Love and Other Diseases (bxb)

Chapter Eight

My walk to school was awkward. All I could really focus on was my previous dream. Suddenly my typical routine of walking ten feet behind Blake was not a good one, because I'd never realized how tightly his ugly joggers hugged his ass before.

He waved to Nancy and a couple other neighbors, because he had to keep up his kind act. I knew better.

But still, when he waved his bicep flexed in a really distracting way.

I was losing my mind if I thought that Blake Beckson, bane of everyone's existence, was handsome.

Thankfully he was still mad at me for leaving yesterday, so he didn't harass me like he had been for the previous couple days. I approached Ben without any interruption.

"Okay, so here's my plan," Ben said instead of saying hi. He clapped his hands together and gave me an all-business look. "You're obviously too shy to say anything to him, so I say we start leaving notes in his locker. Pretty soon he'll be in love and you'll be able to admit that you're the man behind the letters."

"That sounds like a bad love story," I critiqued. "Also, who is this for? Blake?"

Ben blinked. "Uh. No. It's for Kevin the trombonist."

Ah. Right. Awkward.

"I'll talk to Kevin," I promised. "We don't have to do this whole crazy plan, I'll just come up with a way to woo him today."

Which was how, a few hours later, I ended up talking to Kevin the trombonist after English. I could literally feel the weight of Ben's excited look on my back. Oh, and Blake's glare.

He was seriously still mad about the night before? The guy needed a hobby.

Kevin stumbled and dropped his book when he saw me, and I grabbed it before it could even hit the ground. A blush came over his entire face. "J-jake? Um, hi there. I mean, thank you. For catching my book."

I handed it back to him and he blushed even further. "It wasn't a problem. Kevin, I need to speak with you about something important."

He nibbled on his chapped bottom lip and leaned in further. "Oh. Okay, about what?"

He really was not handsome. And he was wearing crocs, Blake was right.

"I... I have realized recently that I have feelings for you," I lied through my teeth, feeling pretty bad for Kevin. But I could hear Ben doing a not-so-quiet victory dance in the corner behind me.

Kevin's eyes widened and he even gasped. His blush got even worse. "You do?" His eyelashes fluttered as he blinked in amazement. "But you're like... you're like the hottest gay guy in school."

There was only one other gay guy in our school besides the two of us. His nickname was literally greasy Gabe.

"No," I protested, likely with not a lot of passion. "You are."

Kevin blushed and stuttered even more. "W-want to go on a date sometime?"

I really didn't. "Yes."

He smiled and said something awkward and waved and tripped before making it all the way to the classroom door. Then he blushed even more, collected himself, and walked out like a normal human being.

"Young love!" Ben burst out, giving me a solid round of applause. Kay and Christi looked baffled and Blake still looked pissed, not that it mattered. "I'm such a great wingman!"

Right, my acting wasn't over yet. I forced a smile. "Thanks, Ben. I've been working up the nerve to do that all year."

Ben hugged me and wiped away fake tears. "No problem, big guy. Happy to help. And you're already a pro! I see that you didn't get his number so that you got the chance to talk to him again."

Uh. Fuck. Now I had to talk to him again.

"You caught me."

—//—

After lunch, I decided it was time to approach Kevin the trombonist and fake man of my dreams once again. However, I found him pressed up against a locker by Blake the snake.

Blake had his arms on either side of Kevin and the poor kid's trombone was on the ground a few feet to the right. "He doesn't actually like you," Blake was saying. "He told me that his friends were bugging him about boys so he picked you to get them off his back."

Kevin set his jaw and glared, though he was clearly terrified. "He said he likes me!"

Blake made a frustrated noise and stepped away. "Whatever, man! I'm just trying to tell you the truth. Stay away from Jake."

I probably could have swooped in and told Kevin that Blake was a lying liar, but instead I turned on my heel and walked away. It was better that Kevin knew the truth so that his feelings weren't hurt.

What had Blake's goal been? Was he trying to ruin my life?

For once, I doubted it. It seemed like he was doing it more for Kevin's benefit than mine. For some reason, I didn't actually feel overwhelming hatred for Blake when I thought of it that way.

—//—

On the walk back, Blake was way more chatty than he had been for the walk up.

"Alright, we're finishing our project today," he decided, because apparently Blake was the king of everything. "And you aren't running away all scared this time."

"Why is your goal to ruin my life?" I asked, figuring I could just try to get answers out of him.

"...What are you talking about?"

I sighed and shook my head, disappointed that he even bothered to pretend. "I saw you talking to Kevin today. You told him the truth."

To my shock, Blake actually blushed. "You saw that?"

"Yes! What if I actually liked him?" I asked. It was kind of a long shot because as nice as Kevin was, he really wasn't my type. But still, it was the principle of the thing. "You could have ruined a really nice relationship."

"You shouldn't like him," Blake huffed. He even crossed his arms. "He's ugly and he's whiney and he wears crocs and plays the trombone."

"He's not whiney!"

"Well, he isn't your type judging by what you described last night!" Blake said. "You described someone like me; and it's insulting if you think I'm anything like that loser."

He was being kind of weird. Blake was usually the bane of my existence, but he wasn't really pissing me off.

That's why, when we finally settled into his bedroom, I was utterly shocked when Blake asked me out on a date.