Home for the Summer (BOYXBOY)

18 | I was More

Izzy O'Neil gave Nicolas and I a ride home when Benji got sick on a coaster and had to leave early. Lilli was picked up by her father and Rowan left a little while after. We all promised each other that there would be more hangouts like this over the summer and then, we went our separate ways.

Izzy drove a very old car that she had plastered about a million stickers onto. They coated the entire back of the car and trailed upwards on the windows. The one sitting on my door read "Happy Days Ahead" but the D was crossed out and replaced with a G. Nico sat beside me, his thigh pressed against mine as my hands nervously tapped at nothing on my phone.

"So, Nicolas," Izzy said, peering at him through the rear view mirror. "Are you a football player?"

From his scoff, you would think she'd offended him, but he smiled anyway. "I play hockey. Why?"

Izzy grinned. "Dunno. You sort of look like you would be a quarterback. And Nicolas is a very football-ish name."

"I think Conner is more football-ish," he said.

"Or Andrew," I added.

"Yeah, that's true," Izzy nodded. "What about you, Apollo? Still doing volleyball?"

"Sort of. I only really play during the season, though." She nodded and I met Nico's eyes for a moment.

"So, are you and Lilli Sanders a couple?" she asked after a beat.

I genuinely did not know how to answer this. Yes? I mean, we had just kissed at the festival and have technically been on two dates now. But, we also weren't together. She wasn't my girlfriend. Oh, god, did she want to be my girlfriend?

"That was quite the subject change," Nico said. He gave me a quick smile and I wondered for a moment if he was able to read my mind.

"Yeah, well," she shrugged. "I'm not great with the whole small talk thing."

"We're not boyfriend and girlfriend," I decided.

"But, you are seeing each other?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess."

Izzy gave me a long look from the rearview mirror, almost like she was trying to fish inside of me with her eyes and tug out my thoughts. I didn't know what to think of this. I didn't know anything in her old car beside Nico as the road bumped and turned.

Izzy O'Neil had a reputation around school for being a bit of a slacker. She didn't really care about her grades and seemed to try very hard at not trying. Most teachers didn't like her. Most student council members didn't like her. She sat with the art kids at lunch and sort of looked out of place around them. Well, besides when she was with Rowan, of course.

Rowan wasn't exactly the opposite of Izzy, but they were very different people. She was often sitting quietly in the library sketching or studying and dressed exclusively in pastels. In fact, I had never once seen Rowan Suzuki wearing black. Izzy was the talker among them. If they were colors and not people, Rowan would be blush pink and Izzy would be fuchsia.

We arrived at my house, but Nico told Izzy to keep driving because our curfew was half an hour away and he wanted to see the ocean. When we arrived, he hopped out excitedly and I unbuckled my seatbelt.

"Apollo," Izzy said once Nicolas's door shut. Her eyes did the same strange stare but this time, she had turned around in the driver's seat and was making full eye contact with me. "You can talk to me about whatever. I know we aren't, like, best friends or anything but... I'm here for you if you need it."

"Oh, uh," I said stupidly, partly because I had no idea what she meant, and partly because I had never seen someone look so sure of something in their life. Her eyes were speaking for her. "Thanks."