Z.B
Aaron was acting weird.
I knew it and everyone else around him knew it.
"You good, man?" Owen asked as the captain stood a few feet from us, ball in his head and sweat dripping down his body, but it was clear that his mind was elsewhere. "Huh?" Aaron raised a brow, seemingly snapping back to Earth. "Did you say something to me, Owen?" He questioned and Owen shot me a look of confusion and worry before turning back to Aaron.
"Yeah, I asked if you were okay," He replied and Aaron nodded before turning back to dribbling the ball aimlessly. "Yeah, I'm fine."
He didn't sound fine though and he didn't look fine.
I knew this for a fact because he was avoiding eye contact with me. He even texted me and told me that I didn't have to wait for him and that I could drive on to school without him. It was very unnerving because even when he was still mad at me way back when, he always let me drive him to school.
And if that wasn't the icing on the cake, I went to give him a hug, maybe ruffle his hair and perform our little handshake as that was our morning routine since sandbox days, but he just walked right past me without even flinching.
I wasn't going to lie at all. It hurt. I was shocked, confused, bewildered, yet sad all in one because what did I do wrong?
Yesterday was fine between us after I dropped him off at his house. He didn't call me on Facetime to play COD with him like usual, so I texted him and I got no response. I wasn't even sure if I was the problem, but I knew Aaron. If he had an issue with someone, he was going to confront them about it and let them know how it made him feel. He never did the silent treatment thing, which threw us all off.
Even the coach was giving him weird looks because he called for drills without giving us our motivational warm-up of the day like he normally did. He just walked out of the locker room and blew the whistle, yelling for us to start running laps.
That was a key indicator because he believed that powerful words could influence the will of others. If he said he believed in us, we believed in ourselves and this was true, for we always felt pumped and ready to kick ass every time.
Coach Johnson gave me a puzzled look and I shrugged with a shake of my head. We were all at a loss, especially me because I was the only one he was staying clear of.
"Aaron, make you sure get your head on straight," The coach demanded as he patted his head. "We have a game tomorrow night and we can't afford to have you off of your game," He said it in a stern manner, but even we could tell that he was bothered by the change in Aaron's behavior. He was always the same every day: a little mean, cursing with every sentence, brash and rude tone as he urged us to do our best.
Akito said nothing but nodded as Aaron blew the whistle again. "Alright, guys go shower," He waved a hand off, eyes looking everywhere but at us, his eyes switching through emotion like settings on a shower. He looked extremely confused and annoyed, but not with us. "Aaron, man, you good?" I stepped closer to him as our teammates descended in the direction of the locker room. He stopped me by putting a hand up, halting further steps without even making eye contact with me.
"I-I'm fine," He stammered without even giving me a mere glance as he stormed past me, heading to shower. I looked down at the place where his hand was previously at, pondering if it was something about me. Did I smell?
I spent a good extra few minutes in the shower, making sure that I smelled good enough to eat before stepping out and dressing. Aaron was gone before I came out, so I just hurried up to meet Natalia and the gang at lunch.
I entered the cafeteria, hearing the hustle and bustle of chatter and laughing as I walked through the lunch line, grabbing a meal. I felt awkward because I hadn't been in this line for a few weeks, and the lunch ladies knew it too.
Once I was done, I walked over with a lunch tray in hand because Aaron didn't give me a specially made meal this morning. I only saw Akito, Omari, Owen, and Natalia—no Aaron, which was odd in itself because I could usually hear his yammering long before I saw him.
"Where's Aaron?" I questioned, poking the other twin on the neck as I took a seat next to her. She looked utterly bummed out. "Who knows what that dude is up to?" She casually bit into her peach, not looking the least perturbed. She looked calm for someone whose brother was nearly having an internal panic attack.
"Is he okay?" I sputtered, feeling panic rise up in my bones, settling into the pit of my stomach as my worst nightmare began to play in my mind. Natalia chuckled, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Relax, dude. He's okay. No need to go all macho on us, destroying stuff to find him," She snorted and I slowly relaxed, still upset. "He's just going through something right now. It has nothing to do with any of us, so it's not like we can help him," She shrugged and I frowned, not liking that one bit.
"But I just can't sit here and watch him like that without doing anything. You can ask that of anyone else, but not me, Natalia," I shook my head, dread pooling in my chest. I didn't like seeing Aaron acting out of character, and it was clear that something was bothering him. I wanted to know what it was so that I could help him.
"No, Zaid," The raven muttered, tightening her grip on my shoulder to keep me from moving. "You're the last person he should be talking to right now. Being around you will only confuse him," I blinked slowly, biting my lip to keep myself from recognizing the pain in my heart. Why would she say that to me? Did he not like me anymore?
"You're his best friend, that's for sure," She gave me a comforting smile and I stiffened as she crossed her legs, removing her hand. I was absolutely confused. "He's doing some soul searching right now and until he figures it out, we cannot push him," I frowned, looking at the ground. I was completely lost and all, but I was willing to wait until Aaron came around.
"If he doesn't get his head out of the clouds soon enough," I heard Natalia mumbling to herself as she played with her acrylic tips. "Then I'll just have to intervene."
I wanted to ask what she meant by that, but I was too disheartened to continue. Part of me wanted to say 'fuck that' and go find Aaron and demand that he tell me what was wrong because he would've done the same, but the fierce look in her eyes stopped me from moving. I could tell it was something serious this time.
"Zaid!"
"Zaid!"
"Zaid!"
I could hear the calls of the girls from the nearby tables, but I wasn't caring about them right now. My mind was too focused on my angel eyes, going through past moments to figure out what could've gone wrong.
"If you don't mind, your emperor is thinking about something more important than you all right now," Omari smiled sweetly before pointing in the direction of the girls' table. "Please don't make it more difficult for him."
I snorted as they walked away, but his words were indeed true as I was thinking about Aaron all day. He was still occupying my every thought as I left school to head home. It felt odd to have our routine thrown off, but what could I do when he wouldn't let me in?
I stared longingly at his house as I passed by, seeing his car in the driveway. He was home, but I knew he wasn't willing to talk to me. I sighed heavily, a weight on my heart and a frown set on my lips as I pulled into my own driveway.
"What the hell is happening?" I got out of my truck and headed inside, seeing a familiar car in the driveway. I rolled my eyes, deciding that I had enough today. After my talk with Sophia, I knew what I had to do, and I had to first accept the fact that I was gay and I was in love with my best friend. I knew the latter for years, so it didn't take me a while to come around to the former.
I opened the door and stepped in to see the mayor of Minneapolis standing in front of my mother, an argument heading my way. "What in the hell are you doing?" I growled, pointing a jabbing finger in the despicable direction of said man. "Why, I was coming to speak to you and your dear mother about your college choices, only to find out that you were out with your friend," Paul retorted in a voice that told me that he wasn't here for anything good.
"I hope you took my words to heart and listened to me, son," He stepped away from Katrine, who was about to lose her last nerve. "I really hope that you understand that you don't need people like Aaron Moore in your life to deter you away from greatness. I was gone for a few months, and look what he has done to you," He pointed to me, to my chained, ripped jean glory paired with a casual tank top. Before, he would've had me wearing khakis and a polo like I was going golfing.
It was right then and there that I decided to say what I wanted, not caring about his opinion. If he wanted to know me, he was going to, all right. I was so tired of letting this man decide my life for me, walking all over me like I was some doormat.
"I'm gay for Aaron and there's nothing you can do about it."
it was almost comical how large his eyes widened in pure, unmasked fury as he clutched his hands, spittle leaving his lips. "See, Katrine? You leave him alone with his thoughts and with Aaron," He groused my friend's name like it was sulfuric acid on his tongue, burning away with each syllable. "And now look at him, homo-frolicking and all—"
That was the last thing he said before my mother sauntered up to him and slapped him within an inch of his life. Her eyes were blazing in anger as her teeth curled over her lip, and I knew she had enough. "You shut the fuck about my son, you piece of shit! That will be the last time you disrespect my son in my home," I could feel the cold intensity of her tone as Paul grabbed his jaw, nodding in mock understanding.
"I don't give a damn what you say about me, Paul." I stepped to him, looking him eye to eye so he knew that I didn't give a shit about his status as mayor, As far as I was concerned, he was pure dog shit on the ground.
"You are not my father, Paul Brooks," I spat coldly, tired of hearing him throw that shit back in my face like it meant something. "You may have given me my last name, but you are the furthest from a father," I sneered, watching his eyes darken as he sought to bring down the judgment of the gods upon me.
Thomas was a better father to me than this piece of trash would ever be. It didn't matter that he didn't know that I was gay because it wouldn't matter to him. That was the kind of man he was, so far from this stain standing in front of me.
"So you can take your shit and get the hell out of our house. Do not let me see you stepping on our porch ever again," I marched over to the door, swinging it open and motioning for him to get out. He looked ever so defeated and I wanted to smirk and rejoice in the fact that he knew he couldn't do anything now.
He had nothing over me, over my mother and even if he did, it wouldn't matter because we finally knew the truth now. He could do whatever he could: threaten us, threaten Aaron. It didn't matter because I was going to protect Aaron if it was the last thing I did. "Get out now," I seethed and Paul shot me a glare before slowly exiting the premises, the sound of the door hitting the frame the last thing we heard.
Now that was done and I was no longer concerned about him, and I could finally move and do what I have been wanting to do all this time.
Score for Zaid Brooks.