Hey, Mr. In Denial (LBGT)

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Though it's not really a date, as I've said probably a million times inside my head, Dustin says to me that he has enjoyed our date. "Our date is fun," he says as we walk across the path, my house just a few houses away. I have told him to park a few houses away from mine since I don't want my cousin snooping at us. Who knows, she could record and upload it online once she captured the video. I know my cousin very well, and I need to tell you, she's very evil. She's like the sister of Satan or Lucifer, and she could even surpass their evilness. "I have enjoyed. The Merry-Go-Round band doesn't suck, right?"

Thinking back of the band when they were playing on the stage, when they did a cover of Ed Sheeran's All of the Stars, they nailed it really well. Their voices are a gift from God, and that's something. "Yes," I say, sighing in contentment as the songs they covered play inside my head melodically. "Nailed it."

"That's what I thought," Dustin chirps, putting his arms behind his back. I kind of wish that he would put an arm around my shoulders, but thinking about it would be ridiculous. I mean, why would he put his arm around me for no apparent reason? It's not like we're together. "I hope you enjoyed our date."

I turn around to face him, my lips tugged in a smile as I look at him in the eyes. "I really did," I say honestly, letting him know that I'm not faking this happiness that I'm feeling. "Lately, I've been stressed, and I guess I needed to pull myself together, and this helped me, like, a lot. That's just what I needed."

"If you ever have problems, you can talk to me," he states, grinning at me and I nod. "I'm your friend."

Friend. That word replays inside my head like a broken record, and suddenly my mind goes blank. I try to rake my brain for the actual meaning of the word, but I can't seem to find its supposed meaning. I've been called friend for a million times by the people I was infatuated with. I've been told that so many times. I'm just waiting for Dale to tell me that I'm his friend, which means he's off-limits already. I know that he's already off-limit to me since he's straight as ruler, but I can't help but be amazed by his characteristics. He's different with any guy I have met.

Perhaps it's the way he acknowledges the gays when a gay person is hitting on him, or how he acknowledges the girls' attention when they are asking for one. It's his attitude. Being the school's current heartthrob is kind of taking its toll on him, but he doesn't let get in the way of his career. Lilith has, as I assume, already captured his heart and according to Gloss, Dale is a 'stick to one' guy.

Gloss has known his friend for a very long time, and never once he cheated according to Gloss. All of his failed relationship, the girls, they all cheated on him with the other men. And in addition, Gloss told me that he never got angry with them. Dale tried to understand them, to make sense of why they cheated. In the end, he always blames himself for something that he cannot control. I guess that's what pulls me to Dale. He's awesome, kind, caring, outgoing, and very friendly. He could make anyone smile if they're having a bad day, like he's the primary source of happiness of everyone. So I'm not really doubting if everyone keeps falling in love with him, because he's the epitome of a 'real man'. He's not really perfect, and he has flaws, but he has what anyone could ask for a man.

He might be a jerk, and he is though a little bit, but he has a diamond heart.

Dustin is shaking his hand in front of me, trying to get my attention and I get jerked back out of my trance, smiling up at him awkwardly. "Sorry, I was just thinking of something. But it's nothing important." I reason. Dustin looks at me, not even convinced but he doesn't say anything, and I'm grateful for it. "We still have a class tomorrow, and it's already 11:12 in the evening. You still need to drive, and I don't want you attending into school looking like a wasted young man. So you may go. I enjoyed everything tonight."

He seems disappointed that I'm letting him go for the night, but I can practically see the gears in his head working. He must have realized that yes, we still have a class tomorrow and we need to get a lot of sleep. Who knows, teachers might conduct a surprise quiz as what they always do to make sure that the students are really taking the lessons seriously.

Dustin nods his head like a good boy he is. He leans down, and my heart races faster. My head is going haywire as he continues to descend on me, and I never know what to do. His lips land on my cheek, and my eyes are wide when he looks at me. A chuckle escapes his lips, and he gives me a wink, turning on his heels and running into the direction of his parked truck.

My palm touches my cheek where Dustin kissed me, and my skin tingles just because of that. He turns around when he reaches his truck, waving at me. "Good night! Sweet dreams!" He yells, and I chuckle at him, shaking my head. Yelling in the middle of the night could wake the neighbors up, but he seems like he doesn't really care about that.

"Good night, too!" I shout back, putting my hands around my mouth as I yell the words out of my mouth. He nods, climbing into the driver's seat and his truck suddenly roars to life, its light blinking very bright. In a few seconds, his truck is really parked in front of me and the window shield of his truck is pulled down. "Nighty night night."

He laughs, his shoulders shaking. "Nighty night night." Then his truck zooms out of my sight as he drives his way home.

As I've mentioned before, I'm not really a morning person, but this morning, it feels like I've been tossed a bucket of happiness when I open my eyes. I'm not really this energetic when I wake up in the morning, but the memories of last night come rocketing down inside my head faster than a rocket. My brain has been filled up with happy moments; me with Dustin riding the carousel attraction; the way we screamed as the coaster went on loop and when it fell down fast; when we ate a cotton candy and some was stuck between my teeth. Despite that I've only had six hours of sleep and not the complete 8 I prefer, I'm happy.

Rolling off the bed and heading into the bathroom, I immediately get frozen as my feet touch the cold tiled floor, and I immediately run back into my room to slip my feet in a slipper so I can do my morning routine.

When I head downstairs and reach the kitchen, Melody is throwing me looks, and I know that she's itching to know every details of the date. I think back of the time that she yelled at the top of her lungs that we should have fun on our date and use protection if you're going to have s*x, I give her a frown. She looks at me, crossing her arms across her chest as she gives me an icy stare. Nope, I'm not going to tell her.

"I was supposed to thank you, but then you got bitchy last night, so no details," I say to her as I take a seat on one of the stools just across from her, grabbing a slice of pizza that my sister must have heated. My father and mother aren't yet awake, and I doubt that they have work to do. Since I'm an only child, I was told by my parents that I should just learn how to make things for myself. So when they are on off or rest days, they let me do things on my own. But since my cousin has already heated up a pizza for a breakfast, then I'm not going to complain.

"That's not really fair," she complains, her icy stare turns into a glare.

"Nothing in this world is ever fair, my dear," I say mockingly, pouring a hot sauce all over the pizza and taking a huge bite. It's Hawaiian pizza, and I'm a big fan of this pizza. Melody and I share the same taste. "You nearly ruined last night, and I'm going to nearly ruin yours by not telling you."

"Fine then; I could just ask him." She says, rolling her eyes at me and eating her pizza like a diva she is.

I throw her a smirk, humming. "If you say so. I could just ask him not to tell you anything at all," I say to her, taking another bite of pizza. While my mouth is full, I tell her: "He's going to stick by my side. If he's interested on me, he'd do what I say. So... good luck with that, cousin."

"You are evil!"

"If I'm evil, so what are you? The primary source of evilness, of course."

She scoffs at me, going back into her pizza and cursing under her breath. A chuckle escapes my lips, and it irritates her somehow. Melody stands up, her skirt so short that it nearly sways upwards as she walks like a duck, and goes into the living room, leaving me alone in the kitchen.

Shaking my head, I continue to eat my pizza and then leave some for my parents just in case they want to eat as well. But knowing Melody, she's going to eat this six pieces of pizza later when I leave. She's a pizza-hogger.

I check my watch and I only have a twenty minutes before the first class starts, and I'm still waiting for Derek to come pick me up. I place the pizza in the fridge, heading to the living room and I find Melody watching Cartoon Network. For a 17 years old girl, she surely is different from the others. Normally, girls her age are doing make-ups and gushing about newly released make-ups and such and here she is, watching a show that is solely for kids. Joining her in the couch, my phone vibrates in my pocket and I see Derek's text: Can't pick you guys up. Urgent matter. Sorry.

Cursing under my breath, I tap my cousin's shoulder and she looks at me, more like glaring. "Derek can't pick us up. Something urgent came into his life and it probably devoured him. We need to commute."

I can tell that Melody doesn't really like the idea, but she hesitantly stands up and picks up her small bag, turning on her heels and moving forward. I pick up my bag that is on the couch just beside me, and follow her trail. There's a bus stop just near my house, and we might need to wait a couple of minutes before the next bus comes.

Melody and I get outside, walking into the bus stop just a block away from the house and we wait patiently. When the bus comes and stops right in front of us, we immediately get inside. There's a chance that we're going to be late, and we only have twelve minutes before the class starts. Sighing, showing a dismay, Melody just pulls out her phone and begins punching rapidly on the screen.

Rolling my eyes at her, I become impatient as the bus keeps making a stop. Eventually we reach the school and by the time we reach the school, it's already 7:57. We still have to get a few books in our locker. Running inside the school, Melody runs after me, shrieking, telling me to wait for her and I ignore her constant pleas and screams. When I reach my locker, the school bell rings, signaling the start of the first class and I basically throw my books in the locker, replacing them with the ones I need. I lock my locker, and run to the classroom, which is by the way near. Just as the bell stops, I bolt inside the room, the door landing on the wall with a loud thud and the teacher glares at me.

"I'm not really late, am I?" I ask, panting hard from the running I've taken. I look like a mess, I know.

People shriek in laughter, laughing at me like I'm sort of a clown that entertains them. I fight the urge of snapping at them, because it would get me in trouble even more. Biting my tongue, the teacher just shakes her head and I sigh in relief, heading into my seat and taking a seat on it.

The teacher begins to discuss a few things about the topic, and my mind drifts into Dustin and Dale. Comparing them, they are very different from each other but there's no doubt in my head that I'd still choose Dale over Dustin. I know that Dustin is the one who can take my attention out of Dale, and I believe that. Lately, Dale has been running inside my head, and I'd like to be away from him as much as possible. I've probably said this a million times, but I don't want to risk falling in love with him.

I got my heart broken once, and it will never happen again. I can't entrust my heart to someone who will never love me back. I just need to be cautious and learn to ignore the feelings like it's not there. It may numb me, but it's going to be worth it.

The topic goes on and on, but it never leaves an impression inside my head, considering my head is filled with Dustin and Dale thoughts and images. They are such a distraction for me. I'm going to blame them if I won't be able to graduate and leave this school. It's because of them. I try to focus my attention on the lessons that the teacher is spewing, but it quickly slips off my head just like a wind.

I have been thinking so much that I haven't realized that the bell has already rang and the people are already filing out of the room, their bags slung over their shoulder as they go. Standing up with haste, I immediately run out of the room and go into my locker.

My eyes search for my best friends, but I cannot find them. Sighing, putting the books inside my locker, I head into my next class.

Time really flies as the bell rings, signaling that I'm on my free time now. I cannot find Dustin today. I've seen Homer in my previous class, but Dale was absent. He must have skipped a class or must have been absent, considering I haven't seen him yet the whole day. It's unlikely of him to absent, since he doesn't do a lot. It only happened thrice, when he got sick, and that was the only reason why he was absent for three days.

Since I cannot find Dustin or the others, I decide to head into the one isolated classroom in the second building. The building is a bit old, and it's being renovated. Last year, there were new buildings, and they are occupied right now. The classroom is located at the far end of the second hallway on the second floor. The first and third floor are occupied with classes, and later on, second to the last subject, the building will be totally emptied.

I will prefer to be in that room since it's really quiet, and I don't really like people disturbing me on my free time, so I'm just going to spend it there. Perhaps I could do some school stuff while listening to songs. That seems like a good idea to me.

Reaching the building and immediately heading upstairs to the second floor, I go into the last room of the second floor at the far end of the second hallway. When the night greets the place, the place will seem creepy, but I'm not really afraid of ghosts. Plus, I will be getting out of here in an hour. It's not like I'm going to be stuck here for the night. That would suck.

When I reach the room, the footsteps of the students on the third floor can be heard and I shake my head. I head inside, leaving the door slightly ajar and I place my bag on one of the seats, taking a seat beside and pulling my phone out of my pocket. Fishing my Calculus notebook out of my bag, I decide that I'll start with the hardest subject for me.

As I'm about to open the book, the door has been open wide, and it lands hard on the wall that jolts me up in shock. I put my hand over my chest, trying to calm my beating heart as I look at the culprit.

The culprit is no other than Robert Dale Waites.

He looks at me with wide eyes, and the way his chest heave frantically, I know that he has been running away. Glaring at him, standing up, I walk up to him and cross my arms across my chest. "What are you doing here?"

He shuts the door, turning his body to face me. I gawk at him, mouth agape. "What?"

"Why'd you shut the door?"

"Why? What's the matter?" he asks me, clueless.

I look at him, then back at the closed door, then back at him again. Then I burst. "You should have not closed the door, you i***t!"

"Why?" he asks, dumbfounded, glaring at me.

"There's a reason why this building is being renovated!" I reason, shaking my head and holding the doorknob of the door, jiggling, twisting, and pulling it, but to no avail, the door won't open.

"Door's broken?"

"Yes for God's sake! We're stuck here!"