The Tuxedo Man (boyxboy)[Wattys 2016]

Chapter 6 - This Love

[Picture: Mason Oliver Philipps. Video: Impossible Year - Panic! At The Disco]

As I get home, I quickly take a shower so that I could lie down on my bed, face up, and replay the whole scene in my head. I hold my phone to my chest, desperately waiting for a text or a call from him, hell even facetime would be fine. I can't believe I just really went on a blind date, if you'd call it that. I shared dinner with a person I barely knew, which is something I've never done before. My heart's still beating as fast as it was when I was sitting in front of him in the Belvedere, and I'm still as delusional as I was when I was staring out the windows, or into his deep brown eyes. 

I begin to calm down when I start to realize that I'm going to have to make the move in this scenario, because I'm the one who's interested. He might just see me as a casual acquaintance, or maybe he sees me as something more than that, and it's going to be my job to find out which one it is. 

Once more, I'm going to take the risk. 

_ . _ 

It was time for my most dreaded class of the week: PE, Physical Education, or as what I like to call it - Hell. I would literally get down on my knees to hope that we won't be doing anything for PE class today, whether that meant our teacher not being prepared, not feeling like teaching anything, or not being around. Anything but him not being alive anymore, because I like him, he's a cool teacher despite the fact that he's handling the subject that I hate the most. 

I share PE with Mason and Cassidy, my fellow friends who aren't athletic too, so the three of us can usually be found by the bleachers either talking or watching our other classmates play. Today, our teacher had plans to make us play basketball, and I could not be more repelled by such a sport. I'm more okay with soccer, even though I still hate it, and I'm much more comfortable with table tennis or badminton. I just don't like the whole concept of a Braydon inside a basketball court, because there's a lot of testosterone-filled sweaty boys running around trying to steal the ball from each other. There's a lot of bumping and hugging and I just don't like the idea of that. Ughh, I actually shivered thinking about it. 

The three of us decide to stay on the bleachers for today, along with some of the Great Bang and some of our classmates who weren't really athletic too. 

"Alright, I'm going to need ten boys on the court now." Our teacher yells, blowing his whistle to reinforce his point. The usual jocks get up of the bleachers and jog their way to the court. I get nervous in these times, because I can't really do anything if I get picked. I can whine and tell him that I don't like this sport, but all he's going to say is How are you going to learn if you're not going to try? Well how about I don't learn and don't try? 

Fortunately, he picks someone who's not me, nor was it Mason. That means that I can enjoy my comfortable seat between Cassie and Mason, and of course, the boy beside me is glued to his phone playing some game that I don't even know. It baffles me how I have never seen him charge his phone once, yet he's always on it. 

The teacher blows the whistle, and the boys on the court start running and doing typical basketball shit. Scoring, defending, passing, running around and yelling at their teammates.

"I think Eric's gay." I hear Cassie say mumble as she looks at the boys running on the court.

"What?" I ask her.

She looks at me, seemingly surprised that I heard her. She shakes her head. "I just think that Eric's gay." 

"Why?"

"I don't know." She shrugs. "I just feel it." 

I raise a finger. "You are literally the last person it be having a gaydar." I tell her. I try to find Eric in the flock of boys and I do, he's there with his shining brown hair and edgy features. He's so masculine and built that you wouldn't really suspect him to be gay, I mean, put him next to me and people will surely know which one's which. I've never really paid attention to Eric, because we rarely talk. I think I share a couple of my classes with him, but I have never properly addressed him like a friend or even an acquaintance. He just seems like some guy I share PE class with, and that's all I know. He only gives in to one gay stereotype, and that's the flawless, perfectly-maintained hair, which is what he has. Even though he's sweaty, his hair's still considerably presentable compared to the other boys, but I doubt it. I know a gay when I see one.