Boy

SIX

The next day at school is different from the past few. Today, Alex is different, Alex is sad. Daniel doesn't know how to react when he first sees him.

Alex is standing at his locker quietly, and Daniel immediately knows something is wrong by the drained look on his face. Daniel walks over to him. "Alex?"

And then Alexander jumps, as if he just snapped back form a completely different world. He looks at Daniel, eyes sad and a little surprised. "Oh, um, hi Daniel."

There's a small pause, until Daniel frowns and doesn't quite know how to ask but does it anyways. "Are you. Okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great." But he's lying, and Daniel knows it.

"Um.., if there's something wrong, you.. you can tell me."

"Really?" Alex looks doubtful.

"Y-yeah, that's what friends are for, right?" He doesn't really know how to comfort someone, truthfully, and Daniel bites his lip because it seems that his last choice of words only make Alex sadder.

"Friends," Alex quietly echoes with a distant tone to voice. Daniel doesn't know what to say to that, so he pretends not to hear.

All Daniel knows is what Alex did to comfort him, and so he tries his very best to mirror exactly what the other boy did to make him feel better before. "Do you.. wanna go to the bathroom?"

"No," says Alex. Daniel looks at him closely and sees his eyes watering - he begins to panic.

"Alex, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he replies, but his voice is shaky.

"Alexander."

"What?" A tear drops from the blue haired boy's left eye, as does Daniel's facial expression.

"Please tell me what's wrong?"

"No! Go away!" The boy snaps, making Daniel flinch and about everybody else in the full school hallway look in their direction.

Alex looks terrified. He backs up against the locker, wrapping his arms around his torso as more tears slip down his cheeks. People murmur to themselves quietly, and give Alex weird looks that make Alex's breathing quicken.

"I only want to help-" Daniel begins, and doesn't get to finish.

"Fuck off!" Alex screams, making a few people turn away and a few more look over. Daniel doesn't know what to do.

Alex's eyes flicker around the hallway, and his breathing is loud and frantic. Daniel narrows his eyes and speaks gently to him.

"Alex, I just want to help you, okay?"

"Can we go to the b-bathroom?" Alex says very quickly, almost too quick for Daniel to understand, but he immediately nods and they walk together down the hall.

When they get to the bathroom, Alex sits on the floor against the wall in a small ball, and Daniel situates himself beside him on the ground.

"What's wrong?"

Alex's words come out in jagged sentences. "My.. father lost.. h-his job and.. and he.. blamed me and my mum.. a-and.. and.."

Suddenly, the words come naturally to Daniel because he knows exactly what's going on. He used to have these when he was a kid, and he knows exactly what to do. "Breathe," he instructs gently, moving away a few inches and giving Alex space.

Alex looks a little surprised but obeys him, breathing at first quickly but then slower and slower.

"Just breathe as slow as you can, in and out, okay?"

After a few heartbeats, Alex's breathing is normal and he takes a deep breath.

He continues, "My father lost his job and blamed my mum and I for it, he yelled at me and sent me to school like this and then everybody in the h-hall, was looking at me.."

Daniel listens to him. He focuses on his words, and eventually, he even sits close to Alex so that their arms and legs are pressed comfortingly against each other's. When he finishes, Daniel speaks up. "I'm here for you, okay?"

"B-but-"

And then Daniel's hand finds Alex's and the blue haired boy instantly quiets. He blinks and nods and shuts his eyes peacefully. Gently, Daniel rests his head against Alex's shoulder, and Alex slides his arm around Daniel's waist, and they just sit there like that quietly.

After a few more moments, Alex speaks up again. "Dan? There's something else."

"Yes?"

"Um, it's been bothering me." Alex drags on, looking at the tiled floor. "Uh, are we.. just friends?"

Daniel's heart rate increases. "We could b-be best friends?"

Alex doesn't reply. His gaze hardens as he stares at the ground. "But.., what about the kiss?"

"Alex-"

"Friends, or even best friends don't kiss each other." Alex furrows his eyebrows.

And Daniel bits his lip, tugging at the flesh between his teeth. "Can we just be Daniel and Alex? I don't want a.. label." His mother's conversation with him plays in the back of his mind.

"Okay," says Alex, "and what kind of things do Daniel and Alex do?"

"I don't know."

It all happens too fast. "Do they do this?" and when Alex goes to kiss him, Daniel doesn't know why he does it, but he turns his head away.

Almost instantly, Alex pulls away. "Oh."

"I'm sorry-" Daniel says too quickly, but Alex is standing up.

The blue haired boy shakes his head. Daniel is numb, and he doesn't know why but he just sits and watches as Alex walks out of the bathroom, leaving Daniel with his thoughts.