I Care (Solangelo)

Chapter Forty-one

Will wasn't on the bus, and he wasn't at the school entrance. In fact, I didn't even see him until lunch.

He didn't exactly look great, either. He was wearing some type of makeup, and lots of it, but I could still see the bruises and bumps he had. He was wearing a long sleeved shirt as well.

"Hey," Will said, sitting down next to me. He gave my cheek a quick peck. "Missed you."

He was acting like nothing was wrong with him. What happened? I signed, then pointed at a random bruise on Will's collarbone.

All he did was flash me a quick smile. "Nothing. I'm fine."

'I'm fine.' The oldest lie in the book. Something people say to make people not worry as much.

You're not fine. And as long as you're not fine, my sunshine is gone. So I'm not fine either. Don't ask where the cute 'sunshine' stuff came from, because I don't know. Will just seems like a sunshine.

Will sighed, seemingly defeated. "I'll tell you later. For now, can you just pretend you don't see anything?"

I didn't want to pretend everything was fine. I didn't want to wait until after school. But, yeah, I'd do it. Sure, my hands said.

The bell rang, Will and I stood up. I turned to leave, but Will grabbed my shoulder.

"Hey," he said, turning me to face him. He smashed his face into mine, doing what some may call a kiss. "I love you. I care."

My mind went blank. He... loves me? What is love? Jesus Christ, I can't even remember my dang name.

I would have signed something, anything, but I was pretty much frozen.

So, I watched as he walked away. He was smart, he knew I loved him just as much - if not more - than he loved me.