Your Never Fading Smile

Chapter 9

"What's wrong Liam? You seem really down today." Wondered Jason as we were sitting on our usual bench. "It's nothing..." "Well, it certainly doesn't look like nothing to me." I didn't answer. I just stared into the distance. A specific imagine being stuck in my head since yesterday. "Hey~ Long time no see~" I raised sightly my head to see Alex approaching us.

"Why are you here now?" Questioned Jason with an angry look getting up from his sitting position, only for Alex to shrug with a smirk. "To see you of course~" "You saw me. Now leave." "But I haven't really introduced myself yet to your little friend there~ Hello, my name is Alex Thompson. Please take care of my little Jason." "Oh shut up!" "Ouch!" Yelled Jason hitting Alex on the head as I stared at both of them with an indifferent expression.

"Are you guys going out?" I finally asked as Jason shoot me deadly daggers. "Of course not! Who would want to date someone like him!" "Oh don't be like that Jason~ Everyone knows you are lying...~" Laughed Alex holding Jason from his waist, bringing him closer towards him but Jason was quick enough to kick him in the stomach to freed himself. "...That... That hurt you know..." "That was the point."

"Hey, Jason Smith! The professors are gathering your band for something! You better go!" "See you later Liam." Let Jason a sigh as he began to walk away. "Sure." "Man... He can be so cruel sometimes, it hurts me..." Let Alex a sigh of his own as he sat beside me on the bench. "So? What made you to ask that question about us?" He asked suddenly and I tightened my fists. "You like Jason right?" I asked as the memories from yesterday passed through my eyes. "We may not be together but I think it's pretty obvious by now that I am head over heels for him." He let out a small laugh and then I turned to face him.

"How do you know, you like him? What... What made you realize that you like him?" "It was love at first sight. I was a second year when Jason set foot in this university for the first time. When I saw him, I just couldn't get my eyes off him." He smiled as I looked up at the sky. The weather was much warmer than yesterday.

"I see..." "Oh~ I smell relationship troubles~ Well? Who's the fortune person that you like?" I shook my head in denial as I looked towards the ground. "It's not like that... You see, yesterday someone kinda confessed to me and I don't really know if I can return their feelings or not. I...also feel guilty because I said something very mean to them..." I explained with a sorrowful expression as Alex became more serious about the said subject.

"If I may ask, what was the thing you said?" I hesitated to answer for a moment but soon enough, I told him. "The person who confessed to me was a guy. I said that a boy isn't supposed to like another one. After that, I saw how hurt he was and regretted it immediately..." "So it was a man after all. That was indeed pretty harsh. I don't know about the guy, but as a gay man myself, I find it very rude." "I'm sorry... I didn't meant to offend anyone. I was just extremely startled and I never thought that a guy would like me... I'm just really confused."

"Listen. That was, like I said, pretty harsh. You shouldn't say stuff like that when you don't even know how you feel. You should apologize to him next time when you see him." He scolded me and I honestly couldn't agree more with him. What I did was very wrong of me. "You also have to figure out your own feelings. If you truly don't like him that way, you should tell him properly." He's right... I need to figure out my own feelings first.

[Somewhere inside the school building.]

"What the–!" A small yelp was heard when suddenly someone grabbed the unaware Jacob from his collar towards an empty hall. "W-who the hell is it?!" "Shush!! Quiet down a bit!" To Jason's surprise, the person who dragged him was Noah all along. "It's you! Where the hell have you been?!" "I told you to be quiet!" Whisper-yelled Noah trying to calm Jason down.

"So, care to explain?" Questioned Jason as Noah crouched down on the floor bringing his legs closer to hide his face. "Jason... I did something terrible." Seeing him like that, Jason sat beside him and tried to help out his friend. "What happened?" "...I kissed Liam..." Answered Noah after a few seconds causing Jason to get up from the floor in a flash.

"YOU WHAT?!" "Shut up, will you?! I don't want anyone to hear us! We are lucky that we are skipping class right now." Said Noah trying to make his best friend to shut up as Jason looked at him with a smirk. "You are skipping class. I got permission to meet up with the band." "Then you probably should go." Suggested Noah looking at the floor with a sad expression. "As if. I'm not leaving a friend in need." Smiled Jason sitting once again beside Noah to prove his words.

"Now, explain." Noah took a deep breath and voiced out his thoughts. "I... I kisses Liam yesterday without his consent. He probably thinks I'm weird and gross now... He may as well stop hanging out with me... He must hate me now... Damn I feel terrible!" "Hey hey, calm down. If you regret it then why did you even kissed him?" "I feel bad that he may come to hate me but I don't regret it... It's just, when he smiled at me, with those beautiful eyes of his and his warm carefree smile... I was surprised. I had this strange feeling in my chest for the first time in my life. Before I knew it, I walked towards him and kissed him out of pure instinct. In the end, I just left without further explanations..."

Silence followed for a while until Jason spoke in response to Noah's explanation. "That must had been a great shock for Liam, you know, since you are friends but then you come and suddenly kiss him." "I know right?! I'm a horrible person... I'm a horrible friend..." Jason brought a hand on Noah's shoulder for reassurance as Noah let out a big sigh.

"I was also thinking Liam as a friend but now, suddenly, my feelings for him have become something more. I don't know if we'll be able to see each other in the eyes ever again..." "What was Liam's reaction to this?" "Not good..." "Figured." Noah let out yet another sigh and Jason looked at him with slight annoyance. "Stop sighing damn it! Just listen here! Go and talk things through with him!" Noah's eyes widened as he turned his head to face his friend.

"Go and express yourself properly. Tell him all the things you couldn't say yesterday. Liam is a good kid. I doubt he will hate you because of that." Suggested Jason as Noah got up from his sitting position. "... You're right... I have to talk to him. At least if he rejects me, I hope we could stay as friends." "There you go. Now stop sulking." "Yes mom..." "Why you..." Answered Noah with a sarcastic tone as Jason shoot glares at him.

"Now... I need to go and find Liam."