SpellShocked (SpellShocked Saga: Book 1)

Chapter 10 - You're Kidding Me, Right?!

"Fancy ordering a bunch of junk food and watching some garbage movies tonight?" Zac asked as we approached my house.

"Sure," I nodded, "I could use the distraction. Wanna stay the night?"

"Of course! I'm not gonna be able to go anywhere with a stomach full of pizza."

"How are you not fat?" I joked, rolling my eyes.

"Because I exercise! You should try it sometime."

"I'd rather eat a full box of donuts than exercise." I wasn't overweight, but I was definitely distinctly average. I had the feeling if I went to a gym, I'd be able to gain a bit of muscle mass with a bit of work, I just didn't relish the idea of going to a gym to see all of these guys who had way better bodies than me; my self-esteem was already low enough.

"Honestly, I would too. The exercise is just a side effect of the basketball. If I didn't love playing so much, I'd totally be obese."

"It also helps that you're extremely good at it. I might play basketball if I had any sort of hand-eye co-ordination."

"You'd play team sports?" Zac scoffed, "No offence but I just can't see you being comfortable enough to join a sports team full of jocks."

"I would if they were all sweaty after games. The trade-off would be well worth it." I bushed as soon as I said it. Normally wasn't this open about my sexuality, but it had been a weird emotional day and I found I didn't really care that much about what I had said. Honestly, talking this openly about my sexuality actually made me feel a little bit...freeing. It was strangely liberating.

"You're so nasty!" Zac choked on his laughter, swatting my arm, "Who knew you had it in you?" Thankfully we had reached my front door, so I was able to hide my reddening face by opening the door and slipping quickly inside.

As we walking into the house, I could hear my parents talking in the kitchen. I made to go and say hello to them, but I overheard what my mom said, and it stopped me dead in my tracks.

"I just think he's still hiding something from us, Peter." I held out an arm to stop Zac, putting a finger to my lips. Zac gave me a confused look.

"I know, I think so to. I'm just not sure what he could be hiding."

"What do you think he mean when he said he's tired of being a freak, or that he was barely okay with who he was before the whole magic thing?"

"I wish I knew," he sighed, "But we told him we're here for him, and he knows if it's anything important he should be able to tell us. We just have to trust him to come to us with whatever it is eventually."

I looked at Zac who was staring back at me, wide eyed. I needed to put an end to this conversation immediately, so I eyed the still partially open front door, and slammed it shut, loudly yelling out, "Mom, dad, I'm home." I heard scrambling sounds from the kitchen and a second later they both appeared at the kitchen door, looking flustered. It would have been comical if it wasn't so terrifying.

"Hello boys," my mom said, a strained smile plastered on her face, "How was the...training?"

"Great," I lied, avoiding looking at her, "Zac's gonna stay the night, is that okay?"

"Of course," she said. She opened her mouth to speak again but I interrupted.

"We're going up to my room." I walked past them, refusing to meet their eye, refusing to give them an opportunity to start a conversation that was related to my sexuality, even if they didn't know it. I half walked, half ran up the stairs to my bedroom with Zac close behind. Once we were both inside, I closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief; that could have ended really badly.