Becoming Brett

13. Love Is In The Air

Wes doesn't know how great he is. Or how good looking he is either, especially when he smiles.

Not that he's smiling right this instance but if he were, it'd be attractive.

He's rummaging through his locker when he tics, his left side goes rouge and he slams his palm against the door of his locker. It smacks back against the locker beside him and Bethany let's out a shriek from the noise from where she's at a short distance down the hall. As I pass by her, she turns to her friends, minus Cora, starting in on how startled she is. It's dramatic and loud, definitely unnecessary and irritation floods my system like someone just blew a hole through a dam. For just a moment I think about telling Bethany to shut up but Wes hates confrontation. And it's Bethany, for whatever reason, just because she took his virginity, he thinks she's allowed to use him as a doormat.

I pick my battles with Wes. Bethany and her dramatics tend to fall low on the list. I'd rather see him stand up to Sawyer first.

Shifting my gaze the short distance to Wes, he's watching Bethany's back, a furrow to his brow. His hazelnut hair is smashed flat on the left side from where he slept on it, his hazel eyes so bright and vivid that even from a distance you know they're striking. His cheekbones are defined, leading down to a chiseled jaw and perfectly shaped lips.

Not so thin they're barely there but not so full they look unnatural. Just perfect. Kissable.

Not that I've ever kissed Wes.

"Jesus." I mutter below my breath at my own thoughts, trying to reel them back into reality.

There's only a few things I'm confident about in my life and one of them is my crush on Wes will never, ever be reciprocated.

It's a fact that I've come to accept even though my mind likes to haunt me with alternate universes.

"Hey." Pressing my back against the row of lockers, I slide up next to his.

"Hey."

He cycles through his normal set of tics, his eyes meeting mine warily. They've been worse than normal today. The car ride in was colorful to say the least. A combination of lack of sleep and a phone call with his dad looming over his head. He tics again, a whistle and his head jerks to the side before he belts out a cuss word.

I can tell he's frustrated and if I was anyone else I'd grab his hand but I can't. The thought makes me instantly sweat, panic running rampant through my veins as my mind screams at me. Everyone will know.

I give him a sympathetic smile, hoping that Ellie or Savannah round the corner soon. But my concern is lost as I lose Wes' focus to something down the hall. I follow his gaze, my eyes landing on Laurel.

"Fuck off!" His words ring through the air but I barely hear them.

I'm too focused on Laurel and who she is. She has moments where she seems almost too confident, bold, maybe defiant even. Carrying herself with poise and an air of superiority like maybe wherever she came from she was at the top of the food chain. But then there's these other moments where she's curled in around herself, like she's trying to make herself as small as possible. Invisible maybe. And people only tend to want to be invisible for a handful of things. Wes wants to be invisible because he's the complete opposite. I want to be invisible so no one learns who I truly am. But Laurel, I don't know why she wants to be invisible.

But I know she does.

Wes and I continue to stare at her as she makes her way through the hall, navigating the sea of peers that surround us. I'll give Wes some credit. The boy sure does like beautiful girls. Even I know that.

She's the new girl, more than just Wes is intrigued by her and as she passes by Sawyer and his group of friends I catch him watching her too. Sawyer and his perfect looks, charming, the good all American boy with his letterman jacket and impressive list of sports he's excelled at. I almost scoff.

Sawyer isn't perfect. He's not even close. A dick, maybe.

I stare long enough that Laurel is no longer in my sight, instead Sawyer and I lock eyes. His dark eyes look like nothing more than black holes from where I stand and this overwhelming desire to march up to him and ask him how Tucker is eats at me.

It wouldn't surprise me if his friends don't even know about Tucker. If they did, it'd no longer be all about Sawyer and Sawyer would hate that. He cocks an eyebrow at me, a smirk tugging his lips making him look arrogant and I feel disgusted.

"Good morning!" Ellie shrieks, demanding our attention.

It happens fast, the series of tics that explode out of Wes, Ellie gluing herself to Wes' left side because he tics a little less with that side. And then there comes Savannah and James, at least until James breaks off when Darren waves at him. Jealousy hits me like a wave and I find myself holding back a glare as James schmoozes with the jocks.

What he sees in them is beyond me. Isn't it a known fact that jocks are always at the top of the high school social hierarchy. That they use their status to bully and sleep around and do what they want.

But then James spots me, a beautiful smile on his face, it almost distracts me but not quite as I take in the way that Darren is fixated on something or rather someone in our group. Darren's face is beat red as James leans closer and whispers something in his ear to which he shakes his head no to.

I have an idea of where everyone is standing in my peripheral vision but I can't for the life of me decide if it's Savannah, Ellie or Wes that Darren is entranced with.

Doesn't matter. I don't like the idea of any option.

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Tomorrow is the official move in day and I'm so excited. Side note though, I painted the walls in the stairs white. While we were staining and buffing the floors upstairs, kind you with a red tinted stain, the hubs started up the electric buffer before he put it down on the ground and slung red stain all over my white walls and then tried to clean it up. It looks like someone was murdered in my staircase 😂. Today's to do list: paint over the evidence.