Get A Room!

~:*:~ Thirty-Nine ~:*:~

Nate

Whenever Ian was off somewhere with Lexi and Chace was spending some bestie time with Leona, Jedson and I tended to gravitate towards one another as the leftovers of our group. We were never mad about being excluded by the others, and it's not like we didn't get along perfectly well, it's just that we found it a little odd how often it happened lately.

But Jedson and I tried to stay out of whatever drama was brewing between Ian and Chace. The fact that they managed to get through the soccer tournament yesterday was a miracle given their hateful glances and cold shoulders. Leona said to leave the boys to her, so we obeyed without fuss.

Jedson was having problems of his own as it turns out. After that third blast of photos hit the internet and the bullies defaced Bright's door, the poor guy spent the whole night and most of the morning fixing things as best he could. That, combined with the amount of strain he put on his body all day during the Sports Event, really made him look like the dead from a zombie movie. He knocked on my door after discovering a hoard of girls hanging around his room to 'accidentally bump into him' for fake consolations about the incident, followed by flirting. The poor guy immediately collapsed onto my bed and took a three hour nap. After he woke up, we played a video game to distract him from his troubles.

But it wasn't working all that well.

In fact, it seemed like Jedson only had one thing on his mind that he had to get off his chest, and I was the one he wanted to tell.

He dropped his controller mid-game and confessed in a hurried voice, "I think I'm in love with Bright."

"Whoa! Are you serious?!" I tossed my own controller aside without pausing the game, too stunned by his declaration to care if my game player died.

"I think so."

He didn't have the courage to look at me yet, but I was sort of glad because I had no idea how my face was contorting. I didn't want to give him the impression that I disapproved; just because I wasn't interested in that lifestyle doesn't mean I'd judge my friend who is. Once the initial shock wore off, I focused my energy on controlling my reactions.

He went on, "At first I assumed it was just a crush! But if it were, I would have been able to leave him alone when he asked. The fact that I'm continuously drawn to him and that I care this much-... what else could it be but love?!"

"So what are you gonna do about it?"

He shrugged, clearly feeling discouraged by everything that had happened so far. "The world seems to be against us!"

"So there is an 'us' to this relationship? Bright is interested in you too?"

"He already turned me down when I told him I have feelings for him. He doesn't want the attention and he's quite sure that he's heterosexual. But I'm not so sure that he is..."

"I think he'd know his heart better than you. If he says he doesn't like guys, you might want to take his word for it."

"But his words don't match his actions! He might say that he doesn't like guys and that he doesn't even want to be friends with the way things are going... but then he blushes and smiles when I say something flirty, and he purposefully seeks me out to dance!" Jedson looks excited as he recalls the memory. He then continues his argument, "I never liked guys before, yet here I am pining for Bright! Things change, and the heart wants what the heart wants! Maybe he just hasn't figured it out yet since he's so distracted by the negatives of the situation instead of looking at the positives."

Maybe he was right... maybe you could love someone without even realizing it.

He picked his controller back up and went on with the game to take the focus off of him. "Anyways... how are things with you? Have you found your mystery girl yet?"