popularity || sanders sides [DISCONTINUED]

22 | Roman

due to not having enough inspiration to do the qna chapter, i am going to make this an actual chapter and make the qna when i actually have the means to. i'm sorry. i just really wanted to serve you all a chapter.

Chapter Twenty-Two: If I'm Being Honest
Roman Castillo

My head hurt. My heart hurt. To be honest, everything hurt, and I didn't know why. I had been feeling really good for a while, especially after I realized how much I really liked Virgil. I just...had a hunch that not everything was right with the people I knew.

It was a Saturday, and nobody had anything to do, so I called all of my friends and asked if they could hang out. It was roughly a week since I had a huge hangout with Veronica, Remy, Patton, and Virgil, and I wanted to have that again, but with less Remy and more Logan.

After everyone accepted my invitation to meet me at the park, I got ready. It was fairly cold, so I wore a considerably warm outfit, my favorite items of the ensemble being the maroon beanie and vintage-looking jean jacket. The rest of the items were fairly basic.

I sat down at the picnic table just a bit to the right of the primary playground, waiting for everyone to start showing up. Feeling a shiver down my spine, I suddenly felt as if I was being watched. Quickly, I whipped around and was startled when I saw the bright, menacing eyes of Dawson Dolion.

"Hello, Roman," his words were smooth, and that alone sent more chills down my back, "I was just wondering if you were considering accepting my offer? It has been a while, and Miss Solomita would love to know if you accept."

The remembrance of what Dawson had offered at McDonalds filled my brain, and I felt disgusted that I had ever even considered it. It seemed fairly enticing, though; I knew more than pretty much anyone how much people fancied things they couldn't have.

"I'm still thinking."

"That's fair. Well—I just figured I'd ask since I saw you here. That would be all."

Everyone began arriving just after he left, and the offer lingered in my mind once again, just as it had when he first proposed it. I tried to push the thought to the back of my brain, though, when my friends and I made the plan for today.

Our first plan was to go for some ice cream; it was the last day before it closed for winter, and we wanted to get some before we were too late. Logan got plain vanilla in a cup, Patton got a chocolate cone with rainbow sprinkles, Veronica and I both wanted a banana split so we just got one to share, and Virgil got a Dr. Pepper.

He got a soda at an ice cream joint.

Is that legal? That shouldn't be legal.

Ignoring Virgil's unforgivable crime, we continued with our day. There was side-conversation as we walked to our destination, one topic of which peaked my interest for no reason other than it did.

"Apparently, there's another homosexual couple in school now," Veronica said, "Pat and Lo aren't the only ones anymore. Isn't that neat?"

"Oh?" I asked, "Who?"

"That kid who moved here a month or so ago and some dude from the Astronomy Club. They're both pretty lame, but cute."

"Huh."

The group continued to walk, occasionally stopping when Patton noticed posters for missing animals hung on wood poles or taped to shop windows. He would look for them in his free time. Lost animals were common in the area.

"Can we go there?" Veronica asked, looking at a store that seemed to sell darkly-ranged clothes. It seemed to be an emo store. Knowing how excited both Veronica and Virgil both would be by the store, I accepted, while Patton and Logan decided to stay outside.

Virgil was quick to speed off into the store, and I knew that without a doubt he would come back to Veronica and I with at least ten different items. From what I knew I doubted he got to get new clothes often.

"Ooh, I love this!" Veronica said, grabbing a shirt off of a rack. She held it up to herself and it appeared to fit her, so I encouraged her to get it. She smiled excitedly and we continued to walk around. I found a few things that were more of accessories that I knew I could pull off, but other than that I had nothing, Veronica had her shirt, and we still hadn't come across Virgil.

"Can we talk?" Veronica asked out of the blue. I nodded, knowing that if she wanted to talk something was more than likely bothering her. I hated to think that things were bothering her; she was like my sister and she deserved to be happy.

She sighed, "You like Virgil, right? Like...like-like him?" Her tone seemed almost scared, scared as though she knew the answer and was only dreading hearing it straight from the horse's mouth.

"...Yeah..? Yeah, I do."

"Oh. Okay, cool."

"Why?"

Veronica's facial expression seemed disappointed. I didn't understand why she felt the need to ask, or get disappointed when she clearly knew the answer. I think that, at this point, it's pretty obvious that I liked Virgil in that way.

"It doesn't matter."

And that is the part that stuck with me for the rest of the day.

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Patton's excitement when we exited the store was clear, as was Virgil's when he showed he and Logan what he bought—or, what I bought for him—there. The five of us continued on our walk, Veronica's pace slowing ever-so slightly as we went on.

Eventually, she had to go home to deal with something that was happening with Remy. We wished her goodbye and we were left just us. Patton got to lead us, so naturally, we ended up at a park. There weren't any kids there, seeing as it was getting late, so we had free reign.

"Logan, push me on the swing!" Patton called, running towards the (arguably most fun, even nowadays) piece of park equipment. Logan let out a goofy breath of air, knowing what he was getting into, and went to push his boyfriend on the swing, as he asked.

Meanwhile, Virgil and I were messing around on the jungle gym. I didn't expect him to be around me so casually considering what he had insisted on at McDonalds those days ago. But since then, we've had almost two full days together, and I think that he's gotten used to being around me.

"This is so stupid," Virgil said quietly. "We're too old for this. You know that."

"Just try to have fun! You'll be an adult soon! Just another year till you're eighteen!"

"Don't remind me."

A sudden boost of confidence surged through me as the light began to fade in the sky, "Virge?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you." And with that, I slid down the nearest slide and left him on top of the jungle gym, wondering why I had said what I did.

"Wait- ROMAN HOLD THE FUCK UP! GET BACK HERE, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" He ran after me, and if I hadn't just confessed my love to him, I would've ran away. I let him have it this time.

I can't wait to see what he's going to say. This was so exciting!

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i fucking hate this chapter but it's whatever. i'll edit it later, i guess. just glad to finally have something to post for y'all lmao.