"You have a little over four weeks until your exams," Fredricks drones for the fiftieth time that morning, I roll my eyes discreetly once his gaze had twisted away, "So I need your full attention and dedication,"
I feel Red's elbow subtly nudge mine and my lips twitch upwards in a small smile, as I slide my stuffed folder in my bag, "Your dismissed,"
"I'll text you," I whisper, struggling under the suffocating gaze of my rugby team, he nods and we merge in with the rest of the crowd out into the flowing corridor.
We move into the cafeteria where I feel a set of arms clasp around my shoulder, "Right lads, we have convinced Pope that a light game of rugby on this glorious Monday morning is one of the greatest ideas of the twenty first century," Dom suggests.
"Food first," Liam groans, moving towards the queue lining for steaming half condensed but mildly edible food. Me and a few others collapse on the nearby silver chairs, legs outstretched and thumbs scrolling as we wait for Liam and Nick. I scroll my way through Instagram seeing that my local rugby team had lost their last match when my data runs out and my phone stops it's linear scrolling.
I groan internally and revert my eyes to scan the crowd for anything (or anyone) interesting when I catch a certain freckled specimen curled up around a book. I can't help but let a smile creep onto my face until I'm pulled away. "Oliver, coming?"
"What? Oh. Yeah," I say, bewildered, standing and with a heavy heart moving towards the door and forcing myself not to look back at him again. I hesitate for a single moment as the door in front of me swings open before stepping forward and onwards towards the pitch.
A sweaty twenty minutes later me, Ethan and Nick are heading back towards the cafeteria to grab some waters for us all. It was definitely not to see if Red was still there. Definitely not.
"Eight waters, please," I order to the sweet greying dinner lady, she smiles and hands me a box of them with strained hands, I take them off her with a thankful smile and move towards the pay system. I catch his eye again in the same position as he was earlier, the only difference being he is now writing in a notepad instead of reading. I observe the scene for a moment as I see Ryan McLough- a well known arsehole within school who somehow still managed to get into sixth form without passing anything, or any talent whatsoever. He jeers at Red and flicks his fat finger at his book which makes Red flinch in an adorable but unnatural way, I dump the waters onto Ethan before approaching the scene unfolding. Red is now stood and enduring the snipes of McLough, making the blood curse through my body, feet plummeting forward.
"Gay boy," he seethes just as I get within punching distance, I can see Red's relief as I step forward, its enough to make my heart melt but the little shit standing in front of me is distraction enough.
"Get lost," I spite, jutting my shoulder in between Red and McLough, he scoffs and backs off albeit with a few curse words and homophobic slurs that we both let slide, knowing he probably doesn't know any better. I turn to Red and see he is practically squirming, "It's ok," I soothe, wanting more than anything to take his shaking hands in mine but knowing I can't.
"Resources cupboard," he commands shortly then moves swiftly down the opposite corridor. I stand missing a beat then urge my legs forward in his direction not even shooting a care let alone a glance towards my confused teammates. I follow him towards an abandoned art resource room on the other end of the sixth form block, the door closes behind him with a long creak before I fumble it open again and see him sitting on a cracked chair decorated with drying paint.
"Hey," he says, smiling a little, visibly a lot calmer.
"Hey," I reply, confused by his cool response considering the incident that had occurred less then three minutes ago, "You ok?"
"Yeah," he says, sighing, I lean against the collapsing yet still stacked shelves, "I didn't think you'd want to see me again,"
"Why would you think that?" I ask, standing straighter as the pang of hurt hits my chest.
"Can't be associated with the sixteen-year-old who still gets bullied," he rambles, I roll my eyes and step towards him in the silence and crouch in front of him.
"Can I kiss you?" I ask, my face reaching ever closer to his as my hand steadies my weight on the back of his creaking chair.
"Yes, please," he whispers, as our breathing parallels and our lips meet in a perfect but mere kiss. Before a flurry of panic hits me.
"No, no, no, not here. We can't," I stress, my feet straggling backwards and practically crashing into the back of the door with a few books crashing around us in a classic cartoon effect. Red stands and places a smooth hand on my bicep.
"It's ok," he soothes, "We don't have to," but his words are blurred and muddled as my yearn to breathe outside the trapped space engulfs me.
"I'm sorry," I say, spinning and breaking open the door into the bustling corridor, I push my way through merged students and ignoring the calls Ethan who I presume has come early for his Media lesson.
I step out of the automatic doors and breathe in a grateful puff of fresh air.
"Fuck,"
YOU ARE READING
Figuring You Out
Teen FictionA story of love, friendship, scholarship and the strangest kind of bravery. Oliver is the typical school jock; attractive, cheeky, clever and a player of a tough rugby team. But he has one secret that threatens to ruin him; he's gay. His family, be...
