Page 13 of Unfix Me

“Ice skating.”

I was aware that I was repeating West’s words for no reason, but it just kept happening. When I was in middle school, I went ice skating. I hadn’t done it since and neither had my friends back home. There was every chance I’d fall on my face or break something.

“You look scared,” West taunted. He turned around and started walking backward. There was a grin on his face that I was starting to think was fixed in place.

“I’ll come, but I’m probably not going to skate.”

“Boring, but I’ll take it. Seven tomorrow, meet in parking lot B, otherwise you’re walking.”

He looked over my shoulder and his eyes lit up. With a wink at me, he took off, apparently finding someone else to talk to. I laughed and shook my head.

“Pretty sure he’s crazy.”

“He’s already a hit with the cheerleaders,” Kasey said. “The girls swoon over him. Too bad he’s off limits.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s gay.”

I stopped walking. “No, he isn’t.”

“Yeah, I watched him kiss a guy on the football field.”

My stomach roiled uncomfortably. West being gay didn’t make sense in my head. I wasn’t an idiot. I knew that people of every sexuality came in all shapes and sizes, but I still couldn’t conceptualize it. He didn’t fit into that category.

“Weird,” I muttered before I continued forward. “Do you want to come tomorrow?”

Her eyes widened, then she smiled. “Sure. I’m not good at it, though.”

“We can break our asses together. I’m sure you’ll humiliate me.”

“Can’t let a guy cling to his arrogance for too long.”

Lately, I felt more ignorant than anything. I was twenty years old, but I might as well have been fresh out of high school. Here I was, feeling shocked by some news that wasn’t even a big deal. I didn’t have any issue with men who liked other men. My parents weren’t a fan of the lifestyle, but in my opinion, it didn’t really matter. If they were happy with it, that was cool.

A wave of nausea made my throat feel tight. Why did I keep having this reaction?

“Hey, I gotta go,” I blurted, already heading toward Marshall Hall. “I’ll text you.”

I got to the building in less than a minute and took the stairs two at a time. By the time I reached my floor, I was at a near sprint. There were people lounging in the hallway and a few of them gave me weird looks. I slowed to a brisk walk and put a hand on my stomach.

As I neared my room, I saw Kai leaning against the wall talking to someone. When he saw me, his eyes widened.

“Sen, you good?”

Ignoring him, I rushed into the bathroom. I barely made it to the toilet before I was on my knees. There wasn’t much for me to throw up, but my body sure tried.

*****

It turned out that I was sick, not weak, so that was cool. A couple of the other guys in the building were in the same boat. I couldn’t say that I was too disappointed when I had to text West and cancel. He’d been super cool about it, of course, and made me promise not to bail on the next one.

I slept until almost noon and I just had to be glad it was Saturday. There wasn’t a hint of food in my stomach, which made me feel sicker, but I couldn’t imagine eating anything. If I thought about it, I had to run to the bathroom and dry heave until my body decided to have mercy on me.

My phone rang, drawing me out of sleep. I hadn’t even realized I’d passed out again. Fumbling around on the nightstand, I finally found it and pressed it to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Sen, what’s wrong? You sound horrible.”

---