Message to: Wyatt.
Hey, can you come and pick me up? I stayed over in school ate so I couldn't catch the bus.
3:58 PM.
Message from: Wyatt.
Sure! Can you wait for about twenty minutes? I get out of my lecture in the next few minutes.
4:05 PM.
I smiled down at Wyatt's reply before texting him a simple 'yes.' My face had grown warm, and my chest had a fluttering feeling in it.
"Stop it," I scolded myself, feeling my face heat up even more. Somehow, I had managed to control being a flustered mess around Wyatt, but my heart was still jumpy, and my mind felt light when I was around him. I put my phone away before turning to my locker and opening it to change my books. I was about to close my locker's door and leave when I felt a strong grip on my shoulder.
"Ant." The sound of Jay's voice made me freeze on the spot. It took me a while, but I managed to turn my head enough to look at him. He looked like hell. His dirty blond hair was a mess, and he had dark circles under his eyes. I hadn't seen him for the past few days, and I had just assumed he was laying low for some reason or the other.
"Follow me." I did as Jay said, following him into the hallway that led to the empty classrooms. He opened one of the doors, and he pulled me in before closing it behind him.
"Why did you send me that link?" his voice was low but firm. I backed away from him a bit, and when there was a reasonable amount of space between us I sighed and shrugged at his question.
"I don't know," I eventually said, scratching the back of my neck. I didn't like the silence. I didn't like the harsh frown Jay was throwing my way.
"You outed me. I was sitting right next to my dad on the sofa waiting for you to reply to the text I sent you, and you sent me a link to a gay porn video. Really, Ant? Why?" his voice was getting higher now, and I shifted until my hip hit the edge of a table and I had no more space to back up. I just stared at him, not knowing what to say in response.
Oh shit. I thought, looking down at the white tiles. Maybe I should have thought about what could have happened.
"I told him it was just a joke, but he snatched my phone from me and went through my history, and of course I've been watching stuff like that, so he only found more," he groaned. "Why the hell did you do that, why?"
"I'm sorry..." I trailed. "I just wanted you to leave me alone."
Jay stared at me with an odd look on his face, and suddenly the frown that had been on his face returned and deepened.
"God, fuck you," he said, turning away before walking out of the classroom and shutting the door behind him. I stood still in my spot, blinking in shock at what had just happened. A few minutes passed before I decided to leave the classroom and walk out of the school building and taking a seat on the stairs case. My phone buzzed in my pocket, so I took it out to check the notification.
Message from: Wyatt.
I'm driving up to your school's gate. Get ready.
4:23 PM.
I read Wyatt's text before getting up. As I walked to the school gate I saw Wyatt's car come up the sidewalk. I smiled at him when he wound down his car's window glass and waved. After a while of just staring, I made my way to the passage seat up front. When I climbed in Wyatt's gaze turned to me.
"How are you doing?" he asked before turning his attention back to the road ahead. He then moved the car back onto the main road and started heading home. "Also, how come you stayed back in school so late?"
"I'm doing fine," I said in response, placing my school bag on my laps. "I just wanted to do some studying," I answered. Wyatt turned to me before flashing me a small smile and turning away.
"Is something wrong? You look worn out," he said, and my mind went back to my encounter with Jay just a few minutes back. A sigh left my lips as I ran a hand through my dark hair.
"Yes actually," I said, making Wyatt turn his full attention to me when we got to a red light. "I talked to Jay today, and apparently he pressed the link I sent him in front of his dad," I said before looking at the traffic light.
"It's green," I said, and Wyatt looked away from me before taking his foot off the break.
"Yikes," Wyatt said in response to what I had told him after a while of driving in silence. "So, basically, he got outted?" Wyatt asked, and I nodded before sighing again. I felt guilty about it, and Jay's face kept popping into my mind.
"Sorry about that." I heard Wyatt say, making me look over at him. "I made you do it."
"It's okay—"
"No, it's not. I mean, I gave you the idea," he said, cutting me off. I didn't say anything in response, and after a while of just staring at him I looked away.
"It won't do much, but apologizing would help a bit," Wyatt suggested. "Also, if you talk to him again be straightforward about how you feel — err, don't feel. As it seems, expecting him to take the hint on his own isn't working, and it also got him into trouble."
"Yeah," I said as I reached out to play with the radio controls. "I should do that."
The car went quiet again, but Wyatt started humming along to the song coming from the radio, and the sound of him mumbling lyrics made me smile. I chuckled a bit, and he chuckled too. My chest swelled at the sound, and I was feeling a bit lightheaded.
Christ. I thought to myself. Sure, I had found a way to put my crush under wraps, but sometimes it was so hard to be around him without being a nervous mess.
"You could follow me to a church meeting if you want," Wyatt said out of the blue, making my eyes go wide as I looked over at him.
"I think I'll pass," I muttered, making him roll his eyes as a chuckle escaped his lips.
"You know that I actually don't worship Satan, right? If God is the symbol of complete submission and obedience, Satan is the symbol of complete freedom — he's the liberator. We don't worship Satan. We don't even think he's real. He's just a symbol," Wyatt said, explaining things to me.
I thought about it for a while, cocking my head to the side as I tried to make sense of what he had said. "So, you're fancy atheists, and Satan's like your mascot?" I asked, and Wyatt laughed.
"Yeah, if you want to put it like that," he said, looking at me from the corner of his eyes.
"So, will you come?" he asked me again, and I looked down at my bag as I thought about it. I didn't know too much about Wyatt, and anytime I got to know something new from interacting with him it felt like I got a virtual cookie.
"Okay," I said, watching as a grin made its way to Wyatt's face as he turned the car into a street.
"That's awesome," he said. "Oh, everyone's pretty cool, but sometimes we get into very heated debates, and if you're confused, feel free to leave the room," Wyatt laughed.
"They're all good people so don't think about the debates too much." He smiled.
"Aren't you all Satanists?" I asked, wondering what on earth they would be arguing about.
"Yeah, but we're from different groups," he mentioned as he made a turn again. "Luciferins, People from the Church of Satan, The Satanic Temple, Temple of Set..." he trailed. "We're just a community of people from different groups. My dad and I couldn't find a Luciferin station to join, so we just joined the small community of Satanists, remember?"
"Okay, just imagine if you put a Catholic, Mormon, Evangelical Christian and Quaker in the same room," he said, and I laughed when I finally understood what he was getting at. He soon drove into our street, and we were soon parked in the driveway of our home. He got down, and I got down with him, following him into the house filled with noisy kids.
As we walked up the stairs together Wyatt invited me to come and watch a movie with him in his room, and my heart did one of those weird summersaults before I agreed.
I was still wondering if I should tell Wyatt about my crush on him, but hanging out with him was enough for me now.
Comments (6)
See all