I slapped Grayson Williams in the face for kissing me.
He wasn’t stupid, but he was dumb enough to believe almost every gay person in the world and every girl was attracted to him. All in all, he was obsessed with himself. And more than anything, he’d become obsessed with me.
“If you’re gonna kiss me,” I told him. “I would rather you have chapstick on.”
His face turned as red as a tomato. “You-take that back,” he said. Unfortunately, Grayson was stronger than me, and 6 '0, so he pushed me up against the brick wall with almost no problem. “Take it back, Delcan Heslop.”
I smirked. “Make me, Grayson Williams.”
His unattractive face scooted closer to mine, and I pushed my head against the wall to keep from looking at it. Some people just think they’re such bad⟴es when they push you up against a wall. Honestly, it’s stupid, unless you can pull it off.
I wonder if Ezra ever could.
“Are you listening to me, Delcan?” Grayson questioned, lifting up my chin with his large hand. I scrunch my face in disgust, watching the sweat drip off of him. Ugh. I would much rather be with someone else right now. “Did you hear what I told you?”
I pushed him off of me, thankful to feel the ground under my feet. “Are you always this stupid?” I asked him. He turned his head to the side while I watched students from oakwood file out, none of them bothering to do anything more than a simple shocked face and whisper before leaving. It was normal to see Grayson trying to harass me, but never working. “Or is today a special occasion? Were you rejected for the millionth time today?”
Grayson laughed. “You think you’re sooooo slick, huh?” he asked me.
I nodded. “Yeah, yeah I do.”
“You’re with someone,” he said, pressing the question like it was the biggest thing in the world. I raised my eyebrow. Though I felt my heart pick up its pace, it wasn’t like I had any right showing any signs that I was with Ezra. He could come out on his own time while I deal with idiots. “And I swear to God, Delcan, I’ll find out who it is.”
I shrugged. “Good luck with that,” I told him. “You’ve got quite the age range to choose from.”
His thin lips curled up into a smile. “He’s a rich kid, ain’t he?” I raised an eyebrow, watching his hand as he moved it to my waist. I wouldn’t slap him unless he tried grabbing me. This just made him think he had control. “He’s rich or something and he’s probably white-“
“You’re white.”
“And he probably isn’t even out yet, right? His little family probably got something against it, and you. Everyone’s family hates you.”
I leaned into him. “Do you?”
That seemed to catch him by surprise because he looked at me with his mouth open. “I-“
“Look, whatever your issues are right now, I don’t need you inflicting them onto me. You’re a creep, almost worse than Lucas.”
Grayson looked confused. “Lucas is the one who-“
“Lucas is the one who will ever have enough money to pay for how much he harassed me,” I told him. All in all, it was kind of a lie, since I let him do that. “You are too poor to even pay for a kiss.”
Grayson rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Delcan.”
“Can I go now? Or do you still wanna keep being dumb?”
Grayson crossed his arms over his large chest, taking his hand off my waist. “You’re being offensive, Delcan.” His face was red from the sun, and I almost cringed from how much sweat was on his body.
“If you hate me being offensive, I suggest you stop kissing me every time you feel like it.”
Grayson shrugged. “Would yo rich boyfriend be angry that we’re kissing?” he asked.
I smiled. “He could possibly attack you,” I said. “And he’s got this…..aggressive side to him that’s super hot in bed.”
I don’t know why I was lying like this. I guess I was just trying to get him off my back. But still, the thought of an aggressive Ezra made my blood run.
Grayson stepped back. “Get out of my face.”
“Gladly.”
I walked off as Grayson shouted out insults to me, most of them being about how I’m Cuban and how my mom was young when she had me - like they weren’t facts. Everyone knew that.
About three seconds through my walk, I noticed how oddly quiet it was. I lived in a neighborhood that always had kids outside playing or some type of dog running away from home. There was always some party going on - which I could never attend - while the elder neighbors sat outside in the sun, giving me dirty looks as I passed.
I may have flipped off that old man once or twice.
Today, it was silent. It doesn’t happen often, and when it does I always wonder if somebody died or something. It was really the only logical explanation.
When I opened up my front door, I was more than shocked to see my sister and Evelyn Gatley standing there with their arms crossed.
“Oh…” I spread my arms open wide, serenading our guest. “Bienvenido a nuestra casa.”
Evelyn’s big blue eyes seemed like she was trying to comprehend what I had said, but gave up halfway through. She probably knew what casa meant, though. “Did he-doesn’t matter. I’m here to talk to you.”
“I think standing there is working.”
Callie sighed. “He’s defensive,” she said. “You have to understand that his brain doesn’t like processing anything but sarcasm and dirty jokes.”
Lie. There was a lot worse than that.
“I need to talk to you,” Evelyn said again. “It’s important.”
I rolled myself onto the couch in the living room, feeling my phone vibrate in my hand. If was probably a text from Grayson or something, one that gave me satisfaction to ignore.
“Go on.”
Evelyn turned to my sister. “Is he always like this?”
“No,” Callie responded. “It’s worse when Ezra is in the room.”
“Speaking of my loving and brainless brother…” Evelyn began. The minute she had said that I already knew I was about to get a full-on speech about how I don’t know what I’m doing. She’ll probably threaten to take my manhood again, which I don’t believe she could do. “Can I ask you something?”
“You strike me as the type of person who doesn’t care what I say.”
“Have you ever been on a date before?”
I paused before answering her. One reason was for dramatic effects, but the second one was because the answer was no. Dating isn’t exactly the one thing people who were paying me were into, and Lucas never took the time with me as he did for Karla.
“Why does that matter?”
“Because!” Evelyn whined. I turned my head, sitting up just as she stopped jumping. “Ezra is a romantic and loving guy! And he needs more attention than making out.”
I tilted my head to the side. “He told you that?”
“No,” Callie said, rolling her eyes. I almost smiled from how much shorter my little sister was to Evelyn. Like her brother and their older brother, Eric, who is 6’5, Evelyn was taller than normal people. And Callie and I were shorter than average, making it pretty embarrassing to be standing next to a Gatley. “Their little brother told her.”
I smirked. “He did.”
Callie’s look of annoyance changed. “You kissed in front of a ten-year-old child?”
Evelyn began smiling as I talked. “No,” I told my sister. “Emmanuel walked in on Ezra kissing me. I was innocent.”
“Not from what Emmanuel said,” Evelyn muttered.
“What did you want again?”
Evelyn put her hands on her hips. Honestly, if I was into girls, I could see myself having a crush on her. She’s a shade lighter than Ezra is, but she’s got a beautiful athletic figure and blue eyes that could almost pierce into your soul. On top of that, she’s a strong woman, and I respect that. “My brother.”
“It’s all about him,” I thought out loud.
“Look, I know it’s not really my place to ask about this stuff and everything...but you two need to decide what the relationship is.” I rolled my eyes as Evelyn shrugged. “I suggest the best way is to date. Dates always help people get to know each other, plus it’ll allow the two of you to talk instead of a kiss.”
I furrowed my eyebrows. “How much does he tell you?”
“Evvie and I know how much you like getting bitten and kissed on the neck,” Evelyn responded, her face straight.
She didn’t even know the half of it. I wouldn’t deny liking those things, but I get more annoyed than I am aroused. When he would try biting my lip, he’d crack up laughing, saying it was funny or too weird, and then he’d start kissing me again. Ezra was good at kissing my neck though, which he would only do with a peck before asking if we could actually kiss.
“Yeah...and?”
Callie tossed her hair to the side. “Ew,” she declared. “Could you imagine a hickey issue?”
I held my hands up when Evelyn scrunched her face up. “We’re getting off-topic,” I said. When I tilted my head, she raised an eyebrow. “Unless that’s what you wanted to talk about.”
“You’re disgusting.”
“Go on, sweetheart.”
Evelyn crossed her arms over her chest. “Like what I was saying, I think you and Ezra should go out. It’ll be good for the relationship.”
“What relationship?” I asked her. “I don’t know if you know this or not, but he’s the one who wants to keep this stuff private. He’s the one who’s still in the closet.”
“Good observation, Sherlock,” Callie muttered under her breath.
“Shut up.”
Evelyn ignored the glare my sister and I gave each other as she started to speak again. Turned out, she’s a lot like Momma, who won’t ever admit how much she cares about the well-being of her loved ones, even though she’ll never admit that.
“I don’t want Ezie to not be in a good spot,” Evelyn said, her voice sounding honest and genuine. “If my parents find out ...he'll need someone to turn to other than us. And-“
“I care about him,” I interrupted. It was true, I did, and much more than I had intended to. I knew that he was gentle and he allowed himself to get hurt for others. I also knew that sooner or later, I would ruin him.
Evelyn modded. “I get that,” she said. “But I think both of you will feel better if you decide it’s an actual relationship or not.”
Okay…
“I’m guessing you’re trying to mean cheating,” I told her. When Evelyn’s blue eyes got larger, I knew she felt bad. “Ezra cheated on me, technically speaking. And I can’t help it if people like me ...but it’s not like I’ll get involved.”
My little sister leaned into Evelyn, barley going to her shoulder. “You owe me ten bucks.”
“Awesome,” she shrugged.
“Again, is there some type of point?”
Callie looked back over to me. “Yeah,” she said. “To be honest, Evelyn and I want you and Ezra to be boyfriends.”
I was not excited about people saying that.
“That’s my decision.”
“My dad would be pissed,” Evelyn explained.
Before I could cut in, Callie continued. “And Momma and Dad would give you more attention.”
I rolled myself into the couch, thinking about the first time Ezra had gotten mad at me. I may have been stalking his location through Snapchat, and I met up with him in the grocery store, where he was shopping with his mom. I guess he didn’t find it cute when I would do inappropriate things with the food items while his mom was turned around.
Ezra later didn’t exactly yell at me, but he raised his voice when I told him it was a joke. I never held it against him, because I knew what it was like to be scared of your own shadow. He got too annoyed to stay with me and left, leaving me on read for the first (and only) time in our relationship.
Then, at about 1:00 in the morning, I got a call from Ezra (and since I was 100% asleep, he left a voicemail). “Hey,” he had whispered. “I-I am so sorry about what happened to you. I-there was no reason to yell...at you. I really like you, Delcan, but I don’t know why I acted like that. I’m not-I swear to you I’m not a bad person. I-I don’t yell often and I didn’t mean to yell at you. Please forgive me. I-I am so sorry again. This probably sounds pathetic enough as it is...I think-okay bye.”
It was...weird. Weird, but adorably awkward.
I laid my head back on the couch, pretending I was about to go to sleep. My heart fluttered when I told Callie and Evelyn: “I’ll think about it.”
Thirty minutes later, I was staring at my phone, unsure if I should actually do it. A guy who I knew was friends with Ezra had given me his number not long after the last bell for the 8th period rang. He actually did it in a pretty aggressive way, his handsome face scrunching up a bit as he looked me up and down. “If you ⟴ up my best friend, I will kill you,” he told me.
I smiled, leaning back against the wall. “How loyal you are.”702Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkNC2VNwfD
The guy seemed to loosen up. I’m pretty sure Ezra had mentioned something about his two friends, Adam and Thomas, and I’m guessing the one I was speaking to was Adam. The other scrawny one seemed to have a pretty big problem with me. Whatever his issue was, I didn’t really care. “Will you not treat him badly?” he asked. “Ezra’s a loyal dude, and he gives people his heart without even thinking. I’m only trusting you because he really seems to.”
I tilted my head to the side. In the back of my mind, the child inside of me who spent their time jumping around with my baby sister began screaming heavily. He talks about me to his friends, he talks about me to his friends. “Ezra told you about us?” I questioned.
Who I’m assuming was Adam shook his head. “No,” he admitted. “But I’ve known him long enough to understand when he’s hiding things. And trust me, Ezra hides a lot of things from those around him.” Dang it, I thought to myself, shoving one of my hands into my pockets while Adam dug into the pocket of his jacket. He pulled out a slip that looked like a really crappy business card. “Call me if you need to.”
“What would I call you for?”
Adam shrugged. “I don’t think you know as much about Ezra as I do, Delcan Heslop.”
Now, here I was, sitting in the corner of my bedroom, deciding if I should call up Adam Hunter or not. He didn’t seem rude or anything at all, but I wondered how chill he would be about his best friend's boyfriend (but not really, as it seems Ezra doesn’t like labels too much). Then again, Ezra was one of his closest friends, and I’m sure Gatley has anxiety attacks at least once a year.
This is crazy.
I shouldn’t have told Evelyn and Callie I would think about it. I just thought they would continue telling me how good it would be if I did it. I don’t really know if I’m ready to actually start dating. I don’t even know what people do on dates.
And now I’m back to Adam.
Stop being crazy, Heslop, I told myself. Grunting, I pressed call on his contact. In a matter of seconds, Adam had answered me. I’m pretty sure it was after the third or fourth ring.
“Hello?”702Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2eJy7D1Qbb
“Hey,” I muttered.
Adam’s voice made him seem like he was caught off surprise. “Oh crap,” he said. “Hey, Delcan. What’s up?”
I stood up, closing my door behind me. Evelyn and Callie were downstairs, cheering and laughing with each other about who knows what. I turned back around and looked into the mirror, smirking at how good I looked in my blue sweatshirt.
“I just have a quick question.”
Adam made a noise like he was wanting me to continue. “Tell me.”
I sighed, surprising myself on how dramatic I sounded. “What the hell do you do on a date?”
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