-Troy-
Okay, I'd no idea where my little outburst came from. I just got really triggered by the word 'stuff', and I didn't know why. If Luke didn't want to be more specific, he had every right to do so. And yet, it bothered me so much I didn't even see where I was going.
After the first period, I was still embarrassed. When the class ended, and I followed Max and Sky out of the room, the first thing I saw was that dude of mine, leaning casually on the wall with a school book in his hands. I felt a jolt of nervousness in my stomach.
"Hi, Luke!" Sky chirped, but Luke didn't lift his eyes off his book.
"Hello, girls," he said, making both Max and Sky laugh. I was too nervous to do so.
"Ohh... He's so dreamy..." someone whispered right behind me.
"I know right? It's too bad he turns everyone down..."
"I heard he's not single anymore..."
"What? Where did you hear that?"
"Lisa asked him out, but he said he's already seeing someone..."
"It's Elisa, isn't it? She's going through the football team, that ho..."
The two girls walked too far from me to hear their conversation. I turned to look after them and immediately bumped into Max.
"Now there's two of them," Max chuckled.
"Two of what?" I asked, turning my attention to him.
"Clumsy people," Max grinned. "What were you looking at?"
"Yeah, what were you looking at?" Luke repeated his question, finally slamming his book shut. Did he see me looking after the girls? His sudden, cold voice indicated so.
Oh, boi.
"Who's Lisa?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
"She's a classmate," Luke said, squinting his eyes at me, so I squinted my eyes back at him in return. I didn't actually care about this Lisa girl, since Luke had told her he was taken, but man, he had been back in school only for a couple of hours and he already had girls lining up to him. The stuff he mentioned, did it include chatting with girls too? Who was this Lisa anyway, and why was she skipping classes to chat with someone else's boyfriends?
Okay, no! After all the shit I put Luke through, I had no right to question his loyalty. Why would I even do that, since apparently, he was telling people he was taken? It was just stupid. I didn't even know I was the jealous type. I never cared with whom Elisa was talking – apparently, I should have – so this was all new to me.
"Okay," I said as indifferently as I could.
Luke raised an eyebrow at me.
"We should get going..." Max said quietly, and I suddenly remembered Luke and I weren't the only people in the hallway.
I looked around, but no one seemed to be paying attention to us. Well, except a couple of girls who were eyeing Luke. Now that everyone thought Max was gay, and only into guys, the girls had backed off. Well, most of them. Now they all seemed to be targeting Luke. I really wished I could just come out and be open about my relationship with Luke, but my dad would throw me out the second he would hear about it. There was just no other outcome, and I had no one to turn to. Maybe my aunt, but since my entire family was more of the conservative side, I didn't know if I count on her either.
I followed my friends to the next classroom. Luke was tagging along, but when we were passing by the back entrance, he suddenly yanked my hand, asking me to follow him out. I looked at Max and Sky, who stopped when they noticed we weren't following. Max shrugged, and Sky nudged his head toward Luke. I sighed and stepped through the exit.
Luke turned around when he heard the door closing. I assumed we would continue talking about Lisa or something, now that there were just the two of us.
"You all right?" he asked quietly.
"I'm not actually worried about Lisa," I told him truthfully. I was feeling too sad to even think of her.
"What?" Luke frowned. "No, that's not what I meant."
"What?"
"You're..." Luke paused for a moment to take a good look at me, "sad."
I didn't know my mood was showing. I thought I was hiding my thoughts and emotions well, like I always did.
"I'm just tired," I said with a shrug.
"Yeah, I'm not falling for that," he said, and pulled me behind the wall. "I think we've started this day on the wrong foot."
I most certainly did. "I guess..."
He looked around before stepping right in front of me. "I told Lisa I'm seeing someone. I didn't say anything about you, not even gender."
"I know," I said. "The two girls were talking about it."
"The ones you were looking at?"
"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" I chuckled lightly.
"You've been worse today," Luke said, but I could hear in his voice he didn't mind.
"Sorry..." I muttered. "I wasn't jealous, though. I'm just a little concerned about the number of girls who are trying to get your attention."
"Likewise," Luke said, placing his hand on my side in the most careful manner.
"What girls?" I asked with a frown.
"You haven't noticed?" Luke asked, sounding almost shocked. "Ever since Max and Sky hooked up, they've been all over you."
"No? They're all over you!"
"I wouldn't say that. I've been asked out a couple of times, but that's about it," Luke said.
I stared at him for a moment, before laughing shortly. "No, they are clearly after you," I said, placing my hand on his, moving it slowly up on his shoulder.
"I don't give a fuck," he muttered in my ear with a low voice.
"Neither do I," I replied, before stealing a kiss from him.
*****
Luke's words got me thinking. I hadn't noticed any girls around me. When Elisa asked me out, I was surprised. More than that, actually. I just said yes without thinking, and how I regretted that now. When Luke asked me out, I went into a complete lockdown. It meant a hell of a lot to me than when Elisa asked me out.
She was the easy way out. Break the guy's heart and force the girl to be your everything. Simple. Sadistic, but simple. I wondered if my dad wasn't such an asshole, and I didn't need to worry about being thrown out of the house, would I have reacted better with Luke? Most likely, I knew that now.
I stared at a couple of swans in front of me, letting my thoughts run free. I had done that a lot during the past three weeks while Luke was away, but now it was different. While he was gone, everything seemed so complicated. Did I like him? Did I not like him? Did I or did I not like his company? Now that he was back home, my thoughts were much more peaceful. I didn't notice if girls tried to get my attention. I only noticed the girls who were trying to get Luke's attention. And I didn't have any positive thoughts about those girls.
"So..."
"Sorry," I said hurriedly, turning to look at Moira, my biology partner. "What did you say?"
Moira raised her eyebrows at me, pointing at a paper she was holding. "Can we at least try to pass this assignment?" she asked with a slightly annoyed tone of voice.
"Yeah, sorry, I was..." Thinking about Luke. Yeah, like I could say that out loud. It actually sucked. "I'm just tired."
It was amazing how many times those words had saved me from explaining anything.
"Yeah, I get it. I hate Mondays as well," she said in a friendlier tone. "Let's just get this done."
"Sure," I said, and started taking pictures of the swans with my phone.
I managed to get a couple of good shots before I got a message. From Luke.
'Want to hang out later?'
I didn't waste a second to reply to him. I just wrote, 'sure', and sent it. Moira saw a glimpse of the messages, but I always deleted every conversation I had with Luke, so there was nothing crucial for her to see.
"Huh? I thought he doesn't like anyone," Moira said.
I resisted my urge to tell her to keep her nose out of my business. Instead, I just shrugged. "Then you don't know him."
"I guess. He doesn't share much. It's like talking to a brick wall..." she spoke absentmindedly, looking at our papers. "Well, I guess it's different for you."
"W-What?" I said in shock. Did she know...? "What... do you mean?"
"Well, you're that kind of person everyone likes. Even Luke is friendly to you."
"No, that's Max you're talking about. Everyone adores him," I chuckled, feeling relieved.
"Adores, yes, but not everyone likes him," Moira said with a shrug.
"And how's that different?" I asked.
"He's a bit of a celebrity, right? People want to be his friend because he's Max Peterson, not necessarily because he's a cool guy. He's quite reserved as well. You, on the other hand, are almost overwhelmingly nice and friendly," Moira said, taking a glimpse of me. "Everyone has to like you, there's no other choice. It's impossible to not like you."
I didn't know what to say. I just stared at her for a moment, and uttered, "Oh..."
"I'm not trying to flirt. I have a boyfriend," she chuckled.
"O-Oh, good," I smirked awkwardly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she laughed, punching me lightly on the shoulder.
"N-No! I didn't mean it like that!" I said hastily. "I... just... I..."
"I get it – you already have someone, right?"
I took a deep breath. "Yes," I said without hesitation.
"Ohh, I knew it! You've been thinking about her the entire time, right?"
Her, him, insignificant details... "Not the entire time," I smirked.
"Well? Who is she?" she asked, leaning closer.
I didn't say anything to her. I just looked at her shortly, before turning my attention back to the swans. She was a smart girl, she would take the hint.
"Oh, be that way then," she sighed overdramatically.
"See? I can be reserved as well," I laughed.
"Yeah, right," she giggled, but stopped all of a sudden. "Oh! Is it true Luke is dating someone? I heard he turned down Lisa. Lisa, of all people!"
"Yeah, I guess so," I said vaguely.
"You wouldn't know who she is?" she asked.
"Like I'm spilling his secrets," I chuckled.
"Please tell me! I'm dying to know who is better than Lisa!"
I was getting annoyed by this Lisa. "He's dating me," I said without actually thinking about the consequences.
She stared at me for a moment before she laughed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine, I'll stop asking."
"What?" I said, letting out a small laugh as well. "You don't believe me?"
"There is no way Luke Frost is gay," Moira giggled.
Well, actually... "Fine, don't believe me," I said, mimicking her overdramatic tone.
She just laughed. It was kind of relieving to hear she didn't believe Luke was gay. She couldn't be the only one who so sternly believed he was straight. My secret was safe, at least for now.
*****
Once Moira and I were done for the day, we walked together to the bus station and took our separate ways. Max and Sky were at the library, so Luke and I had agreed to hang out with them for a couple of hours. I watched Moira getting onto the bus before heading to the library.
When I stepped into the library, I had two options. Animals, or architecture. I guessed architecture, since they had been talking about their scale model more than animals lately, and once I got to that section, I had to laugh. I was right.
"Troy!" Sky greeted me as enthusiastically as ever.
"Why am I not surprised to see you here," I chuckled, and took the book Sky was holding. "Scale models."
"Yes! I want to learn more," he said, taking the book back, and placing it on a quite a heavy-looking pile of other books he had hoarded for himself. Most of them were about architecture, but there was a book about skunks, and another one about...
"What's manul?" I asked, checking the title.
"Oh boy," Max chuckled.
Sky took a deep breath, and let it all out, before saying, "It's a wild cat."
Max and I both waited for him to continue. But he didn't. Max looked at me with an amused smile on his lips. Sky continued going through books on the shelf.
I knew Sky way too well. "What kind of wild cat?" I asked.
Sky kind of jumped, but that was all he did. He didn't even turn to look at me. "Just a wild cat," he mumbled.
"There's no such thing as just a wild cat," I said.
"I know, right!" Sky squealed quietly, turned to face me and let it all out.
Manul. Also known as Pallas's cat. Latin name, Otocol... Otoloco... Oto... something... Named after some guy called Pallas. Lived somewhere in Central Asia. I learned a lot more than that, but since he was talking so fast, it was hard to take all the information in. It wasn't hard to notice how Max loved Sky's little 'fun fact' moments. He was smiling and asking questions here and there, and I was amazed how well he could keep up with everything Sky told us.
"Okay, tell me, why do you need the book if you know this manul so well?" I asked when Sky had to stop to breathe.
"I haven't read it yet," Sky shrugged, looking a bit dizzy.
"Are you all right?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," he said and took a deep breath. "Someone should stop me when I start turning blue," he added jokingly.
"We sure will from now on," I replied, not so jokingly.
"Did I miss something?"
Oh... My... God... My stomach flipped, and I felt shivers around my neck when I heard Luke's low voice behind me. I turned to look over my shoulder. Luke was looking at me from the corner of his eye, stopping right next to me. He had taken a shower. The scent of his shampoo was all around me. His hand "accidentally" brushed against mine, and his cold fingers sent more shivers up my arm.
"Sky was talking about manuls," I informed him, focusing on every word since my mind was drifting.
"Manuls?" Luke frowned, and peered at Sky, who was biting his lips together, shaking his head.
"Wild cats," Max said and patted Sky's shoulder. "Highly fascinating animals, but Sky needs to breathe, so, let's go grab something to eat."
"Yes, I'm starving!" I said, and Luke shrugged as an agreement.
It didn't take long for Sky to start telling Luke about manuls. Luke listened carefully, and he at least seemed interested. Yeah, he wasn't a sweet guy at all. In reality, Sky was shy and timid, and got ashamed of his enthusiasm so easily that even the thought of it made me sad, so I was really grateful for Luke. Sky needed a lot of reassurance to stay outside of his shell, and even one, mocking word would make him retread back in it in a heartbeat, so it was great Luke, too, was showing him he belonged in our group just the way he was.
That was one of the reasons why I liked him. The talks about Luke having a bad temper was utter bullshit. This was the true him, caring and protective toward his friends, and if he did lose his temper, there always was some dipshit who had caused it. There was always someone who deserved his anger.
We let Max and Sky decide where to eat. It didn't surprise me they led us to a small salad bar type of place, where everything was organic. I wanted to see Luke's reaction, but he seemed unfazed by their choice. Then, I scolded myself for thinking Luke wouldn't want to eat in a place like that. I knew better not to make any assumptions, like Moira had when she said Luke couldn't be gay. Then I took my scolds back, since Moira was right about him not sharing that much. How could I have known he enjoyed chicken salad?
Once we had our food, we sat down in a booth at the back. Sky finished his story about manuls and looked at his plate with an almost scared look on his face.
"What is it?" I asked.
"W-What?" Sky asked timidly and looked around.
"He sometimes forgets to pay attention to where we're going when he's talking about nature," Max explained, hugging Sky with one hand.
Sky blushed lightly and turned his attention back to his food. "That's how I get killed one day," he mumbled.
"Don't worry, I'll keep you on a tight leash," Max said reassuringly. "I won't let you walk in front of cars."
A tiny smile appeared on Sky's lips when he looked at Max. Those two were so meant for each other. I shoved my fork into my salad, and suddenly, I was well aware of Luke's leg against mine. Were we compatible? Did we fit together even half as well as Max and Sky did?
I placed my hand on Luke's leg under the table, and only a second later, he took it in his. His fingers were a lot cooler than mine, so I rubbed them gently with my thumb.
"I heard Lisa is hot," I said, and Luke sighed slowly. "I'm interested to see if that's true."
"You know Lisa," Luke said shortly, keeping his eyes on his food.
"I don't think so," I replied.
"Everyone knows Lisa," Luke said, and I looked at Max and Sky. They both seemed to know exactly who she was. Even Sky looked like he knew exactly who she was!
"I don't," I said.
"She's that tall brunette. Long legs," Max said.
"Curly hair and loads of makeup," Sky added.
"Big boobs," Max continued, and got elbowed on his side by his boyfriend.
"Always with the newest phones and expensive handbags," Luke said, and finally I remembered her.
"Oh! Yeah, the one with designer clothes," I nodded. "Now I remember her."
Max let out a smothered chuckle. "You recognized her by her handbag! I can't...!"
He started laughing louder, leaning back in his seat. Now I knew what it was like to witness someone else's laughing fit. Sky and Luke were both smirking at me as well.
"What?" I asked.
"You sure you're not gay?" Luke chuckled, impaling a piece of tomato with his fork. "Why does it even matter what she looks like? I'm as gay as it can get."
"Oh, I just wanted to know how hot you think I am, since you turned her down," I said with a smile. "Pretty hot it seems."
"Still gay," Luke said, pointing to himself with the fork.
"Let me gloat, okay?" I laughed. "Or are you trying to say I'm not hot?"
"Definitely not," Luke said.
"Not saying or not hot?" I teased him. He squinted at me, but I just laughed and leaned against his side. "I told Moira today that I'm seeing someone. So, now it's unofficially official."
"Oh, really?" Luke sounded almost surprised.
"Yup. We are now officially, secretly dudes," I declared.
I saw Sky tilting his head, but it was Max, who said, "That makes almost sense."
"Yeah," Luke said, turning to face me with a big smile on his face. "It does."