What Are You Waiting For?

Nick wasn’t in my second hour, but Riley was, at least.

“Did I do something to make Nick act like he is?” I asked quietly.

Riley smiled. “No, you didn’t do anything, that’s just how he is around new kids, especially ones as cute as you.”

“Di-did you just call me cute?” I asked, completely lost in wonder.

“Yeah, because you are.” Riley said like it was nothing.

I said nothing, just stared at him. I honestly had no clue what to say. Say that he’s cute, too? What if this is just a trick? What if he’s just saying that so I say that he’s cute so he can tell the whole school I’m gay?

I sighed. Okay, now I’m just getting paranoid.

“Hey, are you okay, Ian?” Riley asked quietly, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I looked up at him, nodding. “Yeah, yeah, oh yeah. Just…kind of…paranoid.” I admitted.

“About what?” He asked.

I looked into his eyes, a deep brown color, and I could see that he was asking me because he actually cared.

“Um, well, at my last school, everyone harassed me and made fun of me because…I’m gay. And then I thought you were trying to trick me to come out about it so you could tell the whole school and make my life a living hell.” I explained, feeling small, picking at a small string on my pants.

Riley’s mouth hung open at my explanation. “Ian, why would you…” He paused, then hugging me briefly. “Ian. I would never do anything like that. Not to anyone, whether it be someone I’ve known since I was in diapers or someone I’ve known for,” He looked at the clock. “Two hours. It’s so dirty and rude. Besides, why would I do that when I’m gay, too?”

That just made me smile. It instantly made me feel less alone. “Is Nick?”

“I’m 99.9% sure. He hasn’t directly came out and told me, but he finds girls slightly repulsive in the more-than-friend way.” Riley explained.

“So he’s gay.” I said flat out.

“Yeah pretty much.” He said.

“Alright.” I said, nodding, satisfied. “What are the odds that I’d befriend two gay guys.”

Riley laughed lightly. “Close to none. I’m glad you did, though.”

I laughed. “Why?”

He stared at me, wide-eyed. “You haven’t noticed all of the obvious hints from Nick? He’s obviously crushing on you already.”

“Really?!” I squealed, not meaning for that to come out of my mouth.

Riley giggled and nodded. “Yes, really. He doesn’t even have to tell me and I can tell that he’s into you.”

My cheeks burned. I put my hands on both of my cheeks, not able to stop smiling.

I couldn’t get my mind off of our conversation for the rest of second and third periods, and when lunch came, I was more than excited to see Nick. Even though it hasn’t even been a day, I felt a strong pull towards him.

I grabbed the cookies out of my locker and closed it softly as Riley and Nick met me halfway to go to lunch.

“You basically want to get into the cafeteria as early as possible to beat the huge rush; it’s seriously like a mosh pit in this lunch room.” Riley explained.

I swear the blood ran out of my face when the words “mosh pit” came out of his mouth describing the lunch line. Possible death? In a lunch line? Why even risk it?

“Don’t worry, we got here early enough, so there will be no moshing, at least not today.” Nick said.

I jumped a little at his voice, since it’s the first time I’ve heard it.

I looked back at him and smiled a big smile, blushing a little. I wanted to hug him then and there, but it’s way too early to make any moves. We’ve known each other for less than a day, and that’s the first time he’s actually talked to me.

When we got into the lunchroom, I just followed Riley and Nick through the line, not grabbing anything, because everything looked gross. I followed to their table and Riley stole a chair from the table next to us so I could sit.

Nick sat next to me, and I didn’t know if he noticed, but he was really close to me. I said nothing, letting it slide.

“What’s in there, Ian?” I heard Nick ask.

I looked at him and his eyes were on my Tupperware of cookies.

“Oh, this? Just what I baked up this morning. Peanut butter cookies. Do you guys want any?” I offered.

Nick took one and took a bite of it, his eyes automatically lighting up in delight. I noticed how green they actually were for the first time.

“These cookies are amazing!” Nick said, a huge smile on his face. “You made these this morning? Doesn’t the dough have to refrigerate?”

I started giggling to myself at his baking knowledge and slight lack thereof.

“I made the dough last night, and baked them this morning.” I said, not able to make my cheeks stop burning in flattery.

“Oh, right.” He laughed slightly.

“But Ian, Nick’s right, these cookies are the shit.” Riley said, stuffing the last half of his second cookie in his mouth.

I just smiled at Riley, the compliment not meaning as much as when it came from Nick.

I turned back to Nick. “Do you want anymore?”
“No thanks, I’ll pass. It’s a tempting offer, though.” He said with a slight smile on his face.

I closed the Tupperware, nodding slightly. “Alright, fair enough.”

The rest of the day went by slowly, neither Riley nor Nick in any of my classes after lunch.

I walked out of last hour and went to my locker. I looked down the hall and saw Nick walking towards me. I smiled at him, he returning the favor, looking slightly bewildered.

I probably had the same look on my face when I saw that Nick’s locker was one locker away from mine.

We both smiled again, both of our cheeks darkening at the same time, and both of us emitting small giggles at the same time.

This was totally weird.

“Come on, Nick, we have to catch the twins before they speed off without us.” Riley said.

I turned to look at him and he was smirking. He probably saw our little giggle fest over here.

“If you want, my mom could give you two a ride.” I offered quietly, not wanting to intrude on them, but it seemed like a better alternative than “the twins” speeding off without them.

“Alright.” Nick and Riley said in unison, then giving each other weird stares.

“You need to move out.” Riley said.

“You would want that, wouldn’t you?” Nick asked, sounding offended and deeply saddened.

Riley laughed, hugging Nick and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

That slightly shocked me.

“Of course not, I don’t know what I’d do with myself if you didn’t live with me.”

They live together?

I let it go and walked with Riley out the door to wait for my mom, who was just pulling into the parking lot.
“Hey honey, who are your friends?” Mom asked, smiling at Riley and Nick, both of them waving.

“That’s Nick, and that’s Riley. They need a ride home because their ride left them here.” I explained.

“Oh, well that’s no good. I guess I could give them rides. I just need addresses.” She said, smiling.

“Actually, we were both wondering if we could hang out at your place for a little bit, get to know you better, ya know? What do you say?” Riley asked me.

I looked at her, giving her questioning eyes.

She smiled at me. “They can come over for a little bit.”

I smiled and looked back at them, who were also smiling.

Ian’s mom took off out of the parking lot and five minutes later pulled into the driveway.

“Hey, this isn’t far from our house, only about three blocks away.” Riley said, getting out of the car. “That’s awesome!”

I laughed and followed my mom into the house, Riley and Nick following.

“You’re house is nice.” Nick said, looking around.

I blushed. “Thanks.” I put my backpack down next to the door, Nick and Riley doing the same. “So what do you want to do?”

“Movie?” Nick asked, looking between myself and Riley.

“Sounds good to me.” Riley said.

“What movie are you feeling?”

“Surprise us.” Nick said, sitting on one side of the couch while Riley took the other side.

I mentally scolded Riley but mentally thanked him as well. I picked out a scary movie, it being Dead Silence.

I stuck it in the DVD player, grabbed the remote, and sat on the side of the couch closer to Nick, giving myself plenty of distance between us. For now.

Nick gasped a little bit. “I don’t like ventriloquist dummies. At all.”
“Then I guess you’ll have to bury your face in something when they pop up.” Riley said, smirking, winking at me.

I smiled shyly at him and pressed play.

Nick brought his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on one of his knees.

Within the first ten minutes he was burying his face into my arm, scooting that much closer to me.

By the time a half hour came around, he was basically in my lap, hiding his face in my chest.

“Sorry about this.” He mumbled into my chest.

“It’s alright, don’t worry about it.” I was so attempted to give him a silly pet name, like “hun” or “sweetie”, but he might take it the wrong way. But one thing’s for certain though, and it’s that I didn’t mind Nick being that close to me one bit. I could get used to it.