||BRAD||
Our teacher P.E instructor decided that we can now move on with our activities and begin playing basketball. Zack was thrilled because he loves this sport, more preferably over football. He says it's more his type because he didn't like the idea of 'tackling'. We were all asked to partner up in two with the opposite gender, then group up in eight. Jackson, Liam, Zack, and I knew that we wanted to play against each other so we tried to find a girl as quickly as possible so we could get started. I hastily paired up with a girl named Jenny who happily agreed. Zack and Liam didn't have a problem, but Jackson... he looked sluggish on finding one. He pretty much waited for a while until one girl came up to him. He nods, taking the offer and returned to our side of the gym court. Jackson, me, and our partners are against Zack, Liam, and theirs. Zack held the ball and started dribbling. My side got in a defensive stance and Jackson tried to block him. With him in the way, he passed it to one of the girls and they were going fast on us which caught us off guard. Out of reflex, I caught up to her and manage to snatch it from her, but as I was about to turn, Liam had already stolen it and sprinted to the hoop. It was kinda sad to watch because Jenny, who is a few inches shorter than him, tried to block it but Liam's height and leg strength gave him a boosted jump, scoring themselves a point. I sighed as the girl looked at us apologetically.
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Our game lasted long, but sadly Zack's side won. All four of them were triumphant while we were breathless, sweating, and bending with hands on knees.
After class, all four of us met up out in the halls after cleaning up. Zack and Liam were having a conversation of their own. I took this opportunity to talk to Jackson myself. I tapped on his shoulder and got him to look at me. It took a while for him to remember why I want his attention. He glances at the other two worriedly before sighing. "So, I think Taylor told you to come to me for... 'help'," I looked at him.
He gives me a sad look, "I-I don't know what to say..."
"Taylor thought that you might be..."
"I'm confused, I-I can't be gay," he stares at the palms of his hands that he held in front of him. His hands shook and the tone in his voice made him sound nervous or afraid.
"Why can't you?" I asked.
"I don't want my family to think of me differently if I am," his eyes were wide and terrified, "I don't know what that kiss had done to me, but I'm starting to feel weird about Ethan..."
"Ethan?" Zack said all of a sudden, his chat with Liam had stopped and both of them are looking at us.
"I... I'm scared of what my parents and brother would think..." his volume was low as if he couldn't speak.
"Your parents seem cool, I don't think they have anything against me," I tried to shine a bit of optimism.
"But the thing is, you aren't their son. It hits differently if you aren't related to my family. Yes, they're okay with you, but sometimes I overhear them about certain things, giving me mixed messages. Whether it's a joke or not, it's confusing," he ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. Zack and Liam kept themselves quiet and let me handle the situation. I frowned at him sympathetically. I understand, I too was very flustered the first time I had these feelings, and I was so conflicted on if I should be accepting myself or to hide it. But sometimes, we can't keep these secrets forever, "well... maybe you're actually Bi, like me," I gave him the idea. He looks at me, but doesn't say anything. "If you're Bi, you could still end up with a girl while dealing with these new emotions. Perhaps you don't need to tell your family," I thought, giving it as a suggestion.
"Y-yes! That has to be it, I'm just into both... then I don't have to come out," he looked relieved as if all his problems disappeared. "Thanks, Brad," he beamed. Though I felt guilty for him thanking me, because I felt like it wasn't much of a help, maybe it could be a start to keep him from breaking down. "You're welcome," I replied with a tinge of remorse.
We ended the topic and started walking around the school, sometimes Liam would curiously say something that would relate to the conversation we had before but Jackson brushes it off every time. We made our way to the parking lot and saw a few buses stopping. The doors opened and students began pouring out of the exit. I watched them get off when I saw a familiar hoodie that belonged to Noah. The hood covered his face and hands were shoved in his front pockets. I smiled and walked to him. Waving my hand, I yelled out, "Noah!" His head turns up, revealing watery eyes and pale cheeks that tinted pink. I furrowed my eyebrows when I got closer to him to see clearly that he had been crying. "What's wrong?" I asked worriedly, wrapping my arms around him. His eyes start to wet up again and his mouth wobbled as he returned the hug. He was burying his face on my shirt. Hearing his sobs and feeling his tears made my throat hurt. The other guys looked at me with concern.
"I hate Damian, he's such an arschloch," He muttered.