Opposites Attract ↑↓ NorRay (TEMPORARY HIATUS)

Homecoming

Is he waiting for me? I asked myself. I walked toward him. "Hey," I said as I nervously shuffling my foot in the slightly snow-coated gravel. Norman looked down at me and smiled.

"Hi, Ray. Wanna go in?" he asked. He motioned toward the door with his head. I nodded and walking right next to him as we walked in the door. The gym was beautifully decorated with fairy lights and thin white curtains.

"The kid's who decorated this place really went all out," I said. "Homecoming isn't even that big of a deal."

I took off the sweater and tied it around my waist. Norman looked at me. His face went slightly pink. "You look good," he said. He laughed as I smiled and turned away because my face was getting hot again.

I slowly turned my head back towards him. "I- um- that- thank you. You do too," I stammered. He smiled.

"Thanks," he said, still smiling at me. In the background, there was music playing.

I must be doing something right

Norman and I walked away from the door in case anybody came in or went out. We went to get cups of water and sat on the bleachers behind the curtains.

To deserve you in my life,

We sat in silence for a minute. I took a drink of my water. "So, did you know that there's a town in Oklahoma named Norman?" I said, he giggled. I could feel my heart beating faster and faster the more we looked at each other.

So I thank God and my lucky stars alike.

"Nope, I didn't know that," Norman said as he smiled a small smile. I smiled back at him. I looked him in the eyes continuously.

I don't know what I did

Or how I did it

But I did something...

Norman put his hand on the side of my face and kissed me softly.

Right.

I quickly fell into the kiss and rested my hand on his shoulder. It lasted a couple more seconds, then I pulled away. Norman's face was a deep red.

"Oh. Oh, my god, I'm- I'm so sorry, I don't- I don't know what came over me. I'm so sorry, Ray," he rambled. His water spilled as he stood up in a panic.

"It's fine. I think I... I think I liked it?" I said, questioning myself in the process. He looked at me. "I think I like you, Norman." I traced the rim of my cup with my finger.

"Ray, I- I think I like you too," he said, looking at the floor. I was so close to running out of the building. Norman wouldn't... he doesn't. He doesn't like me. He's trying to mess with me. Maybe I'm trying to mess with him and I don't even know it. Or- no- how would that even work?

"I don't know what to say right now, Norman. I'm sorry," I said, playing with a chunk of hair on the back of my head.

"That's okay." He smiled sheepishly as his pink tint grew deeper and deeper. "I'm gonna... go get a towel," he said; he noticed the water that he had spilled.

Norman went to the bottom of the bleachers and walked through the curtain. I felt bad. It started getting harder to control the pace I was breathing, and I started to tremble. I was breathing

Not again, what is wrong with me?

I got up and was able to support myself, but I spilled the other cup of water. I stared at it for a second, angry at myself. "Usele-ss piece of shi-t! Can't do an-yth-ing right no ma-tter what it is," I said to myself, uncontrollably pausing in the middle of words.

I sat back down because I almost collapsed and I felt sick. Tears fell and soaked into my shirtsleeves.

Norman came back with a roll of paper towels and put it down when he saw me. He hurriedly walked over to me. "Hey, hey, hey, hey. Look at me, Ray. Look at me," he spoke fast as he lifted my chin a bit and wiped the tears off my face with his thumb. I looked him in the eyes. "What happened?" he asked.

"I- I do-n't know, it just hap-pened o-ut of nowh-ere." I stammered. "Yo-u left and then I spilled water and I- thin-gs just happen-ed so fas-t I co-uld-n't handle it. This thing in my head wa-s maki-ng me say things I wou-ld never say, and my dad-" I couldn't keep talking.

Tears started spilling out of my eyes again. Norman wiped them away. "Ray, your dad is gone now. He can't hurt you anymore. He can't say those things to you anymore," he said with a reassuring smile. He pulled me into a hug. "I'll clean up the water, okay? It's okay."

He grabbed the paper towel roll and pulled off four pieces. He folded them up and soaked up water that was on the seat. I took a deep breath. "Let me help," I said. I grabbed some paper towels from the roll and started wiping the floor.

"You don't have to, Ray. Really, it's okay. You should just relax for a minute," Norman said. I looked at him.

"I wanna help," I defied. He smiled and chuckled at my persistence. I grabbed some more towels and continued wiping the floor.

Once everything was dry, we went and put the roll back and threw away the used towels. We decided to go outside to get fresh air, so I untied the hoodie from around my waist and put it on.

We had been sitting outside for a while and Norman looked at me. "Homecoming isn't even really a dance, but it'd be cool if it were. Like if it were just like movies make it out to be," he said. I smiled and stood up.

He watched curiously. "What are you doing?" he said, giggling. I internally killed myself for what I was about to do.

"Um... wanna dance?" I asked as I held out my hand. Norman laughed.

"I thought you didn't know how to dance, Ray?" he said with a smug smile on his face. I could feel a pink tint warm my face.

"Sh-shut up! I'm being nice," I said. I stopped holding my hand out. "I change my mind, you don't get to dance." I smiled.

"Okay, okay I'll dance with you, jeez." He took my hand and I helped him stand up. "So, how exactly are you gonna go about this?" he asked. I hadn't thought about that part.

"Oh- um... how about you do the dance part? I didn't think that far ahead," I said with a sheepish smile. Norman smiled at me.

He interlocked our hands and stepped slightly closer to me so that we were almost touching. "Norman, will you go on a date with me?" I asked him quickly. His face lit up as he stared at me in shock for a second. I waited nervously waited for an answer.

"Of course I will!" he said happily. He smiled brightly at me and pulled me into a hug.