He's Just a Skater Boy (boyxboyxboy)

Chapter 44: Best out of Three

[Jacob's POV]

I brushed the sweat off of my nose as I crossed the last turnstile of round 3. My heart was doing overtime as it raced along with my legs. I was determined not to lose to the arsehole running just about beside me. Why didn't matter, all was willing to say was that I felt a burning determination to wipe the smirk off of that boys face. At this point no one else was running aside from Atlas and I, even Marsh was standing there staring.

Marsh was quiet, which highly unusual, and watched with a slightly unscrupulous look to him. Perplexed and unwilling to say anything, however he didn't stop us either. The students had just started to stop and stare at us, a couple clapping, jeering and as a whole being noisy as I made it past round 3 and once again as Atlas followed just a couple inches behind me.

I gritted my teeth when he finally overcame me once more, just a step ahead of me... It was infuriating that I couldn't simply turn gravity on it's side and throw myself past him.

When I turned I saw Akara watching with rapt attention and our eyes briefly met, he didn't react, he looked dazed, probably tired, but still watching. And it renewed me with fresh irritation that I wasn't ahead of Atlas while he was watching.

Once again, as we crossed into the next section, I started to peel in front of him. Atlas glanced at me, a look in his eyes that conveyed enough energy to fuel an electric car, and to worry me. A focus in his eyes that was telling me to give up before the race was done.

I saw that similar expression on his face as he drove Akara against the wall, the way Akara had reacted still fresh in my mind. It was difficult to swim by it, the glaring attraction that I felt for Akara. He was lithe in form but not so much so that I could excuse it as being attracted to his femininity. Somehow despite the soft lips and thick eyelashes, wide eyes and expressive face... he was still clearly a boy, there was no getting around the fact, and yet still, l I was unable to pull away from the fact that I was fascinated by him.

I think it was a fair assumption to make that Atlas and Akara were, at the very least, involved with each other in a more than friendly capacity. It almost looked like they had skipped over the friend part of the deal completely.

I knew to some extent I was missing context and if I had brought it up with Akara instead of messing with him I would at least know what his justification was for kissing the guy he took every opportunity to groan about and glare at.

I should have pushed harder to find out exactly what it was that was going on between the two of them, instead I started that conversation off by teasing him, playing along with the most pathetic excuse I had ever heard.

But when he kissed me on the cheek, the soft, gentle, uncertain warmth as he stood on tiptoes to do something so unusual... I'd felt something shift inside me. As though a lot of the feelings I'd noticed surrounding the kid had started to make sense to me.

Why I felt like tightening my grip on him all the time and seeing evidence of this, why it felt so good to see him finally be obedient and do as I told him to do, and why the idea of finally punishing him for being a little brat when he was one, was so attractive to me... Everything that I had allowed myself to feel, even if I didn't understand it, under the impression that it didn't matter because it didn't mean anything significant.

A horrifying terrible understanding sank in... and while I was around him it had seemed okay, relieving even.

It was the moment I got home and I sat down at my desk, heard my father come in through the door just moments later and saw from the open doorway the way the light from downstairs sparked into existence... I felt that sickening hollowness fill my chest.