I made it back to my house and swung the door open, seeing Aunt Tammy lounging on the couch with a book open, her reading glasses perched on her nose. “Make sure you hop in the shower. You’ve got school in the morning,” she said, not lifting her eyes from the page. “Yeah, yeah,” I murmured to myself, heading upstairs to my room. I plugged my phone into the charger and booted up my laptop, killing time until around nine o’clock. I figured I should probably get in the shower before I procrastinated any further and fell asleep, so I hauled myself up and headed to the bathroom. I turned on the water and grabbed a towel, starting to strip down. Once I was fully naked, I stepped into the shower, but the water wasn’t exactly hot – more cold than anything. I let out a decidedly unmanly shriek as the icy water hit me. “Everything alright up there?” Aunt Tammy called upstairs, causing me to flush with embarrassment even though she couldn’t see me. “Yeah!” I yelled back, grabbing some soap and beginning to wash. I scrubbed my hair, then finished up, turning off the water and stepping out, grabbing my towel to dry off. I wrapped the towel around my waist and went back to my room to change into fresh clothes. I pulled on clean boxers and a pair of sweats, skipping a shirt for now. I ran a hand through my wet hair, feeling small droplets cling to my palm. I wiped my hand on my pants and glanced at the alarm clock on my dresser. It was twenty minutes past nine. I was tired as hell, so I decided to head to bed early, knowing I’d have to get up early for school anyway. I went back to the bathroom and quickly brushed my teeth, then hopped into bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
———
I woke up to the screeching noise of my alarm, jolting my eyes open. I let out a groan mixed with a hiss, dreading school. I managed to pull myself out of bed and headed to my dresser, pulling out some skinny jeans and a band tee shirt. I tossed my sweats off and threw on the clothes, heading back to the bathroom to brush my hair and teeth. I combed my hair and gelled it, then quickly brushed my teeth. Back in my room, I shoved my phone into my back pocket, then headed downstairs, taking the steps two at a time. I made it down in time to grab an apple. I bit into the apple and slung my backpack over my shoulder, rushing out the door. I unlocked my car and continued eating the apple, sliding into the driver’s seat and revving the engine. I plugged my phone into the aux cord and cranked up the radio, pulling out of my driveway. I sped down the road while munching on my apple, taking turns as the GPS directed me to the school. After about thirty minutes, I pulled into the high school parking lot, whipping around a sharp turn. My car was a lot nicer than most of the others – a black Mustang convertible. My aunt was loaded, plain and simple. I unplugged my phone and put the car in park, sitting for a moment and giving myself a pep talk. “Alright, it’ just a new high school. You can do this. You’ll be alright. Just a whole new set of assholes to deal with, but it’ll be alright…” Finally, I mustered the motivation to go inside. I got out of the car, grabbing my phone and apple core to throw away. I locked the car and pocketed the keys, juggling phone and apple in my hand. I saw a trash can a few feet away and tossed the apple into it, then opened my phone and started scrolling through Instagram. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and ran smack into someone’s back, letting out an annoyed ‘oof’ sound. I looked up and the guy turned around, towering over me – I’m only 5’8”. He was at least six feet tall, maybe taller. “Can I help you?” he asked with a bored expression, tossing a football back and forth in his hands. “Uh, no, sorry,” I stammered, walking around him and continuing to scroll through my phone. “Oh dear god, you again?” I heard a familiar voice say. “Gray Gray, good to see you after our shopping trip, it was really fun when you sucked my di—” Grayson quickly cupped his hand over my mouth to stop me. “Do you know this dork, Grayson?” the tall guy asked, raising an eyebrow. “Uh, he’s pretty creepy and keeps coming to the shop to see me.” I assumed he meant the coffee shop since that was the only place I’d been in town so far, plus that’s where Grayson worked. I smacked Grayson’s hand away with a glare. “Don’t pretend you didn’t like it… you went down on me in the bathro—” “Hunter, just stop talking!” Grayson yelled, whacking me on the back of the head. “Hey! You know how long it took me to get my hair right this morning? This shit ain’t easy!” I yelled, trying to fix my hair that Grayson had messed up. “God, you’re so rude.” “Want me to get him out of here?” the tall guy asked, clenching his fists as he tossed his football on the ground. “Nah, I’ll take care of him, Andy. Gimme a sec.” He grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the side of the building. I hissed when he touched one of my more recent cuts, slapping his hand violently. “Shit, sorry,” he sighed, quickly removing his hand from my wrist. “What, can’t be around me ‘cause it’ll ruin your reputation?” I growled, my wrist still stinging slightly. “No.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “My friends don’t know I’m gay.”