Don't Tell My Brother

Chapter 29 - Wolves

Damien saw them first. He was predictably standing in the middle of the group, all eyes on him, gesturing as if he was in the middle of some story. And then he saw Lucas. Their eyes locked, and for one, terrifying moment Lucas thought Damien was going to ignore him.

And then Damien waved them over. The group turned as one, and Lucas felt their gaze on him as clearly as if they were headlights, and he was the deer caught in their beams. But it was too late to turn back now. Mona had already started to walk towards them, taking a hand out of the pocket of her overalls to wave back, smiling. So Lucas followed, because as nervous as he was he wasn't about to let Mona go in there alone. Strength in numbers, after all.

As they drew closer to the group, Lucas could make out some familiar faces from that day at the bakery. The dark-skinned boy with the close cropped hair and the obnoxiously large watch, a redhead who towered over everyone else there, and a boy who Lisa would've said was 'built like an ox', with broad shoulders and a hand now bandaged. Lucas assumed this was Vinnie. There was others, making about fifteen in total. A girl who was taller than Lucas, with a sleek black ponytail and expertly applied eyeliner, an scarily pretty girl with a hooked nose who dressed like a Pinterest model, a boy with cheekbones that could've cut diamond...so many faces Lucas didn't recognise. And all of them were staring at him and Mona, with expressions that ranged from curious to unimpressed.

"This is Lucas, and..." Damien glanced at Mona.

"Mona Jackson." She supplied helpfully, giving everyone a little wave, eyes downcast. "Hi. I don't know who any of you are."

This was a little obvious, but true nonetheless. Lucas stayed quiet, feeling something like stage fright in front of these frankly intimidating people. They had an aura of casual, collected cool, the kind of natural confidence Lucas could never hope to emulate.

The boy with the cheekbones spoke up. "Lucas? Like Mark Sawyer's twin, right?"

There was a ripple of distaste at that, and someone snickered. Not an uncommon reaction, after all, Damien had had a similar one when he realised, but it still stung. He would've liked to disappear into the ground. Would it be embarrassing if he ran? It would, right?

And then Damien cut in. "Yeah, but he's the better one. Not like it's hard to be better than that guy, though."

There was more laughter, their rivalry obviously a well-known joke, and despite himself Lucas found he'd relaxed, just a little. The better one. He didn't think anyone had ever thought of him as the better one. And Mark wasn't really that bad, especially not compared to Damien, but after a lifetime living in his shadow it was oddly nice to have someone call him the better twin, even if Damien was just saying it. The better one.

"Aren't you the gay one? My cousin goes to Sunnyview, and she said you were gay."

It sounded accusatory. Lucas froze, and he swore he saw Damien tense too. Beside him, Mona's expression had settled into a disappointed frown, and she was staring at the boy who'd asked, staring so obviously that Lucas saw he was actually avoiding making eye contact with her. This was it, Lucas thought. He was about to be hate crimed by Damien's friends. Probably by Damien too. His heart was beating faster, and he swallowed nervously, unsure how to respond. Maybe he should lie and deny it. Again, they were watching him, like he was a particularly amusing show and they enjoyed watching him squirm.

But before he could respond, Damien beat him to it. "Why, Leon? You wanna ask him out?" He asked, that smug, wicked grin on his face, only this time it wasn't directed at Lucas.

The cheekbones boy, Leon, coughed awkwardly into his hand. "No, 'course not, I just meant—"

"Not like he'd date you anyway. Girls won't even date you, and with a face like that can you really blame them?" Damien continued, leaning forward, playing it up a little for the audience.