Ripped Away

Author's Note:
Hi! Thank you so much for deciding to give this story a read. I hope you enjoy it. But keep in mind that this one is a bit old and, if I'm honest, not extremely well written. I suggest taking a look at my newer stories! They're similar, and not as cringey as you might find this one!

I was always a quiet person. Shy and closed off. I only had a few people that I considered to be my friends. It wasn't that I didn't like people. I just found it very hard to trust them. Even when I was younger, I was afraid to open up and let people in. This fear was the reason it was hard for me to walk down the halls of my high school. I'd been at the same school for my whole life. I knew everyone there, and they all knew me. But they only knew me as this quiet guy who couldn't even answer a question in class without looking like he was going to vomit. I didn't mind it. I found it funny how little they all knew about me.

It was an early Friday morning in the middle of January. I was still half asleep, but had somehow managed to get ready for school and end up in my best friend Sara's car.

"Can we just drive by this time?" I yawned, trying to wake up.

"We only have like a year and a half left. We can make it." She sighed, keeping her eyes stuck to the road.

She wasn't much more awake than I was. A few minutes later, we were in the parking lot of Anaheim High School.

"It's only seven thirty." Sara said. "How did we manage to get here so early? Class doesn't start for forty five minutes."

There were only ten other cars in the student parking lot; mostly sports players, we assumed. I laughed at the fact that neither of us had realized how early we were.

"We might as well just go in. I need to talk to Ms. Adams about the test we have on Monday." I said.

"Noah Parker?" Sara gasped, "Voluntarily speaking to someone other than me and his mother?"

"I talk to more than just the two of you." I corrected her. "You forgot about Darren, Maggie, and my brother."

"Wow! A grand total of five people! My point still stands." She smiled, turning off the car and getting out.

I grabbed my book bag from the back seat and followed her out. As Sara and I made our way across the parking lot something in one of the cars we passed caught my eye. Someone, rather.

His black Jeep was parked against the grassy median that Sara and I were walking on. This guy, with messy blond hair and intense eyes that were staring down at the pages of some book. He had his feet kicked up on the dashboard and a cigarette stuck between his teeth. I could feel my stomach twisting up, all from just looking at him. But I had never seen him before.

"Noah, watch out." I heard Sara say.

Before I could react to her warning, I felt my face smack against the metal stop sign at the end of the median. I was so shocked by the sudden, cold impact that I stumbled backwards; tripping over the curb and falling into the street. I got back up without Sara's help and only a skinned elbow. But when I glanced back and saw him looking at me, I felt the color drain from my face. I picked up my bag and kept walking, unable to look away from him. He'd set his book down and sat up a little straighter. He wasn't smiling, or giving me any look of sympathy. He was just watching.

When we walked through the side doors of the school and entered a hallway, Sara punched me in the shoulder.

"He was totally checking you out!" She smiled.

"Bullshit. I was the one staring. He just saw me wipe out." I sighed. "Probably thought it was the funniest thing in the world."

"I didn't see him laughing." Sara said, pulling me into the girls bathroom.

She got a wad of paper towels and wet it, then began wiping the bit of blood off of my elbow.

"There was nothing but admiration and awe in his eyes." She continued.

"We were way too far for you to have been able to read his look."

"Noah." She groaned. "You're my best friend. Why would I tell you something like this if it wasn't the truth?"

I just shrugged and looked away.

"Besides, man. You're gorgeous. Of course he was looking at you."

"Who even was he?" I asked. "I've never seen him before."

"His name is Richie. He's in my Science class. I'm pretty sure he moved here from up state."

"So he's our age?"

"Yep. Super sweet too." She smiled.

"You mean you've talked to him?"

"He's my lab partner. I've been talking to him every morning for the last two weeks."

"Sara, please don't bring this up." I groaned. "The last thing I need is for you to weird this guy out by accusing him of checking me out. He's probably not into guys."

"Okay, I won't. But I swear to you, I saw something in his eyes."

We went as usual from there, not talking about the situation again. But Sara could tell I was thinking about it. She could always tell.

After first period, I found Sara at my locker with a big grin on her face.

"What?" I asked, putting my combination into my lock.

"He asked about you." She said, still smiling wildly.

"What did he say?" I asked calmly, trying to act like I wasn't dying to know.

"He wanted to know what team you played for." She said. "Those weren't his exact words, but you understand."

"Did you tell him?" I snapped.

"Of course I did! Noah, your life would be so much easier if you would just stop being so scared of people knowing."

"Wow, Sara. I never thought about that. I'll just stop being afraid of being judged by society and disowned by my mother completely." I said sarcastically.

"Look, you know what I mean."

"I do, but it isn't as easy as it seems." I told her, "Did he just ask if I was gay? Did he say anything else?"

"No, that was all. But he had a smile on his face for the rest of class."

"And what about you?" I asked. "Did you say anything else?"

Her eyes got wide and her happy smile turned into a nervous one.

"Sara?"

"I may or may not have told him to sit with us at lunch today." she said quickly, leaning back as if I was going to hit her.

"You did not!" I snapped. "Dude, you know I can't talk to people! What makes you think this could go well?"

"Noah, it'll be fine. I promise. Me, Maggie, and Darren will all be there. You won't even have to talk if you don't feel like it."

"My silence will turn him off completely. What a perfect situation." I sighed.

"You need to stop being so pessimistic." Sara said, sounding a little angry. "Just give it a shot! You've been so unhappy for so long and I'm sick of seeing you like this! I just want you to be okay again; and I think he can help. He obviously thinks you're cute, and I know you like him too. So please, for me, just try to let yourself be happy."

The bell rang, leaving only the two of us and a few other people in the hallway.

"I can't." I told her, looking at the floor. "I know I need to, but I can't."

"Fine." she huffed. "Don't try. But in the future, when your life is amazing and happy since you've come out, you're going to regret not doing it sooner. Just do it, Noah. Let people know, and let yourself be happy."