Spark | B1| #wattys2019 |✓

chapter two

One of the Greek club members was just closing his locker and was turning to go to his next class only for him to look at me. I groaned internally, hating that I had Noah's attention. He had some unhealthy obsession with me that I didn't think was a crush (so far as I knew), and he really wanted to meet Dad. So far I had managed to keep him from tormenting Dad with questions.

He was wearing some Percy Jackson t-shirt, a pair of worn out jeans, and some navy blue tennis shoes. He could be handsome, I was certain that most of my classmates could agree that he was handsome, but he wasn't my type. Despite his charming voice and his nice smile there was no appeal.

"Icarus, hey, how was class?" Noah probed to me as he hurried over to me, his tennis shoes thundered against the linoleum flooring. Some of the teenagers around us snickered, since Noah was a year younger than me, and acted as though he was my caddy boy more than anything else.

"It was fine, I won this battle," I let him know, earning a nod from him. He had so many different buttons attached to his backpack.

They were from a lot of different book series and just quotes. There was even an Icarus button on there, which honestly made me blush a little bit. It wasn't my face, obviously, but it was a button that had my namesake displayed prominently for everyone to see. It screamed that he really did have some attraction towards me.

"I can't stand that jerk!" Noah grumbled, folding his arms against his chest, as he stepped closer to me in order to maneuver out of the way from some seniors that were walking past us. Every day the seniors looked happier, since they knew that they were getting out of this place.

If I brought my hand out I knew that I would touch his skin, and the last thing that I needed was for people to think that I was either making Noah feel as though he was perverted by me or I returned some hidden affection he had for me.

"You're preaching to the choir," I responded, shrugging my shoulders, as Noah rubbed his hands against the straps of his backpack. He craned his head to the side, and I watched as he tapped his fingers now against the straps of his backpack.

"Um...I kinda wanted to ask you something..." Noah looked off to the side before he cleared his throat and straightened his back higher. He turned to look at me with worry but also a tinge of excitement.

"Can't this wait till later, Noah?" I looked over his head, which actually wasn't that much shorter than mine. He had grown up fast, in fact he could have possibly have looked as though he was my grade, but he still was a sophomore and not a junior no matter if he looked like a junior.

"Actually..."

"Hey, Icarus, hang on!"

I turned my head, finding that Haiden was jogging in our direction. In the corner of my eye I noted that Noah had tensed up. It only assured me what I was suddenly feeling, that Noah had developed a crush on me.

"Ah, hey it's that kid that always follows you around. What's your name again?" Haiden stopped in front of us, with his hands stuffed in his jean pockets. I shot him an annoyed look, knowing that the last thing that we needed was for another teenager to hate Haiden for being an ass.

"Noah," I supplied for him, and it didn't help that Noah blushed and looked down at his shoes. "His name is Noah, and don't call him a kid."

Haiden snorted, "What do you mean not to call him kid? Icarus he's a year younger than us, that means he's a kid."

Sometimes it was in times like this that I wanted to hit Haiden, but I knew that it wouldn't change anything. Sometimes I wondered why I was still friends with him but it didn't last long. He still was there for me when I came out as gay, and despite the fact that he still had this strange feeling of me harboring a strong sense of love towards him, he didn't go anywhere.