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Virgil tapped his foot nervously and adjusted his backpack strap.He checked his phone and saw that school started in fifteen minutes. He stuffed it back into his sweater pocket. His hands began to sweat as he looked out his apartment window. Another minute ticked by.
Where are Patton and Roman?
Virgil sighed as he continued to fidget with his backpack strap. He really didn’t want to be late today. He was beginning to think that maybe he should’ve taken his brother’s offer to drive him to school today…Out of the corner of his eye, the teen noticed a little blue car turn the corner. With a sigh of relief, Virgil rushed down the stairs and waited in front of his apartment building. He did one last check to see if he had everything before his ride came. As far as he could tell, he had everything.The little car stopped in front of him. Virgil climbed into the front passenger seat. He smiled at his friends.“Hey, guys. What took you so long?”Patton gave him a confused look. “What do you mean, Kiddo? This is around the time we always pick you up.” He nodded in Virgil’s direction. “Seatbelt, please.”Virgil put on his seatbelt and checked his phone again to see that the older teen was right. Virgil blinked a few times in realization. He placed his phone in his pocket again. With a sigh, he leaned back in his seat. “Sorry Pat, I’m just really anxious about today.”Virgil noticed his best friend’s head pop up in the rearview mirror. A small smile was present on his face. “You’re anxious? What else is new?”Patton kept his eyes on the road. “Be nice now, Roman. Of course, Virgil’s a little nervous. You’d be nervous too if you were going from being a sophomore to a senior.” He took a quick glance in Virgil’s direction. “Don’t you worry about a thing, Kiddo. I was a junior last year, so I can help you with anything you need.”Virgil smiled, but it still felt like his body was on autopilot. He couldn’t help but worry about everything that could go wrong. What if the students didn’t like him? What if he didn’t do well? What if the teachers expected more than he could offer? Virgil could feel his hands shake.Roman must’ve noticed because there was a tone shift in his voice. His voice was gentler and less humorous. “Hey,” he said, “don’t worry about it, Virg. You’re smart. I know you’re going to do great. I may not be by your side this year, but I know you’ll do well.”Virgil laughed nervously. “Heh, thanks.” That didn’t cross Virgil’s mind until now. This would be the first time since elementary school they would be separate. Every time Virgil had a panic attack or breakdown at school, Roman would be there to help him feel better. Yes, Virgil really liked Patton. He was cool and really nice, but Virgil had only known Patton since his first year of high school. Things would just feel odd without Roman by his side.Virgil knew Roman would be fine without him because he was considered one of the “cool kids”. Roman had other friends he could hang out with like the theatre kids and other “cool kids”. Virgil was the opposite. His only friends were the ones sitting with him in the car.Virgil sighed. He looked out the window and noticed they were approaching their high school. He tightly held onto his backpack like his life depended on it. He wasn’t ready. Maybe he should’ve stayed home. There was always the possibility of skipping…A hand reached over and playfully ruffled his hair. “You got this, Virg.” Roman gave him a comforting smile.“Roman! Seatbelt!” Patton gave him a warning glance. Roman sat back in his seat and buckled his seatbelt with an overdramatic sigh. Patton hummed with satisfaction and drove into the school parking lot. He parked in his usual spot. The three of them exited the car and made their way toward the building.Virgil slung his backpack over his shoulder. His knees became jelly as he got closer. He tried the breathing technique his brother showed him. He took in a shaky breath, held it a few seconds, and let it out. After doing it a few more times, he began to feel a little better.He looked up at the school and put on a determined look. He could do this. Well...he had to do this. He took in one last deep breath and let it out.
Here goes nothing.
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Virgil compared the two schedules.“On the bright side,” he said, “we have six classes together. Six out of eight isn’t so bad.” He handed Patton both schedules.Patton looked them over and smiled. “Looks like we’re going to be hanging out a lot more, Kiddo.” Roman set his head on Patton’s shoulder and read the schedules over the taller boy’s shoulder. He gave what seemed to be a satisfied hum.Roman turned to face Virgil. “It seems like you’ll be fine as long as you stick with this puffball here.”Virgil rolled his eyes playfully. “I’m sixteen. I think I can handle myself, Princey.”Roman held up his hands defensively. “Hey, I’m just trying to look out for you, Panic at the Everywhere.”Virgil chuckled. He was glad to have a friend like Roman because even though he was trying to act calm, he was internally freaking out. His brain was mush already, and school hadn’t even started!He took back his schedule and read over it one more time. Then, he glanced at Roman. Roman was going over his own schedule. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t be able to do their annual tradition of comparing their schedule’s due to being in different grade levels this time. It almost made Virgil feel guilty to do it with Patton because he was so used to sharing this information with only Roman.Virgil’s train of thought came to a halt as the first-period bell rang.Virgil’s hands shook. Oh crap…Roman tucked the paper in his pocket and smiled at the taller boy. He ruffled Virgil’s hair playfully one last time. “You got this, Virg. See you at lunch?”Virgil’s voice had stopped working, so he just nodded. He watched as Roman rushed off to his first class. A hand clasped his shoulder. “Ready, Kiddo? We got first period together.”Virgil swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. - Well, things certainly didn’t go quite as Virgil had expected.Throughout most of the day, Virgil couldn’t help but feel like the other students were watching him, just waiting for the opportunity to make fun of him. He tried to shrug it off as his anxiety trying to get the best of him, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that all eyes were on him.It felt like a huge relief to have Patton by his side. Virgil had a theory that Patton was the reason none of the other kids messed with him. Patton was the same age as them, so it was like having a shield to block him from any insult the other seniors had to throw at him.Other than feeling like a social outcast among these older kids, classes were pretty good. The subjects didn’t seem too hard…well, except for math. Virgil hated math with a burning passion. It was his last class, so at the moment, he was hoping for a laidback teacher that would go easy on him.Right now, Virgil was staring up at the clock. Just one more minute until lunch…The bell rang. Students piled out of the classroom toward the lunchroom. Unfortunately, this was one of the two classes he didn’t have Patton, so he was on his own to deal with the crowded hallway of students.The classroom was almost empty now with the exception of the teacher, him, and another student. Virgil picked up his books and decided he’d drop them off in his locker before meeting Roman and Patton for lunch. He had just left the classroom when he felt someone shove him from behind.At first, he thought it was an accident. Then it happened again. He turned to see a taller boy looking at him with a smug smirk. Virgil felt his fight or flight response kick in. He turned to face the boy.“Hey,” he said, “mind watching where you're going? You could’ve knocked me over.” Virgil tried to keep his voice steady. He didn’t want to pick a fight, but he didn’t want to sound vulnerable either.The larger teen scoffed. “That’s the point.” He took a step closer. Virgil flinched. Well, so much for not looking vulnerable…The bully raised an eyebrow. “You’re a weirdo. You know that?”It was Virgil’s turn to raise his eyebrow. “That’s a petty insult. You know that?” Virgil noticed the kid frown. He wasn’t trying to provoke the kid or anything, he just didn’t want to seem weak. That was backfiring pretty quickly.The bully marched up to Virgil and shoved him to the ground. Virgil felt his head hit the ground. He wanted to get up and fight, but he was scared that if he got up, he’d just end up back on the ground.“Excuse me.”Virgil could see a pair of tennis shoes walk onto the scene.“Did I just witness you push that boy to the ground? That seemed very unnecessary from the exchange I saw.”The bully scoffed again. “Back off, nerd. This isn’t you fight. This –”“This,” the new voice spoke, “is not a fight. This is harassment, and I will have no trouble reporting it to an authority figure.”Virgil was frozen in amazement. Someone was sticking up for him; someone he didn’t even know. This was certainly something new. Virgil continued to listen to the exchange.A tense moment of silence engulfed the two boys. Finally, the bully groaned in frustration and stormed off. Virgil was finally able to sit up and see the back of the stranger’s head.“Um, thanks…” Virgil stood up a little shaken by the situation. The boy was shorter than Virgil thought. Or maybe it just seemed that was because Virgil was tall. The boy turned to face Virgil.A stranger had helped him out…a cute one at that. He wasn’t drop dead gorgeous or anything, but he was quite attractive.The shorter boy looked up at him. He adjusted his nerd-like glasses. “Well, I couldn’t just let him hurt you. You did nothing wrong to him. It just seemed like the logical thing to do.”Virgil was about to say something to the boy but heard a voice call his name. He turned to see Patton down the hallway waving to him through the sea of other teens.“I wouldn’t want to keep you from your friend. Goodbye.” With that, the boy walked away in the opposite direction.Virgil raised a curious eyebrow and left the scene. - Lunch was uneventful.Virgil listened to Roman complain about how he had gotten homework on the first day of school and how he was dreading going to gym class. Patton and Virgil didn’t say much because they knew once Roman got into one of his rants, he couldn’t be stopped.This also gave Virgil time to think about that cute boy that helped him out. He began to realize that he didn’t even get the boy’s name. This intrigued Virgil, making him want to get to know the mystery boy even more. All the time he’d gone to this high school, he never saw that boy. This gave Virgil an uneasy feeling.
Please, don’t let him be a freshman…
Lunch ended in almost no time. Virgil and Patton bid Roman farewell as they went to their next classes.Again, not much happened. It was mostly just introductions to the subjects. Virgil saw his bully in one of his other classes, but they said nothing to each other. Virgil was thankful Patton was with him this time.Finally, the last class period came in no time. No sign of the bully or the mystery kid. Virgil entered the classroom to see the students chatting amongst themselves and the teacher on his phone with a bored look on his face. Virgil turned his head to look for an empty seat. A smile made its way onto his face.
Maybe calculus won’t be so bad.
There sat the mysterious boy who had helped him out earlier. An empty seat was behind him. Virgil took that seat as the bell rang to signal for the class to start. The teacher stood up and stuck his phone in his pocket. He sighed as he addressed the class.“What’s up y’all? I’m the new calculus teacher, Remy Sleep-Picani, but you guys can call me Remy or Mr. Sleep. Whatever works for you.” The man wore a plain white t-shirt with a black jacket and jeans. Sunglasses sat on top of his slightly messy hair.Virgil smiled. This guy didn’t seem like he’d be very strict. Thankfully, he wasn’t strict. He did as the other teachers had done and gave an introduction to the course. At least, that’s what Virgil could make out.Virgil’s mind kept wandering to the boy that sat in front of him. He noticed little things he hadn’t before about the boy’s attire. He was wearing a black polo shirt with beige pants. He also had a blue necktie. It seemed kind of funny that he was dressed so nice and his shoes were just normal tennis shoes.Virgil was pulled from his thoughts when the bell rang to signal the end of class. The boy gathered his things and stood up to leave. It was now or never.“Hey,” Virgil greeted.The boy turned and put on a small smile. “Oh, hello. You’re that kid from earlier.”Virgil laughed nervously. “Uh, yeah. I just wanted to thank you again for what you did.”The shorter boy nodded. “Oh, it was no problem.” He slung his backpack over his shoulders.“Oh, hey,” Virgil said before the other could leave. “I never got your name. I’m Virgil. What’s your name?”“Logan. It was a pleasure meeting you, Virgil.” He gave a small smile and left.Logan… The name engraved itself in his mind.
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Not even ten seconds leaving math class and Virgil already got a text from his older brother telling him he was going to pick him up.Virgil replied with a simple ‘ok’ and made his way to the front of the school. He found Roman sitting with a few of his friends and decided not to interrupt their conversation. It wasn’t long before Roman noticed him and said goodbye to his other friends. He made his way toward Virgil and put an arm around him.“How’d your first day go, Panic at the Everywhere?” He ruffled his hair playfully.Virgil smiled. “Pretty good. Nothing too challenging it looks like.”Roman released Virgil. “Anyone make fun of you?” His expression became dead serious in an instant. “If you need me to, I will slay them.”Virgil laughed nervously. “N-no. No one messed with me.” He took a second to contemplate whether or not to tell Roman about the bully that pushed him down, but he decided against it. The thought of the whole incident brought back memories of a certain boy from his calculus class. Maybe later, when they were preferably alone, he could tell Roman about Logan.He felt his best friend squeeze his shoulder. “That’s good to hear. Is Patton giving you a ride home or are you walking?”“Dee texted me that he was going to pick me up. Want to get a ride with us?”“Nah. Patton already said he’d drop me off at home. I’ll call you later?”Virgil nodded, and they parted ways. Virgil made his way to the front of the school waited for his brother. He only had to wait a few minutes before his brother’s beat-up old truck pulled up in front of the building. Virgil threw his backpack in the passenger’s seat.“So, how was school?”Virgil glanced at his brother. He had that tired look that he usually wore, his dirty-blonde hair sticking up in different directions. Virgil figured that’s what happened when you worked two part-time jobs and had college classes. The younger boy shrugged. “It was pretty good, I guess. How are classes?”Dee’s eyes quickly wandered to Virgil then back to the road. A smirk on crept onto his face. “Great, as always.”“Don’t lie to me. I can tell when you’re lying, Deceit.” Since they were little, Dee always had a habit of lying to him about certain things. Virgil knew him to be a pathological liar, so he developed a sense of when the older boy was lying or telling the truth.Dee chuckled at the nickname he knew all too well. “Fine, life’s still pretty crappy. I have classes in half an hour, so –” He shrugged. “– same shit as always.”Virgil smiled. “I’m sure things will work out…eventually.”Dee laughed. “I doubt it.”They sat in silence for a while. Virgil looked up at his brother. “Well,” he said, “maybe when you come home tonight, we can rent a movie or something and hang out. Like when we were kids, you know?”Dee glanced over at him, then he returned his eyes to the road, a small smile on his face. “Maybe…I don’t know. We’ll see because I have to go to work.”“Oh, okay.” Virgil saw they were coming up to the apartment building and grabbed his backpack. A tinge of disappointment shot through him. “Well, see you later.”The truck pulled over. Virgil opened the door but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. “Hey.”Virgil turned to Dee and saw that his brother had turned to fully face him. The left side of his face revealed its lighter skin color than the rest of his skin. He had that skin condition for as long as he could remember. Virgil sat and waited for Dee to continue.Dee sighed. “Look, I’ll see if I can get off of work early. Then, we can hang out for a while. Does that sound okay?”Virgil smiled lightly and nodded. “Yeah, okay. See you later.”“Bye, Virg.”Virgil walked up to the front of their apartment. He went up to the small living area they the two of them called home and looked out the window. The truck was gone. Virgil was alone again.He went straight to his room and put his headphones on. He decided to get his homework out of the way, so he could just sleep. He pulled out his calculus homework. A grin appeared on his face.
Logan.
He wondered what Logan could be doing now? Was he thinking of Virgil the way Virgil was thinking of him? Virgil’s mind wandered away from his homework to the boy from his calculus class.Virgil still had the image of the boy fresh in his mind. Before he could even start replaying the scene in his head, his phone rang. It was Roman.He removed his headphones and answered the call.“What’s going on, Panic at the Everywhere?”“I’m doing homework, Princey. What do you want?”“I want a leading role on Broadway, but that’s another story. How were your afternoon classes?”Virgil rolled his eyes. He hesitated. Should he tell Roman about Logan? Roman would probably keep it a secret, right? He didn’t want to say anything too soon though. He just met the boy and knew little to nothing about him. Virgil decided to wait a little longer, so he could be sure what he was feeling was real.“Eh, they were pretty good. Nothing much happened.”“Hm. Same here. I miss having you by my side though. Who else am I supposed to make fun of teachers with?”Virgil laughed. “We can still do it. Just about different teachers.”Roman chuckled on the other end of the line. “Yeah, I know.” There was a beat of silence. Roman’s voice shook lightly on the next sentence. “How’s your brother?”Virgil’s smile faded a little. He never liked talking about it, but he knew he’d have to face it eventually. Now, wasn’t eventually though. “Good. I think he still feels like he has to make up for…you know…”There was more silence. Roman spoke hurriedly. “I’m sorry for bringing that up. I didn’t mean –”“It’s fine, Princey. You didn’t mean to. To answer your question: he seems fine. I think he’s loosening up bit.”“That’s good.” Silence. “Hey, I gotta start my homework. See you tomorrow, Panic at the Everywhere?”“Yeah. See you later, Princey.”He hung up. He took out a pencil and began doing his homework. Man, how he hated math. He finished it up and went on with homework for other classes. That didn’t take him long. He set his backpack next to his bed and put on his headphones.He sat on his bed looking through Tumblr to see what was new. After a while, he decided to get up and make himself some dinner. He made himself a sandwich and headed back to his room. He looked outside and noticed that it was getting dark. Where was Dee?His phone rang. He saw that it was Dee. “Hey Deceit, what’s up?”“Hey,” Dee spoke in a worn-out tone, “you doing alright?”“Yeah,” Virgil replied, “Where are you?”“Work. My boss wouldn’t let off early.”“Oh. That’s okay. I still have homework, so it’s fine.” Virgil hated lying.“Alright.” Silence. “I guess I’ll see you later then.”“Yeah. Bye.”Virgil took his sweater off and threw it on the ground. He decided it was time for bed. He brushed his teeth, changed into his pajamas, and charged his phone. He climbed under the covers. He sighed and shut his eyes tightly. He laid in the darkness with only the sounds of the neighbors shuffling around in their own apartments.He fell asleep an hour later.
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Virgil groggily opened his eyes. He shut off his alarm and got ready for his second day of school. He knocked on his brother’s door to see if he was home, which he usually wasn’t. Surprise, surprise, he had already gone to his classes. Virgil texted Patton to pick him up and got an immediate response. Virgil felt that something off. Usually, he dreaded going to school. Usually, he hated having to interact with the other students. Usually, he was anxious about just the idea of going to class. Not today though. Today he was fine. He sensed something was wrong with him. He never felt this good, so something was definitely wrong.Before he could think about it any further, Patton’s car pulled up in front in front of his building. He shoved the thoughts out of his mind and tried to focus on today. He sat in the front passenger’s seat and buckled his seatbelt.“Morning Kiddo,” Patton said in his usual cheery tone. “Did you sleep well…or at all? Please tell me you actually slept and didn’t stay up on your laptop again.”Virgil smiled. He chuckled. “Don’t worry, Pat. I got a good night’s rest. All’s good.”Roman’s head popped up next to him. “Who are you and what have you done with the real Virgil?”“Seatbelt!” Patton gave him a stern glare.“Sorry, Padre. It’s just that nothing is ever ‘all good’ with him. It’s the first time in forever.” He rested his chin in the palm of his hand. “So, what’s got you in such a good mood?”Virgil hesitated for a moment. “I don’t know,” he answered. “Just one of those days I guess.” He shrugged.Roman raised an eyebrow. “It’s never one of those days with you.”Thankfully, Patton cut in. “Hey, let’s not question it. If Virgil’s in a good mood, then leave it alone.” He smiled brightly and kept his eyes on the road. Patton muttered something under his breath that sounded along the lines of “I love my dark, strange son”. Virgil didn’t say anything about it though.He had a pretty good idea of why he was this cheerful today. It might have to do with the fact of seeing that cute boy in calculus again today. It was a pleasant thought that that kept a smile on Virgil’s face.They got to school at their usual time and sat in the cafeteria as they waited for school to start. The three of them sat at their usual table and talked for a bit.Virgil was grateful Roman didn’t bring up last night’s conversation. He didn’t want Patton knowing about the issue and feeling bad for his brother. He didn’t want Patton to even meet his brother. Being complete opposites, they’d grow to hate each other quickly. Virgil didn’t want to have to deal with that.Patton looked down at his phone and a bright grin appeared on his face. He stood up.“What’s up, Pat?” Virgil asked.“I got a surprise for you guys! Make sure no one steals my stuff. I’ll be back!” He walked out of the cafeteria.Virgil and Roman exchanged confused looks.Roman shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I don’t know what’s going on.” He glanced back at the door Patton exited. With another shrug, he turned back toward the table.Virgil looked down at his phone and opened up Tumblr. He didn’t know what Patton was planning, but he seemed excited to share it with them.Only a few moments later, Patton came back with someone following. “Guys, guess what! I brought a new friend!”Virgil sighed and kept his eyes down. He didn’t care about meeting new people. When Patton brought new people to sit with them, it was usually temporary. They were always new kids that had trouble making friends, but when they did make friends, they stopped sitting at their table.Another voice spoke. “Hello, Virgil. I believe we’ve met.”Virgil could feel his face grow warm. He put his phone down and looked up to meet a familiar face. He put his phone down. “O-oh. Yeah. Hey, Logan.”Logan and Patton sat across from him and Roman. Logan was dressed in similar attire as the previous day. Polo, khakis, blue tie, and tennis shoes. He flashed a quick smile and avoided eye-contact.Patton looked between the two of them with a small smile. “Oh, that’s great! You two already know each other! Logan’s new this year, so I invited him to hang out with us.”Logan nodded in confirmation.“Nice to meet you. The name’s Roman Prince. You’re new to this school or new in town or what?”Virgil listened carefully. He wanted to know about Logan and now was his chance. He tried not to make it too obvious that he was dying to know the boy across from him.“New to town, actually,” Logan replied, “One of my fathers got a new job in this town. We just moved here last Saturday.”“Wow,” Patton said with his usual hospitality, “sounds interesting. What does your dad do?”“He’s a therapist. Considering how childish he can be at times; it is surprising to even me. Trust me, if you met him, you would understand.”Virgil could feel Logan’s gaze move over to him. Virgil looked up from the table to meet Logan’s stare. He looked away quickly. If Logan was going to say anything to him, he didn’t get the chance to. The bell rang.Saved by the bell. Virgil thought. He didn’t want to be a stuttering mess in front of his friends. Well, he usually was, but this time was different. He didn’t want them knowing about his crush on Logan. Roman would make a big deal out of it, and that’s the last thing Virgil needed. Logan probably already thought he was strange, but he didn’t want him thinking Roman was stranger either.They all went their separate ways to class. Virgil got in one last glance of Logan. All he saw was the back of his head. His dark hair combed down nicely, a contrast to Virgil’s messy bedhead he didn’t bother to comb down that morning.Virgil walked alongside Patton to their class. He could feel Patton glance at him every few seconds. They sat down in class.“You’ve been staring at me since we left the cafeteria. What is it?”Patton chuckled a little. “Nothing. That was cute.”Virgil furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “What was cute?”Patton let out one last chuckle. “You know, you being all nervous around Logan.”Virgil felt his stomach tighten. “What do you mean? I wasn’t nervous around him. Why would I be nervous?”Patton had a knowing, gentle smile. He lowered his voice, so no one else could hear. “Because you took a liking to him, right Kiddo?”Virgil felt his face burning with heat. He wasn’t making it that obvious, was he?Patton smiled softly. “Don’t worry, Kiddo. I won’t tell anyone.”The teacher entered and began his lesson. Virgil couldn’t focus on the lesson though. His mind was running one hundred miles an hour.
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Virgil gently grabbed Patton by the sleeve of his cardigan as they were standing just outside the cafeteria.“But it wasn’t that noticeable, right?”Patton smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. “Not really. I just have a way of picking up on these kinds of things.” He shrugged. “Just a fatherly instinct.”Virgil pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Okay. First of all, I’m not your son. Secondly, you swear you haven’t told anyone?”Patton’s smile faltered slightly, but his voice remained cheerful. “You don’t actually think I’d lie to you, do you? I told you I wouldn’t tell anyone, and I didn’t. I would never do something like that”Virgil sighed. “I know. Sorry, Pat. I just…I don’t really want anyone knowing because I don’t know if I actually like him. I hardly even know him!”Patton seemed to consider this for a moment. “Why don’t you just ask him about himself.”Virgil scratched the back of his neck. “That sounds kinda stalkerish.”“It sounds like being a normal conversation,” Patton said with a smirk. “It’s not that hard.”Virgil furrowed his eyebrows. “I’m not sure.”Another voice came from behind them. “Not sure about what?” Roman practically popped up from nowhere.“Uh…” Virgil tried to think of an excuse. He spotted a nearby bulletin board and pulled off a random poster. “I’m not sure about joining this club. Patton and I were just talking about it. Weren’t we Patton?”Patton bit his bottom lip. He said nothing but nodded. Virgil knew how much Patton hated lying, so he was satisfied with just the timid nod. He didn't want to force Patton to lie more than he had to.Roman took the poster, and his eyebrows shot up. “The debate team? Not judging, but I never took you for one to join that club.”“Um, well, I’m just considering. You know, to try something new,” Virgil responded quickly.Roman shrugged. “Alright. Let’s go sit at our table.” He handed back the flyer.When they went to sit down, Logan was already there. He was writing in a journal. Virgil set his tray down and sat across from the shorter boy. “Hello, Virgil.” He glanced at Roman. “Hello, Roman.”Roman sat down next to Virgil. “What’s up, Lo?”Logan shrugged. "I mean, the sky seems to be up." He closed his journal and tucked it away in his backpack. Virgil wanted to ask what he was writing about but wasn’t sure if that was too personal. He kept his mouth shut about it.Roman laughed. "You're funny sometimes, you know that?"Logan raised a confused eyebrow and shrugged again.Minutes ticked by quickly. It seemed like lunchtime was practically whizzing past them. After a while, he realized Logan kept sneaking glances at him. Did he have something on his face? Was something wrong with him that made Logan uncomfortable?He wiped his face to get off whatever he might have had. Finally, Logan spoke directly to him. “So, Virgil, you’re interested in the debate team?”Virgil looked up slightly confused. “Huh?”Logan adjusted his glasses. “Debate team. You had the flyer, so I figured you were considering joining it.”Virgil looked down at the paper below his lunch tray. He had forgotten about that. “Um, I don’t know.” Virgil could feel his palms begin to sweat despite their cold feeling.Logan smiled gently. Virgil felt his stomach do a backflip. “Well,” Logan said, “I’m going to join. It would be nice to have someone I know to join as well. You know, only if you would like to.”Virgil rubbed his hands on his jeans. “Uh…” He glanced at Patton, who was having a conversation with Roman about who knows what. Patton must have been listening in on what the two were talking about because he smiled and gave a small nod of encouragement toward Virgil. Virgil smiled and nodded. He glanced back at Logan. “Sounds good.”Logan adjusted his glasses again. “Excellent. It seems we’ll be getting to know each other more seeing that we’ll be seeing each other more often.”Virgil laughed nervously. He glanced at the poster. “Heh, yeah, I guess. The first meeting’s Monday, right?”Logan nodded in confirmation. “Yes. So, I’ll be seeing you there?”“Definitely.” Virgil smiled.The bell rang to signal for the students to go back to class. Everyone got up and started leaving. Logan zipped up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder.“I’ll see you in calculus, Virgil. Bye.” He disappeared in the sea of students.Virgil got up and headed to class. He may have been physically present in class but mentally, he was somewhere completely different.He couldn’t help but replay Logan’s words in his head. He actually wanted to hang out with Virgil. Like, he actually wanted to get to know Virgil.Virgil was trying to figure out whether it was out of pity or genuine affection. He hoped for the latter. A warm feeling filled Virgil’s chest. Butterflies fluttered around in Virgil’s stomach. It was actually a feeling Virgil was beginning to enjoy.Virgil finally decided that it was about time to admit it to himself. He did have a crush on Logan. No more questions or doubts about it.He just couldn’t wait to see him again.
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“Debate team?”“Yeah,” Virgil said as he held the phone between his ear and shoulder. He was trying to have a conversation with his brother and do his homework at the same time.“Hmm,” Dee’s voice seemed skeptical. “Really? You’ve never wanted to join any clubs at school. Why now?”Virgil sighed for the hundredth time. “Yeah, really. I just thought I’d try something different. After all, I am graduating next year.”“Hm.” There was a beat of silence. “Alright. I’ll see if I can pick you up afterward. Sound good?”Virgil knew he wouldn’t be able to pick him up but agreed anyway because hey, you never know. He fiddled with the strings on his hoodie. “Hey,” Virgil said, “You know, the weekend is coming up. If you don’t have work or anything, do you want to hang out or something?”Virgil wasn’t expecting him to say yes, so he prepared for the inevitable ‘Sorry, I’m going to be busy’. He pulled on his sweater’s strings.“Yeah, actually. Did I forget to tell you?” Virgil opened his mouth to answer, but his brother continued. “Aw shit. I forgot to tell you. I don’t have anything to do on Saturday! This’ll be the first time in…well, forever that we get to hang out.”Virgil beamed and released the strings from his sweater. “Awesome! I’ll plan something for the day. I can’t wait!”“Okay, cool. I gotta go. See you later.” Dee hung up.Virgil put his phone down and smiled to himself for the longest time. This was going to be the first time in months that they got to spend time quality time together. Sure, Virgil usually saw his brother ever other afternoon and occasionally some mornings, but they knew really sat down and talked.They used to be together all the time before… Virgil’s brought his mind back from the past. That wasn’t important right now. What was important was that they had the weekend to look forward to.Then, on Monday, Virgil had something else to look forward to.It wasn’t exactly alone time with Logan, but he was going to take what he could get. Roman and Patton wouldn’t be there, so, at the very least, he would get to have conversations without the two of them interrupting or making any kind of remark.Virgil couldn’t help but smile. Things were looking up for him. His eyes wandered down, and he sighed. Oh yeah, he had forgotten about his homework.He grabbed his pencil and finished up his homework. - Life was going great for Virgil. It felt like nothing could ruin it. At least that’s what it felt like. Then, his bully decided it was a good day to pick on him again.He should’ve known Logan standing up for him wouldn’t be the end of it. Of course, it wasn’t the end of it. Why would it be? Something had to go wrong when Virgil was in a good mood. Unfortunately for him, Logan wasn’t there this time.Virgil was walking out of history class and felt a slight push. He turned to see his bully smirking. Virgil tried not to look scared.“Oh hey,” Virgil said, “It’s you again.” He kept his head down.The other boy nodded. “Yup. You didn’t think that your little boyfriend scared me off, did you?”Virgil felt heat rise to his face at that comment. “He’s not my boyfriend! He’s just my friend.” He looked down at his shoes. A thought occurred to him that made him look up at the taller boy. “Wait a second, what did I do to you that made you hate me? I don’t even know your name!” Virgil glared at the boy.The boy laughed. He suddenly got really serious. He pulled Virgil by the collar of his shirt and spoke in a low, serious tone. “Listen kid, and listen good. You don’t know me, but I know you. I know you and your damn brother. This, this is just the beginning. You’ve been warned.”Virgil raised his eyebrows. He wasn’t sure whether to be confused or scared. Maybe both. “What are you even talking about? I’ve never seen you before in my life! Leave me alone!”The boy dropped Virgil, letting him fall on the floor. He crossed his arms. “You sicken me. You and your brother.” He paused and leaned over to look down at Virgil. “You wanted my name, right?”Virgil didn’t reply. He felt his heart racing with fear. Everyone was in the cafeteria, and no teachers were around. This guy could pull out a knife, and no one would know. Virgil prepared for the worst outcome.The larger boy smirked and stood up straight. He kicked Virgil hard in the ribs. This made Virgil whimper in pain. “The names Eric. Don’t forget it.”He walked away.Virgil sat up and let out a cough. He was still confused but also kind of scared. - Obviously, Virgil wasn’t going to tell anyone about the encounter.He knew he should, but he wasn’t going to because he was already scared enough as it was. He didn’t need his brother or friend intervening and causing a scene. He needed to fight his own battles. Dee, Roman, and Patton had fought for him enough. Virgil had to stand up for himself now.Plus, he could probably learn more about Eric if he had more encounters with him. The boy had outright said that he had something against Virgil and Dee. Virgil couldn’t quite pinpoint if he had ever seen him but drew a blank.Anyway, Virgil didn’t tell anyone about his encounter with the bully. He just went on with his life as he normally would. Nothing especially eventful happened for the rest of the week. It was just kind of dull. He was, however, looking forward to his time with his brother, and his time with Logan.The weekend couldn’t get here soon enough.
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Virgil sat up in bed and shut off his alarm quickly.He didn’t want to wake his brother since he knew Dee had a long week. He sat up and looked out the window.It was a little dark outside, but that was only because there were a lot of clouds and it was more or less rainy. Virgil felt a shadow of a smile creep onto his face. Rain always seemed to calm him down for some reason.He tore his eyes away from the window and figured he’d do some homework while he waited for Dee to wake up. He opened his backpack and dug for his science notebook. He couldn’t find it. He began worrying and took out everything from his backpack. He flung his books and papers to the side.
Shit. Shit. Shit! All my work was in there! Please, don’t tell me I left it at school!
He couldn’t find it and began to panic.
Shit! Shit! Shi-
He took in a deep breath and let it out.No, he didn’t leave it at school. When was the last time he had it? He thought for a few seconds and remembered. He called Patton to check if his suspicions were correct. After a few rings, Patton picked up.“Hello?”"Hey Patton,” Virgil greeted. “Quick question: did I leave my science book in your car yesterday?”“Yeah actually, I was just about to call you about it. I was on my way to work when I saw it. Do you want me to drop it off?”Virgil sighed in relief. “Yes, please. I was freaking out because I thought I left it at school, and-”“Aww, my poor anxious baby!” He could practically hear Patton smiling on the other end of the line.Virgil rolled his eyes. “Don’t call me that.”“I can drop off your book in about ten minutes, okay?”“Got it. Thanks, Pat.”“Okay, bye…son.” Before Virgil could say anything, he heard Patton laugh then hang up.Virgil shook his head with a smile. He looked up and noticed the mess he had made when he was freaking out. He sat there for a short while realized he was going to have to pick up this mess.“Did a hurricane come through here or what?”Virgil turned to see that his brother standing in the doorway. Dee walked over and picked up a few papers. He handed them to Virgil. Virgil took them and stuffed them into a folder.“Maybe,” Virgil responded. He put the folder in his backpack. “Actually, I forgot my book in my friend’s-”“You have friends?” He smirked playfully.Virgil rolled his eyes. “Yes, now shut up. He’s going to drop it off later.”Dee shrugged. “Alright. Need help cleaning?”“Please.”They picked up the books and papers that were scattered all around the floor. Virgil was putting the last of his books in his backpack. Dee picked up a notebook, and Virgil noticed him skim through it.“Math,” he muttered to himself, “You’ve never been good at…” Dee stopped talking and stared at a page for a good while. He smiled up at Virgil.Virgil raised an eyebrow. “What?”Dee’s grin widened. “Who’s Logan?”Virgil felt heat rise to his face. He reached for the notebook, but Dee held it out of his reach. He laughed and looked at the page again."So, who is he? His name’s scribbled all over this page.”“Give it back, Deceit!”Dee finally handed it over, and Virgil put in his backpack. He noticed his brother was still smiling. “What?” His face was still warm from embarrassment.“Who’s Logan?”"Just someone from math class.”Dee chuckled. “You have a boyfriend already? You just started school.”Virgil balled up his hands into fists. “No! Why were you looking through my notebook anyway?! Haven’t you ever heard of privacy?!”“Nope.”Virgil zipped up his backpack and put it by the front door. There was a beat of silence. Virgil sat down on their small couch and turned on the television. Dee sat next to him. “Come on, Virg. You’re seriously not going to tell me who he is?”Virgil shrugged. “I told you. Some guy from math class.”“That you have a crush on.”Virgil glanced at him. “Maybe.”“Aw, you have a heart.”“Shut up.” He playfully punched Dee’s arm.Dee ruffled Virgil’s already messy hair. “Alright. Alright. I’ll drop it… for now. So, what do you have planned for today?”Virgil brightened up. “I’m glad you asked!” He ran to his room and came back with a DVD. “So,” he began, “I rented Infinity War for us to watch because End Game comes out in April, and I’m really excited to watch it. Have you seen the movie yet?”“No, but I’ve seen the memes.”“Okay, cool. We’re going to watch this and then go eat lunch. Then, I have one more thing planned. Okay?”"Sure.”Virgil was about to set up the movie when his phone began to ring. He answered it. “Hey, what’s up?”“Hi, Virgil! I’m driving up to your building. Do you want me to go in to drop off your book, or do you want to come down to get it?”“Oh, I’ll go it. I’ll be right down. Bye.”“Okay, bye.”Dee sat up from his spot on the couch. “Was that Logan?”Virgil glared at him. “Stop!” He put the disk down. “I have to get my book. I’ll be right back.”Dee stood up. “I’ll go get it. You set up the movie.”Virgil put his hands in his pocket. “Are you sure?”“Yeah. Just set up the movie, and I’ll get your book. What’s your friend look like?”“Tall. Light brown hair. Glasses. Cat hoodie. He drives a blue car. Trust me, you’ll know him when you see him.”“Okay, I’ll be right back.”He left their apartment without another word. Virgil shrugged and inserted the movie into the DVR. - Dee stuffed the keys to their apartment into his pocket. He exited the building and looked for a blue car. He spotted one with a boy standing next to it checking his phone, book in hand. It must’ve been Virgil’s friend because he fit the description Virgil gave him.Dee walked up to him. “Hey, are you my brother’s friend?”The boy looked up, and Dee could practically feel his heart burst from his chest.The other smiled. “Oh, hello. I’m Patton.”Dee’s mouth couldn’t seem to form words. “He-Uh-Um- I…”Patton furrowed his eyebrows. “Are you okay?Dee continued to stutter meaningless noises while he tried to get the right words out. He felt his face burning.Patton put his phone in his pocket. “Do you need medical help?” He sounded concerned.Dee finally pulled himself together and took a deep breath. “No, no. I’m fine.” His voice slightly cracked on the last word. His face was growing warmer by the second. “I-I’m Dee. Um, Dee Storms.”Patton smiled. “Oh! Are you related to Virgil?”Dee nodded, trying to forget what happened a few seconds ago. He noticed how Patton was looking at him like something was off.“You don’t look very much like Virgil. I hope you don’t mind me asking, but are you two biologically related or…” He trailed off.“Um, yeah. He’s my little brother by, like, three years.”Dee was used to answering that question. When people found out they were brothers, they always asked why they looked so different. Virgil and Dee couldn’t blame people for it though. They were almost complete opposites in their appearance.Virgil was shorter and had a very scrawny stature with almost pale skin while Dee was tall with an athletic build and had a darker skin tone. Well, with the exception of the left side of his face, which had light patches of skin. They both had dark-blonde hair except Virgil decided to dye his hair black a while back with some purple mixed in. The only thing they had in common now was that they had dark brown eyes that looked almost black.Patton smiled. “Well, that’s good to know.” He held out the textbook. “Well, here’s Virgil’s book.”Dee took the textbook and tucked it under his arm. “Thanks.”“You’re welcome. It was nice meeting you, Dee.” Patton went around to get into his car.Dee stuck his hand in his pockets. “Wait!” He screamed before he could stop himself. Patton looked up and tilted his head like a curious kid. Dee took in a deep breath. Dee felt his neck twitch slightly. Well, he couldn’t back down now. He tried to think of a casual question to ask that sounded smooth.“I think I lost something.”Patton closed the door. “Did you drop something? What’s wrong?”Dee rolled his shoulders back. Well, this was just about the dumbest thing he ever said. “My number. Can I borrow yours?” Nailed it.It took the other boy a moment to process what happened. Patton laughed.“What?” He managed to say through his laughter. “Did you just…” His laughter faded. “Did you just use an overused pickup line?”Dee shrugged. “No.”“Hold on.” Patton opened the door to his car and found a piece of paper. He tore it and wrote something on it. He climbed out of the car and handed it to Dee. “You could’ve just asked you know.”“Uh-huh.”“Is that all you needed?”“Yup. I’ll text you later?”“Okay.”With that said and done, Patton left.Dee stuffed the paper in his pocket. He realized he still had the textbook. He went back into the apartment building. He unlocked the door to his apartment to find Virgil sitting on the couch.“There you are! What took you so long?”Dee shrugged. “Just dropped had to borrow something. That’s all.”Virgil motioned for Dee to join him. “Well, I was going to start the movie without you! Come on!”Dee put the textbook on the counter. “Wow, Deceit! Thanks so much for getting my book for me!” He tried his best to impersonate Virgil.Virgil rolled his eyes. “Fine. Thanks. Now, come on! Let’s watch the movie!”Dee sat next to Virgil, and they began the movie.
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Roman swung the car door shut behind him as usual.He put his backpack next to him as he sat in the backseat of Patton’s car. As usual, he put his seatbelt on as leaned back nonchalantly. “What is up, Pat? How was your weekend?”Patton had just picked him up for school for another typical day of school, and they were going to pick up Virgil next.Roman noticed how Patton’s grip on the wheel tightened. He smiled a little but noticed how he seemed nervous. “Um, good…pretty good.” The older boy’s fingers seemed to fidget.Roman leaned forward. “You okay there, Padre?”Patton let out a sigh. “Not really.”“Who do I need to beat up?”Patton looked at him through the rearview mirror. “What? No one. Please, don’t hurt anyone.”“Then what seems to be bothering you?” Roman leaned forward a little more. He was starting to grow concerned for his friend. Patton was never the type of person to get nervous or anything of the sort, so this was a bit disconcerting.Patton sighed again. “I hate to do this, but… Can you keep this a secret between the two of us? Please? I don’t want Virgil to find out. He’d probably be mad at me.”Roman put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Whatever it is, I’m sure Virgil would understand. You can do literally no wrong.”Patton smiled. “Alright…but do you promise not to tell him anyway?”Roman nodded. “I promise.”Patton took in a deep breath. “Okay…I…I think I really like his brother.”Roman couldn’t really process what had come out of the other boy’s mouth. He furrowed his eyebrows. “Like, you like like him or…”Patton nodded a little. “Yeah. I met him this weekend, and we started texting. At the moment, I didn’t think anything of it because it’s just something small. Then, I realized that this is Virgil’s brother, and he’d probably be mad or get weirded out,” Patton explained. “I don’t know if I should tell him or not. What do you think?”The words finally processed in Roman’s head. “Wait, you like Virgil’s brother? Dee? What…?”Patton adjusted his glasses and glanced at Roman. “Yeah.”Roman leaned back and thought for a second. “Why?” He basically whispered.“You think I shouldn’t tell him? Or that I should tell Dee I’m not interested?”Roman shook his head. “No, no, it’s not that. I just don’t get the appeal. He’s kind of weird, and he creeps me out a little.”Patton rolled his eyes. “Is that what you got out of this?”“No, but I couldn’t help but question your definition of attractive. Anyway, this is your decision. Just think it over, and tell Virgil when you’re ready. He’s going to find out sooner or later.”Patton smiled. “Okay, thank you, Roman.”They drove in silence for a short while before Roman spoke up again. “On the topic of crushes…What do you think of my ship? Sink or sail?”Patton chuckled. “Is that what you’re calling it now?”“Oh, come on, Pat. It’s pretty obvious that Panic at the Everywhere is head-over-heels for Logan. Now, he hasn’t told me anything, but I can just tell. I can’t really tell about Logan though. It’s hard to tell if that guy even has feelings…” He tried thinking back to the last time he ever saw Logan make any other expression than just a deadpan one.“Oh hey! We’re here! Virgil should be down soon, so let’s stop talking about this!” Patton exclaimed as they pulled up in front of the apartment building.Roman raised an eyebrow. Did Patton know more than he was letting on about this?No, of course not. Roman thought. It’s not like Virgil would tell Patton something and not tell me, right? We’re best friends. Virgil would’ve told me before anyone else. We don’t keep secrets from each other.
- There was definitely something off about today.Virgil could feel that something was different. He just couldn’t put his finger on it. Roman was being Roman, Dee wasn’t there this morning, and Logan was being his usual quiet self. Maybe, it was Patton. Patton was still being his usual, cheerful self, but something seemed different. Virgil wasn’t sure what it was though, so he tried his best to ignore it.Besides, he didn’t have time to worry about that. He had debate club after school. A full hour he could spend with Logan outside of class. It was wishful thinking to consider that they’d grow closer in just an hour, but Virgil had some hope. And maybe get some kind of confirmation that Logan shared the same feelings.The day went on as normal. Normal classes. Normal bully. Normal everything. Virgil tried to ask Patton if something was wrong, but Patton denied that anything was wrong. That was a lie. Virgil could easily pick up on lies after living with Dee for so long. He just couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of Patton lying though. It was really strange. Virgil didn’t press him for information though. If it was Patton lying, then it must’ve been something really bad or personal.As the day went on, Virgil grew more anxious.What if Logan didn’t like him? What Logan thought he was weird? He probably already thought that but still. Did Logan even want to hang out with him? They had never hung out together. What if something went wrong?“You good, Virgil?”Virgil snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at Roman. “Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m just nervous about after school.”Roman put a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll do fine. You argue with me all the time. How different could it be?” He smiled.Virgil couldn’t help but smile too. “Heh…yeah. I guess you’re right in a way.”“Of course, I am,” Roman replied. “Come on. Let’s go get lunch.”Virgil nodded. He followed the shorter boy to the table where Patton and Logan were already sitting. Virgil sat next to Roman and looked down at his lunch. He snuck a glance at Logan and saw he was writing in a journal. He didn’t know what Logan was writing, but it must’ve been homework or something like that. Logan shut his journal and put it away in his backpack.“Are you looking forward to the first debate team meeting today, Virgil?”Virgil nodded. “Um, yeah. A little nervous I guess.”Logan adjusted his glasses. “Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll do fine. It’s only the first meeting. It’ll be easy, and you’ll have me there to help you.”Virgil smiled and looked down. He felt his face grow warm. “Thanks, Logan.”Logan nodded and adjust his tie. “No problem.” He gave Virgil a slight smile.Virgil smiled back.
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The bell rang. Virgil sighed with relief as the day came to an end. He checked his phone and saw he had ten minutes before the debate club started. Virgil looked up and was met with a pair of dark blue eyes.“Greetings again, Virgil. Are you prepared for this afternoon?”Logan was on his chair on his knees facing Virgil. Maybe it was because he was so short, or maybe it was because of the smile, but Logan looked like a little kid. Virgil couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. “Uh, yeah. You seem excited.”Logan seemed to realize how he might have looked and changed back to his usual calm demeanor. He stood up and slung his backpack over his shoulder. “Of course, I am. I’ve been looking forward to this.” He adjusted his tie. “You know, not to brag, but my team won first place in the state last year.”Virgil smiled. He stood up and put on his own backpack. “You’re pretty experienced in this aren’t you?”Logan shrugged. “I have been doing this since middle school. Every year has usually been a joyful experience for me.”Virgil smiled and nodded. “Sounds cool.” He walked out of the classroom with Logan. “So, do you want to, you know, hang out before the meeting starts or something?”Logan adjusted his tie once again. “Sure. Would you like to wait outside, perhaps?”“Yeah, okay.” Virgil walked side-by-side with Logan to the exit near the back of the school. When Logan asked why they weren’t just going out the front exit, Virgil shrugged and told him he liked how calm and quiet it was. That was only part of his reasoning, but Virgil wasn’t going to straight out tell Logan it was because it was the only place, they could be alone. That would be kind of creepy.They stepped outside into the warm afternoon air. The grass was pretty long and looked like it hadn’t been cut in a while. In fact, the whole back of the school looked essentially untaken care of. That was mostly due to the circumstance that it kind of was. No student or teacher really came back here. All the students mostly hung out in the front or left campus to hang out and the teachers parking lot was on the side of the school. There was really no reason for people to come back here.That’s why Virgil liked coming here so much. He knew no one would bother him or think of looking back here. Well, maybe only Patton and Roman, but that was fine with him.Virgil put his backpack near an old, jacked-up tree and sat down. “This is one of my favorite places behind the school. It’s always quiet, no one ever comes back here. It’s just great. Want to sit down?”Logan looked unsure. His eyes scanned the area. “Are you sure we should be back here? It doesn’t exactly look like it’s been tended to in a while.”Virgil shrugged. “Don’t worry. I don’t think the teachers mind. I mean, as long as we don’t get caught, but it’s fine. Come on.” He moved over a little so Logan could sit next to him.Virgil was wondering if Logan thought it was weird that he kept insisting he sit next to him. He began wondering if it was a mistake bringing Logan back here. His persistence, the remoteness…
Oh shit. What if he thinks I’m going to murder him or something?
That thought vanished as quickly as it came. Logan set his backpack down and sat right next to him. Their elbows brushed against each other. Heat rose to Virgil’s cheeks. He had never really been this close to Logan. It made Virgil kind of nervous.He played with the strings of his hoodie. “S-so Logan, we’ve never really hung out like this before…” He took in a breath, but couldn’t get any words out.Luckily, Logan spoke. “Indeed. You always seem like you’re ignoring me. Why is that?” He looked up at him with a curious glint in his eyes.Virgil began to panic. “What?! No – I – I haven’t done that! Why would you think that?”Logan shrugged. “It seemed like a logical conclusion. You always avoid eye-contact with me, you always look like you don’t want to talk to me, and you always look like you want to run away from me. Why is that?”Virgil stared at him for a while. What was he supposed to tell him? That he liked him? No way he going to outright say that. Plus, it would be especially bad if Logan didn’t feel the same way. He noticed Logan staring back at him.This caused Virgil’s heart to skip a beat. The sight of this shorter boy always seemed to astonish Virgil each time he got a good look at him. Logan was actually fairly handsome. Virgil wouldn’t describe him as hot or anything like that. With his blue eyes, dark brown hair that almost looked black, and constant necktie, he had sort of elegant and professional look to him. He still had a nerdy feel to him though, which also had a charm to it. It was quite a contrast to Virgil’s own style. While Virgil has a sort of edgy and messy looking, Logan was clean-cut and well dressed.He realized that he’d been staring for a while and looked away. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I- I don’t know.”“You do that as well.”“Do what?”“Your face turns red.”Virgil felt his face start to become even redder. “I don’t know. Why are you asking so many questions?”Logan thought for a second. “Curiosity.”Virgil snickered a little. “Well, to answer your original question, I don’t ignore you. I’m just…nervous, I guess.”“Oh…” Logan looked down. “I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable.”Virgil panicked again. “You don’t make me uncomfortable,” he blurted. “I don’t know. I just get nervous around people I don’t really know.” This was not going as Virgil had planned in his head.Logan looked up again. He took off his glasses to clean them. Virgil felt a flutter in his chest.Logan put his glasses back on. “I know that… feeling. When my fathers and I first moved here, I was nervous. I didn’t know anyone, but then I was able to meet Patton, Roman, and you. Now, I’m less nervous.”Virgil couldn’t help but smile. “Uh, thanks.” He chuckled. “Maybe, I’d be a little less nervous around you if I knew you better.” His palms began sweating, so he stuffed them into his pocket.Logan smiled. “Perhaps we should make it a point to spend more time to get to know each other.”Virgil couldn’t quite process Logan’s last statement. Was-was he asking him out or what? What was he trying to say?Virgil noticed a light shade of pink tint on Logan’s own face. “That is if you would like to …”Virgil’s mouth couldn’t form words. His voice was stuck in his throat. All he could manage was a nod. Virgil looked up and their eyes met.The two sat there for what seemed like hours just staring at each other. Virgil noticed that their faces weren’t that far apart. They were only a few inches apart. If he wanted to, he could just lean down a little and their lips would meet. It was as simple as that. Sweat trickled down the side of Virgil’s face as he contemplated whether or not to do it.He couldn’t bring himself to do it. There were so many things that could go wrong if he did. What if Logan wasn’t interested in him that way? What if something went wrong? There were too many variables.No, he couldn’t do it. They weren’t even a couple or anything like that. Plus, I would ruin the moment. What they had now was good. This was fine. This was perfect.Logan finally tore both of them back to reality by breaking his gaze. He adjusted his tie for what seemed like the hundredth time. “I – um, what time is it?”Virgil blinked and looked down at his phone. “We –” He cleared his throat. “– still have five minutes.”Logan nodded and stood up. “We should probably be making our way to the classroom then.” He put his backpack on.Virgil nodded too. “Uh, yeah. Come on. Let’s go.” He stood up a well and put his backpack over his shoulder.They went inside and made their way the club meeting would be taking place. Virgil couldn’t help but sneak a few glances at the shorter boy. Logan seemed to have put his serious and calm façade back on. The traces of any blush he might have had were gone.Virgil cleared his throat. “So, uh, did you mean what you said back there? About wanting to hang out again.”“Of course. Why would I say it if it weren’t true?”Virgil nodded. “I don’t know. I just wanted to be sure.”They walked in silence until they made it to their destination. There weren’t very many kids there. As a matter of fact, there were only two other kids. Virgil had seen these kids around the school but didn’t know much about them.One of them looked older than Virgil. One wore an orange beanie and the other had short brightly colored hair. They sat next to each other and chatting. Virgil and Logan sat down next to each other and waited.Logan pulled out his journal and began writing in it again.Virgil put his phone in his pocket. “What are you writing?”Logan didn’t look up. “Words.”Virgil raised an eyebrow. “What kind of words are you writing?”“The kind that you read.”Virgil rolled his eyes. “No, I mean are you doing homework or what?”He didn’t look up. “No, this is a more personal journal.”“Like a diary?”Logan seemed to consider this. Then, he nodded a little. “In a way, I suppose.”Virgil smirked a little. “Have you written anything about me or others yet?”“Yes.”Virgil was taken aback by his straightforward answer. He had mostly meant it as a joke, but now, he was curious. Logan had actually written about him, Patton, and Roman in his journal. Was it about good things? What did he think of them? “Well, I hope they’re mostly good things,” Virgil joked. Even if it was a joke, Virgil was partly serious.Logan opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the teacher entering the classroom. Logan automatically stuffed his journal back into his backpack.
Great, now that’s all I’m going to be thinking about. Maybe I can ask him afterward.
- The meeting went well. Since there was such a small turn out, they got into the action quickly.They were put in pairs and given a topic to debate about. The teacher said it was a sort of exercise to see how well they did and what they needed to work on.The other two students, who Virgil learned were named Joan and Talyn, were paired off together while Virgil was put with Logan. Virgil found out it wasn’t as easy as just having a simple argument.He was used to arguing. Virgil argued with everyone, so he thought he’d be pretty good. At first, he wasn’t able to keep up with Logan. Logan brought up facts, statistics, and a lot of good arguments. Virgil was a bit of a stuttering mess and even mad a hissing noise once. This earned a small smile from Logan.The teacher came over to help him out and give him advice about what to do. Eventually, Virgil was able to manage. He actually considered himself quite good. Eventually, the practice came to an end the teacher gave them the date of the next meeting, which was the same as this one. He dismissed them.When they got out and the other two had left, Virgil couldn’t help but laugh. Logan chuckled had a large grin on his face.“Oh geez,” Virgil said through his laughter, “I suck.”“You weren’t terrible.”“I hissed at you.”Logan nodded. “I must admit, that was an unusual tactic; however, you didn’t do that bad.”“I didn’t do that good either.”Logan shrugged. He adjusted his tie once again and pushed up his glasses. “Well, that was an enjoyable time. We should probably get going. My father is waiting to pick me up. I’m sure your parents are waiting for you as well.”Virgil felt his heartbeat quicken. “I, um, actually…” He decided against saying anything. “Well, I was going to walk home actually.”Logan tilted his head. “Do you, perhaps, want to come with us? I’m sure my father wouldn’t mind dropping you off.”Virgil thought for a moment. He shrugged. Well, it was better than walking. “Yeah, okay. I hope it isn’t too much to ask though.”“Nonsense. It’s fine. Come along.” Logan grabbed Virgil’s hand but let go almost immediately. “Um…may I?”A surge of warmth invaded Virgil’s face. “O-oh, no, it’s fine.” He held out his hand for Logan to take again. Logan took it and lead the way. After what seemed like a while, Virgil realized they were heading away from the main entrance.“Wait, where are we going?” Virgil asked.“My father’s classroom. He just started working here this year,” Logan replied.Virgil walked a little faster, so they were walking side-by-side now. Virgil would have said asked which teacher, but he didn’t want to seem stupid. It took him a moment to realize that there was only one new teacher this year.They stopped outside their calculus classroom. Before they entered, Logan released Virgil’s hand. Virgil shoved his hands in his pocket. He wished Logan would’ve just held on for a little longer. It sent a tingly feeling up Virgil’s arm that he enjoyed.Logan opened the door. “Dad,” he said, “the meeting is over.”Mr. Sleep held up a finger to shush his son. His eyes remained on his laptop. “Hold on…”Virgil followed close behind Logan as they went behind the teacher’s desk. Logan sighed. “Did you turn off your laptop’s Wi-Fi again?”Virgil watched with a smile as he watched a dinosaur dashing across the computer screen. This was supposed to be one of Logan’s dads? He was practically Logan’s opposite. Laid-back, cool, childish, casual. Virgil figured Logan must’ve picked up his more professional attitude from his other dad.Finally, the small dinosaur crashed into a cactus, and the older man grunted in frustration. “Dammit, I was about to beat my last high score.” He closed his laptop and turned to Logan. “Don’t tell your father I was doing this instead of grading.”Logan just sighed again and nodded. “Fine. I wanted to ask if we could drop my friend off at his home. He doesn’t have anyone to pick him up.” Logan motioned toward Virgil.Virgil put on a more serious expression, trying not to show his amusement and anxiety. He gave a small wave.Mr. Sleep stood up. “Yeah, okay.” He turned to Virgil. “How’s it going, kid?”Virgil scratched the back of his neck nervously. “Uh, good, sir…” Virgil was feeling even more anxious than usual (if that was even possible). Not only was he speaking to a teacher, but he was also speaking to his crush’s dad. He put his head back in his pocket and tried not to make too much eye contact.The older man chuckled. “Well, you’re the only Virgil I know, so you gotta be the one Logan talks about –”“Please, stop,” Logan said quickly. A light shade of pink was apparent on the shorter boy’s face. Virgil felt his own face being colored with a shade of red.Mr. Sleep chuckled again. “Alright, alright. Come on, let’s get out of this hellhole.” He put his laptop in a bag and led them out of the classroom.Virgil followed close behind as the father and son talked about how their days were and other topics that came up. Virgil felt a slight pang of jealousy in his chest. How he wished he could’ve had that kind of father-son relationship with someone. He could only dream of that kind of connection.They reached their vehicle, and Mr. Sleep unlocked the door. Virgil was about to open the door to the backseat when the teacher stopped him.“Mind sitting up front, kid? I need you to tell me where your place is.”Virgil looked at Logan. The other just gave him a friendly smile and sat in the backseat. Virgil sat up front and felt his nerves shoot through the roof.
Oh geez…Oh geez…Oh shit! This is happening now, I guess. Just act cool. You got this.
As they drove, Virgil told the older man the directions to his apartment building. He was hoping for little to no conversation. That hope was quickly shattered.“So, Virgil,” Mr. Sleep started, “how’s life been?”Virgil shrugged nervously. “Uh, it’s been life, I guess. I’m not dead yet.” He smiled shakily.There was a beat of silence.The teacher smiled. “I like this one. You really know how to pick ‘em, L.”“Please, refrain from saying anything else,” Logan said.“Oh, come on. He seems cool, right Virgil?”Virgil peeked out the window and thankfully saw his apartment building. “Oh, look! Here we’re here. Thanks for the ride, sir.”They pulled over, and Virgil grabbed his backpack. He opened the door. “Thank you for the ride Mr. Sleep. See you in class tomorrow.”He turned around and waved to Logan. “Bye, Logan.” Logan returned the wave.Virgil closed the door and walked quickly into the building. When he looked out the window, the car was gone. He let out a sigh. Virgil could feel his heartbeat going a hundred miles per minute.His mind wandered back to when they were behind the school. That had probably been the highlight of the whole thing. It was almost like distant memory or dream now. He also enjoyed seeing Logan laugh. It wasn’t very long, but it was a short and sweet moment.Virgil’s mind traveled back to the words Logan’s father had said as well. Apparently, Logan talked about him or at least mentioned him at home. This caused a dark shade of red to spread over Virgil’s face. He was just a huge mess right now.This was somewhat of confirmation for him that Logan had feelings under his emotionless, serious façade. And at that, the feelings were for him. That was truly something.Virgil couldn’t wipe the small smile off his face the rest of the day. - Dee stared down at his phone and erased the message for what seemed like the hundredth time.He sighed as he tried to phrase his question in a way that didn’t seem too formal or too laid-back either. Was “dude” too laid-back? How about “sir”, too formal?
Stop overthinking this. It’s just a simple question. A question that could determine the rest of this relationship.
Deceit sighed again and picked up his phone.
Stop it! You’re not Virgil! Calm down. Just type.
He typed a message and hit send without a second thought. He reread the message he had sent aloud to himself.“‘Hey Patton, it’s Dee.’” He internally cringed. Why did he introduce himself? He continued. “‘Just wanted to know if you wanted to hang out this weekend. Maybe Saturday or Sunday? Text me when you have the chance.’”Dee muttered something under his breath and shoved his phone in his pocket, so he didn’t have to see that stupid message. Did he really have to say his name? Maybe that last sentence seemed too demanding. Or did it make him sound desperate?He opened the door to his truck and put his bag and other belongings in the passenger seat. He groaned as he rubbed his eyes wearily. He hated this so much.He hated having to work two jobs. He hated having to spend so much time away from his brother. He hated having to live in a stupid apartment. He hated everything. And who did Dee blame for all of this? Himself. Only himself. If only –His phone rang. He picked it up quickly and looked at the caller ID. It was Virgil. He answered it. “What’s up, Virg?”“I just got home from school. A friend gave me a ride, so I didn’t have to walk.”Dee nodded. “Sounds good. I just got finished with class, so I’m going to work now. Need anything?”“Nah, I’m fine.”“So, who gave you a ride?”There was a silence at the other end of the line.Dee smirked. “Was it Logan?” He joked.There was a slight hesitation before Virgil answered. “Maybe…”Dee couldn’t help but laugh. “Aww, your boyfriend gave you a ride. In which context of the word?”“Deceit!” Dee could hear the embarrassment in the younger boy’s voice.Dee chuckled again. “I’m kidding. I’m kidding. At least, you better not be doing that stuff yet. Or at the very least, use protection.”“Oh my gosh! Stop!”“I’m messing with you. Take a joke. Anyway, what did your boyfriend have to say? Anything interesting?”“First of all, he’s not my boyfriend. Second, we just kind of hung out because of the debate club.”“Oh yeah, I forgot you had that. Was it fun?”“Yeah, but I wasn’t very good at it.”“Well, keep trying. I gotta go. Talk to you later?”“Yeah, sure. Bye.”“Bye.”He hung up and put his phone on the dashboard. He turned on the car and prepared to pull out of the parking spot when his phone buzzed again.Dee stopped and picked up his phone. His heart practically jumped out of his chest. Patton texted back. He opened his text messages and read what Patton had sent a few times. He kept rereading it just to confirm his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him.It read: ‘Sure! Sunday is good for me. What time?’Dee smiled. He replied, ‘How about I pick you up at around 6:00 in the afternoon?’It took about a minute before another reply came. ‘Sounds good! See you then!’ There was a little happy face emoji next to the message.Dee’s smile widened. He actually did it. He had a date with Patton on Sunday. An actual date. Well, maybe. That wasn’t clarified, but he assumed it was a date.He sat there with a big grin on his face until he remembered he had to be at work in five minutes.“Shit,” he muttered under his breath.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
That week went by quickly.The day after he had gotten a ride from Logan and his dad, there was some awkward tension Virgil felt when he was around the other boy. However, Logan acted as nothing happened. Virgil was glad Logan didn’t bring it up again, but that made him wonder if Logan actually had feelings for him or not.He was eventually able to push those thoughts to the back of his mind, but they lingered there. Virgil tried to act as normal as he could. It really didn’t help that the more he got to know Logan, the more his feelings for him grew. Virgil began to notice things he hadn’t before, such as nervous ticks Logan had. He’s often noticed how Logan would adjust and fiddle with his necktie when he was feeling nervous or uncomfortable.That’s another thing Virgil noticed. His feelings, or lack of feelings. Logan wasn’t one to talk about his feelings or even express them. He didn’t seem to know how to express his emotions, so he had habits that he used to sort of express his feelings. They were small things, but Virgil noticed them and thought they were kind of cute.Virgil had become a little more comfortable talking to Logan and began having conversations with him during lunch. Of course, this earned him some light teasing from Roman, and Virgil didn’t mind this. He figured Roman was starting to put the pieces together himself but decided not to tell Roman about his crush yet. He didn’t want Roman telling Logan anything or trying to set them up. Virgil just wanted things to move along naturally. It wasn’t that he distrusted Roman. He just knew Roman had a flair for the dramatic and would try to set them up in one of his weird Roman ways. It wouldn’t be the first time. He knew Roman meant well, but Virgil wasn’t exactly the romantic type.Anyway, the week ended so soon that Virgil could hardly believe it was Friday already. As the bell rang, Logan and Virgil walked out of calculus together.“Well,” Virgil said as he spotted Patton and Roman waiting by Patton’s car, “I guess I should get going. See you on Monday.” He turned to leave.Logan grabbed Virgil’s arm gently before he could leave. “Actually, before you go, I was wondering if you would like to swap phone numbers. Since we seem to be close friends now, I find this an adequate time to ask. Unless you don’t want to.”Virgil’s lips formed a smile, and his phone was immediately in his hand. He tried to sound as calm as he possibly could. “Yeah, okay. Just type your number in.”They exchanged numbers and went their separate ways.When Virgil got to Patton’s car, Roman had a smirk on his face. Even when they got into the car, the smirk remained.“What?” Virgil asked looking into the rearview mirror.“Don’t play dumb, Panic at the Everywhere. I saw you two. You got the nerd’s numbers, didn’t you?”Virgil felt his face growing warm. “What?” He repeated.Roman chuckled. “Aw, don’t be embarrassed, Virgil. You two would make a cute couple, right Patton?”Virgil saw Patton with a similar smirk on his face. Patton also looked like he was trying his best not to give away the fact that he knew about Virgil’s feelings. “Uh, yeah. I think they would.” He glanced over at Virgil with his smirk still present.Virgil shot him a look.Virgil looked down at his phone one last time before stuffing it in his pocket. He stared out the window for a while until Patton spoke up.“H-hey, Virgil. Can I tell you something?” There was a nervous edge to his voice.Virgil turned to him. “What’s up, Pat?”Patton took in a deep breath and tightly gripped the steering wheel. “I just…need to tell you something. Something important.” He looked in the rearview mirror. “Um, I’ve told Roman this already. I think you should know too. Well, you need to know.”“Well, stop stalling and tell me then.”He took in another deep breath. “So…remember, I don’t know if you do, I met your brother. Last weekend, I think.”Virgil felt his heart pound against his ribs. He didn’t know if liked where this was going. “Oh, yeah. I sent him to get my book. So, you two met and…?”Patton’s grip on the wheel tightened even more. “Well, we kind of, maybe, started talking…and he sort of, kind of…”“He what?” Virgil began to feel different emotions he couldn’t quite make out. He wasn’t so sure he liked this.“He…um, asked me out…like, on a date, I think…”Roman leaned forward. “Hold on, you didn’t tell me this!”“Roman!” Virgil basically hissed. He looked back up at Patton. “And w-what did you say?”Patton’s grip tightened on the wheel even more if possible. Virgil could see the concern in his eyes. “Yes.”Virgil looked down for a while. He said nothing. What could he say? Why didn’t Dee tell him this? Did he even plan on telling him? Virgil balled up his hands to make fists.He wasn’t sure if he was angry, confused, happy, or maybe even a little envious. Maybe he was feeling all of these emotions. He didn’t really know. His brother and friend going on a date…He didn’t know how to feel about that at all.He took in a deep breath and let it out. He was definitely going to have to talk to Dee about this later.“Virgil? Are you okay? If you’re not fine with this, then I can cancel it. It’s no trouble-”“It’s fine, Patton. Everything’s fine. That just kind of caught me off guard, I guess. I’m happy for you though.” He gave Patton a small smile.Patton let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Virgil. I’m glad you’re not mad about it. Are you absolutely sure though?”“I’m sure. It’s no problem, Pat.” Virgil’s voice was tight and strained as he tried to hide his emotions. - “Hi, hello. What the actual heck?! You didn’t tell me about your date!”“Calm down, Virg. I just-”“I am calm! Well, as calm as I can get. That’s not the point though! When were you going to tell me?”“Tomorrow.”“Deceit!”“I don’t know! Look, just calm down for two seconds, and let me explain.”Virgil sighed. He knew there would be some lies in his explanation, but he wanted to hear what his brother had to say. “Fine.”“You see, I really wasn’t going to tell you-” Virgil let out a hissing sound. Dee ignored him and continued. “-yet. I was probably going to tell you afterward, you know, depending on how the date went.”Virgil felt his hands shaking and balled them up into fists. He tried to keep his voice steady. “Fine. This is fine. But I swear if you hurt my friend, I’m going to hurt you, got it? And we’re talking about this when you get home from work! I don’t care how late you get home! Got it?”There was a silence for a moment. Dee answered in a soft voice. “Alright.”“Okay,” Virgil said, “See you later.”“Bye.”Virgil hung up. After a while, he felt like he might have overreacted just a tiny bit. His emotions were just kind of everywhere, and he was taking them out on Dee.After more time passed and Virgil had calmed down, he began thinking about the situation again.On one hand, it was really weird to have one of his friends dating his brother. Virgil assumed there would be plenty of awkward moments between all of them if this relationship went anywhere. Plus, Virgil had to admit, Patton was a little too good for Dee. Patton was so caring and optimistic while Dee was a liar and a bit of an asshole.On the other hand, Dee could use that kind of person in his life. Virgil figured that with all the stress and other stuff he was going through, Patton would be a good asset to him. Patton was basically a personified ray of sunshine and loved making people happy, so, in a weird way, he was perfect for Dee. Plus, Dee deserved that kind of happiness.Virgil still had conflicting emotions about the whole thing, but he guessed it was worth a try if it made Dee and Patton happy. Maybe…He really didn’t know.He finished up his weekend homework and sat on the couch to watch some television. He changed from watching television to scrolling through Tumblr for a few hours. After about two hours, he brought the blanket from his bed and just rested on the couch. He continued to scroll through his phone until he felt himself slowly losing consciousness. - “Virgil, what are you doing?”Virgil sat up and felt his cheek was sticky. He wiped the drool from his cheek. He sat up and figured he dozed off waiting for Dee.His older brother stood over him with a confused and slightly annoyed look. His arms were crossed and still had his bag slung over his shoulder. Virgil could tell he was waiting for some kind of explanation.“Waiting for you,” Virgil replied simply. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “I said we’d when you got home from work.”Dee held up his phone showing the time. “It’s three in the morning you freaking idiot!”Virgil nodded. “Wow, I went to bed early for the weekend.”Dee lightly hit him over the head. “This could’ve waited until tomorrow!”“It is tomorrow.” Virgil slid over and patted the empty spot on the couch. “Sit. Let’s talk.”Dee sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He stood there for a moment. “Ugh…Fine. If it helps you get it out of your system, then whatever.” He set his bag down on the floor and sat next to the younger boy. “What is there to talk about?”Virgil held up one finger. “Okay, so one: you didn’t tell me.” He held up another finger. “Two: Did you even consider how this would affect my friendship with Patton?” He held up a third finger. “And three: Do you even have time for a relationship?”Dee shrugged and leaned back on the couch. He took in a deep breath. “How long have you planned this in your head?”Virgil crossed his legs and faced Dee. “A few hours, actually,” Virgil admitted. He put on a more serious expression. “Now, start talking.”Dee had a faint smile on his lips. “I really didn’t think it through… Look, I’m sorry. I just…” He ran a hand through his hair. It seemed like he was trying to choose his words carefully. “I’m going to try to be completely honest with you. Okay?”Virgil slowly nodded.Dee sat up. “Well… I didn’t think anything through really. Patton just makes me happy. He makes me happier than I’ve been in a long time, and I don’t want that to stop. I’m sure things might be a little awkward at first, but it’ll all be fine after a while. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, Virg. I really am sorry.”Virgil looked down. He felt some tension lifted from his mind. He shoved his hands in the pocket of his sweater.“Besides,” Dee continued, “I’m sure you know what it feels like to like someone like this.” A smirk tugged at his lips. “Logan, right?”Virgil felt his face grow warm. He playfully punched his brother’s arm. “Shut up. This isn’t about me.”“I know. I also know that you have some idea what I’m talking about. Am I right?” His smirk grew wider.Virgil looked up and rolled his eyes. “Fine, whatever. I still don’t trust you on this though.”Dee nodded. “Seems fair enough. Now, let me ask you something.” He pulled out his phone and the light shined dimly on his face.Virgil noticed the bags under the older man’s eyes and how he had a somewhat burnt-out look in his eyes. His hair was sticking up in different directions and looked like a complete mess. Virgil began feeling guilty about keeping his brother up for this.Dee found what he was looking for and turned the phone around for Virgil to see. Virgil felt his face grow hotter as he saw what the picture was. It was a photo of Logan. He was looking up from a book with an expression of a mix between annoyed and caught off guard.Virgil looked up at his brother, who had a giant grin on his face.“That's him, isn't it? That's Logan?” Dee took his phone back and inspected the photo. “I gotta say, he’s not that bad looking. He’s a little nerdy, but that’s alright. I can see you two as a couple.”Virgil put his hood on to hide how red his face was getting. “Where did you get that picture?!”“I asked Patton for a picture of Logan. He sent this to me. It's not the best picture, but I get the idea.”Virgil swore under his breath. “Ugh! Why would you do that?!”Dee chuckled. “To get a reaction from you.” He let out a yawn. “Are we done here or…?”Virgil sighed. “Yeah, I guess. Don’t think I’m not bringing this up again though! Just get some rest.”“Alright.”Virgil was surprised to feel his brother’s arms wrap him in a hug. This was a surprise because Dee hadn’t hugged him in a long time. This made Virgil freeze up. Dee pulled away and ruffled the younger boy’s hair.“Good night, Virg.”Virgil pulled down his hoodie. “Good night, Dee.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Dee stared back at his reflection.He thought he looked pretty decent. He was wearing his best shirt, which was a yellow button up that only had a few stains. He also had on a black sweater that easily covered the stains on his shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. Plus, he combed his hair back for once. It still looked a little messy, but it was the best he could do.There was a knock on the bathroom. “Deceit! You’ve been in there for an hour! Get out of there already!”Dee checked his watch. He had thirty minutes before he had to pick up Patton. He looked up and inspected his reflection again. He looked alright. He just wished he could get rid of the bags under his eyes and the off-colored skin on the left side of his face. He shrugged and opened the bathroom door. “What do you think, Virg?”Virgil’s eyebrows shot up. “You…actually look like a decent human being. Good job.”Dee ruffled the younger boy’s hair. “I know, right? Well, I should get going.”Virgil blocked his path. “Okay, but don’t stay out too late. You’ll be back before midnight, right?”“For the hundredth time, yes! You’re going to have to learn to trust me one of these days. I’ll be back before then. See you later.”“Alright.” Virgil headed to his room.Dee grabbed his keys and headed down to his truck. He sat in his truck for a few moments without actually turning it on. The realization whacked him over the head.He was going on a date. Like, an actual date . He hadn’t been on one since high school. He gripped the steering wheel tightly.
You can do this…You can do this. You got this. Just act natural. You’ve been texting him for a while already. He thinks you’re cool, right? How hard can this be?
- Dee’s hand was only inches from the doorbell.All he had to do was ring it. All he had to do was move his hand just a few more inches. He retracted his hand quickly.“Come on, Dee! You got this! It’s just a simple date. Just ring the doorbell…”He took in a sharp breath and rang it quickly. He withdrew his hand and shoved it in his pocket. It didn’t take long for the door to open.“Hi, Dee!”Patton had a bright grin on his face. He was wearing the cat hoodie that was usually tied around his shoulders over a pink collared shirt with khakis. Patton closed the door behind him. “You look nice,” he said in his usual cheerful tone.Dee smiled. “Thanks.” He cleared his throat. “You too. Um, are you ready to go?”“Yeah, let’s go.”They both climbed into Dee’s truck. Patton put on his seatbelt and chuckled. “You know, I actually thought you were going to spend the rest of the night staring at the door and talking to yourself.”Dee scratched the back of his neck and put on his own seatbelt. He cleared his throat again. “Heh, you saw that?”“I was watching you for a while actually.”“Why didn’t you come outside if you saw me?”Patton shrugged. “It was funny.”Dee felt heat rise to his face. “Well, I’m glad I could entertain you.” Dee changed the subject. “So, I have this whole thing planned out –” He hesitated. “Well, unless you have something in mind.”Patton shook his head and chuckled. “I’m fine with anything really. What did you have in mind?”Dee shrugged. “Well, I was thinking of dinner and then a walk in the park. Maybe. I know it sounds cliché, but I thought it would be a nice, simple date.”“Oooh, sounds like fun! I like it!”From the side of his eye, he could see Patton beaming. Dee couldn’t help but smile himself. Patton had the kind of smile that could brighten up a room, and Dee really loved that about Patton. It was one of the many traits he loved about him.The whole drive was silent with the occasional comment from Patton, but Dee remained silent. Dee could’ve sworn Virgil was in his mind because all he could think of was how anything and everything could go wrong. He tightened his grip on the wheel.
Relax. Just relax. Nothing’s going to go wrong. What could possibly go wrong? Nothing, so just relax.
Dee looked out the window. “Oh hey, we’re here.” He pulled into the parking lot of a small restaurant.The two of them climbed out of the truck. They walked toward the restaurant side by side. Dee glanced down at Patton’s hand and wondered if he should hold it or wait. Before he could decide, Patton linked their arms together.Patton immediately let go. “Sorry. I didn’t ask if you were okay with this.”Dee smiled. “Yeah, it’s fine.” He linked their arms again and walked the other to the entrance.Dee opened the door for them and they sat down at a table. So far, so good. Dee relaxed. He didn’t know what he was so worried about. Everything was running smoothly.“This place is nice,” Patton said. “It’s so small and cozy. How’d you find out about it?”“Our parents would always bring Virgil and I here when we were little. It used to be one of Virgil’s favorite places to come when he was little.”Patton looked around. “Well, why’d you guys stop coming?”A dark thought crossed Dee’s mind. “Oh…um…I don’t know if you’d want to know.” Dee crossed his arms uneasily. He was always hesitant to talk about what happened to their parents.He knew their deaths weren’t his fault, but he couldn’t help it. He always felt there was some fault on his part.Patton seemed to understand. His face became more serious. “Sorry, Virgil told me about what happened. I mean, he hasn’t told me the whole thing, but I kind of get the gist of it. I won’t bring it up anymore. I’m sorry for even asking in the first place.”Dee sighed. “No, no! It’s not your fault. It’s my fault! Oh geez, everything was going great. I shouldn’t have brought that up. I’m dumb.” He mentally slapped himself.Patton took Dee’s hands. His voice was soft and calming. “Hey, calm down. Everything’s fine. You’re not dumb.” He squeezed his hands gently. “Let’s not think about that. Let’s just focus on right now. Okay?”Dee held his hands gently. “Yeah, okay.” He looked down at Patton’s hands. He held them close and planted a gentle kiss on them. He looked up and saw Patton look away with a noticeable light pink color on his face. He relinquished the other’s hands and rested his arms on the table. A smile was present on both of their faces.Soon, they ordered their drinks and meals. They began having a conversation about different topics such as school, interests, and Dee began telling Patton about stories he knew Virgil would hate him telling others. They continued their conversations even after finishing dinner.“Wait,” Patton said between laughs, “So, he thought the F word meant what?”Dee chuckled. “I don’t know exact what Virgil thought it meant, but he used it all the time. He heard it somewhere and thought it sounded cool.”Dee couldn’t help but smile as he watched the other laughing happily. He sighed. Everything was going smoothly. A lot better than he thought it would actually.Aw crap... something was bound to go wrong. Something was going to go wrong soon. Things always went wrong whenever something this good happened in his life.Dee checked the time on his phone. It was still early. He tapped his foot impatiently and let his eyes dart around to look for any possible sign of disaster. Patton seemed to notice his unease. “Are you okay? You look nervous.”Dee glances at Patton. “Me? Oh, I’m fine. Everything just seems to be going too well.”Patton raised an eyebrow. “Too well? What’s that supposed to mean?”The older of the two scratched the back of his head nervously. “It’s just that this is going perfect. Dinner is going perfect. You’re perfect-” He stopped himself and covered his mouth with his hand. A surge of warmth immediately rose to his face. Patton stared at him. His face was developing the same shade of pink it was earlier. A smile stretched across his face. “Aww! I’d that what you think of me? That’s so sweet!”Dee looked down. “Maybe,” he muttered under his breath.Patton chuckled. He rolled up his sleeve to reveal a watch. “It’s getting a little late, but I think we might have a few minutes to spend at the park. Ready to go?” Dee glanced up again, a small smile on his face. “Yeah, come on.” - Their walk in the park did start out nice though. Since it was pretty late, there were little to no people roaming the park. They walked around for a while talking and laughing about the topics they discussed. It wasn’t long before Dee decided to try something. As Patton was laughing about something Dee has said, Dee couldn’t help but notice how the dim sunlight complimented Patton’s smile. Both had a warm, beautiful feel to them that made his heart flutter. Dee glanced down and noticed how Patton’s hand wasn’t in his pocket and free from holding anything. Their hands were so close that they were almost touch. All Dee had to do was reach out and hold it...He slowly reached out and wrapped his fingers around the other’s hand. Patton looked taken aback and pulled away. Dee couldn’t breathe. He knew he shouldn’t have done that! That was a terrible idea! Why would he-“Geez, why are your hands so cold?”Dee could feel his lungs working again. “Huh?””I’m sorry for pulling away so suddenly. You just startled me. Your hands are freezing!””Oh, sorry.”Patton smiled again. “It’s fine.” This time it was Patton who took Dee’s hand. He intertwined their fingers and swung their hands lightly as they walked. They sat down on a bench while their hands stayed intertwined. It was getting dark now, and the stars were beginning to show. “Wow.” Patton’s voice was soft. “The sky looks so pretty.” He scooted closer to Dee. He pointed to a few stars. “Look at how beautiful those are and the way the clouds look.” “Yeah,” Dee said, “All the clouds. They look nice.” He wasn’t even paying attention. He was too focused on Patton.Dee decided to try something else. He slowly slipped his hand from Patton’s and wrapped it around the him. Patton didn’t hesitate to lean into him and rest his head on Dee’s shoulder. Patton sat up and looked Dee in the eyes. Dee stared back. They could’ve been there for hours or maybe it was only seconds. It was hard to tell. Dee’s grip on Patton’s shoulder tightened. He used his other arm to wrap it around Patton as well. There was a comforting silence between the two as they stared into each other’s eyes.
This is it Dee...you can do this. He’s right there.
Dee leaned forward. He was only inches away until finally...A drop of rain fell on Dee’s nose. He pulled back and wiped it. There were a few more drops of rain. “What the...?”Patton sat up and looked up at they sky. “Oh no. I think we should get back to the truck. It’s starting to rain.”Dee could feel the droplets hit fall on his hair. An annoyed expression crossed his face. “Yeah, I guess so.” So close. But, of course, something had to go wrong.They got up and made their way out of the park. Patton pulled up his hood while Dee used his sweater to cover himself. The rain began coming down harder. The two of them were starting to get soaking wet. They finally made it to the truck and climbed in quickly. Patton removed his hood and Dee threw his sweater to the backseat. He ran his hand through his hair. “See Pat? Like I told you earlier: everything is going too perfect. Now, it’s ruined.”Patton chuckled. “What are you talking about? Nothing’s ruined! That was just a minor inconvenience.”Dee glanced at him. “But we got soaked. That doesn’t bother you?”“Of course not! I’m still having a great time with you! I can’t wait to go on another date with you!”Dee felt his eyes widen. “Wait, you actually want to go out with me again? Like, an actual second date?”Patton smiled. “Well, yeah. And hopefully a third, fourth, and more after that! This was nice.”A grin spread over the older one’s face. “Th-thanks. I’m glad we could go out.”Patton checked his watch. “Do you mind dropping me off soon? It’s getting late, and I have school tomorrow.””Huh? Oh! Yeah. I have classes tomorrow too.”They drive in silence. Dee felt a little giddy. Patton liked him. He liked the date. He wanted to go out again. Dee had a huge grin on his face the entire ride. They finally made it to Patton’s house. Fortunately, the rain had cleared up and there was only a light drizzle. “Well, see you later Pat.”Patton smiled. “Wait, aren’t you forgetting something?”Dee raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think so.””You’re forgetting this.”Patton leaned over and pressed his lips gingerly against Dee’s.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Well, Virgil had just about the worst day of school he possibly could have.He didn’t sleep much the night before, so he was a zombie all day. He could hardly keep up with what was going on around him. Heck, he didn’t even listen how Patton’s date went last night or what Logan was telling him during lunch. And when he didn’t get sleep, he was just in an overall bad mood.It wasn’t until math that his brain started becoming more aware of what was going on.Virgil sank in his seat as the teacher passed out their tests from last week. When he got his back, he sunk even lower into his seat.He let out a quiet groan as he pulled up his hoodie. It was the first test of the year, and he failed it! Not by much, but it was still a failing grade.It made him wonder why they had moved him up to his senior year instead of keeping him in junior year. He wasn’t as smart as the rest of the kids here. He didn’t belong here. He belonged with his best friend and the rest of the juniors.He looked over Logan’s shoulder and noticed that he had gotten a perfect score. It only made him feel even more ashamed of his failure. He turned his paper over to hide the grade.The bell rang to signal the end of class.As the rest of the students filed out of the classroom, Virgil walked out with Logan behind the other students. Virgil was about to say something, but Logan’s father called him back to talk to him. Virgil decided to just wait outside the classroom until Logan was done.Virgil opened up his phone to text Roman.Before he could get his contacts open, he and his phone were on the floor. Virgil sat up and looked down at his phone. A small crack was in the corner of his screen. Just when he thought his day couldn’t get any worse…“Shit…” He muttered. As he looked up, a sense of fear burned in his chest. He shakily grabbed his phone. “H-hello there. Nice seeing you again.” Virgil feigned a friendly smile.Why today of all days?The bully looked down at him with a smirk. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”Virgil tried to stand up but immediately found himself back on the ground. Virgil looked up and was met with an expression of amusement. “Not long enough,” he murmured to himself. “Hey man, what is it with you pushing me to the floor? Isn’t that kind of cliché?”Eric’s smile vanished almost immediately. The bully muttered something under his breath. He took a step closer to Virgil. “Would you rather me pull a knife on you? You’re lucky I haven’t pulled one on you yet. Is that what you want?” He grabbed Virgil by the collar of his shirt, forcing him to stand up.He stared the boy straight in the eyes and glared back. “You wouldn’t. Even you have to have some humanity. Besides, you haven’t done anything too extreme yet. I doubt you’d start now.”That was probably one of the worst decisions Virgil ever made. Damn, Virgil made stupid decisions when he was sleep-deprived.Eric’s expression was dark. “You want extreme? That’s fine with me.” He threw Virgil against the wall.Virgil rubbed the back of his head. He felt his throat close up, so his option of calling for help was out of the question. He closed his eyes bracing for impact. Unfortunately, he was too busy guarding his face that he didn’t even think of any other areas of his body.He felt a rough impact on his stomach and clutched his torso in pain. He fell to his knees. As he saw Eric’s fist prepare to punch him again, his fight or flight response kicked in.His heart pounded against his rib cage. All drowsiness he had was immediately gone. He was wide awake now, his veins flooding with adrenaline. He followed his first instinct.He stood up and ran as fast as he could. He sprinted down the hallway. He didn’t care that his body was exhausted. He just cared about getting out of there before anything else happened. Unfortunately, he had the worst luck today and felt a hand grab his hood. He let out a sharp gasp and landed on his back. He sat up as quickly as possible and yanked hard on his hood.He managed to stand up but was met with a sharp pain in his nose. A warm liquid fell trickled down his face.Blood.He gripped his nose. His head began spinning like crazy. Virgil felt himself stumble backward. His head hit the wall, and he slumped down to the floor. Tears fell down his face as he held onto his bleeding nose. He looked up and saw a shadow looming over him.“Stop…” Virgil’s voice was barely a whisper.Another awful pain spread through the entire upper part of his face. He was struck not once not twice but three times in the same eye. Virgil tried to open his eyes, but the one that Eric hit was swollen shut.Virgil prepared for another impact, but it never came.“Hey! Stop that and get over here, kid!” An angry voice shouted.Virgil opened his eyes and through his tears saw two more figures appear. One was taller and the other was much shorter in comparison.“Hey kid,” the familiar voice spoke. “What are you doing? You know what? I don’t care! I’m taking you to the office, so they can call your parents!”Eric remained eerily silent.The shorter of the two kneeled. “Virgil? Virgil, come on. You’re going to be okay.” Logan helped him up and walked him back to the classroom.Virgil still felt blood and tears running down his face. He was in too much pain to feel embarrassed that he was crying in front of Logan though.Virgil kept his eyes shut because they stung from the tears and aching. He heard Logan mutter something but couldn’t quite make out what he was saying. He felt the blood being wiped from his face.“You’re going to be okay. Everything’s going to be fine, Virgil.” Logan spoke in a softer voice than usual. It was gentle, caring, and almost loving. “I’m going to clean you up, okay?”Without waiting for an answer, he gently cleaned the tears from Virgil’s face. He wiped the blood off with a paper towel and dealt with his bloody nose first. He waited for it to stop bleeding and wiped the rest of Virgil’s tears.Virgil finally opened his good eye. He saw Logan trying to take care of him with a worried expression painting his features. The shorter boy let out a sigh of relief.“Oh thank goodness, I thought you fainted from all the blood loss.”Virgil managed a smile. “No, I’m fine. My eyes just hurt…Well, my whole face hurts, but-”“How did this happen? Why did this happen?”Virgil shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. That guy just hates me or something. He just started beating up on me for no reason!”Logan pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something. He adjusted his glasses. “I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. It happened already. Hopefully, he’ll get expelled from this school.” He got up and threw away the paper towels. He grabbed a couple of items off the table and handed them to Virgil. “I found your phone and your hood…”Virgil’s eye widened. He shakily took his phone and shoved it in his pocket without a second glance. He grabbed the piece of his sweater that was torn off. His hands shook as he looked it over.Logan sat across from him. “Virgil…” He seemed hesitant to say anything else. The shorter boy looked everywhere but at Virgil. “…are you going to be okay?”Virgil nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s just a black eye…and nosebleed, but I’ll be okay. I don’t think I’ll be able to go to Debate Club though.”Logan nodded. “That would be the best option for you at the moment. You should get some rest.”Virgil nodded. “Yeah.” He sighed. “Patton and Roman probably already left, so I guess I’m walking home.”He gathered his things and put them in his backpack. He noticed Logan raise a confused eyebrow. “You don’t have someone who can pick you up? A parental figure?”Virgil shook his head. “No.”“Sibling?”“He’s either in class or at work. I don’t know which one.”Logan thought for a moment. “Alright then. My father and I can drive you home, and I’ll stay with you for a while.”Virgil shook his head. “What? No way. I can’t ask you to do that. I-”“I insist. I’ll help you recover as much I can. You are my friend after all. I’m going to let you walk home the way you are.”Virgil looked down and noticed his shirt was covered in dried blood from his nose bleed. Geez, that was a lot of blood. His head was still spinning a little too. He accepted Logan’s offer. - Virgil led Logan up the stairs to his apartment.He unlocked the front door and led Logan inside. Logan looked around the small area. “You live in a nice apartment.”Virgil blushed lightly. He put his backpack in its usual spot. “Thanks. I think it looks nice too.” Virgil mentally facepalmed.Really? You could have stopped at a simple thanks.Logan smiled. “Well, alright then.” He set his backpack next to Virgil’s. “You should probably change your clothes. I’ll get an ice pack for your black eye.”Virgil looked down at his clothes again. “Alright. I’m going to make a few phone calls too. I’ll be back.”Virgil could feel a sense of giddiness as he entered his room. Logan was genuinely worried about him. Logan came over to his house. This was one of the few times they were alone together. Virgil didn’t want to mess it up. Maybe he could even tell Logan how he felt. Well, he could if he didn’t back down again.He changed into a clean, plain black t-shirt and tossed his hoodie off to the side. He picked up his phone and felt his heart almost stopped.There was a huge crack on the screen. Oh geez, Dee was going to kill him once he told him. He’d just tell him later.He called Roman first.“Virg! What is going on my emo friend?”Virgil hesitated. “I had to come home right after school because-”“Hold on there, Panic at the Everywhere. Patton’s with me. He wants to say hi, so I’m going to put you on speaker.”Virgil waited for a moment.“Alright, go ahead.”“Hi, Virgil!”Virgil smiled. “Hey, Pat. I was just telling Roman that I had to come home from school early.”Roman answered this time. “Why? Didn’t you have your debate thing with Nerdy Wolverine?”Virgil rolled his eyes at the nickname. “Yeah, I did. I just got a black eye-”“What?!” Patton and Roman screamed in unison.“How? Are you okay? Do you need help? Should I go over to help you? I’m going over there right now!”“Who hurt you? Am I going to have to fight someone! I’m prepared to start a fight if you need me to Virgil! I shall slay whoever hurt you!”Virgil groaned. “Guys, guys, it’s fine! I’m alright! I think the guy got expelled. Logan brought me home and is helping me-”There was silence for a second.“Wait, Logan? Like, our nerdy friend Logan?” Virgil could hear the giant grin in Roman’s voice. “Is he there with you right now?”“Yeah.”“Huh? What do you know? Even a robot like him can have feelings.”Patton must’ve done one of his infamous glares at him because Roman went silent almost immediately.Patton spoke up. “Do you still want us you go over there?”“Nah, I think we’re good here.”“Alright then. If you need anything, call us.”“Got it.”“Okay then. I love you. Bye.”Virgil smiled.Roman’s voice was back. “Alright, you’re off the speaker. So, what happened?”Virgil explained the experience, and Roman remained silent during the entire thing. After he finished, Roman seemed stunned.“Wait, so who is that guy, and why is he messing with you?”Virgil shrugged. “I don’t know who he is, but I know he knows who I am. I think he might know Dee too. I don’t know how though.”Roman grunted. “If he shows his face around here again, I’m going to kill him.”Virgil chuckled. “Sounds good. I gotta go.”“Oh yes, I don’t want you to keep your nerd waiting. See you later.”Virgil rolled his eyes. “Okay. Bye.”Virgil contemplated calling Dee. He wasn’t so sure how he would take the news. Ultimately, Virgil decided to call him later. He didn’t want Logan to hear him arguing with his brother.He walked out of his room and found Logan writing in his journal for what seemed like the hundredth time. He snuck up behind Logan without making a sound. He grabbed his shoulders suddenly. “Hey!”Logan jumped but immediately went back to his calm demeanor. “Oh, Virgil, hello there.”Virgil smiled. “Did I scare you?”“No. You did catch me off guard though.”Virgil chuckled and gave a small shrug. “Eh, same thing.”Logan looked like he wanted to say something but refrained from doing so. “Alright.” He examined Virgil’s swollen eye. “Is your eye feeling any better?”Virgil shrugged. “I still can’t see from it, but it’s less sore. That’s good, I guess.”Logan nodded. “I suppose that’s better than being in excruciating pain.” He had the hint of a smile. “Here, perhaps this should help with the swelling.” Logan handed him an ice pack.Virgil smiled and sat next to him. He put the ice pack on his wound. “Thanks. You’re a cool guy. You know that?”Logan looked down, avoiding the taller boy’s gaze. There was a slight hesitation before he answered. “Thank you. You are as well, Virgil.”Virgil rested his free hand on the table. He leaned over to get a look at Logan’s notebook. “What are you writing?”Logan looked up at him knowingly. “It’s homework.”Virgil raised an eyebrow and chuckled. “Oof. You know me well.”Logan shrugged in response. He finished writing what he needed to and closed his notebook.Virgil ran his finger across the table as he tried to think of something to say. He couldn’t quite think of anything witty to say or comment. He could feel a sort of awkward tension beginning to build between them as the silence stretched.“Is something wrong, Virgil?”Virgil blinked. “Huh?”Logan leaned close to him. “You seem distracted. Is it because of what happened earlier, or do you have something else on your mind?”Virgil felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of his face. Logan was so close to him. It actually kind of intimidated him. Virgil sprawled his free hand on the table nervously. “Oh, nothing’s wrong…I guess.”Logan’s expression became more sympathetic. “Virgil, if something is bothering you, you can tell me. We are friends after all.”Virgil felt Logan’s hand brush against his. He wasn’t holding his hand or anything, but it was a nice, light touch that actually made Virgil feel more secure. He took in a breath. “I guess, I’m just anxious about some things…” Virgil trailed off.“Such as?”“I don’t know. School for one thing. I haven’t been doing well in my classes. I even failed my first math test of the school year! Sometimes I feel like I’m the dumbest person in our grade level.” Virgil slumped down in his seat.Logan raised an eyebrow. “Is that all? Virgil, you are not dumb. In fact, you’re probably one of the smartest people I’ve talked to this school year. Although Roman and Patton bring in a lot of metaphorical sunshine with them, you’re the only one I can have an actual serious conversation with. If you need assistance with your classes, I’d be more than glad to help you.”Virgil sat up and glanced at Logan. Logan had a smile on his face that seemed very genuine. It made Virgil feel warm inside. A smile crept on his face but disappeared as soon as it arrived.He put his ice pack down and pulled his knees upon his chair. He hugged them close to his body. “I also have this…” He took in another breath. “Well, I know this is kind of dumb, but I have this crush. This person makes me nervous when I’m around them, and I barely even know them! It’s crazy! I’ve never felt like this! It’s like…they make me nervous but feel safe at the same time. I like everything about them and like seeing them all the time. Heck, I try seeing them every chance I get. Isn’t that weird?” He glanced at the shorter boy.Logan seemed to be contemplating what Virgil had just said. He cleared his throat and adjusted his tie. “I…think I know how that feels. Oddly enough.”Virgil felt his breath catch in his throat.Logan continued without noticing. “I usually don’t express emotions simply because I don’t like them, but this is the one time I can say that I’m grateful for having emotions. This kind of thing can be confusing, to say the least.” He let out a sigh. “I’m on the same metaphorical page as you are. This is my first time feeling this way…and it is weird.”“Yeah…” Virgil fiddled with the hem of his shirt. He looked over and saw Logan avoiding his gaze. Logan seemed to be trying his best to look everywhere except Virgil.This made Virgil wonder if Logan was talking about him. Who else would he be talking about? The only other people Logan talked to since they started hanging out with were Patton and Roman.Virgil looked around.Well, they were alone. They were opening up to each other. What was the worst that could happen?Rejection. He could laugh at you.
If I don’t do it, I may never know…
Virgil planted his feet on the floor and sat up as straight as he could. “Hey, Logan…”Logan turned toward him. “Yes?”Virgil took in a deep breath. “I like you.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Virgil felt his heart pound against his rib cage.He knew he couldn’t avoid this conversation forever. It had been a little over a week, and Virgil still didn’t want to face his friend. He knew it would be awkward for him to explain, but he had to do it, and today was the day.Virgil checked his phone and waited outside the cafeteria door. His hands shook as possible outcomes flooded his mind.He felt a light tap on his shoulder. Virgil turned and felt a sense of relaxation. At least he wouldn’t have to do this alone.He took Logan’s hand in his hand.Logan looked up at him. “You seem to look nervous again. Do you plan on telling Roman and Patton?”Virgil shrugged. “I mean, we don’t have to tell them today. We could wait until tomorrow.”Logan raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been saying that for almost a week now, and you always change your mind at the last minute. Just tell them already.”“Fine.”Logan nodded. Virgil released his hand as they entered the cafeteria. They sat in their usual spots across from each other. When they sat down, Patton and Roman were discussing some new musical Roman was obsessed with.“Okay, but consider this: it’s Mean Girls…but with music.”Patton was just staring at him and nodding in agreement. “Um, okay. Sounds like a fun musical.” Patton smiled to greet the Logan and Virgil. “Hey guys, I was wondering when you two would join us for lunch.”Roman grabbed Virgil’s shoulders. “Virgil! Consider this-”Virgil pulled away from him. “Yeah, you’ve been telling me about it all week.”Roman immediately turned to Logan. Logan held up a hand to silence him before he could start. “Yes, you’ve told me as well.”Roman crossed his arms and sighed dramatically. “Ugh, you guys are no fun!”Virgil exchanged one last glance with Logan. He reached for the other boy’s hand under the table and held it tightly.Virgil took in a deep breath. He could feel his hands sweating profusely. “Um, guys. I have something I need to tell you.”Patton and Roman turned to him. He used his free hand to mess with the hem of his shirt. “Logan and I are dating!”He sighed and muttered to himself. “Just like a band-aid. You have to rip it off.”There was a moment of silence. Finally, Patton broke the silence with a squeal of excitement.“Aww, that’s so cute! I knew you two would get together eventually! This is too precious!” He ran to Virgil and hugged him tightly. Virgil couldn’t help but smile as he felt his face growing warm.After a long, constricting hug, Patton moved to Logan and hugged him. Logan tried to resist the hug. He ultimately lost and gave into Patton’s hugs.Virgil couldn’t help but notice how Roman was uncharacteristically quiet about the whole thing. He looked over to see Roman with an indecipherable expression. Once he noticed Virgil was staring at him, he gave a smile and went back to his normal flamboyant self.“Ha! I knew it! You two dorks make such a perfect couple!” He leaned forward. “Come on. Give me details! When and how did it start? Who asked the other out?” He bounced in his seat. Virgil shrugged and both of his hands up to run them through his hair nervously. “I-uh…I guess it’s been a week.”Roman’s smile gave a noticeable twitch. “Oh really? Why did you wait so long to tell us?”Virgil rubbed the back of his neck. He could tell Roman was referring to more than just when they started dating. Virgil played it off as being oblivious to it though. “I was kind of nervous, I guess.”Logan spoke up. “I did keep telling him to say something sooner, but he insisted he’d do it the next day.” The hint of a smile was visible on his face. “The excuses he came up with were quite amusing at times.”Patton chuckled. “Yeah, that sounds like something Virgil would do.”Roman leaned back. “Of course, Virgil would do that.” Roman’s eyes lit up, and he jumped up excitedly. “By the way, auditions for the school play is Friday! You’re going to help me out again, right Virg?”Virgil blinked. He could remember Roman telling him in a passing conversation last week. He couldn’t quite remember if he agreed or not. He probably did because Virgil had helped him since middle school. Virgil nodded. “Oh yeah. Of course.”Roman beamed. “Excellent! So, after school-”“Wait, today after school?”Roman nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, today! I need all the practice I can get if I’m finally going to get the lead role! I know I say that every year, but this year is different. I can feel it. I’m going to get a leading role this year!”Virgil felt a knot form in his stomach. “I really wish I could today, but…” Roman’s face fell. “…I need to study for my next calculus test. I need to pass this next one. How about tomorrow?”Roman looked down and nodded slowly. “Ah, I see…tomorrow it is then.”Patton noticed and put an arm around Roman. “Hey, how about I help you? I don’t have much to do after school.”Roman shrugged. “Uh, yeah. That sounds good.”Virgil rubbed his arm. “Sorry, Roman.”Roman put on a smile. “What? Oh, it’s fine.” The bell rang to signal the start of class. “Well, I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Roman stood up and rushed out of the cafeteria. Patton stood up and followed him.Virgil looked over to see Logan looking very uncomfortable. Logan slung his backpack over his shoulders. “That was very… emotionally charged.”Virgil shrugged and stood next to Logan. “Yeah. Sorry, about that. It’s not your fault though. Roman tends to be really overdramatic a lot of the time.”Logan pulled his necktie. “It’s fine. If you need to help him, you can-”Virgil took his hand. “No, no. I need help with calculus. I just forgot that he asked me.”“Virgil-”Virgil squeezed the other boy’s hand. “Come on, I already told him that I’d help him tomorrow. Please help me study after school.”Logan raised an eyebrow. “If you insist. I’ll see you after school.”Virgil smiled. “Alright, see you then.” - Virgil knew he should have told Roman that he was studying with Logan, but he didn’t need to add fuel to the fire. Roman already seemed mad at him that he didn’t tell him about dating Logan and was bailing on helping him…It was fine. Roman and he had been friends for the longest time. They’d work this out. Virgil would make it up to him tomorrow.“Virgil, are you listening?”“Hm?”Logan sighed. “I’m trying to help you with your homework, but you need to pay attention.”Virgil rolled his eyes and to scooted closer. “Sorry, about that. Can you repeat what you were saying?”“What part?”“Like, the whole thing.”Logan pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep sigh. “And why weren’t you listening?”Virgil shrugged as he slumped down in the chair next to Logan.They had gone to Logan’s house to study. It was a small two-story house that looked pretty spartan. Virgil thought it was nice compared to where he lived. Logan’s room was just as simple as the rest of the house. What Virgil noticed about the room though was the large number of books and notebooks that were laying around.Logan and he were sitting at a small desk in his room with their math textbooks open. Well, Logan’s was open. Virgil’s textbook was just sitting on his lap while he messed with the pages.Virgil put his book on the desk. “Because we finished our homework ten minutes ago, and I’d rather just spend time with you.”Virgil smiled as he watched a light shade of pink rise to Logan’s face. Logan looked down and cleared his throat. “I – I suppose that would be fine. What would you like to do?”Virgil ran his fingers through the pages of his book. Then, his eyes flicked over to the books. “How about you tell me about your favorite book? It looks like you have a lot of them, so I understand if you don’t have a fav-”“The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie,” he said almost immediately. Logan’s eyes lit up, and he opened the drawer in his nightstand and pulled out the book. “It’s my favorite. I don’t mean to brag, but I’ve read it several times.”Virgil chuckled. “I wish I could read that much.”Logan held out the book to Virgil. “You can borrow it if you wish. A great plot with a phenomenal ending. The murder turned out to be-”“Woah! What are you doing?”“I’m providing vital information about the story.”Virgil took the book from his hands. “How about you read it to me? That way you can tell me the story without spoiling it.”Logan looked from the book to Virgil. “But you can read just fine. I don’t need to read it to you.”Virgil rolled his eyes. “I was trying to be cute or romantic.” He laughed nervously. “It didn’t come off that way, did it?”Logan smiled. “Not particularly, but I suppose it could work.” Logan stood up and went to sit on his bed. He gestured for Virgil to join him.Virgil sat next to him and hesitantly rested his chin on Logan’s head. Logan glanced up at him. Virgil nodded. “Okay, you can start.”Virgil noticed a small smile on Logan’s face. Logan grabbed Virgil’s arms and wrapped them around him. He leaned into Virgil. He picked up the book.“Are you comfortable, Virgil?”Virgil felt his face burning. He buried his face in the shorter boy’s hair. “Yes.”He could hear the smug smile in Logan’s voice. “I’m just trying to do what you were doing. Does this come off as cute or romantic?”Virgil nodded, still flustered. “Very.”Logan chuckled. “Excellent. Let’s get started. We can read a few chapters today and a few later.” He began reading.Virgil tightened his grip on Logan’s waist. He scooted closer and adjusted himself, so his legs were against Logan’s. A warm sense of comfort ran through Virgil’s body.This was nice. He liked this. Virgil liked the feeling of Logan’s warm arms usually cold ones. He liked how calming Logan’s voice could be when he read. What Virgil particularly liked most was the physical contact.Sure, he was used to Patton’s hugs and Roman and Dee’s physical contact, but something about Logan just made him feel comfortable. It made him feel tranquil. Like he didn’t have a care in the world.Virgil had a smile on his face as he listened to Logan read the story. He closed his eyes and put any worry he might have had out of mind.