The Preston Playboys

chapter twenty-five - past lovers and self help

And now here we are, Wyatt and I on our way to school at 7:45am. We haven't been this early in weeks.

"You look happy." Wyatt commented and I crinkled my nose when I saw the eye boogers still in the corner of his eyes.

"Yeah well, I decided to let everything go and become a better me." I forced a smile on my lips. This is going to take time but I need to try.

"What? Did you read one of Dad's self help books?" Wyatt cracked a smile and I rolled my eyes.

"Actually Dad kind of preached to me. Maybe he's trying to write his own book." I laughed along with Wyatt.

"It's good to have you back, Tee." Wyatt smiled but before I could reply, the car jolted.

"Shit." Wyatt cussed as he pulled into a parking space behind the car he just bumped into.

"I'll just walk from here, I can see the front doors." I gestured down the street.

Wyatt and I unbuckled our seatbelts so I could go to school and Wyatt can talk to the other driver.

We got to the sidewalk when someone slammed their car door shut.

We both looked over to see Devin, to be the other driver. And he looked furious.

"Are you fucking serious?!" Devin barked at Wyatt.

"Bro chill, it was just an-"

"Wyatt!" I screeched as Devin's fist hit Wyatt's jaw.

Wyatt stumbled back and fell.

"What the hell?!" I yelled at Devin but I stopped myself when I saw his appearance.

Devin looked like he was a mess. His eyes were bloodshot like he hadn't been sleeping in days and I could see the tears pooling in them.

"I-I" Devin tried to speak but anybody could tell that he was about to start crying.

"Devin-"

"Go to school, Tee. I got this." I furrowed my eyebrows at Wyatt's gentle tone.

"Are you sure?" I frowned.

"Yeah, I'll see you later." I decided to listen to Wyatt. I gave Devin a sympathetic smile before making my way towards the school.

But curiosity got the best of me.

Wyatt and Devin were as close as Kevin and I back when we were kids. Or at least in high school. They were best friends until the end of Wyatt's senior year. Then they just stopped speaking.

So I turned back, curious to what I might see. Maybe two buddies catching up or maybe two enemies fighting. I expected to see anything but what I saw.

They were standing really close to each other. Wyatt was looking down to Devin, since he was probably 5 inches taller. And Wyatt had one hand on Devin's shoulder while the other was tightly holding Devin's hand.

That looked intimate. An exchange between past lovers not old buddies.

And that's when it clicked.

Wyatt's not straight.

So many questions flew through my mind but when Wyatt's eyes snapped to mine, they were begging me to just turn around and not ask any questions.

So that's exactly what I did. I turned around and I went to school.

I met up with my friends who were surprised and happy to see me. I was functioning. I went to all my classes. I participated. I joined in on Millie's mocking of Charlie and Laurel. I joked around with Charlie like always.

Devin never showed up at school and Kevin asked me if I had seen him.

I lied. I told him that I saw Devin driving towards their house on my way here. Because I knew where he actually was. He was with my brother. And they didn't want anyone to know.

My suspicions were confirmed 8th period when Wyatt told me he was getting me an Uber home. And then I showed up at home and he wasn't there.

I groaned as I fell back into my bed. Today was exhausting. Forcing yourself to be happy was exhausting.

Especially when you have that nagging voice in the back of your head reminding you about all of the bad.

I shouldn't have acknowledged that voice. Because once I did. That's all that was there.

All of the bad. And I was finding myself sinking back into the hole I had just dug myself out of.

I thought that it was all impossible until I heard my mom.

"You never, ever let any boy make you cry."

And that's how I ended up with my phone tightly gripped in my hand near my ear.

"I know that you probably aren't using your phone right now. That's why I called it because I don't want to stress you out right now. But I need to get this off of my chest. I love you, Marc. I love you so much that what you said to me the other day destroyed me. But not more than watching you seize and choke on your own vomit. That broke me in ways that I didn't know I could break. Because I didn't want you to get hurt. I only wanted you to be happy. That's why I told Kevin to meet me in my bedroom. I was going to have Devin bring you up there and we were going to lock you guys in together. To work out your problems. But Kevin thought I wanted to hook up and when I was yelling at him, he kissed me. That's what you saw. I understand that you're mad. I would have been too. But this wasn't my fault. And I don't believe that right now but I will. Because if I don't, I'll die. Maybe not physically but mentally I'll be gone. I was gone for the past 2 weeks. And that hurt a lot of people. I don't want anyone else to get hurt. You changed me, Marc. I used to be so hateful. I used to hate you because all that I thought about was the bad. I used to hate God because I believed he took my Mom away from me. I used to hate a lot of things. But then you started making me see the good in everything. I was the good in you and it made me fall so deeply for you. You can hate me forever if that's what you want. But I won't hate myself anymore. I want to love myself more than I love you. And I love you a lot. Goodbye, Marc."

Beep.

a u t h o r s n o t e

What is this??? A double update??? Does that mean maybe a triple update tonight??? Does that mean that The Preston Playboys will come to an end??? Tonight????  Let me know what you thought about this chapter!!!!

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