Behind A Mask - Shaymien

25: The Conundrum

Shayne's face contorted into a frown upon Damien's remark. "Excuse me, but what the fuck? You... mediocre at best? Did you even look in a mirror today?" He asked, frustration laced in his voice.

"Yeah, and that's why I can say it. Like if we compare the two of us, you look amazing and I look like I was run over twelve times and just walked away." Damien mumbled, unable to look at Shayne. To him, he had thought that he had ruined their friendship. His eyes started to well up and he turned his face away completely. He didn't want Shayne to see how broken he was.

Shayne could hear Damien snivelling lightly and gradually forced Damien to head toward a bench and sat down.  "You do realise that you're too hard on yourself, right." Shayne said, hoping for Damien to speak. He only received a small shake of his head, but he was contented with the fact that Damien was able to respond.

"Look, Dames. You're not mediocre at best. You're funny, you're smart. You're in the top ten percent of guys at this school." Shayne started to speak, rattling off more traits of Damien. "You're confident and comfortable. You're my best friend, Damien and you wouldn't be if you were mediocre at best. I didn't expect myself to really have a true friend at this school but you truly proved me thoughts wrong."

Shayne stood up and opened his arms, inviting Damien into his embrace. He accepted hesitantly, not wanting to stand up initially. Damien muttered a small thank you before grabbing Shayne's hand again and entering the school premises. The two walked side by side to the hall and were greeted by Courtney and Olivia in a corner. The other two had grabbed 4 cups of Coke for them all to have and the two were  grateful for their friends kindness.

The group were enjoying themselves, occasionally grabbing refills and singing along to the songs playing in the background, but a familiar person came to the group.

"Hi, guys. I need to talk to you about something." Jacob said. The group groaned. Damien and Courtney shared a disapproving look but he had already started speaking again. "Oh, this is really awkward for me to say. Umm... I'm sorry, there I've said it. I'm sorry. I was such a dick to you guys for being gay even though two of you aren't. I didn't even realise why I was doing it, and I've spent so much time..."

"So you're telling me, that you were being a dick for fun. All this time it wasn't because you just hated gay people or because you liked Courtney. You just enjoyed being a dick." Damien said, angrily.

"No! It wasn't for fun. I..."

"Look, Jacob. We don't give a shit about what you want to say." Olivia said.

"Damien might. He's the person I want to properly apologize to. I made his life hell for him being friends with you. I assumed he was gay when he wasn't..."

"Bitch, please are you listening to yourself. You are the most insincere person I've met. None of what you're saying is true." Damien said.

"Just let me talk, please."

"Did you not hear Olivia, we don't give a shit." Shayne responded.

"Doesn't mean I can't tell you that I'm gay." Jacob said, causing Courtney to spit out her drink.

"Okay, cool. Now fuck off. Just because you claim to be gay doesn't mean we're suddenly going to be friends with you." Courtney retorted. Jacob stood there shocked and then decided to do something bold.

Jacob brought a chair and sat between Olivia and Damien. He rotated him torso so he was facing Damien. Damien, among with the rest of the group, stared at Jacob, confusion practically written on their faces. Jacob leaned in to whisper into Damien's ear, "I love you." Jacob leaned closer to press his lips onto Damien's but he was pushed away instantly.

"What in the flippety fuck would make you think I'd like you? You are pathetic and cruel. I regret every second I had to spend with you and I will never like you and for the love of everything that isn't as disgusting as you, fuck off." The brunette boomed, his anger causing his face to redden. Jacob got up and left, but not without trying to sneak a peck onto Damien.

Damien rushed out the room and started to walk away. Shayne looked at the other two signalling for them to wait at the table and he quickly rushed to catch up to Damien.

Authors Note
I spent a solid 15 minutes trying to work out the chapter name because I gave the chapter before this the title of The Arrival, but that was for this chapter so I messed up.

But Hey! It wasn't too bad. I get to prioritize Jacob being destroyed because of him being a dick for the whole book. And so concludes the four of the chapters where Jacob exists.

When will Karaoke occur?
Is Shayne going to catch up with Damien?
Where is Damien going?

Thank you for reading the 25th chapter of Behind A Mask. 💛💚💙

-J