The Name Game ➸ Tyrus (COMPLETE)

1

Cyrus' POV

". . .that I'm gay. I'm gay! I said it on paper. I, Tyler James Kippen, am gay."

I rubbed my eyes and blinked twice before re-reading those words again. And again, and again, and again. I couldn't believe what I had just read. TJ Kippen, Captain of the school's basketball team. TJ Kippen, Shadyside's Motocross champ. TJ Kippen, the intimidating jock who tried to ruin one of my best friends' life. . .is gay?

My phone buzzed, jolting me out of my daze and drop-kicking me back into reality. I sighed and answered the phone, my voice tired and soft. "Hey, Buffy, how's it hangin'?"

Her voice was urgent and pleading. "Cyrus. I need to know what dirt you got on Kippen. We don't have a lot of time before he realizes his "History" journal went missing and starts lining up suspects to pummel."

I held my breath and thought for a minute, willing the gears in my brain to churn faster as I thought of what to tell Buffy. There was no way I could out TJ, no matter how much he had hurt her. Unfortunately, I was absolutely horrible at lying. I quickly shoved the journal into my backpack as I carefully thought out my next string of words.

I lowered my voice and tried to sound like I had just read the wildest thing on Earth. Which, I mean, I guess I did. . .but not in the way Buffy thought.

"It turns out. . .TJ still believes in Santa Claus. What a baby, haha, amiright?" I forced out a laugh and prayed that Buffy would take the bait. I let out a sigh of relief when I heard her snort on the other end of the line.

"TJ Kippen, the hardcore basketball jock and bully, still believes in Santa? That's actually kind of crazy; I'm totally going to use that against him." She let out a gentle sigh of satisfaction. "Thanks for getting that information for me, Cyrus. I know you're not one for revenge, but you sit by TJ in History, Math, and English. Plus, he would never suspect you."

I let my mind drift as she droned on and on about all the drama of running her girl's basketball team, her rift with Kira, and her inloveness with Marty Lake. TJ did sit by me in every class we shared together, which seemed really weird now that I was consciously thinking about it. I don't think anything of the students who sit by me in class unless it's lunch period and I'm with the Good Hair Crew. And TJ could definitely sit by anybody he wanted. Still, he must have chosen to sit by me, for some reason.

"...right, Cyrus? CYRUS!?!?" I heard Buffy yell as I was once again snapped out of another daze involving TJ Kippen. Yikes.

"Yes, Buffy. Marty is totally in love with you, as we've all been telling you for the past four years."

Buffy sighed on the other end of the line. "Cyrus, you're so lucky that Marty's at a track team lunch and not sitting by me, listening in on our conversation right now. I said 'we're still on for The Spoon with the GHC after school. Right?'"

I let out a chuckle and rolled my eyes. "Yeah, Buffy, we're still on for the Spoon."

"Okay, see you then, Cy." "Bye, Buffy." 

As soon as the call ended, I shoved a handful of pretzels from my lunch bag into my mouth and got ready for the bell to ring. Buffy had asked me to try and take TJ's journal during 4th period English and read it during lunch, returning it during 5th period History. She thought it would look suspicious if the GHC was leaned over a random journal during lunch period, especially if TJ went looking for the stolen book.

As if on cue, the bell rang to signal the end of lunch. I quickly got off the bench I had been sitting on and rushed into the building, heading to Mr. Richardson's U.S History class. A smile started to spread across my face as I thought about what I had actually read in TJ's journal. Tyler James Kippen. . .sounded kind of beautiful.