Nick was sitting by himself in the far corner of the school library. From a distance, it would appear that he was completely absorbed in his book, but that couldn't have been further from the truth. Yes, he was in deep concentration, but not on the book that was in front of him; his mind was completely elsewhere. In fact, he was so consumed by his own thoughts that he didn't notice Tyler slide into the chair beside him.
"Hey you."
"..."
"...U-Urm hello? Earth to Nick." Tyler said, waving his right hand in front of Nick's face.
"...huh?" Nick jumped, startled by the sudden appearance of a new-comer.
"Are you alright?" Tyler asked, with a worried and concerned look on his face.
"Yeah..." Nick said, sighing deeply. "I'm okay."
Tyler looked him straight in the eye, "Somehow dude, I don't believe that." Nick sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Look I'm fine okay." He told him again, with a firm tone of voice this time.
"Yeah well, 'fine' doesn't sit there and stare at an open book like it suddenly started talking to you or something." Nick simply rolled his eyes at his ridiculous comment. "...no, seriously dude, you were just sitting there and staring at it, without even blinking as well. I swear, from the intensity of your gaze, I thought that page was gonna catch fire or something."
Nick ducked his head down in defeat and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I-I've just got a lot on my mind right now..." he said, trailing off, as he remembered everything that had happened recently.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Tyler asked.
"...Not really"
Tyler simply nodded, "That's fine, I won't pressurise you or anything." He promised. "But if you do want to talk, I'm here okay." Nick smiled gratefully at his friend, "thank you" said Nick, unscrewing the lid from the bottle of water that was in front of him.
"But..." Tyler continued, "...I do want to help you get your mind off of whatever is bugging you."
Nick scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion. "And how do you propose to do that?"
"...Let me take you out tonight."
Nick nearly choked on the water he was drinking, "S-Sorry...?" He spluttered, not sure if he correctly heard what Tyler had just said.
"I want to take you out." He said with complete and utter confidence.
"Tyler..." Said Nick, "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I'm really not in the mood to go out...I'm sorry."
"No, but don't you see? That's the perfect reason for you to go out. It'll help you clear your head."
Nick sighed deeply, "Okay, if I were to go, what would you have in mind?" he asked.
"I dunno, we can go catch a movie...then maybe have dinner?"
Nick studied Tyler's face carefully as he realised something. "Tyler," he asked quietly. "Are you asking me out on a date?" He said incredulously.
Tyler ducked his head down slightly as his face was now adorned with a slight blush. "M-Maybe..." Tyler whispered, toying around with his fingers, desperately avoiding Nick's face.
"...I can't." He whispered. "I'm really sorry Tyler, but I can't."
This time Tyler finally looked up, meeting Nick's gaze. It was then that Nick saw the sadness in his eyes and he automatically felt guilty.
"Can I ask why?"
Nick closed his eyes for a second before taking a deep breath. "Because...I sort of have feelings for someone else." He admitted.
"Well...is there a chance of you and this person getting together?" he asked the soccer star.
Nick scoffed, "Hah, I wish."
"...well in that case, I'm not going to give up."
"What?" he asked, totally confused.
"I'm going to keep asking you, until you say yes." Tyler told him with a cheeky grin.
Nick just looked at him, completely befuddled, before shaking his head in disbelief. "Look, I've gotta run." He said, while standing up and putting his stuff back in his bag.
"Ok...well, I guess I shall be seeing you soon then." Tyler said, with his signature smile.
Nick chuckled lightly, "You are something else, y'know that." He told him, Tyler just simply winked at him. Nick saw this and rolled his eyes, a smile, however, lingering on his face. He then turned around and made his way back to his dorm room.
Jeff was on his way to the cafeteria to get himself something to eat. Just as he was passing the school library, he saw two freshman standing outside the door, gossiping. Wow, he thought. Boys are just as bad as girls. He rolled his eyes and was about to walk past them, until something one of them had said caught his attention.
"Sorry what did you just say?" Jeff asked the two boys, who were completely intimidated by his presence whilst at the same time, happy that a senior was actually talking to them.
"Sorry?" one of the boys said.
"I heard you say Nick Duval, what about him?" Jeff elaborated.
"Oh, I was just saying how my friend Carl was telling me that a few moments ago, he was in the library looking for a specific book that he knew would be at the back, when he overheard Tyler Richards asking out, none other than Nick Duval."
What...? "And what did Nick say?" Jeff demanded.
"Well, he told me that he couldn't hear what his reply was as his phone begun to ring. But he did say, as he saw Nick leaving the library, he had a smile on his face. So I can safely assume he said yes."
Jeff froze; he couldn't believe what he was hearing. There's no way in hell that could be true. Could it?
"...Isn't that awesome! They make a pretty cute couple don't you think?" The boy said, breaking Jeff out of his daydream.
Jeff looked at the boys and scoffed, "Don't you two have better things to do than to just stand there and spread rumours about other people." Before walking away, back in the direction he came from.
There's no way I'm going to believe a bunch of freshman, he thought. I need to hear it from him, he told himself, making a beeline straight to his and Nick's dorm.
Once Jeff reached his destination, he barged straight, scaring the life out of Nick who was lying down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He then walked right up to where Nick was lying down and gave him an incredulous look.
"Is it true?" he asked him, going straight to the point.
"Is what true?" Nick replied, eyebrows scrunched in confusion.
Jeff scoffed, "Come on Nick; don't play dumb with me... I mean how dare you?"
"Jeff..." Nick said slowly, "Calm down, what's wrong, what are you talking about?"
He laughed bitterly, "You have no right...no bloody right, to come up to me and be mad that I didn't tell you about who I liked, when all this time you've been doing the same."
"What are you talking about?" He shouted, finally beginning to lose his cool.
"I know!" Jeff replied, shouting back.
"Know what...?" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.
"You...and Tyler! That you're going out." he whispered, voice breaking slightly.
"What!" Nick yelled out.
"...I just can't believe you'd keep something like that from me." Jeff told him.
"Look, where did you hear that from!"
Jeff laughed in disbelief. "So you're not denying it then?"
"W-what?...O-of course I am! It's not true."
"So why would someone make something like that up?" he asked Nick.
"I don't know! But we're not going out...I mean, yeah he did ask me out..."
"...I knew it." Jeff whispered, interrupting him.
"...but I said no!" Nick exclaimed. "Hold up, why are you having a go at me for? Even if I said yes, which I didn't by the way, it would have nothing to do with you."
"Look, I just don't think he's good enough for you okay." He told Nick.
"Oh really, and who the hell are you to decide that for me! For the first time Jeff, someone is showing an interest in me. Someone might want to be with me. I thought you'd want me to be happy?" he whispered the last bit.
"I do! Nick, I do...Just... not with him."
"What? Why not, you don't even know him?"
Annoyed, Jeff simply caved in "You know what Nick, if he really means that much to you, then why don't you just date him?"
"You know what Jeff, maybe I will!"
"Fine!"
"Fine." Nick agreed, shrugging his shoulders.
Jeff stormed out of the room, slamming the door loudly on the way out. Meanwhile, Nick was furious.
"How dare he?" He asked in disbelief. "I mean, he has no right to get upset about it, why would he?" he spoke out loud whilst pacing up and down the room. "...And how the hell did he even find out?"
Jeff was on his way out of the dormitory building when he saw Tyler sitting down on one of the chairs, playing on his phone. Great. He thought, he just has to be there. Jeff simply scoffed and walked past him. But just as he reached the door, he paused in his tracks and decided to walk back to where Tyler was sitting as he realised he wanted to say something to him.
Tyler glanced upwards, as he suddenly saw a figure from the corner of his eyes standing in front of him."Oh, hi...Jeff." Tyler said awkwardly.
"Congratulations..." said Jeff, in a quiet and sullen voice. Tyler looked at Jeff's eyes and noticed that they were red and glossy. He was confused, why was Jeff congratulating him for? But before he could say anything, Jeff was talking again.
"He's yours." Jeff whispered, before walking off, leaving behind a very confused Tyler. Suddenly the phone in his hand began vibrating. He unlocked it and saw that it was a text from Nick, causing him to smile.
Nick: Be ready at 7
P.S – I'm picking the film.
A massive grin made its way onto Tyler's face as he read the text. "Finally..." he said to himself, before getting up and running to his dorm room to pick out an outfit for tonight.
A/N: Hey guys :) I know this chapter may feel a bit rushed and isn't that great, or a lot. But I just wanted to get the next chapter out there before I take another 10 years to update. I know, I know, you may be thinking what the hell?- what is Nick doing? But don't worry guys; the next chapter (which is also the final chapter) is where they will finally confront each other! I will be honest guys; it will be another week before I can upload the next chapter so please bear with me. Other than that, I really really appreciate all your comments and it really makes my day, so thank you! You guys are too damn awesome! xD
