||Wattys 2022 Shortlist||
Kian Advani was a closeted queer in his high school. Always in denial of his true feelings and emotions. So much so that he did everything to blend in with the rest of the straight crowd. But that didn't mean he wasn't att...
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3 years ago
Derek's after-game parties were not to be taken lightly. Kian knew better than to be at his house. But when you're trying hard to blend in the crowd, you have no other option than to follow them along. The very lamb to the slaughter style, but Kian was willing to try every trick that made him appear as casual as everyone else when around Enzo.
And man, was it easy. Not in the least.
It started in sixth grade during a swimming tryout. The Italian boy had one of his panic attack episodes midway through his laps, and Kian had jumped in record time to pull him out of the water even before the lifeguard. As he pumped at Enzo's chest to squeeze out water from his lungs and later gave him the infamous CPR, Kian had no idea it wasn't just the fear of losing his friend but way more than that. He had grown fond of Enzo. The way Enzo smiled, the way he swaggered around the school corridors as if he owned every inch of the place, the way Enzo was good at every sport he played, and the way Enzo beat the shit out of bullies.
"Are these just to look like an intellectual, or you're blind?" Everett took him by surprise after one of the chemistry classes. He was waiting for Kian outside, waiting to pull off his glasses and toss them to his friends. Kian could hardly make out their faces due to the blurred vision in the absence of his second set of eyes. But from whatever he could see, Everett looked pissed. Probably because he couldn't answer his turn during an oral quiz on the periodic table, and Kian did.
"They're to set assholes like you in their right places." Kian deadpanned, tugging his bag higher up his shoulder and taking a wary glance at the staffroom, praying for anyone from the faculty to come out and set the prick in his place.
Everett sniggered in his scratchy voice and gave off his ugly smiles. "This mouthy behavior doesn't go well with your nerdy look, Kiki. But this time, I'll let you go. Next time don't try to outsmart me in front of the entire class."
Before Kian could collect the right words for his comeback, he heard a crunching sound followed by their mocking laughter. Kian didn't need his glasses to know what he had done. Because his glasses were right under Everett's shoes, crushed down to shards.
His jaw locked in fury, and his fists were ready to land right across Everett's shin, but someone beat him to it. It was Enzo. Right above Everett's body, lying next to Kian's dismantled glasses. Enzo was in his soccer jersey and athletic shorts, his face red and sweaty. He looked furious and breathtaking both. Kian wished he had a clear vision or at least his glasses on.
Moments after Everett and his friends disappeared from the hallway, groaning out curses, Kian was once again hyper-aware of Enzo's presence. Enzo picked up the twisted frame and gazed up at him with a helpless look on his face. "I don't think it can be fixed."
Kian sat beside him, took the frame from his hands, and couldn't help but smile. "You didn't have to kick his ass, you know."
"What? I didn't kick his ass for you. I did it because he broke the glasses I gifted you on your birthday. That was my month's worth of savings." He sighed, then picked up the remains of his gift and threw them in the dustbin. "Do you have spare glasses?"
