One of Those Nights (boyxboy)

Chapter 19

I leave the apartment extra early today so I can walk to school and avoid both Cynthia and Lucas. I do have enough decency to send my friend a heads up though.

'Hey Lucas I'm walking to school today'

'K'

'Potassium to u too Oedipus'

To that he just responds with that emoji that cries while laughing.

I arrive at school later than usual. When I finally arrive at my locker I see Olivier, Terrence and Tommy surrounding it. This is not how I wanted my day to go. They seem to be in a heated discussion. I can't help myself and eavesdrop on them because they're completely oblivious to their surroundings.

"We need to do this differently guys." Terrence is saying, clearly peaved. "He thinks he's a slut, we're breaking him and I am very sure that's not what either of us wants. We made him cry. Seriously. I don't ever want to see that again."

Tommy narrows his eyes at him. "He cried? Reiss doesn't do crying." he snaps. Terrence grimaces at him and clenches his fists. "And how would you know him so well, mister 'I-popped-out-of-nowhere-last-monday'?" he snarls. Tommy is full on glaring now, but his voice remains calm. "I've been... admiring him from a distance, for a long time." he states. Oli scoffs and calls him a stalker, to which Tommy shifts his glare from Terrence to the French boy.

Concluding that I've probably heard enough I decide to make my presence known with a cough. "Can I... You know... My locker?" I mumble. Their gazes are burning holes into my skull as I stand there fidgeting with the sleeves of the oversized hoodie I decided to wear today. The piece of clothing is one of the weird souvenirs from Ethan that have been popping up in my room thanks to the countless times he spent the night there. I even found an entire bottle of shampoo that he probably used only once.

The three guys remain silent as they move aside. It's weird to see them all in one place. It makes me feel even worse to be honest. I open my locker to switch my biology textbook for my French textbook. "Why are there two mugs in your locker?" Oli asks. I look up at him and see his green eyes sparkling with amusement. "I'm starting this new hype called 'taking cups of coffee from home with you to school cause you can't afford Starbucks'." I tell him with a grin. It feels strained and fake though. Oli seems to notice that but just smiles instead of mentioning it.

I send both Terrence and Tommy a glance and an awkwardly strained smile. Then I start making my way to my French class. "See? That's what I was talking about!" I can hear Terrence exclaim behind me.

"Dude, this is the worst I've ever seen you look. You should stay home and sleep." Lucas greets me. "I can't sleep though." I sigh as I cross my arms over my desk and rest my head on them. Lucas just pats my back in comfort.

When I'm making my way over to the cafeteria for lunch I'm halted in my steps by some seniors. Two girls, one of which is heavily covered with makeup, and a guy with eyeliner. It looks good on him though.

"Are you that junior who can sing really well?" the makeup girl asks. I don't like her voice for some reason. It sounds like one of those Hollywood Wives I sometimes catch Cynthia watching on tv. "I'm gonna need more details to answer that question correctly." I tell the girl, my eyes nervously darting around. Besides her voice I find myself also disliking the general vibe she gives off.

"We're looking for Reiss Irving." the guy says, interrupting whatever his companion was about to say. His voice is high and girly which makes me want to grimace, but his smile is somehow very reassuring so that makes up for it. "Yeah, that's me." I tell them.

The guy and makeupless girl grin and share an excited look. "Would you like to sing at the Halloween party we're going to host? We would love to have some good old live music instead of another DJ putting on a playlist." the girl says. I nod and try to smile. "Sure, sounds good. Got a songlist in mind or can I just prepare whatever?" I ask as I pull out my phone to put this strange development in my agenda. "Ehmmm... What stuff do you want to perform?" the guy responds. I tap my phone against my chin in thought for a moment, then sigh and shrug. "Anything produced by Fueled By Ramen I guess." I mutter, but they heard me.

"Fueled By Ramen? What is that even?" the makeup girl asks, disgust clear in her voice. I stare at her with wide eyes. "Well they have and or had: Panic! At the Disco, Twenty One Pilots, Fall Out Boy, The Cab, Jimmy Eat World, Cute Is What We Aim For, All Time Low, Paramore... Just the best bands out there really." I tell her and scoff. The guy grins widely at me and is obviously enjoying the makeup girl her growing anger. "If you're so full of yourself, why don't you sing something right here and now?" she snaps. Hah, does she think I'm scared or something? Well fuck that. I am absolutely terrified.

I immediately start singing This Is Gospel by Panic! At The Disco. After the first chorus I stop. "That good enough?" I ask but I aim the question at the guy and makeupless girl. They seem to be the ones who actually kind of know their shit. "That was fucking amazing! Thank you for helping us out with this!" she exclaims and I nod at her with a smile. Then I finally continue making my way towards the cafeteria.