Green Light (GeminiFourth AU)

Chapter 16

♊4️⃣

The next day at lunch, I went up to the roof with Gemini. The sky was a patchwork of white and azure, and the clouds were twisty as they streamed by. It looked like the wind up there was real strong: the weather report this morning hadn't been lying when it said a typhoon was approaching.

I leaned against the fence and drank a carton of milk, glancing at Gemini from time to time. Gemini turned his face my way every so often, too. We were eyeing each other like we both had things we wanted to say. But we'd been exchanging nothing but small talk for a while.

"Huh, so then you and Mark made up."

"Don't call it "making up. You make it sound like we're kids."

"You think so? But it's a good thing!" Gemini smiled, as pleased as if he'd been the one to get a friend back. It was the same smile as always, but somehow I couldn't meet his gaze, and I averted my eyes. I was feeling shy and uncomfortable around him, and I couldn't settle down.

"I'm jealous of Mark, though. I want to be able to talk to you wherever I feel like it, too!" He ducked his head and sighed.

"You make such a big deal out of everything. We see each other like this now and then; isn't that enough?"

"No, it just makes me miss you. We're practically Romeo and Juliet here. Don't you think, oh Romeo?"

"Why don't you drink some real poison, and drop dead?"

"Meanie. Did you want to be Juliet instead?" He delivered this crack with a deadpan face, and I glared at him, eyes flashing. I hated that he had the nerve to make that kind of joke.

I silently cursed him for being so damn glib. I'd been nervous as hell when he called me up here, wondering what he wanted to talk about. My face had gone rigid with fear, thinking he'd tell me point-blank that he liked me. But then, when I'd actually gone to the roof, Gemini had only asked me to eat with him, and we'd started a friendly meal.

I'd thought maybe he'd say something after we finished eating. but he was showing no signs of doing so. He was just staring at me once in a while and then smiling as if to cover up the slip.

I felt deflated, and also really embarrassed at how overly self- conscious I'd been. However, those emotions were followed by relief. I wouldn't know what to do if Gemini confessed to me. I didn't hate him, but he was a guy. I'd never considered homosexual love, and I didn't really understand it, either. "Say, Gemini," I murmured.

"What?" he asked, turning to face me. He must've sensed something in my voice, because his face had stiffened a little. When I noticed this, my heart skipped a beat. Something in my chest was constricting, and I couldn't think what to say next. Maybe Gemini couldn't think of anything either-that stiff smile was still stuck on his face, and he was looking everywhere but at me.

"Say." I finally said with feigned casualness. "Are you free on Sunday?"

"You mean this Sunday?"

"Yeah. I mentioned you to my mom, and she said; 'Oh, it's been so long, I want to see him.' So, if you don't have anything else planned, you wanna come over?"

Gemini's eyes went wide.

He probably never dreamed I'd ask him over. But I was just as surprised as he was. Even I didn't know what prompted me to do it-my mouth had just run away with itself.

"If you can't, don't worry about it," I said hastily.

Hurry, gotta talk my way out of this.

"It's just my mom, after all. I mean, I wanted to thank you, too, but I don't have to call you over to my place to do that."

Gemini tilted his head. "Thank me?"

"For Mark. You told him all that stuff. And now we're friends again."

"I didn't do anything." he answered flatly, shaking his head. "Mark was worried about you to begin with."

"But you gave us a catalyst. If it weren't for my stupid pride, I could've talked to him earlier, too, but..."

"Fourth..."

"I'm going to try to be constructive and do my best from now on. If I get to where I can talk to the other guys...I-I can talk to you whenever I want, right? Not that I mean that in a weird way or anything."

I really meant the part about wanting to talk to him whenever I felt like it, but it came out sounding angry. The truth was, I was still at a loss. I was scared to hear the follow-up to his last text message, and even if I did hear it, I'd have no idea how I wanted to answer him.

But I wanted to talk to Gemini more. I wanted to hang out together and have fun like we used to. I didn't know if this feeling was just friendship or if it would drift in a different direction, but the thing was, I wanted to find out. Everything going on inside me was so uncertain, but there was a clutching feeling in my heart, and I wanted to know what it meant. That was the only thing I was clear on.

While I was thinking these thoughts, Gemini was still gaping at me wide-eyed. Then all of a sudden, he gave me a fierce hug. "Wh-what are you doing, you moron?!"

When he eventually answered, his voice was fervent and hoarse. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "But I'm just so happy."

Embarrassed at being hugged, I struggled and demanded to be let go. Just then, like a gift from some benevolent god, the bell rang to herald the end of lunch. Gemini returned to his senses and reluctantly let me go, standing up straight. He looked pretty put out, but I had bigger problems. My heart was beating so fast it might be causing me physical damage.

"Oh, right, Fourth."

Gemini had started to make for the stairs when he abruptly spun around again. I reflexively steeled myself. "Wh-what?"

"About Sunday-when should I come over? Is one o'clock okay?"

"Huh? Uh, sure...but you might as well come before lunch. Mom will probably want to feed you anyway."

"Is that okay? Sure, I'd love to." Gemini beamed. Then he gestured to the stairs. "Shall we go?" I nodded and followed after him.

School was out, cleaning duty was over, and I was in my classroom packing up to go home. Pretty much everyone had already gone on to their clubs or left for home. I'd seen Gemini a little while ago, but now he was nowhere around either.

The sight of the deserted hallways would have soothed the "old" me. However, today the emptiness made me feel lonely. I sighed a little, staring at my hands. "Hey, are you on your way home?"

A voice behind me abruptly jolted me out of my trance and turned to see Mark standing there, carrying a light bag in one I hand.

"Oh, it's just you," I said.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean? You're such a grouch. Anyway, why the gloomy sighs? If you're having any problems, you just tell big bro Mark here."

"Big bro?"

"Yeah, right. Idiot."

I hesitated a little, and then invited him to walk home with me. Mark nodded right away. and we ambled out of the classroom. The western sun was bathing the hallways in a gentle orange glow. When I looked out through the window over the courtyard, the sunbeams were so bright, they almost burned my eyes.

The sun looked like this yesterday evening, too, I thought idly. chatting with Mark.

TBC