Nightshade Academy (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 9

"It'll be a lot of fun. Plus, there's no way we're gonna lose now that I know you'll be there to watch." He winked. I blushed just as Dakota let out a bitter laugh. Josh narrowed his eyes at him.

"Got something to say omega?" Josh's group of followers let out a bark of laughter. Dakota bit his lip and met Josh's steady gaze with a threatening glare.

"Nothing at all asshole, oh, I mean alpha." He sneered. Josh let out a low growl and I could feel the tension growing between the two of them.

"Hey Dakota we should get going. Class is about to start." I ushered him forward with a light push. He continued to death glare Josh as if their stare was magnetized and neither could look away.

"See you at the game." I called over my shoulder as I roughly shoved Dakota forward. Man this kid was heavy. Maybe Raven was right and Dakota should to go on a diet. Josh shifted his gaze and gave me a bright smile.

"See you there!"

Dakota growled as I pushed him around the corner. He jerked forward and stomped down the hallway pissed as hell. He seemed even more upset today than usual and I had a sneaking suspicion it had to do with all the praise Josh was receiving. Having your arch rival standing in the lime light will do that to you I guess. In the hallway Josh seemed like a king. The entire school drowned him in their admiration and gave him their votes of confidence in today's game. Not a single one doubted they'd lose with Josh on the team. He beamed at them and bumped fists with his teammates who's confidence levels were also boosted with him by their side.

When he walked into bio everyone patted him on the back. Some girls told him they'd be cheering him on at the game while another random guy ran up to him, did a spontaneous chest bump then screamed before our teacher hushed him and instructed us to all take seats. Josh slid into the spot next to me and flashed me a smile before pulling out his textbook. I smiled back as I opened up my notes and started jotting down what our teacher was scribbling on the board. I knew most of the information already so while she began to drone on about cellular mitosis I let my mind wonder. I glanced around and noticed everyone else taking feverish notes. Everyone that is except Josh. I peeked over at him through the fringe of my hair. He still had a smile on his face, but I could see lines crinkling his forehead. His eyes were trained on our teacher but it was obvious his mind was occupied with thought of something other than biology. His lips curved ever so slightly and I realized he was biting the inside of his cheek. He was tapping his pencil incisively on his notes making a rapid pat, pat, pat noise. When I glanced down I could see his leg shaking impatiently up and down. Was he...nervous?

When class ended we all gathered our things and stood up. The momentary pause of praise due to class quickly resumed and everyone went back to hounding Josh with compliments. Now that I looked carefully at him I could tell the smile plastered on his face was taking great effort and the way he held himself so confidently was strained as if the whole world was resting on his shoulders. Before he could be completely over taken by his crowd of admirers I hastily grabbed onto his arm. He turned and blinked at me like he was distracted and was having trouble registeringwho I was.

"Hey." I began and finally recognition rushed to his eyes.

"Ollie! What's up?" He grinned. I smiled back and tightened my grip on his arm. I bit my lip not really sure what to say.

"Um, I just wanted to say...good luck at today's game!" I stammered. He smiled and nodded his head.

"Thanks!" When I continued to hold onto him he raised a brow and glanced down at my hand.

"Um, Josh?" He looked back up at me and cocked his head to the side.

"Yeah?"

"It's just a game," I began, giving him a slight smile. "It's not the end of the world if we win or lose and no one is going to hate you if we do. Besides, I'll still be your friend even if you mess up. Not that I think you will! Just, uh, you shouldn't worry so much about it." I dropped my gaze and quickly let go of his arm. Heat rushed to my face and I prayed I didn't sound like a complete idiot just now. When Josh continued to say nothing I hesitantly peek up at him. His shoulders relaxed and his face eased into a true and genuine smile. His eyes gleamed and he nodded his head.