Just Another Lovesick Boy

I woke up to the feeling of my sore eye being pressed into the mattress of my bed. I yawned as I crawled out of my bed, stopping immediately once I felt a sharp sting around my eye. I ruffled my hair roughly as I walked out of my room and into the bathroom. I avoided looking in the mirror as I brushed my teeth and took my shower. I went back to my room to grab my clothes for school. I was pulling my shirt over my head when I glanced over to see Eddy pacing back and forth in his room. I quickly looked away as I noticed him about to turn my way. I walked back to the bathroom and plugged in the hair straightener before I finally looked up into my reflection.

I let out a soft sigh as I took in the blue and purple coloring of my skin. A sickening yellow color faded into the dark shading on my cheekbone. I gingerly pressed my fingertips to the bruise, wincing as I did so. I scowled to myself as I thought of Jack and how he never changed. I shook my head before moving on to fix my hair.

When I finished, I walked downstairs to join my mom in the kitchen. The second I entered the room, she immediately stood to check my eye. She smiled at me in a comforting way before smooth my hair out.

“You should wear sunglasses if you don’t want people asking. Just say you have a migraine,” she advised as she handed me a pair of Ray Bans.

I nodded as I took them from her. She sent me a small smile as I poured myself a bowl of cereal before she walked out to get to work. I ate my breakfast in silence until the doorbell rang, signaling that Nara had arrived. I placed my bowl in the sink before grabbing my folder off the kitchen table and slipping on the sunglasses. I grabbed my keys before walking out the front door.

I gave Nara a small smile as I walked out before turning to close and lock the door. She stared at me with a confused expression on her face before speaking up.

“What’s with the sunglasses? It’s not even that bright out,” she asked as we started walking.

“Migraine. It happens,” I shrugged.

She nodded, ending the topic of conversation. She spoke to me of her home life, especially her younger sisters, Nicole and Tessa. She told me about how her sisters were anxious to meet me. “Especially Nicole. She’s in sophomore grade and her taste in boys growing rapidly and she thinks you sound really cute,” she laughed.

“What did you tell her when she said that?” I asked.

“I told her to back off,” she grinned up at me.

“Why would you say that?”

She slowed down to a solid stop before looking up at me with a curious look on her face. She gave me a crooked grin as she tucked her blond hair behind her ear. She looked away briefly before looking back into my eyes, causing me to slightly shiver. She reached out to smooth out my green shirt. She looked back up at me before saying, “You’re so clueless, Adrian,” before continuing to walk.

I furrowed my eyebrows together in confusion before following. We walked side by side for a few moments in comfortable silence. I stared up at the bright blue sky from behind my dark sunglasses. Each one of our footsteps echoed on the street, our dampened soles leaving prints on the sidewalk after we stepped through puddles. I glanced down at Nara from the corner of my eye to see her simply staring ahead to our destination with a small smile on her face. I smiled to myself as I watched the sun fall on her face, causing her to glow. There were many eyes on us as we walked onto the campus and into the school. Now I just had to make sure nobody took off my sunglasses.

I felt extremely conscious of myself as I walked throughout the hallways of the school. I knew that I had sympathetic teachers that trusted me and knew what it was like to have a migraine. Most of my teachers would let it slide once they saw me with sunglasses. But out of all my teachers I was worried about, I was definitely wary of my Spanish teacher. Mrs. Locksley could be a very nice woman but she was very strict, even about the dress code. As my luck would have it, I had Spanish as my first period.

I sat in my designated seat that was near the middle of the room. Spanish was the only class I shared with Eddy but we were not allowed to sit next to each other. I had barely sat down in my seat when Nara Lee walked in with a stack of papers. I scratched my arm awkwardly as I noticed Nara Lee smile at me and Eddy glanced at her and then to me. I smiled at her before looking over at Eddy, who probably did not even notice because of my sunglasses. Mrs. Locksley began taking attendance as she chatted quietly with Nara Lee. Nara Lee turned around and was about to leave the class when Mrs. Locksley addressed me.

“Mr. Dawson, please remove your sunglasses,” she said, causing Nara Lee to pause in the doorway and my classmates to turn around to look at me.

“Um, I have a migraine today and I’m really sensitive to light right now,” I replied.

“It’s true, he wasn’t feeling well this morning, Mrs. Locksley,” Nara Lee nodded from the door.

“Well, tough,” my teacher said as she set her clipboard down. “Adrian, either remove your sunglasses or go see Mr. Diaz.”

I had been attending Pine Hills High School since the first day of freshman year and I had never been sent to the vice principal’s office. I had never even been threatened to be sent there before either. I had spoken to Mr. Diaz before but his office was not a place I would like to be sent to. I let out a shaky sigh and slowly removed my sunglasses as I kept my head down. When I finally looked up and into Mrs. Locksley’s eyes, I tried to ignore the murmurs around me and the shocked stares from my classmates. Nara Lee’s lips were parted and her eyes were wide as she stared fixedly on my bruised eye. Eddy seemed extremely tense as his eyes narrowed while he watched me.

“Got hit during sport practice, Mr. Dawson?” Mrs. Locksley sighed nonchalantly.

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” I shrugged.

She raised one eyebrow before placing a hand on her hip. She briefly glanced at Nara Lee, who was still standing in the doorway as she stared at me with wide eyes and a hand over her mouth, before walking towards my desk. She crouched down so she was at my level before speaking softly to me.

“Are you having problems at home, Adrian?”

“It’s fine.”

“Adrian, if you are being abused by a family member, it is my duty as a teacher to inform the authorities. You can tell me.”

“Well, tough,” I sighed.

“Adrian,” she began.

“He’s not my family. He’s just a man. I can deal,” I interrupted.

“Do you at least want an ice pack?”

“Can I just put my sunglasses back on now?”

She nodded slowly before straightening back up. I shifted away from her before she could say another thing to me or before she could pat my arm in a way that would seem comforting to her. She stared at me for a moment as I ducked my head down to put on my sunglasses. I shook my hair in my face before crossing arms and leaning low in my seat. I stared down at my empty desktop, trying to ignore how my face was getting warm in frustration and humiliation. Mrs. Locksley finally stepped away and began speaking to the class as if nothing happened. Nara Lee glanced at Mrs. Locksley briefly before giving me a sad stare as she walked out of the classroom. One by one, my classmates turned away from me to pay attention to what she was saying. And with a pang in my chest, I tried to ignore the fact that the very last person to turn away was Eddy.



It was rude but I did not bother waiting for Nara Lee for lunch or after school. I did not want her to see me and I did not want to talk about what happened. But regardless of my attempt to avoid her, she ended up by my side. I heard her footsteps behind me before I saw her in front of me. But to my surprise, she did not speak a word to me. All that she did was pull my hand in hers and hold it the entire way home. I felt my heart in my chest beat louder as her hand gripped mine. I knew I had always liked her, but I knew at that moment that I was in love with her. It was like she knew that I did not want to be bothered but I wanted comfort. And she gave me that. And all I could think is that things between me and her could work.

We walked hand in hand to the front of her house in silence. I walked her up to her door before finally and reluctantly letting go of her hand so she could walk in. But before she turned to open the door, she looked up at me. She reached up and slowly pulled my sunglasses off of my face. She stroked her fingertips over my black eye before placing both hands on the sides of my face. She pulled my head down until I was at her level so she could lean forward and leave a kiss my eye. I shivered lightly as I opened my eyes and leaned back. Her blue eyes stared into mine before she gave me a small smile.

“You should wear green more often, Adrian. It really makes your eyes glow,” she said softly before turning away to open the door. She smiled once more before shutting the door.

I stared at her closed door in silence before turning back around. I slowly made my way back to my house, fiddling my sunglasses with my hands the entire way there. I entered the silent and empty home and leaned against the front door before touching my eye gently. I sighed quietly to myself before walking up the stairs and into my room. I threw my folder on the floor before standing awkwardly in my room, not really sure what I should do. I was about to kick off my shoes when I noticed movement from my peripheral vision. I turned my head to see Eddy entering his room and lying down on his bed. I was about to continue my previous action when Anya’s voice rang out in my head.

“Let’s just say that it’s not locked.”

And that was all it took. I crawled on top of my bed and pushed my curtains out of the way before making my way on to the board. I cautiously made my way towards Eddy’s window. I leaned down to see that Eddy’s window was not shut completely; it was not shut at all. There was at least a two inch gap between the window and the sill. I pushed the window open before crawling into his room.

Eddy was lying silently on his side with his eyes closed. I sat down on his bed between him and the wall before turning slightly and closing the window. I lied down next to him before wrapping one arm around his waist and burying my face in the back of his neck. I trembled slightly as I thought about the past few days that I did not have my best friend, my twin. I had gone this far without shedding a tear and I refused to do so at that moment. So I settled with keeping my best friend as close to me as possible and never intending on letting him go again. I felt Eddy shift beside me as his hand crept down to intertwine with mine. He gave my hand a slight squeeze.

“I missed you.”