Mycroft's mind was still elsewhere. Greg was gay. This was bad.
They moved into the cafeteria and Anthea led them over to a table where two others were seated. "Cat and Dimmock," she said, indicating the girl and boy sitting at the table. The girl had bright blue eyes and her face was framed by honey waves. The boy was tall with short dark hair.
Anthea then introduced Mycroft and Greg to the other pair, and greetings were exchanged as they took a seat at the table. Mycroft's attention was still off.
Greg was gay.
Mycroft thought back to the previous night. As he'd sat and contemplated the success of his first day, he'd thought about Greg. About his messy brown hair. About his deep dark eyes. About the jeans he'd worn the day before which made his legs look deceptively long. These thoughts had continued until Mycroft chastised himself. Yes, Greg was attractive, but he was also the first person to ever try and be Mycroft's friend. And for that reason, acknowledging the fact that he was attractive was not ok. Anyway, there was no way Greg was gay.
Or so Mycroft had believed.
Mycroft had been quiet during lunch. This worried Greg. He'd taken immediately to Anthea, Cat and Dimmock. Anthea was bright and bubbly and friendly, whilst Cat was quiet, but witty when she did speak up. Dimmock, -apparently his first name was Craig, but he had always gone by his surname – reminded him of his mate Crissy from back home, and they'd discovered over the course of lunch that they shared quite a lot of interests. All in all, Greg had enjoyed lunch. But Mycroft had been reserved and seemed uncomfortable. Greg felt a little bit annoyed. He liked Mycroft, but yesterday, Mycroft hadn't made any real effort with Greg either. Greg had enjoyed lunch in the company of the other three, and would have liked to continue to eat with them, but he'd befriended Mycroft first and if Mycroft didn't like them, then Greg guessed he'd have to just forget about his 3 new friends.
Mycroft and Greg walked in silence to English Lit. All through the lesson, Mycroft's mind stayed on the revelation over Greg's sexuality. It was ridiculous. Greg was gay. Mycroft was too. But that didn't mean anything. Two gay guys can be friends without wanting anything more. Except, Mycroft thought he might want more.
It really was ridiculous. Mycroft had only known the boy for a day.
The lesson passed unremarkably, and they both had independent study last again. Without talking they both just headed off together to the form room. Once they were seated, Greg decided it was time to break the silence.
"You okay, mate? You've been quiet all day."
"Hmm, sorry. Yeah I'm fine," replied Mycroft, but Greg wasn't convinced.
"If you don't like Anthea and her friends, we don't have to hang out with them."
This surprised Mycroft. Greg had made new friends, but had said that 'they' didn't have to hang out with them. Which meant that if Mycroft hadn't liked them, Greg would have hung out with him over them.
"Not at all. They seemed nice," answered Mycroft. In reality, he hadn't paid enough attention during lunch to form an opinion on any of the three. "I'm just not used to such large groups. Not much of a people person."
5 was not a large group in Greg's opinion. His friend group in Dorset varied according to other responsibilities, like football, tutoring, babysitting siblings, and cold fluctuate from 3 people, to about 15. Still, if what Mycroft had said on the phone yesterday was true, then maybe he'd never had any friends, never mind a group of friends.
"That's okay. We don't have to sit with them."
Mycroft thought about it. Maybe a group would make it easier to mask his new feelings for Greg.
"No, I'd like to. It's about time I became more social," stated Mycroft, and with that, the boys started to work on the little homework they had in a comfortable silence.
The bell rang signalling the end of the day. Greg made a quick scribble on a bit on paper that he'd been plotting a graph on and tore it off. As they shoved their textbooks and notebooks in their bags, Greg held out the scrap of paper towards to Mycroft.
"There's my number. Text me and we can maybe hang out tonight if you're not busy."
