Don't forget to leave a vote 👉👈 Am slowly figuring this plotline out so I promise it's actually going somewhere!! Enjoyy<3

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At this point, Mason's interrogations were becoming a weekly thing. To which, I guess, my voluntary participation was partly to blame, but still. Fucking shit this is gonna go wrong— I slammed my locker door shut before everything could fall out and (not so) casually leaned against it. "You're exaggerating. Like, massively."

Mason scoffed, crossing arms over his chest as he raised his brows. The blueish fluorescent light reflected off his leather jacket and all the little pins he'd stuck to it. "Dude. He took you surfing! And you quite literally fell for him. Again."

Then, something struck me. A tiny little piece of information that, for some ridiculous reason, hadn't occurred to me before. "Uh—" I paused and sucked in my lip, suddenly very aware of what I was about to do.

Mason looked at me expectantly, blinking slowly as if that would get me to speak faster.

I let out a sigh. "Did you uh, did you know I w— that I'm uh— that I'm gay?" Well, no turning back now. It just felt weird, none of us had ever talked about stuff like that before. I'd seen a little lesbian pin on Reagan's bag before, and Nyx's nails were always painted in non-binary and ace colors. But like, no one had ever spoken about it. And what I could say from experience, was that if you want to be safe, you best not be the first one to mention stuff like that. It never ended well. At least, it hadn't for me.

Mason's eyes widened, and then quickly regained their normal size. "No. I was just shipping you with skater boy for shits and giggles," he deadpanned, keeping a dry face before adding, "but you never really told me, I just kinda... assumed-? Wow, that sounds horrible."

A chuckle escaped my mouth before I could stop it. "You assumed correctly then," I said, deciding to ignore the first half of what he said. By now it would be blatantly stupid to pretend like I didn't have a small crush on Seth, but on the flip side, I didn't even know if he was into guys. Let alone into me. Yeah right.

While Mason let out a triumphant yelp, I saw Jackson approach us from the corner of my eyes, an easy smile shared with everyone who passed him, but his eyes solely focused on me. "Hey, Blue," he said once he was close enough, hands in his pockets as always. "Mason." He nodded at him in acknowledgment before turning back to me. "Are you joining us for lunch?"

I'd rather not. I didn't want to, but it would be incredibly douchy to say no without a valid excuse. Besides, Jackson wasn't that bad. Just a little, uhm, interesting. "Uh, yeah, sure," I mumbled, shooting an apologetic smile at Mason, who was already making a move to leave.

Placing an arm around my shoulder Jackson began to guide me away. "So," he began, walking in a direction I knew wouldn't lead to the cafeteria, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but you lot were being quite loud, I'll say." He led me into the library and sat down on one of the cotton-candy-colored couches after winking at the twenty-something librarian who looked more confused than ever. You and me both, sis, you and me both.

Oh no, what had he heard..? I plopped down opposite of him, swallowing away the growing anxiety. "Oh—

"Don't worry, nothing bad," he immediately said, waving me off before I could panic. "I suppose I just wanted to say, you're fine just the way you are, Robbie." He locked his eyes with mine, smiling at me. "I can imagine you usually don't get a reaction like that, hm?"

Oh. Relief crashed into me like an afternoon energy dip, but in a good way and I found myself smiling too. Sinking further into the velvet pink couch, I glanced around the sterile place, painfully white lights burning down onto the even whiter bookshelves. "Yeah... Uhm— thank you."

"Of course." Jackson smiled again, eyes saddening as he grabbed a coaster from the plastic coffee table to fidget with. "You know, I think your confidence is admirable. Truly. But I also know the types of people who wander around here, and now I don't want to judge them all for the same but..." he paused, clenching his slender fingers around the coaster as he glanced at me, "I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

What was that supposed to mean-?! I didn't know how the fuck to react to that, so I kept quiet, hoping Jackson would just start talking again. This was probably the longest conversation I'd ever had with him, and I kind of didn't want to end just yet. But also, I was getting hungry. Fuck. Really hungry.

Jackson sighed, focusing back on the coaster. "I've lost people because I thought I could trust them. Now I know, trust isn't something you just.. get. It's something you earn." He turned to face me and placed the coaster in my hands. "I trust you, Robbie." And with that, he stood up and left. Just like that.

Now who the fuck teleported me onto the set of a drama— I stared at the coaster in my hands, a flimsy piece of cardboard with the school's logo on it. Which was also, in pastel pink and blue colors. They really like to stick to a theme, huh. The library suddenly felt empty, its pale luminescent light flickering down on me. It kind of felt like the waiting room of a dentist, but then with a shitload of books. My stomach decided this was the perfect time to let out a monstrous growl as a kind little reminder I still hadn't had lunch and the kids in the aisles behind me were probably concerned for their life now. Fucking wonderful.

With a long, energy-sucking sigh, I got up and shoved the coaster into my bag because one; it would be incredibly rude to just put it back, and two; I didn't feel like searching for an inconspicuous trashcan to save me.

-

"So I tried to explain that wearing eyeliner does not affect my grades, but for fuck's sake, they just wouldn't give up." Nyx let out a groan and sprawled out across the dusty couch, groaning even louder when one of their rings got caught on a loose thread. "I fucking hate life."

I just nodded thoughtfully, a smile tugging at my face when I saw Reagan sit down next to Nyx to pat their back. It was just the three of us— no clue where Mason'd gone, but shit was getting really depressing without his unique stupidity.

And as if right on cue, I heard Mason's laughter echoing from the staircase, accompanied by.. someone else-? I tried to listen better, but their voice was too far away to tell. It sounded nice, though.

"Mason!" Reagan exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air with a shriek when he finally got past the metal door, followed closely by— "And... Seth?" She blinked a few times, butterfly clips shifting when she grinned. "New faces are always welcome, so, welcome!"

While I just sat there dumbfounded, Seth reciprocated Reagan's smile and gave everyone a small wave. Cute. Shut up. He scanned the place thoroughly, eyes widening when they fell on me. "Blue eyes!" He pointed at me like some kid in a candy store, smile so infective I couldn't help but smile too.

"Hi." Wow. Reply of the century.

Mason then had the audacity to roll his eyes at me, to which I tried to shoot him an unnoticeable glare (it was likely very noticeable) as he hopped over the mountain of backpacks to fall down onto the yellow bean bag at his desk. Well, it wasn't really his desk, but he was the only one who used it, so, you know. Unwritten rules and stuff. "Seth was being alone and depressed, so I kidnapped him to our hidden dungeon," he said with a shrug, reaching for a new bag of disgusting vinegar chips he'd apparently bought. Not again. "So, what were we talking about?"

"Eyeliner," Nyx mumbled with their face still pressed into the couch, which caused Reagan to laugh.

Seth hummed as he made his way to the table I was seated on and pulled out a chair to sit on it backways. "Interesting topic." He glanced to the side, brows furrowing when he saw my sneakers. "Don't you tie your shoelaces?"

My eyes shot down and I realized my right shoe had indeed turned into a hazard for my walking safety. "Oh, shit. It must've come undone or something," I said, already hunching over to fix it, wincing when I felt something in my back crack. I'm gonna die before 25, what the fuck.

Shaking his head with a chuckle, Seth pried my hand away and right about grabbed my foot, pulled it over his shoulder, and began to tie the laces. Well then. "So Mason," he said while still fixing my sneaker, "you were telling me about this game?"

Don't panic don't panic don't—

Mason's eyes sparked up and he nodded eagerly. "Yeah!" He quickly swallowed down the rest of his chips and dusted his hands off against the bean bag. "So, I was face to face with that bitch, right. And like, I knew I could handle it but—

"But you couldn't," Nyx broke him off with a snort, finally crawling up from their questionable position on the couch. "I'm saving everyone from a two-hour story."

"Shut up, you're mean!" Mason huffed, throwing his arms in the air to emphasize his frustration. He grabbed the bag of chips again and dug his entire hand in it, pulled out a handful of disgusting sour chips, and shoved them all in his mouth, angrily.

Reagan chuckled. "Okay wait. Robbie, I have to make sure this wasn't just me. Did you also see Ms. Hartly last week? Something was like, majorly off, right?"

My memory immediately flew back to that day when Ms. Hartly had come into the classroom ready to murder someone, and that someone had been Mason and I almost forgot how my leg was still resting on Seth's shoulder. Almost. I nodded. "Oh my god, yes. I think she got dumped or something, 'cause like, what the fuck was that outfit-? Sweatpants have definitely looked better, and we all know it. I mean, I used to wear sweatpants, like, religiously. But then also, I was pretty depressed during that time— Miami was more like Gotham City, I swear to god— so maybe it does have a direct connection between the two. Fuck. That would make so much sense, wouldn't it?" Oh. My. God. I was ready to fucking bury myself alive. I hesitantly glanced down at Seth, expecting him to look at least mildly concerned for my sanity, if not worse. But never in a million years would I've been prepared for him to dash me one of those bone-melting smiles only he could give. And no, I was not being dramatic, shut up.

Reagan made a sound of agreement. It was sort of like a very high-pitched hum, or something. She set down her water bottle, a semi-clear one with a wooden cap and mint leaves in it, and nodded eagerly. Nyx, who had already turned back to their phone, grabbed the bottle instead and took a sip. Reagan smiled again. "Exactly! Finally someone who gets it. The poor thing, I hope she's okay."

"And I hope she's gonna stop glaring at me every time we pass each other in the hallway. Shit's annoying!" Mason whined, only half-focused on this conversation as he was already starting up the monitors on the desk. Peeling at a loose sticker on the desk, he cracked his neck from standing up for so long, ignoring the fact his desk chair was literally right fucking next to him, but hey.

Nyx snorted, mumbling something to Mason which caused him to frown and huff, so I take it wasn't all too positive. Not that I expected anything else, though.

"So, y'all just sit here every day and no one's found out?" Seth asked eventually, his arms now folded over the backrest of the chair. My leg was free again, but I wasn't sure I felt exactly happy about that. At least I could swing them up and down now. Wee.

"Pretty much," Reagan said, shaking out the bracelets on her arm. "I mean, the janitor kind of knows-? We're honestly not sure. Maybe he thinks he hallucinated the whole scenario."

That caused me to laugh, memories rolling into my head. Right. Harold. Crazy that was like, almost a month ago. "I wouldn't blame him. At some point I was hoping I was just imagining some random ass voices." Briefly glancing down, I caught Seth looking at me with a small smile on his face, but he quickly looked away once he realized. Weird. Then my face heated up without my permission and I wanted to die again. Someone help me.

Clearing her throat, Reagan pressed her lips together into a thin smile, her eyes pointing at me in a way that told me I would be hearing about this again later. "What's it like on the beach? You surf, right?" Thank you.

I felt myself stupidly smiling when Seth's eyes sparked up in excitement. "Yeah, yeah I do. Man, I love the beach. It's like— I don't know, it's hard to explain. You've never been?"

Reagan shook her head. "Not really. My sister has pretty serious sensory issues, so the beach is definitely a no-go. I've been a few times, though. But that was ages ago."

"That's sad," I said before I could stop myself. What the fuck was that supposed to mean?! I hadn't even been to the beach before up until a few days ago and now I was some sort of expert-? Jesus. "Shit. I didn't mean like— Just— never mind. That came out wrong."

Seth shook his head. "No, I agree with blue eyes." He glanced up at me with one of those perfect smiles and I melted right then and there. "Can't you go by yourself?" he asked, running a hand through his hair like he always did. I want to touch your hair, too. Ohmygodshutup.

A sad smile took over her face. "My parents are paramedics, so they're not home often. We've looked into babysitters, but they all just have a really difficult time communicating with her." She sighed, fidgeting with the cuff of her olive-green sleeve. It made me sad.

"I'm sorry, that sounds really hard," Seth said, smiling a caring smile which Reagan weakly returned.

The entire atmosphere had shifted now. Safe for Mason playing Adopt Me at his desk and Nyx just, existing on the couch, that dusty, stagnant vibe was dragging down on all of us. The lack of sunlight and color might partly be to blame for that, but that didn't make it any better. I blew out some air through pursed lips, racking my brain for something uplifting to say. And to my ultimate surprise, my brain decided to be at least somewhat helpful today. Aleksia.

"My sister!" I called out into the silence, causing everyone to jolt back into consciousness with a confused look on their face. Well, everyone but Mason. Boy was caught in his own world. With a sheepish smile, I waved Reagan's open mouth off before she could question me. "My sister works with disabled kids. I'm not sure if she knows sign language, but I could ask! If she can babysit your sister for an afternoon we could go to the beach." Not bad, Robbie, not bad.

Reagan's entire face lit up at that. "Really? You'd think she'd want to do that?"

I nodded. "Yeah! I'll convince her," I said with a newfound grin, swaying my legs up and down. "Oh, uh, how old is your sister?"

"Ten."

"Perfect. Pretty sure that's exactly the age group she works with."

Seth nudged my thigh with a smile. "That's really nice of you, blue eyes. We could all go together? There's an amazing pizza place at the promenade, the owner's friends with my mom so I'm sure we could get a discount there."

PIZZA.

"That sounds amazing!" Reagan hopped off the couch and ran over to us before wrapping her arms around both of us. "Thank you guys a million times, genuinely. This is gonna be so much fun!"

With his head squished against my shoulder, Seth chuckled. Too close. Way too close. "I didn't really do anything, but you're welcome."

"Mhm, could you let me breathe for a second-?" I managed to get out, laughing when Reagan immediately let go and grinned apologetically. "But you're welcome. I'll ask Aleksia about it when I get home."

That's when Reagan's alarm went off, signaling the final alarm of that day. Better said, freedom! And somehow, despite being completely isolated from this entire conversation so far, Mason all but jumped up from his chair and threw his headphones away. "Beach date sounds great! Thanks for inviting me too guys," he teased, tugging at Nyx's sleeve while jumping in excitement. "C'mon dude, get up! We can go HOME!"

I laughed, pulling out my phone to check the time. "Sorry, didn't think you were actually listening. But sure, you can all tag along, we'll text the details."

"Oh, right," Seth suddenly said, glancing at me. "Could I get your number? You can keep me updated on everything."

Swallowing away the redness creeping up my neck, I gave him a meek nod. "Ah y-yeah. Of course. Uhm—" I scrambled through my phone to try and find the goddamn number because my rice-grain brain couldn't remember shit. "Here you go."

Seth copied my number into his phone, smiling as he saved my contact. "Thanks, I'll see you all around then." He waved at everyone before turning back to me. "See ya around, blue eyes."

My phone pinged.

Seth 16:02: hiii :)

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When he's a good texter>>>>

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! It's a little improvised because I ran out of time huuu T^T Beach date soon whoop whoop😌🙌 Coming out to Jackson, did you expect that? I'd like to hear your thoughts on him:D

I'll see you next week, so until then, stay hydrated!! <3