“Oh my god, Kian! Are you blind?” Teagan huffs. Leah and Mateo agree with her. I hate this sudden interrogation. Why did Caitlin have to have cheerleading practice today?
“I’m not blind, I’m just being realistic! What if she doesn’t want to date and wants to keep it with no strings attached!” I argue back.
“She wouldn’t say she “really likes you” then, you fucking dimwit!” Mateo grumbles, aggressively rubbing his temple.
“I’m not a dimwit, okay? Is it so wrong to be nervous?”
Leah raises her eyebrows, with a smug grin, “Oh, now you’re nervous? Didn’t you invite her over that night doing lord knows what?”
I flush at her words, Teagan shaking her head in disappointment while Mateo looks like he’s about to strangle me.
“We just…made out, nothing else,” I mumble, my face still red.
“Spare the details, please,” Teagan frowns in disgust before laughing.
“Okay, but seriously. What’s stopping you from…asking?” Mateo proposes once he’s calmed down.
I shrug. I know I’m overthinking all of this, but I’ve never really had a serious relationship before and I don’t want to fuck this up…
“Okay, fine. We’ll leave you alone..for now,” Leah hums, munching on the snacks. Thankfully, this shifts the conversation and we ramble about something else.
***
Tutoring has been fine. I feel a bit smarter than before, and my grades reflect it. And it might be decreasing our likelihood of fighting…I don’t know how, maybe because I can tolerate him more? All I know is that my counselor has never looked happier during the meet-ups.
Anyway, my current issue is the fact that my answer to this question has…too many zeros. “Uh, are you sure this formula is correct? My answer looks very wrong,” I mumble. The boy flips the paper to look.
He runs his hand through his hair in frustration, cursing under his breath. “It’s correct now,” he huffs. I flip the paper back, but my eyes don’t leave him. He’s been off this whole week, it’s starting to scare me…
“Woah, the genius himself made a mistake? It must be snowing in hell! –You got a fever or something?” I tease. Seriously, Anderson rarely makes mistakes! He says nothing, continuing to write in his notebook with a rather annoyed expression. Okay, then. I’ll go back to the worksheet…
Thankfully, my answer looks more appropriate this time. When suddenly, there is a knock at the door. Anderson hums, and entering is Ms. Rumine with a small tray of snacks.
“Sorry to bother you, boys. I figured you might be a bit hungry,” she smiles, setting down the snack bowls near us. I notice her glance at Anderson, pursing her lips before asking, “Do you feel a bit better, Andy?”
I dart my head at the boy, totally minding my own business. He lets out a drawn-out sigh, gritting his teeth, “Yes, I’m doing great...”
Ms. Rumine frowns a bit, “Okay, sweetie.” She turns to me with a soft smile, “Will you go home tonight, Kian dear?”
I nod, “Yeah, I've got some chores to do.” She gives me a soft smile before heading back downstairs.
I rub my nape nervously, glancing at Anderson again….Maybe the girls know what’s wrong?
***
The five of us hang out at the dining table as we play a game of Uno. Caitlin holds one card, and I have to figure out what possible color she has…
“Shit–I pick blue,” I blurt. We all look at the girl…when she swiftly places down a Blue 4. We all groan as Caitlin does a little dance in her seat.
“This game is rigged,” Mateo says while angrily throwing his cards on the table. Leah gathers the cards from everyone to shuffle when I ask her and Teagan about Anderson.
“Oh…I wanted to ask you guys something,” I say while looking at them, “Is Anderson alright? He seemed really off a few days ago for tutoring, it's kind of scary.” I mumble.
Teagan placed her soda can down to look at Leah, who stopped shuffling. She curses on her breath, falling back into her seat.
“I told you he wouldn’t be fine,” she whispers to Teagan.
“What could you have done?” She whispers back.
Mateo clears his throat, “Did…did something bad happen?”
Leah looks at him, letting out a deep sigh. “Um…we broke up,” she suddenly confesses. I notice Teagan frown at Leah, but she continues.
“I broke things off because…well, I didn’t hold the same feelings anymore –It was bound to happen, the whole situation is complicated,” Leah explains.
Teagan purses her lips with a gloomy expression, “He hasn’t gotten in touch with us since –We tried to tell him to join us, but he didn’t…”
Caitlin chimes in, with her elbows on the table, “I mean, you can’t blame him. It isn’t the best feeling to get dumped out of nowhere.” Mateo and I agree with her, it seems like a shitty situation to be in.
“Well, yeah but–” Leah stops mid-sentence as if she caught herself from saying something else. “ –Yeah, I’m just going to give him space…” I squint my eyes as I watch her, something seems suspicious. And now I'm more curious! Damn it!
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