The Boy Who Could Fly

When Andy said some company was coming over, I figured he meant maybe four people at most. But no. He meant an entire party of people.

"Jaime, I think I'm just going to go to bed" I tried to tell him over the loud music. I knew very well that there was no hope of me falling asleep with all that’s going on in the house but tonight was an anti social kind of night for me.

"Come on, you're not gonna ditch me are you?" He whined to my ear. I smiled at him, not sure how to nicely say that yes indeed I was ditching. "Have fun" I said, briefly kissing his cheek then making a run for my room.

I did feel bad but I knew once he had some drinks it would take his mind elsewhere, away from the thought of me.

When I was almost at my door, a familiar figure caught the corner of my eye, "Oliver?" I asked to the person sitting in the hallway with his knees to his chest. It took a moment but he finally lifted his face to look at me. His cheeks were stained with tears and it didn't take a wise man to know something wrong had happened, "What is Oliver?" I asked, slowly crouching down beside him. "It doesn't matter" He blurted, hiding his face behind his knees again. I stayed where I was and waited for him to open up and tell me what was going on. He always seemed like the strong type to me and this definitely was out of character for him, from what I knew at least.

Finally he unfolded himself, stretching his legs out and wiping his own tears as the last drops fell. "Why do you care," He choked out "And don't give me that whole 'I'm the teacher and I always care about my students' speech" He made himself clear. But I didn't know such a speech existed. "I care because you're a person and you're obviously hurting. I want to help." I hoped he would understand, but the look of disbelief on his face told me other wise.

"What are you even doing here?" He asked, breaking a moments silence before it got too thick. "I live here" This got his attention. He raised an eyebrow at me and I knew what he was thinking. "Andy, the one who decided a party was a wonderful idea, he rents a room from me" I explained. "And you're cool with him doing this?" He motioned his hands in a general direction to make his point. "Yeah, pretty much" I told him honestly. "I've known Andy for a while and wouldn't have let him live here if I wasn't prepared for these kind of things." I played with my fingers and smiled at remembering the first time I ran into him on the street. "Wow" Oliver said in surprise. I made a small laugh before looking at his face and only then did I notice he was staring at me. "Why were you crying" I asked calmly in a shushed tone. He never took his eyes away from mine "I had just gotten off the phone with my mom" He said, his eyes tearing up once again. "What happened" I was so confused. "She hates me" He began to explain. "My whole family hates me" He looked away now, his eyes traveling down to the floor beside me. "Go on" I pushed, trying to keep him on track "I used to be addicted to drugs. Ever since then my family has disowned me completely" He started crying again now, slow sobs raking through his body. "What about now?" I asked, wrapping my arm around his shoulders trying my best to soothe him. "I quit drugs, I started going to college, all for them. But I guess that doesn't matter" He sneered through the tears at his own words.

I wanted to help him. I wanted him to feel better, not feel all this hurt and obvious rage within him. But I knew there was nothing in my power to do so. I sighed and let his head rest on my chest so he could cry.

"Vic?" The words interrupted my thoughts. I looked up from Oliver and saw Jaime standing at the end of the hall, his eyebrows forwarded in confusion. Only then did it occur to me what this looked like, especially to someone who has been drinking. "Don't jump to conclusions" I said quickly and lifted Oliver off of me so I could go talk to Jaime. "No, don't get up. I don't wanna ruin anything" Jaime said, slamming the door to his room.

I let my head fall back to the wall and closed my eyes to keep my composure "I'll just go.." Oliver trailed off but I knew he didn't want to leave, I didn't stop him from going though. I knew it would be best.

After he left I slowly cracked Jaime's door open and slid in trying to not to make any noise. "Go away" He mumbled against his pillow. I knew he had been crying and I knew it was 80% caused by alcohol. "Shhh" I smoothed my hand over his back then kissed the side of his neck. "That was one of my students who I found crying, Jaime. It wasn't what you thought" I explained quietly, not wanting to break the beautiful silence too much.

He rolled over to face me but instead of saying anything he pressed his lips to mine then brought me to his chest, cradling my head and combing my hair with his fingers. I didn't bother to talk either, I simply got under his blankets and let him hold me till we both fell asleep.