Promise Me This [Werewolf BoyxBoy]

Chapter Three - Secret Santa

Danny

“Today I have a surprise for you guys. You might think it’s juvenile but—“

                The door opened. I looked up—whether I liked it or not, eagerly—and wasn’t disappointed.

                Kieran stepped into the classroom, his hair inky black and slightly from rain. He’d been outside? I wondered, but stayed quiet and watched as he murmured his excuse to Delilah and made his way to the back with his usual, easy grace.

                We hadn’t been speaking. He still nodded at me, but sometimes I got the feeling that it was just out of courtesy or duty rather than wanting to actually nod to me. And that was alright, I supposed, even if my heart hurt a little the first few times.

                Kieran was the first person who spoke to me because he wanted to. Everyone else was just curious about the new guy, some were even rude, but he came up to me with something different. Something that made me smile, even if it was inwardly, for the first time that week.

                He looked tired, like he had for the past few days. That was actually one of the things that kept me from asking if I did something to upset him. I’d gathered the courage and when I turned to ask him, during this class, he’d been asleep with a little paint in his hair.

                He looked much more peaceful when he was sleeping. I wanted to trace the curve of his jaw, see if his hair was really as messily soft as it looked.

                That was the day that I realized I had a crush on Kieran. He was obviously straight—I knew enough about him to fill a small book, thanks to his chatter. Straight guys tended to freak out when gay guys (me) liked them.

                My disappointment at being ignored turned to relief. He wouldn’t notice if he wasn’t around me.

                Still, I couldn’t help but worry a bit when his aunt took him out of class. Maybe he was in trouble for falling asleep during school. I’d tried to wake him up before, but--

                “Secret Santa!” Delilah started clapping enthusiastically, and I realized that I’d spaced out. Scolding myself, I turned and tried to pay attention.

                The art teacher was nice, if not a little too bubbly. She pulled an old high hat from underneath her desk with a flourish and began to explain again.

                “Everyone will come up and pick a name from the hat. If you get your own, just put it back. I will be checking at the end of the next two weeks to make sure that everyone got a present, and no cheaping out! Remember, it’s Secret Santa. As in, don’t tell anyone who you got.”

                I smiled at this, despite myself. This was high school. Everyone would know who got who by the end of the day.

                Still, it was entertaining to watch everyone walk up and get their slips. Some girls giggled and blushed and cast not-so-secret looks at some of the jocks in the room, other guys groaned. Hunter accidentally-on-purpose read half of his person’s name out loud before slapping a hand over his mouth and looking at the teacher with wide-eyed innocence.

                Delilah looked torn between laughing and scolding. Shaking her head, she looked down at her roll list and called the name that I knew would be next.

                “Danny.”

                I stood and walked to the front of the room, dodging easels and elbows. The room was actually quite crowded, with Delilah’s class being so popular.