Monday. A day that on its own was already bad enough, and I had extra baggage of the conversation I had with my dad the previous night. I spent the night thinking about what he said, hoping that somehow I could make him happy. I knew I couldn't do what he was asking for, to pretend to be straight, but maybe I could make him happy another way.
"Hey handsome." Nick said, coming up to me at my locker.
"Hey." I said, still busy in thought about my dad.
"Well don't sound so happy to see me." Nick said, somewhat hurt I didn't seem to miss him as much as he missed me.
"Sorry, I just have a lot on my mind." I said, closing the locker door.
"You okay? What's bothering you?" Nick asked.
"I talked to my dad last night. He wants me to stop seeing you." I said.
"What? But we just...you're not thinking about it right?"
"No don't worry. It's just, he told me some stuff and it just got me thinking. I mean I want to make him happy, but I don't know how." I said, running my hand through my hair in frustration.
"You want to talk to me about it?" Nick asked, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Nah it's fine. I'll figure it all out." Nick gave me a sad smile and squeezed my shoulder. I knew he wanted to hug me but being in school and all. "So are you gonna tell Kate and Tray today?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah, I was hoping to catch them after school."
"Cool. Mind if I'm there?"
"I was hoping you'd be." I smiled as we walked to our next class.
"Drew!" I heard someone call from behind. I turned and saw Travis running up to me, books in his hand.
"Oh hey Travis, what's up?" I asked. Nick stood behind me, like a watchdog guarding a prized possession.
"Hey so um...did you think about my proposal yet?" Travis asked, eyeing Nick wearily.
Nick answered before I could. "Yes he has and the answer is no. Sorry but Drew is currently unavailable." Travis looked between Nick and I, unsure of how to respond to that.
"Yeah Travis, I'm sorry but..." Surprisingly, Travis shot me a smile.
"No no it's okay. I should have known." He said, smiling at Nick too. He came closer to us both, whispering so only we could hear. "You both are cute together. I'm happy for you two. I wouldn't have asked if I had known Nick was...you know." He said, winking once before turning around and heading in another direction.
I looked at Nick, bewildered at what had just happened. "So does that make another coming out?" I asked.
"I'm still unsure of how to respond to that. So weird." Nick said, pulling me to our class.
Other than the weird reaction from Travis, nothing else was different, or at least so we thought. We behaved like we normally did with each other and no one was the wiser.
During lunch, we sat at our table as usual, talking about normal day-to-day stuff as well as the awesome trip Nick and I had just gone on, of course leaving out all the revelations and stuff. Tray had shot us weird looks from the get go, hinting that there was something he knew that he wasn't saying. Everyone else at the table however, acted like nothing happened. When Kate arrived at the table, as always later than everyone else, she too looked at us weird.
I shot Nick a glance and I guess he had the same thought I did. Apparently, we didn't need to say anything for those two to pick up that something was different. Nick looked to Kate and had another one of their silent arguments. This time however, both Tray and I understood what they were saying. Their gestures and body language didn't leave much to the imagination. So they had their suspicions about us and vice versa.
I looked at the other people at the table, all of who were looking at us like we were aliens, watching our silent argument play out. I guess from outside perspective, we looked kind of stupid, with weird gestures and expressions, all without uttering a single word. Yep, we were definitely weirdos. Nick, Tray and Kate were all oblivious to the stares we were receiving.
"Um guys, we'll talk about this after school okay?" I whispered, signaling to the little audience that we had gotten. Everyone else at the table suddenly returned to what they were doing, pretending that they weren't, just a minute ago watching us like we were some sideshow carnival freaks.
My phone vibrated with a new text. I whipped it out and read the text from Travis, "You know, if you guys wanna keep it a secret, you have to stop making it so obvious. The others are starting to think something is up." I looked down the table where Travis sat at the far end. He caught my glance and gave me a 'seriously' kind of look.
"Hey, I'm gonna go. Meet you guys after school?" I said, grabbing my tray and standing up.
"Yeah I'll go with you." Nick said, getting up too. I wanted to tell him no, taking advice from Travis but it would have been even weirder if I had, so I kept quiet.
Once out of the cafeteria and out of earshot, I took out my phone and showed Nick the text from Travis. He read through the message, handing me back the phone. "Well we were until Kate and Tray went all detective on us."
"Yeah well, can't really say I'm surprised. And they aren't any better are they. You could see it written on their faces." I said, Nick laughing and putting an arm around my shoulder.
"Yeah. So I'll see you after class?" Nick asked, like he didn't already know the answer.
"Duh." Nick smiled, looking up and down the hallway. Once he deemed the coast clear, he dipped down and gave me a quick kiss. "You know, you should stop doing that. Someone will eventually catch you."
"Well that would be a problem, if I cared that is." He said.
"Slow down hot shot. I know you may want to, being caught in the moment and all, but this is a big deal. Just take it step at a time okay?"
"I'll try. See ya." Nick said, walking down a separate hallway to his next class. I shook my head, heading to my own class.
The school bell marked the end of the day and Nick and I had agreed to meet at the roof. He had texted both Kate and Tray, telling them to meet at the same location as well, so here I was leaning against the wall waiting for them, the stairway to the roof to my right. The sound of chatter coming around the corner drew my attention down the hallway, where Nick rounded the corner with Kate and Tray in tow.
"Hey." I greeted. "Shall we?" I asked, motioning for the roof. They nodded and followed me up to the roof. The sky was overcast, signs of an impending downpour, which on any other day would suck, but today kept the roof empty enough for out private chat. I stopped at the wall with Dean's handiwork, the little bit of vandalism he did before he left, taking a look at the carved letters. It seemed like so long ago, and how different my life was now.
Nick stood behind me, the heat emanating from him a contrast from the cold air. "Did you do that?"
