The Mouse and The Wolf | Gay BxB |

1. Wasted Chance

[Welcome to this little short story about how Jaden's parents Rayleigh and Thisalee met!]

*****

-Rayleigh-

I saw her again. Thisalee. Seeing her was the highlight of my day. We were in the same college, but she was two years older than me and had a different major, so I rarely saw her. But when I did...

She clearly cared about her looks, but in a natural way. She was tall. She had long, black hair, but in the sun, you could see a hint of brown in the color. She had a nice body and was quite muscular. I assumed she worked out a lot since she was a cheerleader. She had perfect, arching eyebrows over her big eyes. I didn't know what color they were because I hadn't seen them up close. Mainly because I was a coward.

I didn't have the guts to go talk to her, especially since she already had a boyfriend. The guy was big, popular, and most of all, handsome. We called him Pretty Boy behind his back. I was tall as well, but that was about it. I had no time to work out much, and my genes were leaning more towards ugly stick figures. I had no business talking to her.

I leaned against the wall just behind a corner, hiding from the sun. I could see most of the campus in front of me. She was sitting on a bench nearby, wearing a black skirt and a long-sleeved shirt that had wide black and white stripes on it. She had golden hoops hanging from her ears, and she had let her long hair free. She looked good. She was surrounded by a bunch of friends, as always. Pretty Boy wasn't there though.

The moments passed, and I tried to not look like a creep while watching her from afar. I was waiting for my friends, who were taking their sweet time to come meet me. We rarely had time to hang out since we all had a massive amount of schoolwork to do. It was almost impossible for four people to find time to meet up, but today we were at least supposed to go out to grab something to eat.

The first one to arrive was my roommate, Ezra. He was almost as tall as me, but skinnier, if that was even possible. His short, grayish-brown hair was a mess, as usual. He had dark circles under his eyes, and he was pale.

"You all right?" I asked when he slouched over to me.

"Am I alive?" he asked.

"Barely," I said with a frown.

"Then I'm good," he said and yawned. "I pulled an all-nighter to get one of the assignments done..."

"You need to sleep more," I noted.

"Sleep is for the weak," he said and shrugged, looking over the campus yard. "Hey, Thisalee is there," he said with a smirk.

"Really? Didn't even see her," I said casually.

"Yeah, right..." Ezra chuckled, but didn't continue with the topic.

The rest of our little group, Ryder and Kevin, arrived only a few minutes later. Ryder was the average jock with more interest in sports than actual studies and was the size of a small mountain. Kevin, on the other hand, looked almost comically small next to him with his tiny frame. But where Ryder was slow and calm by nature, Kenny was the sarcastic, sassy asshole, who everyone loved, nonetheless.

I'd known Ryder since elementary school, and I considered him my brother. I met Ezra on the first day of college, when we became roommates, and he had become the person to whom I spilled my deepest secrets and worries. He was more sensitive than the others, and I could trust him to not tell anyone else about my matters. Ryder was a bit of a jackass in that department. Kevin was Ezra's old friend, so naturally, he had become a part of our group soon after. He was a great guy, always making sure that everyone was having fun, and he was the first one to jump into fights – and start them – to help a friend, even though he was so tiny. He had his peculiarities, like talking by himself and disappearing so fast it felt like he just vanished into thin air, but he was always there when needed.

"I'm so hungry..." Ezra muttered as we started walking.

I peered at Thisalee for one last time, but for my disappointment, Pretty Boy was now there, one arm around her shoulders. I let out a small sigh, and turned to look where I was going, and I saw Ezra looking at me. He gave me a sympathetic look, and I shrugged in defeat. He was the only one who knew I liked Thisalee, and he had encouraged me to go talk to her multiple times, but even he gave up after a while. After seeing Pretty Boy.

There was no way I could win against Pretty Boy, and everyone knew that.

Much later that day, when Ryder and Kevin went their separate ways, and Ezra and I were making our way to our dorm, I was surprised to see Thisalee on the other side of the yard, talking to a friend. Ezra gave me a smirk when he spotted her. As we got closer, her friend waved goodbye, and left, leaving her completely alone.

"Now's your chance," Ezra whispered.

"Dude – no... She's not going to talk to me! Why would a girl like her talk to a guy like me?" I asked, trying to head towards the entrance, but he stopped me.

"Just go say hi! Walk past her or something! Make her know you exist!" he ordered in whispers.

"I'm only going to make a fool out of myself," I said.

"No balls," he said, crossing arms over his chest.

"Damn right no balls." I huffed.

"Suit for yourself. Be a coward and don't go talk to the girl of your dreams and die a lonely man."

"That's grim," I said and snorted.

"You don't know what happens if you don't try," he said, following me towards the door.

Thankfully, he shut his mouth as we got closer to her. I couldn't take my eyes off her, and she couldn't take her eyes off the phone. I had the feeling she was texting with that lover boy of hers.

I slowed down without even realizing it. She was so beautiful... And she was completely alone. That happened so rarely... I could go say hi. But no... I'd only make a fool out of myself. Or she would think I'm a creep or something. Or... Or she could say hi back? Nope. A girl like that would only say 'eww' at the sight of me. I mean, I was so average in every way possible. I didn't have the golden looks, and I certainly didn't have anything interesting to say, and –

She dropped her bag at that moment, and I could see even in the darkening yard that something flew out of it, rolling toward me. I stopped to stare at it. A lipstick? Lip gloss? Some sort of makeup thing anyway, and it stopped right next to my feet.

I picked it up while Thisalee was gathering her things, cursing her luck. I started walking towards her and noticed that the strap on her bag had snapped, which was why she dropped it.

"How much stuff do you have in there?" I asked as a joke when I went to give the lip-thingy back to her.

"A lot..." She sighed, and stood up, looking at my hand. She took the thing – whatever it was – and put it in her bag. "Thanks!"

I tried to think of something to say, but my head seemed to have decided to go into a complete error-mode in her presence. She was looking around, trying to see if she had missed something. I was running out of time, fast!

"Uhmm... I'm Rayleigh," I said so awkwardly I wanted to die on the spot. I looked at Ezra, who was shaking his head in disapproval.

"I'm Thisalee – thanks for helping me out – I have to go now," she said, and I turned to look at her.

She was already looking away. She then took her phone out again, glued her eyes on it, and started walking towards the street. A few seconds later, a car stopped close by, and my whole posture sank when I realized Pretty Boy was driving. I watched her sit down in the car, and the guy continued driving.

I didn't even see what color her eyes were...

"You know..." I heard Ezra walking slowly to me. "The god who made her bag fall is now facepalming because of you."

"I know I should've said something!" I groaned in frustration. "I just completely blacked out..."

"That was so lame..." He sighed. "Come on then, Prince Charming."

I let out a deep sigh, and followed him to the door, cursing myself so vigorously I almost made myself cry.