The Neighbor (boyxboy) [On Hold indefinitely]

Chapter Nineteen

New Years came and went. It was spent with my mom and dad, as it usually was. No New Years kiss, even though I could've had one. In all honesty, I tried not to think about Joey and avoided all contact with him. It seemed ridiculous to do so, but I felt like if I did talk to him, all he would want to talk about is being together or just criticize how I'm running away from who I am, and I didn't want that.

The first day back to school was a week after the first. I did my usual morning routine, but at a slower pace. I showered, slowly put my clothes on, went downstairs to eat breakfast in silence for once (my parents started arguing again after Christmas even worse), and dragged myself to the bus stop in the light rain that was beginning to start.

"Isaiah!" I turned around as I passed Joey's house and saw Joey in his driveway.

I sighed. "Hey, Joey."

He walked away from his car and walked towards me. "H-how've you been? We haven't talked since Christmas."

"Yeah," I dragged out, "I've been...busy lately."

"Mhm." he knew it was a lie. "Well, I wanted to know if you needed a ride to school? I was just about to leave."

An awkward car ride to school was the last thing I needed on the first day back to school. "Sorry, I was going to ride the bus with Jasmine. I haven't seen her all break and I need to catch up with her."

"Oh, that's cool." There was a long awkward pause. The rain started to pick up. "You sure you don't want a ride?"

I took an umbrella out of the side pocket of my backpack. "Luckily I'm prepared." I half smiled. I looked at the bus stop and saw Jasmine under the big tree, looking at me and Joey. I turned back to Joey. "I better get going, she's waiting for me."

"Alright, see you at school then?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, I'll see you at school." I half smiled again and started to walk hastily towards the bus stop before Joey could say anything else to me.

When I reached Jasmine at the bus stop, she ran up to me and hugged me. "Isaiah, you have no idea how much I missed you. Being with Phil's family was hell!"

"I thought you liked your mom's boyfriend though?" I laughed.

Jasmine rolled her eyes. "That was until I met his family. But forget about me, what about you? What was that over there?  I saw you and Joey. Did something happen over break?"

I hesitated on answering her. I didn't feel like going over everything, especially after trying to forget about it for the past two weeks. "Nothing happened at all."

Jasmine looked me over. "You're lying. I know you Isaiah Wells, something happened. Spill."

If there was one thing about Jasmine, it was that she knew me too well and she could read me like an open book. I let out a long sigh. "I feel like I'm undecided with Joey, Jasmine."

"What do you mean undecided? You guys both said you loved each other? What's there to be undecided aabout?" Jasmine asked me.

"I-I don't know." I explained. "To be honest, Jasmine, I might've been caught up in the moment when I told him. And I'm not sure I want to be in a relationship again, especially after what happened with Corinne. What if he actually doesn't love me?"

Jasmine did a face palm. "You and your damn insecurities, Isaiah!" she said in a frustrating tone. "Isaiah, he said he loved you. What more can he say? The guy came out to you, then he told you! You need to stop letting your insecurities and that bitch Corinne get in your head. I don't even know why you're still even thinking about Corinne. She's irrelevant in your life now. That kid Joey loved you. When are you going to accept that? I swear, if you don't let your insecurites go, you're going to grow old and lonely!"