Haphephobia: the fear of being touched.
Blake, a second-year Psychology student, hadn't ever heard of such a phobia, until the day he was hired as a guide for Dean, the heir of a rich family.
Even though Dean had the appearance and behaviour of a ge...
PLEASE VOTE: Because I didn't post a week, this book his barely ranking 😥 If you could vote/comment it would help a lot 🖤🙏
Every chapter I will shout out someone, as a thank you for reading! If you want to be the next shout out, you just have to VOTE and leave a COMMENT (anything you want to).
This week's shout out: Laurainkovec !! Thank you so much for supporting this book and for also supporting me and caring about the stressed mess of a person I am haha Hope you enjoy!
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The drumming of his heart echoed in his throat as the boy laid his head on the wheel, in between his hands.
It's just like in class, there is no reason for me to be more nervous. I'll be seated between them, I don't need to panic.
But as much as he insisted, the anxious burn refused to dissipate.
It was the last day of class before the break and exam period that followed, which meant it was also the day of the play. Because one of his teachers had a conference, he only had class in the morning, contrary to Blake who had class all day, so they agreed that the guide would send him to his car so he could go home and they would meet back up before the play, on the parking lot.
And that was where Dean was, in his car, overwhelmed by the notion that he was about to be surrounded by so many people. But there was no reason for it. He spent the whole semester in a room full of people, he even spent a few weeks working at the drama club. There was no reason for his anxiety to be acting out. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep he had been under.
Ever since he had first gathered the courage to touch Blake, rest was askew. During the day, every time he recalled the feeling of Blake's hand on his or his soft touch on his cheek, a pleasant giddiness would feel him, however, that wasn't the same at night. At night, that giddiness would very quickly turn into fear. Fear because everything was just going to well, fear because it couldn't be that easy – although for him was anything but. Fear because he knew how much he had to trust Blake to be able to touch him and that amount of trust was scary. He tried to tell himself that it was Blake he was talking about, the person that he considered his best friend, whereas before he never thought possible to have acquaintances.
But it wasn't that simple.
What if Blake went away? What if when Blake had enough money for the bike he quits and they wouldn't be together like they currently were? What if something happens and Blake decides that they are done?
Dean didn't think he would be able to deal with that.
Of course, after these thoughts broke the barrier of studied peacefulness, it was impossible for him to sleep, too afraid of the voices and memories that awaited him on the other side. He was so afraid he might have another sleepwalking episode that he had begun checking if the doors were locked multiple times before sleeping and hiding the keys the best he could. He knew that was worthless, his sleepwalking-self had escaped far more difficult situations before, but the least he could do was make it as hard as possible.
