Take A Chance On Me [boyxboy]

Take A Chance On Me {5}

                “Man, I still can’t get over that skateboarding thing yesterday. How the hell did you even fall?” Rupert asked, snickering. I gave him a dirty look.

                “Yea Tate, you should be more careful. You don’t want to kill whatever few brain cells you actually have.” Eric said, smirking at me.

                “Well that is just rude.” I huffed, crossing my arms childishly.

                We began to eat again. When the bell rang, all of us went off to class. The end of the day came, and I was basically bouncing in excitement as I entered the main hallway.

                I spotted Callum walking nearby and I broke out into a huge grin. I shifted so that I was a little closer to Callum, just to be sure he heard me.

                “Hey, if you guys want to see something even better than the skateboarding yesterday, you should come to the main gym.” I called, cupping my hands over my mouth.

                Kids turned to me curiously, Callum included. I eagerly hurried to the gym, a crowd following me. I entered the gym and grabbed one of the wrestling mats, carefully positioning it before running up the stairs to the track.

                I looked down and my heart began to slam at all the kids piled into the gym. I spotted my friends standing towards the center, watching me eagerly. Eric noticed me looking and nodded at me with a smirk.

                I turned my attention back to the rest of the crowd and my breath caught in my throat as my eyes landed on Callum. He was standing near the stairs, watching me carefully.

                “So, who wants to see me flip over the rail?” I called down, my voice echoing around the gym.

                Kids cheered wildly and I grinned, backing up a little. My plan was to flip over the rail that enclosed the track and do a front flip or two, landing safely on the wrestling mat that I placed below.

                The drop was quite a ways down. A kid two years ago had jumped off of it and broken both of his legs.

                But he had landed on the ground. I had the thick mat there to catch me. I had taken bigger risks than just taking a little jump. I wasn’t worried.

                I backed up a little more, my heart beating fast and hard. I could hear kids talking eagerly. Get ready to watch this, Callum. I started running forward.

                “TATE!”

                Just before I got to leap up and over the rail, I felt myself being tackled to the ground. The crowd down below gasped in surprise.

                I hit the ground and grunted. “Callum?” I asked in confusion, looking over at him.

                I blushed, realizing his arms were wrapped securely around my waist. He hastily pulled them away.

                “Are you crazy? You’re going to break your neck!” He said angrily. “Seriously, how stupid are you Tate? A kid broke his legs doing the same thing two years ago! Jeez, are you okay?”

                He stood up, offering me his hand. I took it and he pulled me to my feet. I looked up at him, trying not to smile. The look on his face told me that now was not a good time to smile.

                “Yeah Callum. I’m fine,” I said.

                “Tell them you’re not going to do it.” He commanded flatly.

                I nodded at him and went over to the rail. Everyone watched me expectantly and I sighed.

                “Uh…due to some, uh, complications, you should all twerk your booties out of here. It’s not happening today guys. Sorry.” I said with a shrug. Hey, I had gotten the attention I wanted. I didn’t care about anyone else right now.

                Kids grumbled in annoyance as they left the gym. I turned back to Callum and finally let my smile break through.

                “So, I guess you just saved me two broken legs. Even though the mat would’ve done the same thing. I prefer you to a wrestling mat any day.” I said, slapping his ass.

                Callum jumped a little and gave me a surprised look. What, did he think I was some shy guy or something? I knew what I wanted, and I wasn’t afraid to go after it!

                “That mat wouldn’t have saved your legs you idiot. Or your neck if you had landed wrong.” He said, trying to act like I hadn’t slapped his ass.

                “Well, I guess I’ll never know,” I said, winking at him.

                “Tate.”

                I jumped in surprise and spun to face my friends. Eric stepped forward and roughly shoved Callum, who didn’t budge an inch.

                Pretending that he had moved Callum, Eric glared. “Get out of here you pathetic piece of shit,” he snarled. “Stay away from Tate.”

                Callum gave him an emotionless expression and shrugged. “Don’t call me pathetic when you’re the one who’s willing to watch one of his ‘friends’ kill themselves for some attention.” With that, he turned and calmly retreated down the stairs and out of the gym.

                Eric turned to me. I opened my mouth to speak, but before I got the chance to even utter a word, Eric had gripped my shirt tightly and pulled me up close to his face.

                “What do you think you’re doing?” He demanded.

                “Choking to death.” I said, my eyes watering a little. “Jesus man, it’s called a toothbrush!”

                “So now you’re friends with Callum? Huh? Are you that pathetic now Tate?” He asked, ignoring my comment and shaking me a little.

                Think quickly and don’t tell the truth, Tate. If I told them the truth about this whole situation, they would ditch me. I didn’t want to lose my friends.

                “No! I’m not friends with Callum. He just stopped me from jumping over the rail, that’s all.” I said desperately.

                Eric slowly released me and glanced at Tabitha, Rupert, and Ashley. He slowly shook his head as I fixed my shirt.

                “I don’t believe you, Tate. I think you’re lying to me. I don’t like it when people lie to me.” He hissed.

                “I’m not lying!” I snapped. “Eric, I’m really not friends with Callum. He’s…he’s pathetic!”

                “Do you mean that Tate? Are you really loyal to us?” Eric asked, gesturing towards the others.

                I nodded at him, a little relieved. “Yeah, I mean that. Of course I’m loyal to you guys. You guys are my friends.” I said.

                “Then prove it.” Tabitha said, stepping up next to Eric and giving me a cold look.

                “How?” I asked curiously.

                Tabitha grinned, glancing at Eric. “There’s an easy way to fix this and find out where your loyalties lie, Tate. If you really want to prove that you’re one of us, then you have to humiliate Callum in front of the entire school tomorrow.”