“Shy, Chelsea,” Damon said. “He’s shy. That’s what I was getting at.”
“Oh.” She looked down at her tray. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was going to upset you.”
“I don’t like that you and the rest of the school are talking behind his back.”
“I don’t think anyone is, like, talking behind his back. It’s just, like, one of those things. The sky is blue. The meatball subs in the cafeteria are not real meat. Elliot is gay.” She shrugged. “I’ve never heard anyone make fun of him if that makes it better.”
Damon put his tongue into his upper lip. He searched the cafeteria for the familiar sight of Elliot’s floppy golden hair even though Damon knew Elliot didn’t have lunch this period, and in fact, he was in calculus right now.
Elliot had history next, which meant they wouldn’t cross paths because Damon’s class was in the opposite direction. If he hurried, he could get there as class let out and—
“Damon?” Chelsea asked, her voice tiny.
“What?”
“Are you mad at me?”
“No,” he said, but his tone didn’t match his answer. “I just—I have to go.” He got up and took his tray with him, tossing the rest of his lunch.
“Damon! Don’t forget to remind Elliot to do thething!” Chelsea yelled before he pushed the double doors and practically sprinted down the hall.
Chapter Three
“Hey,” Elliot said as he walked out of calculus. Damon saddled up beside him. “Aren’t you supposed to be in English?”
Yes, Elliot knew Damon’s entire schedule by heart.
Yes, he realized he was obsessed with him to a more-than-friend degree.
“Yeah,” Damon said. He wrung his hands and looked around the hall with a wild, frantic look in his eyes. “But I need to…I need to talk to you.”
“Now? Ms. Benson will chew you out if you’re late.” Elliot furrowed his brows as he got to his locker and exchanged his books.
“Is this because I didn’t ask Madison out yet?” Elliot sighed. “I just... I don’t know. We both already know we’re going together. Do I really have to ask her?”
Damon shook his head. “It’s not about that.”
“Okay…”
One of Damon’s baseball teammates slapped him on the back in a passing greeting. Damon forced a smile at them as they walked away. “Maybe here isn’t the best place.”
“Dude,” Elliot said. “What the fuck is going on?”
Damon was so easygoing. This was incredibly unsettling. He had two modes: happy and bouncing-off-the-walls excited. The only time Elliot had ever seen him outside of those two emotions had been when Damon’s dad died in a car accident.
Elliot’s stomach plummeted like it always did when he thought of that day, about his failure, about Damon’s despair.
“Can you be late for your next class?” Damon asked.
He was officially scaring him. Had something terrible happened?
“Yeah,” Elliot said. “What’s going on? Is it your mom? Is she okay?”
He tried to recite the spell he used to calm his panic.Don’t take the bait, decrease my heart rate.
Except, like usual, his magic didn’t work when he really needed it, and Elliot spent the next thirty seconds spiraling out as Damon pulled him by the arm to the restroom.
Was his mom sick, or was he sick?Oh god. What if Damon was dying? If Elliot was better at healing magic, maybe he could do something. Maybe he could get his grandmama to help. Maybe it wasn’t too late—
