Now You Know ✅

Chapter 14: Getting Insightful

A couple of days had passed. Pelham had informed April about Roshon leaving for the week, seeing as she - as part of their little circle of friends - had the right to know about it. She had been beyond thrilled to hear that someone she knew at least had their dream at their fingertips, but she didn't miss to point out the fact that Pelham wouldn't be having his best friend around for a while. Not that Pelham was having any objection. As a matter of fact, he and Lucio had gotten really close over the past few days. It was almost as though he knew Lucio for a long time already.

During the first night after Roshon left, Lucio was supposed to have Roshon's room all to himself. Pelham presumed that the boy was ecstatic to have the fairly huge bedroom. That didn't last long, however; the rain and thunder had returned that following night, the lightning piercing across the pitch-black sky, its flash glaring through the curtains and illuminating the dim room. And around one in the morning, Lucio had knocked softly on Pelham's door to ask whether he could sleep in his room instead.

That had just to be one of the things that brought amusement to Pelham even in his most somnolent state when he opened the door to question the circumstance: Lucio Alves was afraid of thunders.

It was considerably normal to be afraid of earsplitting sounds that rocked your guts, but Pelham couldn't help but find it kind of cute.

They were having their first night activity. The teachers had informed them not to prepare too many stuff, seeing as they were merely going to stay outside without performing much activity that involved a lot of energy exertion. It was up to them to pick from any of the three options; collecting fireflies ("You're kidding," Pelham had murmured), torchlight tag and star-gazing ("That's romantic," Lucio had pointed out) Pelham thought it was more of a children's play - or a recreation - rather than something that adolescents would normally do. Though, he had to admit that he himself missed doing those kind of night activities. It had been a long time since he had gone camping, after all.

It was mentioned that the students could change from one activity to another for as long as they wanted, and that they should stop five minutes before curfew - which was at midnight. The other positive part was that they didn't have to be in their group - not necessarily anyway. It was, after all, called the "Night Gathering". Basically, all of the students were going to spend their time outside until midnight.

"What d'you consider?" Pelham asked Lucio thoughtfully once they were gathered outside with the rest of the students, each and every one of them supporting a full belly.

"Er ..." Lucio swung his arms back and forth, alternatively, as he scanned the area.

"We can try all?" Pelham suggested.

"I'm not really in the mood for running around - especially at night,"

"So we cancel the tag game,"

"Yeah, I'm fine with the other two," Lucio nodded. "Collecting fireflies is kind of for kids. I didn't know those creatures existed."

Pelham stifled a snort that was threatening to escape his throat. "You must have a terrible childhood,"

"I never watched Barney, can you believe that?"

"That's really awful,"

"But I watched American Idol," Lucio shrugged offhandedly. When he saw the look of incredulity Pelham was giving him, he said, "That's something!"

Pelham shook his head, finally snorting. Somehow, he couldn't stop smiling around Lucio. He liked the boy, though not in an intimate way. Just because he knew he was an invert, it didn't mean he would instantly become charmed by boys around him. Candid, striking ones - like Lucio Alves - if Pelham were to put them into detail. He still, after all, had a girlfriend. To him, he couldn't simply have another intimate feeling towards someone else, even if they were his type. To him, it was as foul as cheating.