Decisions and Mayhem | ✓

Chapter 7

The bus came to a stop at our house after a while. Juana and I got down from the bus and headed to the house right after. I was on my way to my room when I heard choked crying. I rose a brow in confusion, taking a few steps back until I was standing right in front of Wyatt's bedroom door. I walked closer to it, pressing my ear against the door, and sure enough, I could hear sniffling.

He's crying? I thought to myself, frowning as I wondered whether it would be okay for me to just go in. I debated with myself for a bit about whether I should knock, and after a while, I decided to do just that.

I knocked on the door with my ears still pressed on its wooden surface, and just as if at command, the sniffling stopped. I stayed quiet at my end, and Wyatt stayed quiet at his end as well. I sighed, realizing he wasn't going to say anything until I did.

"Wyatt, can I come in?" I asked, and he still stayed quiet on the other side of the door.

"It's Antonio. I heard you crying. Is—is something wrong?" I asked, and Wyatt didn't give me a reply, still. I sighed, getting frustrated.

"I'm coming in," I said, and when he didn't reply to that I took it as permission to go in.

I opened the door, walking into his room before closing it behind me gently. I turned, looking towards Wyatt who was sitting on his queen-sized bed with crossed legs as he hugged a body pillow to himself. His head was buried in the soft object, and his dyed purple hair was scattered about the place. He was in black shorts and a loose plain light blue shirt.

"Can I sit down on your bed?" I asked, watching him shrug in response. I took that as a yes, and headed to sit at the edge of his bed. I looked around his room, noticing that I exactly hadn't been in it before. The walls were painted a plain black, but they were covered in stickers, posters and what looked glittery glue. His room was the same size as mine, but it felt so much smaller because of how filled to the brim it seemed. There was everything from his guitar and drum set, to the stacks of books, comics, and newspapers that seemed to occupy a huge portion of the carpeted floor. He had two desktops that were tied to one purple gaming keyboard, and his laptop sat hidden in the small shelf attached to his study table.

"Do you want to talk?" I asked when I felt like a reasonable amount of time for him to gather himself had passed by. He shrugged again without saying anything, making me sigh.

I might as well leave. I thought.

"Okay then. I guess I'll leave—"

"I got dumped," he suddenly said, making me turn back to him sharply.

"What?" I asked as I watched him raise his head from the pillow he was holding on to. He hugged it even more tightly to himself as he bit his bottom lip. A shade of pink colored his pale cheeks as he adjusted his sitting position on his bed.

"I said," he started, looking at me square in the eyes. "I got dumped."

I shook my head, adjusting my sitting position on his bed so that I could look at him with more ease. "Dumped? You were dating someone?" I asked, honestly surprised. Wyatt was extremely reserved. He barely talked to anyone — how was he even able to meet the person he said he dated? How come I didn't know about this until now? He never really left the house to do anything, so when did they hang out together?

"Before your mum and my dad moved in together I was dating someone at my former college," Wyatt said, answering my unasked question. "When my dad and I moved in with you guys we decided to keep it long distance, but he just called me a while ago and told me he can't be with me anymore. I kind of agree with him. We're in different states, we don't see each other, but it still hurts," he muttered, and I could catch the underlying sadness in the tone of his voice.

"I really liked him," Wyatt sighed before laying down on his bed. I sat still, trying to absorb the information.

"He?" I said after putting the information he'd given me into perspective. "Wait, you're gay?"

Wyatt laughed, making me look over at him. He smiled, rolling his blue eyes at me before letting out a sigh. "Out of everything I said, gay is the only thing you could make out if it? Of fucking course Antonio, of fucking course," he laughed again, shaking his head as he brought a hand to his forehead.

"By the way, I'm not gay. I'm bisexual," he said, turning away from me with a sigh.

"Enough about me, how about you?" Wyatt asked, turning on his bed so that he could face me. "How's school?" he asked as his face relaxed back to its usual bored look, though his eyes were still a bit red from sobbing.

I thought about school for a bit, and then I remembered Jay and his text messages. I shivered visibly, shaking my head as I tried to get him out of my mind.

"Did something happen?" Wyatt asked, shuffling closer so that he could have a better look at me even though he was laying down. "I mean, I'm not trying to be nosy or anything, but lately, any time I ask you about school you kind of shiver like you're disgusted."

I am. I screamed in my mind, but I didn't say anything out loud. I couldn't really say anything about it, what would I tell Wyatt? That my long-term bully was now trying to be suggestive with me? I didn't even know if Jay was being serious, or if he was just pulling some sort of messed up long-term prank on me as revenge for beating him up. Jay hasn't texted me since the school day was over, and I didn't think much about him until Wyatt brought school up.

"No, nothing's wrong," I lied, knowing that Wyatt wouldn't believe me, but that he'd leave me alone. Wyatt sighed, not saying anything afterward.

"Well, I'm going to bed. Leave whenever you're ready, just make sure to close the door when you do," he said, turning away from me again. I hummed at his words, getting up from his bed before making to leave his room. I closed the door behind me as gently as I could before I headed to my own bedroom that was just down the hallway.

When I was in my room I wondered if I should block Jay's number. I contemplated it, running a hand through my hair. No, he'll just bother me in school about it later if I do. I reasoned, sighing as I changed out of my blue and white school uniform, and wore more casual clothing afterward.

I ended up pushing everything about Jay to the back of my mind before turning on my computer and settling down to do some homework before dinner.

After four or so hours Wyatt called us down for dinner, and when I got down I waited for my other siblings to fight over beef stew portions before I grabbed a plate of food for myself and headed to sit on the carpet by the sofa Wyatt was sitting on in the living room.

He looked up from his phone, smiling down at me before returning his attention to the device in his hands. Wow, look at him getting over his breakup so quickly. I said in my mind as a small chuckle escaped my lips.

"What?" Wyatt asked, looking up from his phone again at the sound of my laughter. 

"Nothing," I said, waving him off before concentrating on the bowl of stew sitting on my lap. He looked away again, and  I smiled to myself, realizing that we'd made some sort of bond in this otherwise fast-paced rowdy house of eleven people.