My Middle School Crush (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 23

Chapter 23: The Shy Stage

Mason and Mark struggled to figure out how to act after their date. Mason had been in an odd state, not fully there when he got back. He spoke and heard but could not listen to his parents. He was just in shock with everything that happened.

The next day, when he got those familiar messages from group chats, all he could think about was not being able to tell anyone. His fingers itched to interrupt their talk about shirtless guys or which celebrity to say 'hey, I went out with Mark last night!' But Mason didn't want to expose Mark like that without knowing how he felt about it. Funny enough, he and Mark had never discussed whether they should tell everyone about what they're doing or not.

And Mason texted Mark as well—it would have been hard not to when Mark was on his mind. They messaged each other for nearly three hours. But, comparing their messages to how they messaged months earlier, it was obvious that something was different.

Hours after they had stopped texting, while munching on a bowl of cereal as a snack, Mason finally realized what it was. They were awkward.

At first, it was hard for Mason to imagine this. Sure, he could get weird around Mark but Mason was generally a very social guy so texting and not having to stare at his beautiful face should have been great for Mason. And, Mark was cool in any situation. So for Mason to realize that even he was hesitating before he sent a message or holding back on a joke.

Still, Mason thought he may have been wrong. It was his close friend Mark who he was talking about. Then, the next day came and Mason ran into Mark in front of the building for their class.

At first sight of Mark walking up to the door from the parking lot—he must have gotten the car that day—Mason froze. A rush of insecurity hit him like a wave and he nearly tripped over his own feet. Should he walk over and wave, give him a hug, or just ignore him like he'd been for the last few weeks?

Mason's steps slowed as he thought of this but he and Mark still ended up at the front door at around the same time. When Mark looked up, Mason saw a similar mixture of emotions on the other boy's face. Mark avoided Mason's eyes like the plague, choosing to stare at Mason's shoulders instead when they spoke.

"Morning, Mason."

"Good Morning, Mark."

The words were said through tight mouths and nervous eyes. They stood in front of the door for another moment, unsure of what to do next. Even when Mason was pissed with the boy in front of him, he knew what to say to him. Now, the words never came.

And, based off of the fact that nothing was leaving Mark's mouth, he was probably dealing with the same thing. Mason was truly shocked to see that his theory was true. Mark was nervous and awkward.

Mason cracked a genuine smile, thinking about how odd this was for Mark. He imagined that Mark was internally panicking at feeling anything but confidence in that moment. Mason went as far as laughing behind his hand, chuckling at his own joke.

Without knowing what Mason was laughing about, Mark began to smile as well.

He would never admit it to Mason, but he'd been really nervous about seeing him today. Mason was the type of guy to get really in his head about things, and Mark thought he would have to do some damage control today in calming him down. After getting a taste of what things could be like for them, Mark knew he didn't want it to stop.

It was such a relief to see that Mason wasn't pulling away and was instead laughing. For what reason, he didn't know. Still, it eased some of the tension between them and for that, Mark was grateful.