Crush

Chapter 6

I swallowed hard watching as Jason competed against Peter in a very strange one v one game.

Ysander had let go of me but now he was focused on talking to Michael.

It seemed all of them were interested in beating each other for first place but in the end Jay kept his title.

Ysander eventually sighed beside me " You should really have a turn.. I mean we came here to have fun right?"

I glanced over at him.

" Its not exactly... Easy to do that for me... Not in a group like this..." I'd mumbled off remembering how many people I was bullied by... Were especially boys.

Ysander frowned " You were fine... The other day with Mandy and with Marvin..."

I glared up at him snapping. " Yeah! Well they're like me! They get bullied for being meeker!"

His eyes widened at me for a moment as Michael cleared his throat further away from us.

I felt dizzy from the anxiety.

" Taylor... I..." He frowned but I shook my head.

" No... Look just... Forget I even said anything. It's not your fault. Its something I want to handle alone. I'm not competitive like you guys. But really... I just... Have some old demons that need to be slain."

He smirked " Yknow...there's a game here about slaying demons."

I blinked up at him " Really!? Which one!?"

He smiled taking hold of my hand again " Come on cutie."

My stomach tensed hard all of a sudden.

Cutie

Was he feeling okay!?

" Taylor!?" I gawped looking over to notice a very happy Marvin running towards me as I was mid slaying a level twenty fallen smoke demon.

He gleamed leaning over me " This is one of my favourite games! Guardian Mortar and Sidekick Pestle Demons and Angels edition is like the hottest thing since smash bros."

Ysander chuckled sarcastically "Don't bash Smash. Nothing compares to that style though!"

The demon roared in defeat and my score shot up to a seven digit number.

My eyes widened as my icon flew up a list of names and met with the gold status.

Marvin gasped " Woah! You're good!"

I chuckled to myself " It was easy..."

Ysander sighed behind me " Come on let's go dudes."

" Oi Pete! Jay! Mike!"

I called out as Peter glanced over at us with a cautious frown moving back from the other two competing alpha males.

" Who the hell is this?" Pete pointed past me at Marvin who was looking annoyed.

" This is my friend Marvin. Y'know. The one I mentioned."

He smirked " Cool. When did you get here Marv?"

Pete was suddenly a coy kitty.

He thought " I came here about maybe two hours ago. I came to see a new game they put out in sequel to the Prisoners game."

Pete gasped " No kidding! Where is it."

Before I could even blink they were walking off again when Ysander chuckled behind me " He's cool."

I glanced back at him and he was smiling in the direction the other two had left.

" Yeah... He's uh. He looked out for me back in my last school."

He frowned at me " The one you got bullied at?"

I nodded keeping my eyes on him for a moment.

He exhaled folding his arms " Why did they... Pick on you in your old school?"

I shrugged with a defensively long sigh " I don't know... Whether it was cause I was shy or something else... I can't help how I am. I'm not a nervous person. Hell I like making new friends... But they made it really hard for me back then..."

He groaned wincing at me" Sounds awful."

I nodded " Its whatever. Thinking about it just stresses me out more. So I try not to remember."

Ysander nodded smiling to himself.

" I have an idea. Follow me."

So I did, through the crowds of people in the gaming lounge. There was a stairway leading up to three different floors.

We went right to the top.

" The other floors are used for conferences by business people. Just keep on my tail. It won't be long."

Eventually we were up against a door on the tiny final platform, as Ysander pushed the bar opening what turned out to be an emergency exit door.

Ironically it didn't have any special alarm or anything even though it seemed to lead up to the roof.

Where we stood... We towered high enough to see other rooftops all around us and now that the day was ending the sun was on its way in too.

The cool air felt amazing.

Ysander chuckled and it rang out so clear up here in the wind.

" It gets more prettier and prettier every time I find myself back here."

I glanced over at him and noticed him walking in the direction of the setting sun. Thankfully there were barriers around the roof and I decided to join him nearer to the view of the sunset.

He folded his arms and I could feel my cheeks begin to freeze over.

"Its so cold at this time of day..."

He smiled at me " Its gotten windier but it's... Kinda calming right?"

I nodded at him and noticed now he didn't take his eyes off me.

I focused back on the stretching shadows of trees.

" Tay?"

I glanced over at Ysander as he frowned.

" yeah dude?"

He exhaled hard " Promise me if ever... Things are too overwhelming... Or if someone's hurting you... Or annoying you... You'll tell me. I know you like to keep things in but..."

He stepped forward taking hold of my hands.

" I don't ever want you to think that you can't reach out. I won't let anyone talk smack about you."

I felt a buzz of what felt like warmth surge through me, only when I looked up... Ysander was giving me that look again that made me nervous.

I exhaled " This... Is one of the reasons I got bullied before."

He whispered leaning closer to me " There's nothing wrong with this... You can't help it..."

He was right. When his lips found mine, the warm sensation was beyond welcome. It was like a symphony of happiness pounding away in my chest.

I guess what he was trying to say was He... Liked me too?