Friend Zoned [boyxboy]

Friend Zoned {19}

                “Do you guys want to come over afterschool?” I asked my friends during lunch the next day.

                “I’ve got nothing better to do,” Sonnet said with a shrug.

                “That depends. Are you going to be feeding us?” Ethan asked.

                “Yes Ethan,” I said, rolling my eyes at him. “My mom said she would make us all dinner.”

                “I’m in!” Ethan said.

                “Sounds like fun,” Gideon said, smiling and putting an arm around my waist.

                “Please don’t tell me we have to watch you two making out the whole time,” Ethan groaned.

                “You don’t have to watch us make out the whole time. You can cover your eyes,” I said and kissed Gideon.

                “Speaking of covering our eyes, check out Jude,” Sonnet said, nodding in his direction.

                We all glanced over at his table curiously. Jude was there, looking downright miserable. His face was slightly bruised from Will’s punches. He was watching me and Gideon, looking so depressed that I almost felt bad for him. When we all turned to look at him, he slowly dropped his gaze to the table.

                “He deserves to be miserable,” Ethan said, the venom in his voice surprising me. I glanced at him with a frown, and he offered me a sheepish smile. “What? Jude’s an asshole.”

                And suddenly, I felt like an idiot. Ethan may always act cheerful and sarcastic, but he had been tortured by Jude and had absolutely no friends until just a few weeks ago. Something told me that while he put up a good façade, he had been hateful and lonely for years.

                I found myself looking at Ethan in awe. He may seem like a scrawny big-mouthed kid, but he was probably the toughest person I knew. The fact that Jude and his friends had put Ethan through so much pain, and he was still able to smile said a lot about his strength.

                “Why are you staring at me like I just grew wings out of my nostrils?” Ethan asked in confusion.

                I shook those thoughts out of my head. “Sorry. I zoned out.”

                “I think it’s safe to say that you boys are free of Jude,” Sonnet said, grinning.

                “Hallelujah,” I grumbled, digging around my bag for my lunch. I let out a sigh and stood up. “I’ll be right back. I left my lunch in my locker.”

                I left the cafeteria and went down to my locker, putting in my combination and pulling it open. I grabbed my lunch and shut my locker, turning to head back to the cafeteria. I let out a little yell and jumped backwards.

                “I’m not here to hurt you,” Jude said, though he had pure hatred in his eyes as he looked at me.

                “What do you want?” I asked, trying to stay calm despite my rapidly beating heart.

                Jude looked thoughtful. “I could’ve gotten all of you in trouble. My parents freaked out when they saw my face yesterday. They wanted to know who had hurt me. But I didn’t tell them. Part of why I didn’t is because if I had, Sonnet’s stupid brother would’ve told Nate’s parents on him and gotten him in trouble. But it was mostly because I didn’t want Gideon to get in trouble.”