THE JOCK JUST WANTS THE NERD [2]

41

||JACKSON||

I was making my way to the cafeteria alone to get some lunch when I came across Damian around the campus, "Oh hey, what's up man," he waved with a grin. Gesturing back at him, we began walking side by side, "I'm headed to get something to eat, wanna come with?" he asked.

"Oh, I was just heading there."

-

As we made way to the cafeteria, it thankfully wasn't packed and lines were satisfyingly short; although, it appears that there are a few groups studying together in the booths. Taking separate queues, I went to get some pizza while he still has yet to get a chicken salad and a protein shake. I was the first to get my food so I looked around to find a seat. This time, I perched myself on a bar stool with a tall table good enough for two. After waiting for a while, I see that Damian had finally received his food. He spots me hollering at him before he pulled out his phone to check something. I watched him near until I noticed a small person wearing a pink hoodie seemingly in a rush with books in arms in the distance. It was when I realized that at the rate they were both going, they would run into each other. "Damian, watch out!" I warned but was too late. He only manages to peer up to me in confusion when suddenly they bump into each other, dropping their belongings and scattered on the floor. The whole place went silent and I stared in horror as either looked at the scene they created. Damian towered over the smaller who fell on the ground, as he seemed shocked. "I-I'm so sorry!" the person apologized with such low confidence. All Damian did was stood still with the same expression.

I went over closer to them; when I did, who I assumed the other was a girl turned out to be a pretty feminine looking boy now that the hood of the sweater was off his head, "are you okay?" I held out my hand to him. He stares at me before accepting my help. Then, my eyes slowly drifted to Damian who sent glares, not to me, but towards the boy.

Fuck.

In the back of my head, I figured that because of these circumstances, he would be pissed at the little guy and or even disgusted. As a result, I used my body to border in between. Damian raises a brow at me questioningly. To be honest, I was a little frightened to deal with this situation with him, to intervene. What I expected to come out of his mouth to be homophobic and toxic masculine remarks, what he did next wasn't the way I predicted. Instead, he knelt down, picked up all the books and papers before handing them over to the boy, "I should be the one saying sorry..."

When he showed genuine sincerity, I was surprised myself. Damian frowned, nudging him to take his stuff. When the little guy finally took his possessions back, he blinks with concern, "Oh, thank you..." the tone of his voice still remained fearful but with more conviction. Then, it was when he noticed that Damian's food, aside from the protein shake, had spread everywhere. Panic surged once more, "I'm sorry..." the boy spoke.

Damian shook his head, "No, I wasn't looking where I was going, it's fine," He sounded the way he looked with such honesty.

Then, the boy quickly shoved his hands in his pocket and brought out a wallet, skimming through every bill before giving it to Damian, "please take it."

Damian paused, staring at his offer intently before apprehensively taking it. Just as he took the money, the boy quickly excused himself before speed walking away, looking from side to side to not repeat the same mistake. Soon, he sat down along with a group of girls who must have seen what had happened. "Are you okay dude?" I asked Damian who looked down at the palm of his hands that had about 10$.

"Yeah..."

He picked up his shake and asked me to hold it for a moment so he could clean up the mess. When we got most of the area spotless to the best of our ability, we got back to our seats, Damian only having his protein shake left. At this point, more people started coming and occupied the lengthy line. He mentioned that he wouldn't have time left if he went back to pick something up to eat. I said that he could have some of my pizza but politely declined. Seeing him, he acted like an entirely different person just then. While I enjoyed my own food, he took the time to bring out a laptop and paperwork from his backpack to task on.

-

"Are you sure you won't get hungry later?" I said as we stepped foot outside of the canteen.

"It's alright, I can get a snack in the gym vending machines," he shrugged casually.

We came to the point of separating to our ways, "see ya," Damian waved before heading to his next class. Waving back, I tilted my head before I went to the garden and made sure that it was doing okay. Whilst strolling around, I pulled out my phone and opened up my social media; scanned through stories, saw that Liam was still sending memes from our group chat, Ethan made a new account on Instagram...

Wait, what the hell?

I quickly double-checked to make sure my eyes aren't deceiving me. After confirming, I stared intently at his account.

He actually made one.