Disclaimer: Logan and Chase have filed a restraining order against me. They're all like "you don't own me" and I was all like "yet…"
Two roads stand before me now, and the destinations that lie at the end of both do not seem to be what I want. I'm indecisive, unaware of what lies at the end of this fork in my path. Do I choose that which I've always wanted, or take the road with no light, and venture into the unknown with the person I've gradually become so close to?
I'd been spending a lot of time with Zoey lately. We've been together officially for almost a week now. It's almost as if we were a real couple. It was like a dream come true… or not. I loved being with Zoey. She was so cool to be around, always happy and energetic, trying to help… but lately, her kind of help was hurting people more than solving their problems. She told one kid to stab himself with a cross just because he asked her for directions to Sushi Rox. Then, she organized a rally to forbid any movies rated higher than PG-13 to be shown at the campus theater, just because the movie she wanted to see was sold out. She also totally blew up in front of Quinn like five times in the past three days for no apparent reason. It was like she had a vendetta against the poor girl or something. All of these events only had one thing in common; they were all right after one of her encounters with Logan…
Come to think of it he's been acting really weird too. Ever since I told him me and Zoey were together, it's like he hates me, but refuses to leave me alone. On Monday for example, he kept complaining about his leg before my date with Zoey. I stayed behind because I was worried that it could have been something serious, seeing as how he'd just gotten hit by a car. Then on Tuesday, Zoey and I had planned to go to Sushi Rox, but it turns out someone had rented the entire place out so that Dustin could go out on a date with his new little girlfriend. It turns out it had been Logan who paid for it and I questioned him as to why he was being so nice to Dustin. He looked a little angry at me for asking why he'd been nice, but he told me that he liked having Dustin for a brother, unlike Zoey. I believed in his sincerity for a second, but something was off. He kept acting weird all week, indirectly sabotaging every attempt Zoey and I made of going out together.
Logan and Zoey seemed to be playing tug of war with me, and it was really getting annoying. I needed to get some time away from both of them, so I took the opportunity to leave when those two saw each other at the girls lounge and started arguing about who would get to go with me to get my coffee that morning.
I was walking around the campus, with a severe caffeine deprivation headache mind you, trying to figure out what happened that day their mother came that caused such a big change in the two of them.
I ended up at the coffee stand nearest the lower school and saw Dustin talking to a kid that seemed very familiar. He had medium length red hair, and was around my height, with a black jacket and matching
pants. Dustin seemed to be really friendly with him, so I decided to go over and see just who that guy was.
"Hey Chase!" he yelled as he ran over and grabbed my hand, leading me over to the boy he'd been talking to earlier. "This is Aiden."
"Hey, I'm Chase." I said, politely offering my hand to him. He shook and proceeded to excuse himself. He said something about looking for a spoiled brat. I thought for a second about who he meant, and only Logan came to mind, but I doubt it was him. He didn't know anyone named Aiden, and Aiden looked relatively new to PCA, so I just disregarded it.
"So, Dustin, How do you know Aiden?"
"He's my friend from a while ago. We used to play together all the time, but then…"
"Hey Dustin!" another little boy called from a distance.
"Sorry Chase. I'll talk to you later."
With coffee in hand, I started to walk back towards Maxwell Hall, seeing as how it was a weekend, and my head was a mess from trying to defend Zoey and Logan from each other.
My bed was my only comfort. A temporary fortress to protect me from all of the confusion the outside world brought. I managed to drift off to sleep until a particularly annoying sound coming from the computer woke me up half an hour later. "You've got mail!"
"Shut up you stupid computer!" I hated it when the computer alerted you so annoyingly that you had mail. It made it seem like you were about to die and the only thing that could save you was to open your mail. This is why I shut my alert system off. Logan's was still on, and incessantly annoying. Since the computer was talking to me, I assumed Logan had mail and not me, but the computer didn't know that and wouldn't shut up. So, the logical course of action would be to open Logan's mail, right?
I felt bad enough the first time I did it a few days ago, but this time it was for the sake of my sanity. The computer had repeated "You've got mail!" at least a million times at this point, so I went ahead and opened the message:
Dear Logan,
I went looking for you today after Dustin told me about your accident. I would have come visit sooner, but on top of not knowing it had happened, I didn't want to risk running into her and getting you into more trouble. I know she's making your life miserable, and regardless of what you say, I know it's my fault. I'm going to go talk to her tomorrow and try to get her to leave you alone. Do your best to be happy, even if she tries to stop you from reaching out to him.
Love, Aiden
Hmm… Another letter from this Aiden guy. And it looks like he knows Dustin. Things were starting to put themselves together in a weird way, only serving to further add to my confusion. Aiden was a guy that Logan knew that got Logan in some sort of trouble with a girl. That Aiden was here today looking for
Logan. And at the same time, there was another Aiden talking to Dustin, looking for a spoiled brat… Could it be that Aiden and Aiden could be one Aiden and not two?
I was trying to figure it out and make sense of it all when Logan came back into the room. He seemed happy to see me here, probably because I wasn't 'wasting my time with the Virgin Mary II' as he put it.
"Hey, what up? You ran out of the girls lounge like there was a fire or something."
"I
just had a caffeine headache. I needed coffee."
"I would have
gone with you if you'd waited."
"You seemed busy. I didn't want to interrupt."
Logan began to walk closer, and I remembered I still had his mail open, so I needed a distraction.
"Hey Logan. Let's go find Dustin. He was looking for you with one of his friends."
Dustin had become a soft spot of Logan's since they became stepbrothers. He was like the little brother Logan never had.
"Oh, okay."
Logan gestured me to go first, so I did, but then he ran over to the computer and saw his mail open. I wondered why he wasn't asking me why I opened his mail, but he was too intrigued by the message on the screen.
"So… what does it say?"
Logan looked back at me, not with anger, but a hint of laughter on his face. It was innocent and intriguing, and I didn't understand why he looked at me like that.
"I think you know. Sorry I forgot to turn off the alert. I know how much you hate them."
I managed a chuckle while Logan got off his seat and grazed my bicep with his hand as he walked to through the door and into the hallway. I followed suit, and we quietly strolled along until we close to the lower school. He stopped and looked up at me with those eyes. They were the same eyes he'd looked at me with weeks ago when school started… the eyes he gave me every day when I woke up across the room from him.
"So, how much did you read?"
"I…"
Logan put his hand on my shoulder reassuringly. "I'm not mad. It's okay."
"Well, I saw the mail you got form Aiden…"
"So then you've figured it out?"
"Figured what out?"
"Nothing."
We kept walking until we ran into Dustin running from a girl dripping with red juice. He hid behind me and Logan, and when the little girl asked if we'd seen him, we pointed her in the wrong direction.
"Thanks guys. I thought I was gonna die."
Logan grabbed Dustin and carried him in his arms, the way a father would pick up his son.
"So kiddo, Chase says you were looking for me today."
"No, it wasn't me, it was Aiden."
Again with this Aiden guy. Who was he? "So it's the same Aiden that sent you that email?"
Logan put Dustin down and said yes, confirming my original thought. So then, what exactly was the deal with this guy.
"Where's Aiden now?"
"He left, but he said he's come back to play some more tomorrow. I hope you're there too."
Logan ruffled Dustin's hair a little and agreed to their play date, and we made our way back to Maxwell Hall. The curiosity was killing me. Something told me there was more to this story than what it seemed, so I started to ask Logan about Aiden. At first he tried to avoid the question, but he eventually gave in and began to spill the beans.
"Okay Chase, I'll tell you the story. I met Aiden last year that weekend Zoey and I left to see our parents. He was… well, a strange one, to put it lightly. It was really weird, seeing someone so caring and compassionate with her."
"Who?"
"With Zoey. Aiden and Zoey were dating at this point. That's how I met him. It turns out we'd been in school together when we were smaller, but I didn't really remember him all that well, so he suggested we hang out to reconnect. So, we started hanging out whenever he wasn't with Zoey, and by the wedding, we were really good friends, or so I thought. According to Zoey, I was infecting her boyfriend with impure thoughts and was going to be the reason he burned in hell. Naturally I had no idea what that idiot was talking about, so I went to look for Aiden to ask him myself."
"So what happened?"
"Well, I ran into Aiden, who ironically enough was looking for me. That's when it all went downhill for me. Aiden… well… he kissed me. In front of Zoey, who in turn proceeded to give us both a black eye. I would have taken her, but she's stronger than a wildebeest. Aiden told Zoey that he couldn't be with her anymore because he wanted to be with me. And ever since that day, Zoey's been on a mission to make my life as miserable as she thinks I've made hers."
Everything started to make a little more sense now. Those two hated each other over a misunderstanding about this guy Aiden.
"But why would Zoey blame you for that. It's not your fault that her boyfriend was gay. And it's not like you're gay."
Logan shot a glare at me that kinda freaked me out a little. It was frightening, like he was very offended by what I'd said.
"Chase, how do you know I'm not?"
"What?"
"How do you know I'm not gay?"
Was he trying to tell me something? I really hope he wasn't because if he says…
"I'm gay Chase."
Crap! He said it! Now what? How the hell was I supposed to react to that?! My roommate, the person I sleep with at night, who sees me undress everyday, is… gay? Nothing was making sense anymore, so I just… ran. Yes, I ran, far far away, because I was scared. I was terrified of this, and I couldn't figure out why. Did it really bother me that much that he liked boys, or did it bother me more that we were so close and he hadn't told me. Did it bother me that we had so much fun together, or… did it bother me that now that I know this, I think I might like him more than before… maybe even more than Zoey….
