The Beautiful You

Twenty-two ~ Moodswings

Amory

Monday 9:00 PM

Hey, I wanna talk.

Yesterday 7:15 AM

Let me know when we can meet up.
It's important.

Today 8:00 AM

Hello?

Amory ignored my texts. The Halloween party was a few days ago, and I can't stop thinking about it. Aside from the fact that I embarrassed myself that night, I felt like I was keeping something from him. Like I had lied to him in some way.

Ignoring what happened at the Halloween party made the pit in my stomach grow deeper. Even if it brought up some uncomfortable feelings that I didn't want to deal with, I still had to tell him. Because that night, he kissed me. That means something, right? He initiated it, so it meant he wanted to kiss me. I mean, he knew it was me under the mask, right? He saw my face, right?

I was leaning against my locker with my head thrown back, repeatedly thudding against the locker.

Think. Think. Think.

"That's not good for the locker."

I jolted forward, turning my attention towards the person who had made that comment.

"Sorry to scare you, but I need the locker," Blake beamed as he pointed to the locker behind me. Why was he always in a good mood? It pissed me off sometimes. I shifted away from the locker and he nodded in response, turning the lock to open it.

Blake, I thought. Amory was always hanging around him, so he could tell me anything about him.

Blake glanced at me and said, "Everything okay, AP?"

I nodded in response.

If I asked Blake for help, that meant he would be involved. Involved in whatever it was Amory and I had going on, and I didn't trust him at all. I barely knew him.

He's not my friend.

But he's been friends with my best friend, so that should account for something. Jackson trusted him. So, maybe I could too?  Blake glanced at me as he pulled out his textbooks, shutting the locker.

"I'll see you around," he said. "Also, don't do that to your head. CTE is a serious thing." He sent me one last smile before turning away to walk to class.

Dammit.

"Blake!" I called. "Blake, wait!" I chased after him.

Blake whipped his head around and looked around the hall, then back at me. He pointed his finger at himself, to be reassured that it was me who had called for him.

I nodded as I waved him over. He crept back, adjusting the straps on his backpack.

"You good?" He asked, leaning his body forward.

"Uhm...yeah—well no—I kind of need..." I trailed off. I needed to put aside my dislike for Blake if I wanted to work things out with Amory. "Help. I need help," I confessed.

Blake raised an eyebrow and asked, "With what?"

"Amory," I mumbled. Blake nodded and glanced around the hallway. "He's not talking to me," I added.

"Is this about homecoming?" He asked, leaning in.

"Huh?"

"Amory—Amory told me about what happened at homecoming," he said. His eyes darted towards the students walking past us as he scratched the back of his ear and whispered, "In the parking lot. The two of you..."