Inside Out [BoyxBoy]

Chapter 5 - Best Friend

I locked myself in my bedroom the whole day.

One of the good things about being a shape-shifter was that I could heal fast. My sprained arm was starting to get better.

I had to ignore how shocked my family looked when I showed up injured yesterday.

I only went downstairs when I got hungry to make myself a sandwich.

I ate silently and caught Stan watching me.

"What?" I groaned

"N—nothing," he responded.

After I finished my sandwich, I went back to my room again and locked myself in. I finished all the homework I had for the week in a blink of an eye—it was as if I breathed in all the work sheets and research papers. But just as I had finished everything, I started to think about Jace and felt like bursting out in tears again.

I opened the word processor on my computer and tried to write.

I didn't know what to write about. Visions of my mate popped up everywhere, my brain had stopped trying to figure things out.

I ran to the bookshelf, picked a book, and lay down on my bed.

I don't know why the fuck I picked The Host—once I opened it up and saw Jace's scribbles on the title page, I threw the book away from me. The already-ruined mass market paperback exploded, piles of papers flew in the air, scattering around the floor. I leaned against the headboard of the bed and squeezed my head.

My cell phone started ringing.

Sunny's picture popped up on the phone screen. She had called me a ton of times and I had decided I didn't want to answer. She must have blamed herself for what happened—I would talk to her if she didn't bring up anything concerning Jace. But, of course, she would and I didn't have time for that right now.

A few hours later, Adam called. Relief filled my brain because Adam was the only person on the planet that wasn't affected by what happened yesterday. We talked all day about how he was developing a crush on Carrie DeQuincy, a girl from our English class. Last week, he said he wanted to marry Rachel Courtney; Heather's best friend from the cheerleader group and one of the girls Jace used to date.

"I mean, I don't mind even if she's older because she smiled at me. I mean, I swear . . . man, would you believe me?" he asked.

"Yes, of course," I responded blankly.

"What about you, man? Would you date Carrie or Rachel Courtney?"

"Neither," I whispered. I thought I was inaudible but Adam responded immediately.

"What? Neither? Are you serious? What's wrong . . . do you think I have bad tastes in girls?" he asked.

"No, it's just—" It's just I can only lust over and love this one guy now.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I—I don't like girls, Adam."

I don't know why those words popped out of my mouth. I never thought about how Adam would react if he found out about my feelings toward Jace . . . like the rest of the school, Adam seemed to admire Jace, even though he witnessed Jace ruining my life.

Would he understand my feelings were different now?

At first there was prolonged silence. Then, Adam's voice returned.

"Oh, that . . ." he said.

I didn't respond. I could feel the surprise he felt.

Technically, I really didn't like girls now. Adam would assume I was gay, just like Sunny and Stan had—it was better than nothing.