Pretty Boy
3 of 7
I tried hard to not stare at Jacob. He brought me pastries. He’d read my blog and remembered my favourite food. I had no idea he was so sweet. I wanted to tell him but he looked embarrassed enough as it was so I stayed quiet. My sandwich quickly became unappetising as I pulled the cheese Danish out of the bag – I’d start with savoury and move onto the sweet treats next. I bit into the flaky pastry and moaned softly. “This is good,” I said and Jacob smiled as he continued to blush.
“I’ve got your comic book here, too,” he said, fishing in his bag and passing it back to me. I smiled and slipped it inside my bag.
“Did you like it?” I asked and he nodded.
“Can I borrow the second issue?” he asked and I smiled and nodded.
“I’ll bring it in tomorrow,” I said and he smiled. I loved his smile. Even though it was a shy smile, it transformed his face and made him seem just that little bit more confident. “Who’s your favourite character so far?” I asked and Jacob considered my question for a moment.
“I dunno, I mean, I feel for Roman and all but…Benji is too adorable and yeah, Benji is my favourite,” he said and I smiled.
“Are you out?” I asked and Jacob’s face turned red again. Maybe that was a bit blunt…but I needed to know. If he wasn’t gay I needed to try and stop myself from falling for him. But I was pretty confident he was; what straight guy would want to read a gay-themed comic books?
“No,” he shrugged and I nodded. At least that meant that he was gay, just no one knew yet. “Never really had a reason.” I looked up and held his gaze for an intense moment before he blushed and looked away.
“Do you think people will be okay with it?” I asked and he hesitated slightly.
“My parents will be,” he said eventually. “My friends…probably not, but I dunno.” I nodded slowly. That made sense; his friends were jocks after all, typically not the most tolerant of groups. It was the footballers who usually bullied me and shoved me around in the corridors so I knew they wouldn’t take the news of a gay guy in their ranks all that well. Not when they realised they’d had showers and probably been naked in front of a gay guy. Straight guys could be so paranoid that way. As though gay guys were attracted to every single guy in the world…most of the football players weren’t my type at all. Except Jacob. He was exactly my type. And not just because of his looks, but his shyness and his kindness, it all added together to create someone who was pretty close to my perfect guy.
“Do you want to come out?” I asked slowly and he nodded.
“Yeah,” he said. “When I need to come out, I will. If I have a boyfriend I’m not going to hide him away.” I smiled softly and nodded.
“That’s good,” I said and he smiled.
--
Jacob continued to sit with me for the next few days at lunch. He didn’t even seem shy about approaching me anymore, though he always blushed when I smiled at him. I kinda loved it. I’d never had the impression that jocks could be shy and embarrassed but Jacob was and it was adorable. Even though out of the two of us, he was the ‘manlier’ one, he blushed like a teenage girl. He was so cute.
He texted me during the week, too. At first he texted me to tell me that he loved issue 2 of ‘Forever Love’ and wanted to borrow the third one. Then he started texting me just asking how I was, if I’d had a good day, or to say good morning before school or to wish me good night in the evenings. I loved talking to him. I didn’t really have any friends at school who I spoke to outside of lessons so it was nice knowing that if I wanted to, I could text Jacob and he would reply within a few minutes. And I could talk to him about comic books. Okay, he’d only read the first few issues of ‘Forever Love’ but I’d gone back to reread the first few so I could talk to him about them. I hadn’t even really had anyone who I could share that with before. And that was really nice.
That Friday, after we’d spent a week having lunch together, Jacob and I had a free period at the same time so after lunch we headed down the hallway to our lockers to get our books. We came to a stop in front of Jacob’s locker and we both just stared at the metal door. People around us were whispering and sniggering and pointing and I felt my heart break slightly for the kind boy standing next to me. Black marker covered his locker door; ‘fag’ ‘queer’ ‘gay’, and several offensive and graphic drawings. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. I knew this was my fault; if I hadn’t been talking to him so much and if he hadn’t been sitting with me, this would never have happened. He didn’t deserve this. No one did, but least of all Jacob. He was too kind, too pure, to be on the receiving end of hate like this.
“It’s not your fault,” Jacob whispered and I turned and looked up at him. He was still staring at his locker door and my eyes fell to his hand, which was hanging at his side. I bit my lip for a moment and then reached out and entwined our fingers. Jacob squeezed mine hard and didn’t let go.
“We can come back when people have gone into lessons and wash it off,” I said softly and Jacob just nodded. I tugged his hand gently and led him away. Walking through the hallway holding hands after Jacob had been called gay probably wasn’t the best thing to do, but I wanted to hold his hand and he seemed to want to hold mine. I needed to comfort him and holding his hand seemed like the only way I could.
When we got to the library, he let go of my hand and sat at a group study desk. I sat beside him and kept my eyes on him. “Are you okay?” I whispered and he turned to me.
“What kind of people would do that?” he asked and I sighed sadly. Unfortunately, I knew all too well the types of people who did stuff like that. Most of them Jacob would probably consider to be his friends.
“Teenagers can be horrible,” I said softly. “Not everyone is like that, though. The people who will treat you like that aren’t worth your time or your friendship.” He sighed softly. “I’m sorry, Jacob. I shouldn’t have asked you to sit with me…they did that because you’ve been hanging out with me.”
“I’m not going to stop hanging out with you,” he whispered, his cheeks flushing and I felt my heart skip in my chest. I smiled softly.
“I’ll be right back, okay?” I said and Jacob nodded. I squeezed his hand quickly before heading out of the library.
I went via the bathrooms and wet a few tissues and went down to Jacob’s locker. I swiped the water over the locker and to my relief the pen immediately started to fade. The idiots must have taken a white board marker to write on Jacob’s locker and it came right off with water.
Just as I’d finished rubbing off the horrible words and images, a group of guys walked down the corridor. “Out of the way, fag,” one muttered, shoving me hard into the lockers. I grimaced and bit back a cry as my shoulder was crushed against the metal. No way was I giving them the satisfaction of seeing me hurt. They all cackled and I kept my gaze on the floor until they’d moved off. I let out a sigh and threw the wet paper towel into the nearest bin and headed back to the library.
I sat back in the seat next to Jacob and he smiled at me. “Okay?” he asked and I nodded. My shoulder was throbbing but I wasn’t going to let him know that, not when he was going through his own problems.
“You okay?” I asked and he nodded.
“Yeah, I’m good,” he said and I smiled and leant against him for a moment.
“So, I guess we should get on with our work,” I said, turning my attention to my books.
“Avery?” Jacob said quietly and I turned to him. His cheeks were bright red and I smiled softly. “If I were to ask you on a date…would that be okay?” If possible, his cheeks grew even redder. I grinned at him.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “Yeah, that would be okay.” Jacob let out a sigh and nodded.
“Okay,” he said and I waited but he didn’t say anything more.
“That’s it?” I asked and Jacob blushed.
“Yeah,” he said and I blinked in confusion. He hadn’t asked me out, only asked if he could…what the hell did that mean? Maybe he was just too nervous, maybe he needed me to ask him? But I kind of wanted him to ask first. Maybe if he doesn’t ask me out soon, I’ll just ask him. I looked at Jacob for a moment longer, watching as his blush slowly faded away and then turned back to my books. Jacob’s leg was suddenly pressed close to mine under the table and I smiled softly. I knew, without having to look, that the blush was back on Jacob’s cheeks. I smiled softly and pressed my leg back against his.
“I’ve got your comic book here, too,” he said, fishing in his bag and passing it back to me. I smiled and slipped it inside my bag.
“Did you like it?” I asked and he nodded.
“Can I borrow the second issue?” he asked and I smiled and nodded.
“I’ll bring it in tomorrow,” I said and he smiled. I loved his smile. Even though it was a shy smile, it transformed his face and made him seem just that little bit more confident. “Who’s your favourite character so far?” I asked and Jacob considered my question for a moment.
“I dunno, I mean, I feel for Roman and all but…Benji is too adorable and yeah, Benji is my favourite,” he said and I smiled.
“Are you out?” I asked and Jacob’s face turned red again. Maybe that was a bit blunt…but I needed to know. If he wasn’t gay I needed to try and stop myself from falling for him. But I was pretty confident he was; what straight guy would want to read a gay-themed comic books?
“No,” he shrugged and I nodded. At least that meant that he was gay, just no one knew yet. “Never really had a reason.” I looked up and held his gaze for an intense moment before he blushed and looked away.
“Do you think people will be okay with it?” I asked and he hesitated slightly.
“My parents will be,” he said eventually. “My friends…probably not, but I dunno.” I nodded slowly. That made sense; his friends were jocks after all, typically not the most tolerant of groups. It was the footballers who usually bullied me and shoved me around in the corridors so I knew they wouldn’t take the news of a gay guy in their ranks all that well. Not when they realised they’d had showers and probably been naked in front of a gay guy. Straight guys could be so paranoid that way. As though gay guys were attracted to every single guy in the world…most of the football players weren’t my type at all. Except Jacob. He was exactly my type. And not just because of his looks, but his shyness and his kindness, it all added together to create someone who was pretty close to my perfect guy.
“Do you want to come out?” I asked slowly and he nodded.
“Yeah,” he said. “When I need to come out, I will. If I have a boyfriend I’m not going to hide him away.” I smiled softly and nodded.
“That’s good,” I said and he smiled.
--
Jacob continued to sit with me for the next few days at lunch. He didn’t even seem shy about approaching me anymore, though he always blushed when I smiled at him. I kinda loved it. I’d never had the impression that jocks could be shy and embarrassed but Jacob was and it was adorable. Even though out of the two of us, he was the ‘manlier’ one, he blushed like a teenage girl. He was so cute.
He texted me during the week, too. At first he texted me to tell me that he loved issue 2 of ‘Forever Love’ and wanted to borrow the third one. Then he started texting me just asking how I was, if I’d had a good day, or to say good morning before school or to wish me good night in the evenings. I loved talking to him. I didn’t really have any friends at school who I spoke to outside of lessons so it was nice knowing that if I wanted to, I could text Jacob and he would reply within a few minutes. And I could talk to him about comic books. Okay, he’d only read the first few issues of ‘Forever Love’ but I’d gone back to reread the first few so I could talk to him about them. I hadn’t even really had anyone who I could share that with before. And that was really nice.
That Friday, after we’d spent a week having lunch together, Jacob and I had a free period at the same time so after lunch we headed down the hallway to our lockers to get our books. We came to a stop in front of Jacob’s locker and we both just stared at the metal door. People around us were whispering and sniggering and pointing and I felt my heart break slightly for the kind boy standing next to me. Black marker covered his locker door; ‘fag’ ‘queer’ ‘gay’, and several offensive and graphic drawings. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. I knew this was my fault; if I hadn’t been talking to him so much and if he hadn’t been sitting with me, this would never have happened. He didn’t deserve this. No one did, but least of all Jacob. He was too kind, too pure, to be on the receiving end of hate like this.
“It’s not your fault,” Jacob whispered and I turned and looked up at him. He was still staring at his locker door and my eyes fell to his hand, which was hanging at his side. I bit my lip for a moment and then reached out and entwined our fingers. Jacob squeezed mine hard and didn’t let go.
“We can come back when people have gone into lessons and wash it off,” I said softly and Jacob just nodded. I tugged his hand gently and led him away. Walking through the hallway holding hands after Jacob had been called gay probably wasn’t the best thing to do, but I wanted to hold his hand and he seemed to want to hold mine. I needed to comfort him and holding his hand seemed like the only way I could.
When we got to the library, he let go of my hand and sat at a group study desk. I sat beside him and kept my eyes on him. “Are you okay?” I whispered and he turned to me.
“What kind of people would do that?” he asked and I sighed sadly. Unfortunately, I knew all too well the types of people who did stuff like that. Most of them Jacob would probably consider to be his friends.
“Teenagers can be horrible,” I said softly. “Not everyone is like that, though. The people who will treat you like that aren’t worth your time or your friendship.” He sighed softly. “I’m sorry, Jacob. I shouldn’t have asked you to sit with me…they did that because you’ve been hanging out with me.”
“I’m not going to stop hanging out with you,” he whispered, his cheeks flushing and I felt my heart skip in my chest. I smiled softly.
“I’ll be right back, okay?” I said and Jacob nodded. I squeezed his hand quickly before heading out of the library.
I went via the bathrooms and wet a few tissues and went down to Jacob’s locker. I swiped the water over the locker and to my relief the pen immediately started to fade. The idiots must have taken a white board marker to write on Jacob’s locker and it came right off with water.
Just as I’d finished rubbing off the horrible words and images, a group of guys walked down the corridor. “Out of the way, fag,” one muttered, shoving me hard into the lockers. I grimaced and bit back a cry as my shoulder was crushed against the metal. No way was I giving them the satisfaction of seeing me hurt. They all cackled and I kept my gaze on the floor until they’d moved off. I let out a sigh and threw the wet paper towel into the nearest bin and headed back to the library.
I sat back in the seat next to Jacob and he smiled at me. “Okay?” he asked and I nodded. My shoulder was throbbing but I wasn’t going to let him know that, not when he was going through his own problems.
“You okay?” I asked and he nodded.
“Yeah, I’m good,” he said and I smiled and leant against him for a moment.
“So, I guess we should get on with our work,” I said, turning my attention to my books.
“Avery?” Jacob said quietly and I turned to him. His cheeks were bright red and I smiled softly. “If I were to ask you on a date…would that be okay?” If possible, his cheeks grew even redder. I grinned at him.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “Yeah, that would be okay.” Jacob let out a sigh and nodded.
“Okay,” he said and I waited but he didn’t say anything more.
“That’s it?” I asked and Jacob blushed.
“Yeah,” he said and I blinked in confusion. He hadn’t asked me out, only asked if he could…what the hell did that mean? Maybe he was just too nervous, maybe he needed me to ask him? But I kind of wanted him to ask first. Maybe if he doesn’t ask me out soon, I’ll just ask him. I looked at Jacob for a moment longer, watching as his blush slowly faded away and then turned back to my books. Jacob’s leg was suddenly pressed close to mine under the table and I smiled softly. I knew, without having to look, that the blush was back on Jacob’s cheeks. I smiled softly and pressed my leg back against his.
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