(click here to read the note)
The younger male handed back the note just as the bell rang throughout the school, dismissing the students from their classes. The brunette didn’t need to stop at his locker- so he didn’t. Plus that would mean an awkward silence at his locker with Skylar if he did stop. He’d never talked with the senior before. Riley was merely a Sophomore who’s locker was put in the wrong hallway. Some kind of mix-up within the school. Skylar was the basketball captain. Riley was just the kid who used to play soccer at his old school, but decided not to try out at OHS. Oakwood High School. He decided to stay low and just learn the ropes as he went along. He’d joined in last year, his freshmen year, he fell under the “average” teenager category. Not the popular group, but not the untouchables either. It was fine with him. The sixteen year old sat through his next class, trying to think of what the senior would need a sophomore for. None the less him. He sure wasn’t the smartest kid. Oh no. That would be Huan. Riley wished he had held onto the note. He wanted to reread it over. He knew one thing for sure- Skylar’s handwriting was terrible. It looked like he had a five year old writing his notes for him. Though, Riley would never, never tell him that. That would be a great scene. The average kid telling the most popular guy in the school that his handwriting sucks. He would definitely drop to untouchable status. Not on his agenda. The bell rang an hour and a half later- once again dismissing the kids. But this time it was for the day. No more classes to attend. Just now the brunette had to face the jock. He went to his locker, silently turning the dial until his locker door clicked open. The six-two male came up next to him, opening his locker, but chatting away with Ally, a cheerleader. He didn’t say anything to Riley; Riley didn’t say anything to him. The brunette shoved his needed books into his messenger bag. As the sixteen year old was closing his locker, Ally skipped away and the senior turned on his heel. Hovering over Riley, who was exactly a foot shorter than the blonde. “Hey.” He said, somewhat trailing off at the end. This was going to be an awkward first conversation. Khale, Riley’s older brother, had always told Riley that Skylar was ‘bad news’ and to stay away from him. Though, Riley didn’t believe in shunning people away without giving them a chance to prove themselves. Hopefully, his brother was wrong and Skye wasn’t as bad as Khale portrayed him to be.
“Hey,” The blue eyed male said back, “What did you want help with?”
“Well…” Skylar looked up to the ceiling, fidgeting and playing with his sleeve. For some reason this made the brunette uneasy, he didn’t think that jocks had awkward moments. They always seemed so bold and out there, more confident than anything. Riley shifted his weight from one foot to the other, waiting for him to finish his sentence that he had just started. The green-eyed male glanced down the hallway in both directions. As if he wanted to make sure no one else would hear what he was going to say. “I was wondering- no.. well…Do you.. hm…” The male trailed off, trying to figure out how he was going to say his sentence. This made the sixteen year old more nervous.
“Just say it.” Riley said, he couldn’t take the suspense.
“Are you gay?” He said in one breath. It was more like he spoke it in one word. Riley rolled his eyes and turned away from the senior, walking down the hallway.
“What do you need somebody new to pick on?” Riley spat. Skylar quickly caught up to him and grabbed his shoulder to stop him from walking any farther. Riley turned back around staring up at the giant.
“I was being serious.” He said, his eyes almost looked pleading.
“Yes; I’m gay. What does it matter to you.” For some reason the sophomore was really defensive.
“How do you know?” The blonde’s eyes darted down the hallways again.
Riley sighed, “When you want to kiss a boy more than a girl, I don't know,” the younger leaned against the brick wall.
“But how can you tell if you’ve never kissed a boy?” The basketball captain tugged at his collar. Riley wondered if he was nervous about if Riley would talk about how the jock was talking about maybe being gay, or starting some rumor. Riley wouldn’t do that, though. He hated rumors. Terrible things.
The sixteen year old shrugged, “You’re on your own for that. Go find someone, I guess.” The brunette was beginning to turn away when one of the older’s hands was put next to his head on the wall. Boxing him there. The other hand grabbed under his chin. Skylar hesitated a second, his mind running over things. Riley could tell by the look in his eyes. Butterflies rose up inside the littler male. The blonde leaned in, their lips touching. Lightly at first, then slightly more pressure. The sophomore was in a bit of a daze at first. After his mind managed to catch up to the moment, after it finished processing everything going on, the sixteen year old turned away, pushing the older’s arm out of the way and ducking under, shoving the door open. He was glad he left. His face burned from how much he was blushing. He almost couldn’t believe that happened. Now, he wasn’t a hundred percent sure it did. He wanted to look back- to see if Skylar was there- that way he’d know it really happened. But he really didn’t want the senior to see his strawberry colored face. He decided he would just walk home. It wasn’t too cold outside. The boy had his hoodies with him too, that was good. Though, he couldn’t shake the scene from his head.
Minutes later, a red car pulled up next to him. A 2008 Ferrari 430 to be exact. Though, Riley had to read the side of it to know it. He wasn’t a car person. The darkened window rolled down, revealing the basketball captain. ’Great’ Riley thought to himself.
“Riley- wait” The male slowed the car to Riley’s pace. The sixteen year old, being stubborn, kept walking and looked straight ahead rather than at the senior. “Please stop.” Abruptly, the brunette did. Forcing the older to break quickly and the car jerked forward in protest.
Riley was beginning to blush again, just from thinking of what happened, “What do you want.” He snapped. His eyes looking away.
“Can you get in so I can talk to you; I can take you home if you want.” The older said. Riley rolled his eyes, he had a bad habit of doing that it seemed, but none-the-less climbed in the shiny red car. Though he kept his gaze out the window to his left. That helped to hide and control how flushed his face was.
“I’m sorry I-” Skylar began but the younger cut him off.
“I’m not some test toy!” He barked. He wasn’t someone that could be used just to see if you were gay or not. He wasn’t a play thing. He was a person and he had feelings too. And right now they were being lead astray by the thoughts Skylar had, probably not meaning to, put in his head.
“I know. I know you aren’t I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have- though. . . I’ve wanted to for a while now. I wasn’t sure though. I thought there might be something wrong with me, ya know, or something of the sort. I’m used to feeling this way about girls.. Not guys.” He didn’t look at Riley as he spoke, which was probably just as well because Riley didn’t know if he could handle the older’s gaze. That and the fact the captain was driving, he should be watching the road; not Riley.
“If you have a problem with it- just stick to girls. Keep it simple.” He frowned, even though the other wouldn’t see it. The sixteen year old felt his heart drop as he said that, though he wasn’t sure exactly why. Had he liked Skye and just not admitted it to himself? That could have been the case.
“Riley,” When the basketball player said his name it made the boy blush even more, forcing him to have to turn away more toward the window to hide, “Will you please look at me.” Riley could tell he was going to say something else at first. The male parked the car in a parking lot. Turning off the engine. He scooted over a bit as the younger turned his head to see what the other was doing. The Eighteen year old could see it then, the strawberry color that had taken over the littler’s face. He thought about it for a second, then leaned over the sophomore, closing the distance between their faces until he was merely inches away. The butterflies started up again and the brunette’s hand fumbled for the door handle. Though he couldn’t take his eyes off the beautiful features of the other. His vibrant green eyes now so close to him. Finally, he grabbed hold of the handle tugging it hard. Because Riley’s back had been leaning up against the door, the door swung open wide causing the younger to fall to the pavement with a thud. Quickly, the blue-eyed boy scrambled to his feet, darting away from the red car. His mind racing with thoughts. He liked Skylar, that was definitely something he was sure of now. But he didn’t want this whole thing to backfire. To just be a joke the jock’s decided to come up with to have a little more entertainment in their lives. His heart wasn’t a TV show or a game. It was something fragile and easily shattered. As far as Riley was concerned, he would rather keep it in one piece.