Melted by You

12

I put my books in my locker, and turn to Dean.
"What do you want to talk about?" I ask. He takes a deep breath, and looks at me.
"Let's go" he says, and he walks away. I follow him, hoping it'll start to make sense soon enough.

When we're outside, I see there's nobody at the football field, except for a few cheerleaders practicing and Jay. She's standing at a distance, typing on her phone. Occasionally, she glances up at the stumbling girls.
"Private enough" Dean says, and we sit down at the bleachers. He stares at the fake grass for a second, and then looks up at me.

"When you were talking this morning, are you sure you weren't talking about a specific person?" he asks. My eyes widen, and I let out a short laugh.
"No" I say. "It was at least two".
Dean frowns.
"Who?"
"I don't want to say" I mutter. He scoffs, and shakes his head.
"Listen, please don't take this the wrong way" he says. "I know Lucas meant it as a joke, but what you described was pretty much what having a crush on someone feels like".
"Pfft. How would you know?" I ask. He rolls his eyes.
"I'm a teenage boy in a high school with a cheerleading team. I've had crushes before. Also, no changing the subject".
I pout, and look at the ground.
"You're wrong" I say. "I don't have a crush on him".

"Him?" Dean asks quietly.
"No" I say, probably a little too fast.
"You said him" Dean says, and he nudges my arm. "Sounds like there's a specific person".
"I meant anyone" I say. "You didn't let me finish. I don't have a crush on him or her or anything in between him and her".
Dean sighs, and rolls his eyes.

"Landon, you know you can tell me anything. I won't tell anyone" he says.
I'm silent for a few seconds.
"Not even Lucas?" I then asks quietly. He shakes his head.
"Not a soul" he promises, and he smiles warmly. It's not a face expression he has a lot, he usually looks bored or annoyed with Lucas.
"Well, you know my friend Willow, right?" I ask. Dean nods.
"Do you know her boyfriend? Logan?"
He squints, and nods again.
"Well..."
I sigh.
"He has a brother. His brother gives me guitar lessons. And I really like him, but I don't think I like him, you know. I just notice stuff about his face. He has an interesting face".

Dean laughs, and shakes his head.
"Are you very sure about that Landon?" he asks. I nod.
"Yeah. I mean, I've known him for like, two weeks. And he's my friend's brother".
"So?"
I stare at him. I know I'm very socially ignorant, but people don't fall in love within two weeks. Except for Wall E and Eve, but that's true love and true love only exists in Disney movies.

"Tell me about him" Dean says.
"What?"
"Tell me about him. I'm curious now" he says. I tilt my head a little, but I smile.
"Alright! Well, he's very different from Logan. He's very sociable, and he's funny, and he bought me ice cream which was very tasty. And he teaches me a lot of guitar and I can already play half a song. And sometimes he grabs my hand to position it right and I don't really like it, because it makes my fingers all tingly".
He raises an eyebrow.
"Stop it" I say. "I just don't have people touch my hands very often".

"Right, let me..."
"NO" I yell, and I quickly stuff my hands in my pockets. Dean laughs.
"I wasn't going to hold your hands" he says. "I was just going to stand up".
"Oh, right. Me too" I say. We both stand up, and he looks at me, and sighs.
"Well, I can't judge whether you have a crush or not. I'm not you" he sighs.
"Thank you" I say. "And for the record, I've had crushes before too".
He nods.
"I know. You had a girlfriend".
"Yes" I say. "And it never felt like this. That made me feel happy, this makes me feel weird".

"Okay Landon" Dean sighs. "I should go home before Lucas falls from a cliff or something".
I chuckle, and we start walking towards the bus stop. I have to wait ten minutes for the next bus to arrive. We talk for a bit, before I see my bus driving around the corner.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow" I say. He nods.
"See ya".

"Why did you want to talk in private?" I quickly ask, as my bus is about to pull up. "Why not with Lucas?"
He shrugs.
"You know how Lucas is. He'd accidentally tell everyone he saw".
I laugh quietly.
"Good call" I say. He grins, and shrugs.
"And if you want to talk about stuff..." he says, and I smile.
"Anytime" he says.
"Same goes for you" I say. He smiles, and I smile back. It's a little awkward, so I'm happy when my bus pulls up.

"Well, bye!" I say.
"Bye" he says, and he waves. I wave back, and walk into the bus. After checking in, I greet the chauffeur, and walk all the way to the back. It's a bit of a habit of mine. I like sitting in the back, because the seats are a little elevated so I can see more through the windows. I sigh, as the bus starts to drive, and I watch all the trees, houses and cars zoom by. I really appreciate Dean talking to me and daring to be honest, but he's totally and completely wrong. I don't have a crush on Owen Marshall. I don't like Owen Marshall. And whenever I feel weird, it's just because... Because, well...

You know what, I don't need an explanation. Sometimes, people just feel weird, and that's completely okay and that doesn't have to mean anything. It's probably just puberty or something. Everything is fine.

ШШШ

Some drawing of Landon being cute. Sorry for the bad lighting but it was late when I took the picture.