Dusk (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 19 - Bitter

I sat on the inner corner of the booth and watched the cars stop and go at the intersection outside. The diner was packed full of students, their voices all raised in delight as they talked about the game and their plans for the rest of the night.

"Hey Rowan, good game!" A few girls said in high-pitched tones as they passed our booth. I turned back to see Rowan giving them a kind smile before they left, giggling all the way back to their table.

Seventh group of girls to come by...

I found myself staring at him and averted my gaze just as he turned to look at me. I directed it down to the burger on my plate. My appetite was non-existent. Why'd I even order anything at all?

Erik was talking about the game to Rowan who was nodding along, letting him exhaust himself.

"Are you okay? You haven't eaten anything." Lucy said to me in a low tone. Erik was still talking, but I could feel Rowan's eyes flicker towards me. I gave her a reassuring smile and nodded.

"I'm not that hungry. Do you want any?" I said, pushing my plate towards her. She frowned and looked down at it.

"I can go get you something else if you don't want this-"

"No thanks, I ate a lot of popcorn at the game. I'm just not hungry." I said, hoping she'd drop it. Lucy nodded and picked up one of my fries, popping it in her mouth.

It felt weird being out in public with Rowan. The attention that'd been on him during the basketball game had stayed, and even spread to us. I didn't like it. I didn't know how he was so used to it.

"Are you guys ready to get going?" Erik said, nodding towards the door.  He'd finally stopped interrogating Rowan on a play-by-play review of the game.

"Sure!" Lucy said enthusiastically before looking at me. I didn't want to go, but I also didn't want to ruin her weekend back home.

"Yeah." I said after a moment. We shuffled out of the booth and went to the front counter to pay. People said things to Rowan as we passed by, congratulating him on the win, even some staff held up their tables to say a few words. Just being near him made me feel suffocated.

When we'd reached the outside, I took a breath of cool air and relaxed. I'd never been like this. Until Ray. I didn't feel comfortable around strangers anymore, whether it was one or many.

We were only about two blocks from the party, so Erik suggested we walk. I felt my stomach drop as Lucy skipped up ahead to chat with him leaving Rowan to walk next to me alone.

Shit.

I kept my hands in my pockets and listened to Lucy's laughter from up ahead, trying to distract myself from the fact that he was right next to me. This was the one situation I wanted to avoid. The silence between us was loud, and I almost wanted to congratulate him again on his game but my mind kept reminding me of the night we'd talked in the car.

I crossed my arms around my chest, trying to pick out words from Lucy and Eriks conversation up ahead to distract myself. I felt Rowan shift beside me and snuck a glance at him. His hands were in his pockets and it looked like there were many thoughts swimming behind his eyes.

"So?" He said all of a sudden. He turned to me, and I felt my body tense.

"So... what?" I replied. What did he want me to say?

"Well, you never answered my message."

His last message had told me I didn't need to avoid him. Well I'm not now. I thought to myself, I came to the game didn't I?