Loser | Jojian

Two

He followed me the whole way home, and I showed him all the cool shortcuts I usually take. "This way is through a small little foresty woods area. It's one of my favourite places. So calming, and quiet. Nobody is ever in here for some reason."

I grabbed his hand, wanting to make sure I didn't lose him in here. I knew exactly how to get through, I've been hanging out in here for years. I didn't think of anything when it came to the contact, because I was doing it for safety reasons. But was I?

"Do you know how to climb?" I asked him, stopping and letting go. He was slightly blushing, but I don't know why. Maybe it was all the walking.

"Dude, I've been climbing trees since I was four, of course I know how to climb." I smiled, walking over to my favourite tree.

"This is the absolute best tree. By the top, it has fucking great, thick branches that are perfect to sit on. Sometimes on the weekends I just sit here for most of my day, I even eat lunch and dinner here occasionally." I was smiling, remembering all the good moments.

The one thing I didn't tell him, was that nobody knew I hung out here. My mom always just assumed I was somewhere with my friends, and all my friends simply wouldn't find this as interesting as I do. I grabbed on the branches, and started climbing up with ease.

I crawled onto my favourite tree branch, and within seconds Ian was right next to me. "You can see the little creek over there." He pointed out.

"Yeah, don't drink the water though, it tastes terrible." I said, smiling and looking over at him. He laughed at me, and God did he have a nice laugh.

"I can see why you like it here. It's pretty nice. Fresh." I scooted slightly closer to him, but he didn't seem to notice.

"I... I also just wanted to say... don't tell anybody about this place. It's kind of special to me. Like a little safe zone." Ian smiled at me, and it seemed like he moved a bit closer to me but I wasn't sure.

"Well, if it's special to you, it's special to me too." I grinned back at him. Oh god, why was I'd developing feelings for this boy? I barely knew him, and yet I had this weird feeling in my gut around him.

I reached into my backpack that I didn't take off and pulled out my brown ukulele. "I also like to play music up here sometimes. Normally the ukulele, since that's easier to carry around than a fucking piano or a guitar, or some shit." He laughed again, his wonderful laugh that I'm so glad I could now hear.

"Can you play me something?" He asked, definitely moving a bit closer now. I made sure it was in tune, which thankfully it was, and started strumming one of my favourite songs.

"Wise men say, only fools rush in. But I can't help falling in love with you. Shall I stay? Would it be a sin. If I can't help, falling in love with you." I didn't think about my choice in a song before I started singing, because I had forgotten that this one's a love song.

I made eye contact with him, since I had practically memorized this song and didn't need to look where I strummed my hand. "Like a river flows, surely to the sea. Darling so it goes, some things are meant to be."

I was smiling way more than I should, but I didn't feel like it was odd. It wasn't like I was... intentionally singing him a love song. Right?

"Take my hand, take my whole life too. For I can't help, falling in love with you. Like a river flows, surely to the sea. Darling so it goes, some things are meant to be." Ian was looking down at the ground and smiling so widely, and I could swear he was blushing a bit.

"Take my hand, take my whole life too. For I can't help, falling in love with you..." I slowed down the ukulele strumming, since this was the end off. "For I, can't help... falling in love with you."

I put down my ukulele, smiling. Ian started clapping for me. "Jesus fuck, Joji, you're talented. I wish I had that much skill." I laughed, moving over so that now there was absolutely no space.

"All you have to do is be willing to learn. I'll teach you." I handed him the ukulele, putting my arms around his waist as I directed his hands.

"Strum lightly with this hand." I instructed as Ian followed. "Good. The strings are G, C, E and A." I told him, plucking each one. We sat there a long time, possibly an hour, as I tried to teach him how to play.

Snow started softly falling from the sky, which was our cue to leave. "Here, come on over to my house. It's way too cold to sit in the trees anymore." I said, putting my ukulele in my backpack as I slung it over my shoulder and started climbing down.

"What fucking time is it, anyways?" Ian asked me as he climbed down once I was on the ground.

"It's uh... fuck, it's 5:00. Are your parents gonna be angry?" I asked, worried I had used up too much of his time. Ian laughed as he hopped down, making me smile.

"Dude my parents could care less about what I do. I could be gone for a week and just get a simple text message." I smiled at him, grabbing his hand and pulling him through the rest of the woods to my house.

"I don't think my mom's going to be home until really, really late tonight. What do you want for dinner? I can really just fucking microwave shit, but I'm sure there's something suitable in here." I walked over to my fridge, looking through it.

"Yes! I have some grilled chicken left over, are you cool with that?" Ian nodded, standing awkwardly in my kitchen doorway. I threw it in the microwave, heating it up for a minute as I walked towards Ian.

"We can eat it in my room, it's fucking warm as shit in there." Ian smiled as the microwave beeped, telling me the food was ready. I put it on two paper plates and grabbed some silver wear, walking up to my room with Ian behind me.

"Here you go man." I said, handing him a plate and sitting on my bed. I patted the spot next to me, wanting him to sit down. We ate right next to each other, with only an inch or two of space between us.

"Dude, you like Metallica?" He said, pointing to the oversized tee shirt I had laying on my floor. I grinned over at him. Most 16 year olds I know had no idea who the hell Metallica was, I was surprised he recognized my Ride the Lightning shirt.

"Hell yeah. It's way to fucking big though, so I normally just wear it around the house." He nodded, as I laid down on my bed. He laid right next to me, and neither of us said anything.

The wind had really picked up, and if you looked out the window you saw almost nothing but white. "Shit man. It's fucking late, I don't know if you'll be able to go home with the weather like this."

Ian frowned, turning his head and looking at me. I got an idea, which was probably dumb considering I just became friends with the kid today, but...

"Do you wanna stay here for the night? I mean, we don't have any extra beds or mattresses or anything but like, you could just stay in my bed with me or I could go on the floor."

I was silent, waiting for his response. I kept trying to tell myself it was out of the kindness of my heart, but deep down I knew it's because I wanted to stay in the same bed with him, and spend more time with him.

"Really? Thank you, Joji. Nobody's offered to do anything that nice for me in years." Ian laughed after saying that, but it was more of a sad laugh.

"But why? You seem so amazing- I mean uh, you- you seem pretty cool." I blushed after saying that, turning away, slightly embarrassed.

"You seem amazing as well." Ian said, laughing. This time, his laugh was the beautiful one that I loved hearing from him.

I smiled, turning on my side so I was facing him. I felt odd for thinking this, but I couldn't help but wonder how his lips felt. Without realizing it, we both stared at each other for a while, with no sound but the wind outside the house.

Slowly, Ian leaned in towards my face...