Noticing You (BoyxBoy)

Twenty-Four

Henotic
(Adj.)
Promoting peace.

Jess had got picked up by Isaac again on Tuesday morning. The first thing he did as he slid in the car was turn the heater on. Isaac chuckled at this.

"What?" Jess looked over with a smile.

Isaac just smiled and shook his head. For a moment Jess thought he wouldn't answer. However he did, "You're cute."

"That's something to laugh about now?" Jess taunted. They were both smiling playfully.

"Yeah."

Jess rolled his eyes and Isaac chuckled again. They started driving and so Jess clicked on the radio. He was pleasantly surprised to find it was his station already playing. A familiar song filled up the background noise of the car.

After they started getting closer to the school, Jess spoke. "Are you nervous?"

"No." Isaac smiled and Jess was relieved that it looked genuine. "I thought about it some last night and I'm really not. I've still got some friends and if people decide they don't want to be in my life over something stupid like this then I don't want them there anyway."

Jess grinned. "As long as you're happy."

Isaac reached over and held his hand. "I'm happy when I'm with you."

Jess's stomach flipped. The words soaked in through his skin and made his whole body feel warm. A wide smile spread across his face and he squeezed Isaac's hand as a response.

"You really are an elayne." Jess said quietly. Isaac was his little sunbeam. The light at the end of the tunnel. His elayne.

"I looked that up, by the way." Isaac said, looking proud of himself. "That night, after you went to sleep."

Jess raised his eyebrows. "Did you?"

"I did. You think I'm like.. a sunray? Light? I'm confused behind the meaning."

"A ray of light. That's you." Jess said. "You know when you're laying in a dark room and then there's a crack in the blinds or something so there's just like one perfect ray of light shining in? That's you. The perfect ray of light shining in the dark."

"That's very poetic of you." Isaac said with a big grin. Jess could see the little coloring in his cheeks though. He was blushing.

"I'm a poetic guy." Jess shrugged.

They reached the school and Isaac parked, turning off the car. He turned to face Jess and rested his head on the headrest of his seat. "I'll be okay."

"I love how you just assumed I'd be worried about you." Jess deadpanned.

"You were, weren't you?" Jess didn't answer. He couldn't because Isaac was right. "So, I'm telling you now. I'm going to be okay."

"Are you sure?" Jess couldn't help asking. He really was worried. Isaac had gotten really beat up about the little acceptance yesterday.

"I am sure. I'm going to walk in there and whoever talks to me, talks to me. Whoever ignores me or whispers about me, I'll pretend I can't tell. I'm not going to let some kids with old-fashioned beliefs ruin my day again. It's not worth it."

Jess smiled. "Okay, but if you want to ditch again just tell me."

Isaac shook his head. "I can't avoid this forever, and I can't keep dragging you down with me."

Jess frowned at the words. "You're not dragging me down."

"Still, I've gotta face it eventually. Better now than never, right?"