Dantes’ POV
“Oh my god, NerdyWannaBe18 is Harley!” I thought having a minor panic attack before taking a deep breath to think clearly.
“I can't let on that I know. If he knew I know, he'd never talk to me again” I decided before typing back.
[HellBoy007 (Dante): Not really. I mean she is friends with a lot of people. I think it's because of her bubbly personality though I have seen her with Harley Emerson more than most people. Like most of our class, I always just assumed they were dating though.]
[NerdyWannaBe18: Yeah, I guess I can see where people would think that but no they aren't dating. I honestly know for a fact that he's gay and has had a crush on a football player for a long time though I'm not sure which one.]
Smiling, I couldn't help but think he realized I knew who he was. “Who could his crush be though?” I thought before asking
[HellBoy007 (Dante): How are you so sure he has a crush on a football player?]
[NerdyWannaBe18: Because I've seen the way he looks at one of them when they aren't looking. I think it's why the majority of the team hate him purely because he likes one of them.]
[HellBoy007 (Dante): That's a stupid reason for them to hate him though.]
[NerdyWannaBe18: True but you can't change Neanderthal minds with logic.]
[HellBoy007 (Dante): Wow, that sounded really brilliant. In fact, the only person in our class I've heard talk like that is our valedictorian.]
“Oh God, I hope that doesn't freak him out too much” I thought as I waited for Harley to message me back. After an hour of waiting, I guessed I'd freaked him out by hinting that I knew who I was talking to. Sighing, I quickly locked my phone as coach called out “Alright boys, break time is over. Let's get back to it ladies.” Hiding my phone in my gym bag as we all yelled “yes coach” before getting up to get back to practice for the big game. Several hours passed before coach finally declared practice over and let us head to the locker rooms to clean up. Being one of the first ones in, I took my bag with me to the showers and quickly cleaned myself up before checking my phone to see no new messages. Sighing, I put it in my jeans pocket before packing up my gear and heading home.
The next few days pass without another message from Harley and though I did see him in the halls it wasn't the same as talking to him. Friday morning, I decided that I needed to talk to him otherwise I'd be distracted during the game. So waiting until the final bell of the day, I leaned against his car and sent him a message just as he left the building watching as he paused in the middle of the court yard.
[HellBoy007 (Dante): Was it really that surprising that I figured out it was you Harley?]
[NerdyWannaBe18 (Harley): How are you so sure I am Harley? For all you know I could be someone else.]
[HellBoy007 (Dante): Because if you were anyone else, you wouldn’t have reacted by ignoring me all week. And besides, you’ve made it a point not to look in my general direction all week either.]
[NerdyWannaBe18 (Harley): Well, that sounded rather stalkerish. Is there a reason you pay so much attention to Harley? Aside from your assertion that he’s cute. Wait, is that who you’ve been crushing on?]
[HellBoy007 (Dante): And if I am?] As I waited for a message back, I could see where he’d paused on the quad from were I stood and could just make out the hint of pink on his cheeks. Chuckling, I messaged him again
[HellBoy007 (Dante): That shade of blush on your cheeks is quite fascinating for you not being NerdyWannaBe18, Harley.]
With a shocked expression, he looked around the quad before putting away his phone and making a bee line towards his car where I was standing. Pausing a few cars away when he caught sight of me, I smirked as our eyes locked before he walked the last few feet between us and stopping. Looking down, he removed his headphones without saying a word.
“So, it really was you I was talking to” I said drawing his attention. As his eyes snapped up to mine, he said “you still can’t prove that.”
“Can’t I though? I waited until you were outside before messaging you and watched as you answered it. I even intentionally hinted at the possibility of me crushing on you just to see how you’d react. My question is, why would you intentionally hide the fact that you were curious about an interaction I had with you the other day?” I asked with yet another smirk knowing he’d have to out himself to answer.
“We agreed not to try to figure out who each other were. You let slip who you were but I kept to our agreement” he said looking away again. Smiling, I said “and now I have final proof since you just admitted to following an agreement only my pen pal and I would know about.”
A few minutes passed before I stepped forward and lifted his chin towards me so he was forced to face me. Looking deep into his eyes, I said “I don’t want you to ever hide who you are from me. I want for us to always be able to talk like the people we are and not the people everyone else believes us to be.” Stuttering, he asked “h-how did you even f-figure out it was me in the first place?”
“I wasn’t sure until I saw you blush but you hinted at who you were by telling me you were besties with Charlotte and then the way you called the rest of my team Neanderthals, which was an accurate description of them by the way, was a huge hint” I laughed still looking in his eyes. Hearing someone walking towards us, I let my hand drop but didn’t break eye contact just in time to see Charlotte out of the corner of my eye before she paused. Lowering my voice to a whisper, I said “I still wanna see where this can go. Even if it doesn’t go passed friendship, I’d still rather be able to talk to you like a normal human rather than the made up characters everyone believes either of us to be” before turning and walking away. As I left, I heard Charlotte run towards Harley before loudly asking “are you okay? What was all that about?”
“I’ll tell you later when I manage to figure it out myself” he says taking in a shaky breath. Pausing to glance back over my shoulder, I saw tears running down his face before Charlotte said “oh honey. I know how you feel. Is there any way there might be something there?”
“He hinted at it but I’m terrified Char. I don’t want to be broken any more than I already am” he said wiping his tears.
“You aren’t broken baby and nothing good ever happens without fighting for it. This could be the push you need to finally get out from under your dads control and start living the life you want for yourself” she said hugging him before gently getting him inside his car and then driving away. Looking down at the ground, I turned and walked over to my car to head home for an hour before I had to come back for pregame warm ups.
Arriving home, I quickly rush inside to find mom and Grace sitting at the dining room table waiting for me.
“Hey guys” I said taking a seat in at the table.
“Hi sweetie” mom said followed by Grace asking “why do you look so down and distracted?”
“Okay, so I’ve had a crush on this one boy since eighth grade and I’ve just kind of told him about it today. I’m a little scared he’ll reject me but that’s not what I’m worried about right now. I asked him to come to the game tonight but I don’t know if he actually will though” I said looking down at my hands on the table top.
“Baby, it’s okay. Just breath and have faith that he’ll show up tonight” mom said taking my hands in hers. After a minute, Grace said “I think he’ll show up just give him a little time to work through the shock of finding out.”
“Okay, thanks guys” I said then glancing at the clock on the wall, I realized “crap, I’ve only got another half hour before I’ve got to get back for warm ups.”
“Alright, then let’s eat” mom said releasing my hands to sit back up in her seat. The next twenty or so minutes passed in a comfortable silence as we ate dinner together. Once we were finished, I helped clear the table but was told to head back to the school when I tried to help wash the dishes. As I was heading out to my car, Grace called to me from the doorway “little brother, try not to let whether he shows up or not distract you from playing your best. I know you only do it for fun but you should at least play your best even if you can’t show off to the one person you want to show off for.”
“Thanks for the pep talk sis” I said getting into my car to head back to the school.
Comments (1)
See all