Indifference (boyxboy)

39. The Offending Object

A/N - Second update of the day!!!  You're welcome.

Elijah

I didn't get much sleep, but for once I didn't care. I never thought that there would ever be something that I could happily think about for hours on end and not get bored.

I was awake, showered and dressed even before my alarm went off. I was tempted to even tell Alicia that I would walk to school, just so I wouldn't have to wait, and also because it might help me get rid of the nervous energy I was filled with.

But instead, I used up my time by searching online for the perfect Christmas present for Ryan. Christmas was only two weeks away and I was determined to get him something he would love. I could tell that he probably didn't get much spent on him at home, and seen as my savings account was looking pretty healthy from my absent father, I wanted to spoil him a bit.

Eventually the clock ticked round to 8.30am and I went outside to wait for Alicia and her mum. Fortunately I didn't have to wait long and soon we were on our way.

After a few minutes of silence, Alicia turned back to me from her seat in the front and said,

"So?"

I blinked. "So what?"

Alicia rolled her eyes.

"So what happened between you and Ryan last night?"

I immediately blushed, mainly because her mum was sitting right there!

"Nothing happened!"

"Nah ah!" she said, shaking her head. "There's no way I believe that. Not after the way you two were looking at each other last night. You were practically ripping each other's clothes off with your eyes!"

"Alicia!" her mum snapped.

Alicia just sniggered, while I held my hands to my cheeks, trying to cool them down.

"It's ok," Alicia said, thankfully turning back round to face the front. "If you won't tell me, I'll just ask Ryan."

That was fine with me. Ryan would know what to say. How to shut her up. But that got me thinking. What would he say? What did happen last night?

He said he liked me, as in more than a friend kind of like, but we'd not really said anything else. Maybe he liked a lot of people in that way. Maybe I was one in a long line of people.

I could feel myself starting to panic again. Had I imagined it all? Did he say that just to spare my feelings? Yesterday I had been so happy and so sure, but now, all the doubts and insecurities were creeping in. How could he like me that way? I was a freak. A nerd. A pathetic loser. After all, I had been called those exact things often enough, so there must be some truth in it.

What if he changed his mind? What if....

The car pulled up outside the school gate.

I climbed out, starting to feel quite shaky. I shut the door, turned, then froze as I saw Ryan walking over to me with a huge smile on his face.

The closer he got to me, the smaller the smile got, until it disappeared completely and was replaced by a frown.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, concern written all over his face.

"Sorry! My fault," Alicia said, coming round from the other side of the car. "I think I said something that freaked him out a little. Nothing you can't fix," she said, patting Ryan's shoulder before walking off.