More than Best Friends?

Chapter 2 - Space

After the unexpected incident from the day before, Yuki and Kyle both decided to ignore each other for a little while.   Whenever they saw each other in the hallways, Yuki felt his stomach churn, almost like he wanted to vomit.  Kyle, on the other hand, would turn red and try to look the other way.

Yuki wasn't sure what to do, now that someone knew his secret, especially his best friend. And Kyle had yet to return his phone, so it was hard to communicate with people.  He didn't want to see Kyle, so Yuki decided he would go hang out with Pe, his other friend. As he headed down the cafeteria, the sheer number of people overwhelmed him, but amidst the crowd, he saw Pe waving to him.

"Hi, Yuu-Kun!" she said in a chipper tone.

"Hi," Yuki replied softly as he trudged over to her.

"What's the matter? You look upset." Pe said, her face shifting to an expression of concern.

"...Nothing." Yuki could only stare down at his shoes.

"Oh, alright, then, if you say so." Pe then walked away, but Yuki followed her.

"You don't usually hang out with me and my friends," she said, confused.

"...I need someone to hang out with today," Yuki responded.

"Well, if you want you can come and hang out with us!" she said.  A small smile formed on Yuki's face; he would be safe from awkwardness, for now.  Pe was very accepting, if he ever dared to tell her his secret, then, he felt that she would understand. But that would remain a secret. 

Pe led Yuki up the flight of stairs.  When they got to the top, she opened the door leading to the school roof.  A small gust of wind hit him, blowing his dark hair back as he looked out onto the rooftop.  Unlike most schools, he noticed their school had a rooftop garden with vegetables and a lemon tree.  Next to it was a garden shed, looking a little worn from the weather. He was shocked at the number of flowers the garden had; bluebells, marigolds, tulips, sunflowers, and rose bushes.  It had been a while since he hung out with her, mostly because before, they were in the cafeteria.  But this year it seemed like they must've relocated.  He actually kind of liked it up here, mostly because it was quiet and secluded from everyone else.  Yuki noticed that along with Pe, Adrijan and Henry were sitting with her.  He found it odd because, in the first year of high school, Adrijan and Henry didn't get along at all, but it relieved him that things seemed okay now.

Yuki started eating his lunch quickly and quietly.  He listened in on the conversations about art and the upcoming English project, and the clouds and the coming of spring.

"How was track practice yesterday?" Pe suddenly asked.  Yuki promptly froze and almost dropped his sandwich.

"Uh.  It was.  Good," Yuki said, a pause between almost every word.

"That's good!  I bet you were the fastest!"

"...Yeah." He stared up at the clouds, elongating across the never-ending blue sky. He didn't want to think about what happened, but he couldn't help but feel ashamed that he didn't tell Kyle sooner.  He had been meaning to say it, but fear always lurked in the back of his mind.  But Kyle was a nice guy, and very open-minded.  This entire predicament could have been avoided if he just told him sooner, and he started to wish that he did.

~*~

Kyle ran his hands through his blonde hair as tap water ran down his face.  He couldn't stop thinking about what he saw. He never knew Yuki was...you know what, never mind.  You were always friends with him before, so this shouldn't bother you now, he tried to coax himself.  But he was bothered by this.  Why didn't Yuki bother to tell him before?  Of course, it was a sensitive topic, but he knew that Yuki would have told him if something was bothering him earlier on.  He sighed, took out Yuki's cracked phone, and held it in his hands.  A pang of regret soon rushed over him, because he felt like what he did was wrong.  He could have just waited for Yuki outside the locker room; that's what any sensible friend would do.

He exhaled for a few seconds and looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. He was going to do it, he told himself.

He was going to talk to Yuki about the secret.

(763 words, 19 October 2019)

(759 words, edited 31 May 2020)

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