Secrets that Kill (boyxboy)

Chocolate and Ice Cream

Nate stared at the cracks in the sidewalk, making sure not to step on them as he put one foot in front of the other. Yeah, it was silly. And stupid. And childish. But he needed something to distract him from the drama that had transpired the past twenty-four hours.

He'd lost his best friend, he'd been strung along in some sick joke by his crush, and he'd almost gotten his face punched in by some fat-headed moron. Not exactly his idea of a good time.

He probably should have stayed to finish off the school day, but he'd been too shaky to even hold his pencil still enough to write legibly after the nice little chat he'd had with Sean and Erik. He wanted to be alone, at home, where he could sort through his thoughts and make sense of all that had happened.

Beep, beep.

Nate flinched, jolting upwards and turning his head towards the noise.

"C'mon, Nate. Jump in!" Amber yelled, leaning out the window of her hot pink slug bug.

Nate sighed. God, did she ever give up?

"Don't you have a class now?" he muttered, continuing to walk forward.

Amber drove at a snail's pace alongside him, obviously not intending to let him get away so easily.

"Don't you?" she chimed in that familiar voice of hers that she always used when she knew she was right.

Nate stuffed his hands into his pockets, averting his gaze back to the muted grey sidewalk.

"What do you want?"

Amber smiled shamelessly.

"For you to forgive me."

"Not happening."

"Then at least let me give you a ride to Ruby's Diner." Amber pleaded.

Shoot. That's right. He worked tonight. He'd forgotten amidst all the drama of the day.

"I'll take the city bus."

Amber made a small frown before a persistent smile took its place.

"I'll buy you a really big hot fudge sunday."

Damn it. She knew him well. That's what he'd been heading home to drown his sorrows in. Chocolate and ice cream always had a way of making everything better.

"With Extra hot fudge."

Nate slowed his pace.

"And two cherries."

Won over, Nate slowly walked over to Amber's car and sunk into the passenger's seat.

"Three cherries..." he mumbled, crossing his arms.

"Look Nate, I'm sorry. You know I never meant for any of this to happen."

"I know..."Nate admitted, chewing on his lower lip. "I just wish it hadn't been him."

"Why?"

"Because then it wouldn't have hurt as much."

"So, does that mean....?" Amber asked slowly, a triumphant smile creeping onto her lips.

"Yup."

Amber made a squeaking noise that made him feel like his ears were bleeding.

"I knew it! This is great!" she chimed, her eyes brimming with happiness.

"Great?"

"Of course! This way we can both gush over guys together!"

Nate couldn't help but let out a small laugh. She never skipped a beat.

"I think you should give him a chance." She added, now more serious.

"Huh. Who?"

"Erik."

Nate looked away. "I don't know, Amber, he's just...."

"He's totally into you." Amber said, slight envy in her voice.

"You don't know that. What if it's still part of that stupid prank?"

Amber scrunched her face up, as if in deep thought. "He told me to look after you for him."

Nate froze. "What?"

"Yeah. After you left the math room."

Nate turned five shades of red, his palms suddenly becoming sweaty. It couldn't be...

"But, I mean, he's not even gay, is he?" Nate asked, trying to remember Erik's dating history. Yeah, he'd dated girls before. Nate could remember, because he always felt insane for being jealous of the them, since he technically wasn't even an option. Then again, what about that kiss they'd shared in the closet? He sure as hell seemed pretty gay then.

Amber shrugged. "Maybe you're the exception."

"The exception?" Nate asked, confused.

"You know, that one person that you find yourself attracted to that's not the gender you'd normally go for." Amber said, as if she was telling him the sum of two plus two was four.

Nate raised an eyebrow. "I've never heard of that before."

"Everyone has one. I swear." Amber said, a serious look crossing her face as she smacked her chewing gum.

"I've never met a girl I've been attracted to before." Nate said, doubt marring his features.

Amber shrugged. "Maybe the rule only works for straight people."

If it was true, which he highly doubted it was, then that had to be the case. The thought of even kissing a girl like Erik had kissed him made him want to gag.

Pulling up in front of Ruby's Diner, Amber stayed true to her word and bought him a hot fudge Sunday before heading home.

The shift passed without incident. Nate checked out at ten o'clock as usual and headed home on the city bus.

He spent the rest of the week trying to avoid Erik and Sean, which was quite difficult considering they were in almost all of his classes. With Amber on his side now, though, he could just barely manage it. Her gift for gab was proving to be quite useful, which was never something Nate thought would happen.

By the time Friday night rolled around, he was utterly exhausted from all his evasion tactics.

Nate, however, had a whole night of work to look forward to. In truth, he really didn't mind it. Work gave him a valid distraction, a reprieve from his own problems.

Halfway through his shift, Nate heard his boss call him over.

"Yeah?" Nate asked, his brows creasing in worry as he jogged over to his boss.

"I got a waiter request for you over at table six."

Curiosity contorting his features, Nate glanced over. No one ever requested him. Except for Zack. But he barely came in anymore.

Zack was....an interesting fellow. He frequented the diner just to see Nate, and wasn't shy about it. Nate hadn't minded it at first because the guy always tipped well, and it was kind of flattering in a creepy, stalker way that he came in here just to see him. He never really took Zack seriously, though, considering the guy was 28 and Nate was 17.

Nate could only see the back of a person's head as he surveyed booth six, but it obviously wasn't Zack. No, Zack had dirt blonde hair. This guy's hair was brown.

Making his way over to the booth, Nate whipped out a small white tablet and a pencil from his diner uniform.

"Welcome to Ruby's Diner. How may I take your-"

The figure turned towards him, familiar sky blue eyes meeting his gaze.

"Hello Nate."

A/N: Please vote if you liked the chapter, and if not let me know why. Thank you for taking the time to read my work.