I also wanted to escape, but my mysterious attraction to this unknown guy had kept me in place, still staring at him like I was petrified in stone. Prior to meeting him, he never existed in the realm that was my younger years or the whole of Brindlewood. Why had I never met him before that moment? Why didn’t his face appear in any of my memories of my life in Brindlewood?

“You okay?” his voice cut into my thoughts.

“Oh… um… yeah, just got lost in thought is all” I sputtered, feeling my cheeks heat up again. Again.

“Ah okay, well I think we need to get to class” he explained, his head gesturing to the diminishing number of students in the hallway, “It’s starting to look like a ghost town out here, I swear I saw a tumbleweed tumbling down the hall.”

It was my turn to laugh. 

Unlike him, my reason for laughing was that he actually used that phrase in a sentence. He smiled at the sound of my laughter, the sight of his smile triggering my blush once more as I tried to control it between bouts of laughter. Overhead the warning bell sounded letting us know that we had less than 10 minutes before we were left for class. We froze in shock from the sound of the bell, our eyes meeting as we realized that we needed to part in order to not be late. 

“Well looks like we gotta go… um…” he looked at me confused before looking embarrassed, “Oh shit, I never got your name.”

This time I chuckled, “It’s Tristan. Tristan Matthews.”

He hit me with a soft smile once more, my blush threatening to rush my face again, “Hello Tristan, I’m Gage, nice to meet you.”

“Hello Gage” I smiled, my internal self swooning at the way that he said hello.

He gave me one last smirk, turning to lightly jog down the hallway towards his first class of the day, my—

A startled breath broke me from my memories, my head tilting down to the groggy face of my best friend, his face looking confused as if he wasn’t mentally aware of his surroundings. Gage blinked his eyes a few times before nuzzling into my stomach once more, his arms tightening around my midsection. My heart fluttered at the feeling, a gentle smile pulling at my lips, his body getting comfortable once more with a satisfied sigh exiting his lips. His body unconsciously resting deeply into mine, my thighs instinctively gripping his body to mine. With another startled sigh he picked his head up once more, his eyes looking out the window next to us, seeing that the sun had started to go down. 

My parents had yet to get home from work, so it wasn’t like they would have caught us in our compromising position anyway. Confusion filled his face as he picked up his phone from beside, checking all the notifications that filled the screen. 

“Oh shit!” he yelled, pushing himself off of me and jumping instantly to his feet.

“What’s wrong?” I lifted myself onto my elbows, watching him struggling to get his shoes on and look for his things. 

“I forgot that I’m supposed to meet Brent and them at Kay’s in like 5 minutes.”

“Oh, why the big hurry? It's not like they would mind you being late, you don’t have to rush” 

He looked at me for a few seconds, his actions frozen in time before he slowly continued to gather his things, “You know I wouldn’t leave Brent hanging like that.”

“Yeah I know, but I wanted to talk to you about something.” 

“Like right now?” he asked, pulling his hoodie over his head.

“Yeah that's why I’m sure they won’t mind you being late.”

An incredulous look passed over his face as he started to slip on his shoes, “Well make it quick, I did tell them I would be there.”

“What is this?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” he replied, looking confused before he grabbed his bookbag. 

“What is this between us?”

He froze before putting his things into his bag, “I don’t get what you mean?”

It was my turn to look incredulously, “Gage, you’re gonna tell me that for the better part of the last two hours, you being wrapped completely around me meant nothing?” 

“It means that you’re my best friend.”

He was refusing to look at me.

“Did the other times over the last few months mean the same thing? Because I feel like this needs to be addressed.” 

He was completely ready to leave when he finally looked at me, that same soft smile grazed his face, “That you’re my best friend and I love you, that's what it means. Does it have to mean anything else?”

I stared at him for what seemed like a long time, “I love you too Gage, but I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I think we need to talk it out.”

“Tristan, you’re making this more complicated than it needs to be. We’re two guys who happen to be best friends, confidants, and each other’s backbone, I don’t think there's anything else that needs to be talked about.” he looked at his watch before hooking his backpack to his arm and heading towards my bedroom door. 

I got up from my bed as he moved quickly, following him to the door, “I’m not really sure, I still think we need to sit down and talk just to be on the same page.”

He stopped in the doorway at my words with his back to me, my movements halting just behind him, making sure he wouldn’t leave without answering me. 

“Tristan, you know you’re my best friend and that I care about you right?” he asked, still facing away from me.

“Well of course” I replied, feeling slightly anxious at his words.

“Isn’t that enough?”

I gave his back a hard stare, “It will be enough when we talk about it.”

“Alright, we’ll talk about this, but not today,” he sighed before turning around, his face giving me that soft look that he always gave me, “But soon.”

“Cross your heart?” I asked, searching his chocolate eyes.

“And hope to die” He replied, the softness never leaving his eyes as he crossed a finger across his chest. 

I nodded, watching him turn and leave, his footsteps banged loudly through-out my empty home as he made his way to the front door. My body had a mind of its own, my feet moved so that I could reach the window on the other side of my room, looking down at the white Volvo that Gage owned. His headlights flashing brightly in the dimness of dusk, the sun starting to set off in the distance. My mind raced as I continued to wonder if his promise was genuine or something to make me drop the subject; the elephant in the room that we didn’t dare speak of as things changed. 

His headlights grew smaller in size in the distance, disappearing completely once his car turned the corner off of my street and into the maze that was my housing development. My anxiety sat in the back of my mind along with my racing thoughts, his words echoing in my head like a silent whisper, taunting me with its hidden promises. We did need to talk about everything from our most recent summer and the elephant that had taken up residency within the privacy of my room. 

“And hope to die”

Those words would haunt me if they turned out to be a lie.