“I honestly can’t think of anything,” I reply.
“I swear I’m not leaving if you guys still need me, but I’ve been dying to pee for like an hour. Can I please use the bathroom?” Holt asks.
As soon as Blake nods, Holt rushes toward the far end of the locker room and pushes the bathroom door open with force.
“Maybe we were a little hard on him,” Leo sighs, running a hand behind his neck.
“Is there anything we can do about Jessica? Spin the story back to the truth? Get her to confess or something?” Blake asks.
“My team is already all over her socials as we speak. She’ll crack before Monday. I’m sure she’ll have an apology statement up soon,” Leo explains.
In the distance, I hear footsteps approaching, and Holt returns.
“Sorry about this, man,” Blake says as he pulls Holt into a brief hug.
“I’m sorry for what my sister did,” Holt replies. “Promise me you’ll come to my goodbye party?”
“We’ll be there,” I tell him before we all turn and leave the locker room.
“Do you think Gwen will be ok after all of this?” Blake asks as we walk down the hallway toward the parking lot.
“She’s tough. She’ll be fine,” I confirm. “I just hate seeing her hurt like this. She didn’t deserve it.”
“It’s not your fault, man,” Leo says, giving me a reassuring slap on the back. “Do you think Holt was telling the truth about Julian?”
“I don’t see why he’d lie about that,” I reply, thinking it through. “But do you really think Julian is with Rex? And that Rex is gay too?”
“Why don’t you call him?” Blake suggests, glancing at his phone. I can’t help but wonder if he’s texting one of the many girls he’s been seeing.
“Maybe we should,” Leo agrees.
“I’ve got to go, but I’ll call you later, ok?” Blake says as he heads toward his car.
I get into Leo’s car, and once he starts the engine, he calls Julian.
“Hey, man,” Julian says after four rings. “How are you?”
“I’m good. I’m here with Zane. How are you?” Leo replies.
“Hey, Zane. I’m good too just been busy,” Julian answers with a slight, nervous chuckle.
“Busy dating someone special?” Leo implies, and even through the silence, I can tell it catches Julian off guard.
“You already know, don’t you?” Julian asks, his voice dropping almost to a whisper.
“Why didn’t you tell us? You know we don’t care if you’re straight, gay, or bi,” I say.
“I only came to terms with it recently,” Julian sighs. “And besides, I really didn’t expect to fall for… well, you know.”
“For Rex,” Leo adds.
“I know he hurt you pretty badly and that he did some really stupid things with the bakery, but I promise he’s a good guy,” Julian begins to defend Rex. “I swear I didn’t want to fall for him. I tried to avoid it, but I couldn’t. I’ve never felt this way before.”
“I believe you,” Leo says, and I glance at him, just as surprised as Julian sounds.
“You do?” Julian asks.
“I’ve worked with him for almost a decade. Of course I do. He messed up big time, and we’re basically enemies now, but deep down, his heart is good. It’s just buried… very, very deep,” Leo explains. “Super deep.”
