Page 4 of Footlights and Forever

“So what did Austin say to you anyways?” Hailey’s foot nudged my calf.

“Nothing of any importance.” I shrugged. “He asked if I was okay, told me to wait around, and asked to hang out.” I rushed out the last part.

“He asked you to what?” Hailey’s voice boomed over the class. Her wide eyes and excited expression suddenly tightened as she realized the volume of her previous outburst. She turned slowly to the rest of the class and put her hands up. “Sorry everyone,something happened on Angel last night, and Dylan was just filling me in.” She smiled sweetly at the teacher before gesturing for her to finish.

Mrs. Henstridge was very clearly only in this profession for a paycheck that would let her get by and not for the academic advancement of those she taught. She seemed to fold in on herself under Hailey’s smile before turning back to the chalkboard as suggested.

“He asked you to what?” she whispered fairly loudly in my ear, the heat from her breath warming the skin on my neck. A flush of goosebumps ran down my spine making me shiver. “Where is he anyways?” she asked to no one, while looking around the Austin-less classroom. Austin had somehow managed to scrape together enough credits from his last semester to move up to AP Calculus. I’d noticed as the class had begun that he hadn’t taken his normal seat behind us with Carlee. I had just assumed he had gone off somewhere to high five or bump chests with Garrett somewhere While screaming bro at the top of their lungs.

“He asked me to stay and hang out, so I got my ass out of there.” I bit through my teeth, picking up my pen and making a rather large show of paying attention to the board.

“Woah, woah, woah now!” Hailey slapped her hand down on mine, which was resting palm down on the table. “Do you mean to say that the hottest guy in school asks you to hang around and you what? Just walked away.”

“Well…”

“And not just that, but haven’t you had like a big gay crush on Austin since uh… forever?” Her fingertips began to dig into the back of my hand frantically.

“Well, I wouldn’t say crush…”

“Dylan, baby honey, remember you used to doodle yours and his initials into covers of your sketchbooks.” I cringed at the memory of twelve-year-old me discovering I liked boys afterwatching Prince Eric in the Little Mermaid and wishing that I could magically wish myself to be a mermaid and have Austin as my Prince Eric, valiantly saving me from the evil clutches of a Garrett/Ursula hybrid.

“I guess I was just a little thrown and covered in ball sweat,” I grimaced.

“Why didn’t you stay and see what was up?” Her fingers prodded into my side.

“Because,” I said, batting her hand away, “he is just another dumb jock who would sooner kick my ass that actually spend time with me.”

“I don’t know about that,” a deep voice whispered in my ear. I dared not turn my head as I knew he was so close that our cheeks would touch, and that would be game over for me. My spine stiffened as that familiar scent wafted across my face. I fought every natural innate urge I had to greedily inhale and keep his scent for myself. His breath was sweet and spicy like peppermint. My eyes shifted to Hailey, her own wide and unblinking. A wide smile formed on her face as she stared at the man whose face was currently only an inch from my own. “I think I just wanted to hang out with you, but I got turned down. Can you believe that, Hailey?”

“I honestly can’t believe anything at the moment.” She barked out a laugh.

I moved my head away from his and turned to face him. A teasing smile played on his lips as he gave me a quick wink.

“I… well um… What I meant to say was… I was trying to…” I stammered out words, the end of each of my sentences swallowed up by the next.

“No, no,” he shook his head quickly. “You meant what you meant. I’m a just another gorgeous big dumb jock huh?”

My face felt as if it had suddenly ignited into bright flames. “I mean that could mean a thousand different things.” I threw upmy arms in an odd surrender and craned my neck to search for the help of my best friend. “Right Hailey?”

“I don’t know.” She clicked her tongue inside her cheek. “Dumb jock is quite harsh.” I mouthed the word traitor at her as she preened like the cat who got the cream. “How are you, Austin?” Hailey leaned across him and smiled.

“I’m good, although a little hurt.” His mocking voice earned him a withering glare from yours truly.

“Okay, have we finished with the ‘making fun of me’ portion of this little play?” I leaned forward, resting my head on the wooden desk in front of me and squeezing my eyes shut tightly, hoping against hope that if I prayed long enough, they would both disappear.

“Okay, okay,” Hailey’s hand rested between my shoulders. “I’m just going to run to the bathroom anyway. Austin, do you mind keeping my seat warm?” I turned my glare towards her as she shrugged, moving quickly towards the door. I felt Austin slide into the seat next to me. Without even turning, I could feel his gaze burning into the side of my face. Beads of sweat began to form at the small of my back as my heart decided it was the right time to test out the durability of my ribcage by thrashing itself against it.

“Are you looking for an apology?” I sighed. I’d never known Austin to be an out-and-out bully like the rest of the jocks on the football team, but he had also never heard me insult him behind his back before either. I knew I needed to keep a healthy level of wariness about me, just in case he decided that being insulted by a nerd on the lowest rung of social ladder was not something he was willing to accept.

“Why would I want an apology, Dylan?” His teasing smirk left his face almost immediately, replaced by visible confusion on his brow.

“You know, because of all that,” I mumbled, waving my hands between the both of us.

“If you think I’m upset about you calling me dumb then you clearly haven’t spent much time around me and my friends,” he laughed. I hated how much of an effect the sound had on me, warming a deep part within my chest, sending tingles outwards down my arms to my fingertips. His laughter was.

“Clearly,” I deadpanned.

“Well let’s just say ‘dumb’ is almost a non-word,” he explains. “My pet name for Blaine Rogers is ‘giant cunt’ so yeah, we don’t have to worry about that.”

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