as she's gaining her focus, I'm losing mine. I backup a bit and lay down. I wish I could just stay here and never have to face the rest of the world again forever. I wish I could just float in some weird time freeze in the middle of space and time for the rest of eternity. Never have to face Auggie. Then I wouldn't have to embarrass myself around him again. I wouldn't get to see everything I like about him every day, but I could imagine it. I know his face, his build, everything about him, so vividly. I'd be better off just fantasizing.

"I got it."

"Got what?" I wasn't joking when I said I lost focus. I was stuck on Auggie, Which wasn't an unusual thing.

"The plan."

"Oh. What is it?"

"Jack Will, you're my boyfriend now."

"Summer, I'm sorry, i just don't really like you like that."

"I know. We're faking it. That's the point. He might get jealous."

"Wait that actually could work."

"Right? Exactly my thoughts. It could. It's not guaranteed, but you can never guarantee stuff like this."

"Fair."

"If it doesn't work out, which I really hope it does, I forgot to mention this but I think you two would be adorable together, I'll help you figure it out."

"Thank you so much. Just, thank you."

"No prob bob. I just have one question. I don't mean to be insensitive, and you don't need to answer, but for research purposes, are you gay, or?"

"I don't- I don't really know."

"No, no. That's fine. It doesn't matter, I just wanted to know who I should be on the lookout for for you to date if worse case scenario ends up happening and-"

"Oh. That's sweet. I really just care about Auggie right now. Sorry."

"I get it. That's okay, Jack. You have no need to apologize."

"Sorry. Uh, I mean thanks."

"Don't worry about it."

"We're gonna make a mean couple, Summer."

"We really are. Let's do this."