Axel’s POV
The weekend passed fairly quickly. Jay left early on Saturday, needing to go home and spend the weekend with his family, which I understand. He wanted me to come with him, but I managed to convince him by promising him another date. I don’t want to intrude on his family time.
It’s now Monday morning, and as I walk into the school, I feel someone walk up behind me and an arm sling over my shoulder. I look up to see Jay smiling down at me, and I smile in return. We walk into the school with Jay’s arm still around my shoulders. Nobody seems to notice, which makes me sigh in relief. Maybe we’re not as interesting as I thought.
But soon, the first person spots us. After, everyone stops what they’re doing to turn to look at the new couple. I look around, nervous. I thought this only happened in movies.
“Just ignore them” Jay whispers in my ear, causing me to jump a little. I look up and he smiles at me, pushing me along.
Thankfully, we make it to the locker rooms without anyone coming up to us. We quickly change and head out to the gym, where everyone was already crowded around the coach.
Gym class was pretty uneventful, just doing basic drills and getting curious stares from the people in our class.
I started paying attention to classes again and taking notes, and I realize that my brain just hasn’t caught up with the idea of starting to work again. I’m going to need to ask Jay to tutor me again.
Lunch rolls around, so I grab Jack and we go to the library since I saw Pete there during second period.
We find Pete and sit at his table, and he smile as he sees us.
“Hey guys, what are you doing here?” Pete asks, and I wave my hand dismissively at him.
“Let’s get right to the point. What’s going on between you and Franco?” I ask and Jack nods beside me.
Pete sighs, “Is it that obvious?”
Jack laughs, “Dude, every time Franco is in the same room as you, you make up some excuse and run out of there faster than Usain Bolt could ever run. If you do that in gym class, you could actually manage to pass”
I slap Jack on the chest, “Yo, we’re trying to figure out what’s going on between the two, not point out his every flaw” I hiss, and Jack nods.
“Spill” I say, turning my attention back to Pete.
Peter sighs again, “Well, I’ve known Franco since elementary school. He used to date my twin sister”
“You have a sister?!” Jack and I say simultaneously and immediately slap our hands over our mouths. Shoot, we were supposed to know that.
Pete rolls his eyes, “Yes, I have a twin sister and Franco dated her”
I tilt my head to the side, “Okay.. but what does that have to do with your weird behaviour around him?”
Peter blushes, “Well um, Franco cheated on my sister.. with a guy”
“WHAT?!” Jack and I yell but quickly shush ourselves, forgetting we were in the library. We mutter a quick apology to everyone who gave us looks, and turn our attention back to Pete.
“Okay that still doesn’t explain your weird behaviour” I say, and Jack nods.
“Umm, well the guy he cheated on my sister with was… me” Pete says looking away, ashamed.
“WHAT?!” Jack and I stand up and yell, causing our chairs to fall back. We slowly pick them up and mutter another apology to the people giving us glares.
“That’s it” Pete grab our arms and drags us out to the back of the school.
“There, now you guys can yell all you want without interrupting others who are actually trying to work” Pete says, annoyed.
Jack seems to recover before I do, “Why would you do that?! That’s low dude” he says, and I elbow him in the side.
“Why’d you do it?” I ask in a softer tone. Being harsh with him isn’t an option right now if we want to get answers. Plus, Pete’s a good guy, he wouldn’t do that without a reason.
“If it makes it sound any better, I wasn’t the one who initiated the kiss. Franco did. My sister knew I had a crush on him, that’s why she started noticing Franco. They started dating shortly after” Pete says, and I could see the look of regret on Jack’s face for yelling at him without knowing the story.
“That’s a really shitty thing to do…” I say and Jack gives Pete an apologetic look.
Pete shrugs, “It’s whatever, I’m over it. Anyways, Franco knew that I liked him, so he not so subtly flirted with me. Even in front of my sister. She didn’t like that and she told everyone at school that I was trying to steal her boyfriend, which I wasn’t. Everyone started hating on me and started to ignore me, making me isolated from the rest of the class. Then one day, Franco and I were talking in my room, and he kissed me. I didn’t kiss him back -although I was about to- but my sister walked in on that exact moment and slapped me. I didn’t have it in me to tell her it wasn’t my fault, so I just let her yell and hit me. Thankfully, Franco came in and told her that he was the one who initiated it and that I didn’t even respond. She believed him since she knew how Franco would flirt with me. Now, we don’t get along. I’m nice to her because I feel guilty about her relationship with Franco, but she doesn’t even try to hide her distaste about me. She doesn’t abuse me or anything, she just ignores me and occasionally calls me homophobic slurs”
I scrunch my nose, “That’s horrible Pete, I can’t believe they put you through that” I go to hug him, in which he returns.
“Why haven’t we heard about your sister? Does she not go to this school?” Jack asks, and I pull away and look at Pete, wanting to know the answer as well.
Pete rubs the back of his neck, “Well, she doesn’t like people knowing we’re related. She’s ashamed of me. She even went as far as taking our mom’s last name after the incident”
“That’s a little extra. You didn’t even do anything wrong, you were the victim. She went after the guy you liked, and framed you for something you didn’t even do. If anything, Franco’s the one she should hate, if she doesn’t already” I say, and Pete shakes his head.
“Don’t hate Franco, it wasn’t his fault. Here’s the twist, he was being blackmailed by my sister” Pete’s nose scrunches up in distaste.
Jack and I stay silent, urging him to continue. “My sister later confessed this to me, from spite I guess, I’m not really sure what her motive was. Anyways, as I said, my sister knew that I liked Franco. For some strange reason, the whole grade knew Franco also had a thing for me, except for me, I was out of the loop. My sister started to notice Franco after I told her, and took a liking to him. So, she used the fact that Franco had feelings for me against him. I live in a very religious household, with parents who openly display their distaste for homosexuality. They have told me and my sister many times how much they despise the LGBTQ+ community, and that they wouldn’t hesitate to kick us out if we ever became like them. My sister threatened Franco to tell our parents about my crush on him -which would result in me being becoming homeless- unless he agreed to go out with her”
I glanced over at Jack and saw that he was speechless as well. How could someone do something so awful to their own brother? Her twin? Twins are supposed to have a special bond that no one else could replace. Yet she goes and betrays Pete like that.
I see Pete wiping at his cheeks, and pull him into another hug.
“I’m worried she’ll tell our parents if she sees that I fell for him again. I don’t want to be homeless, Axe. I don’t want to lose my family, even if they can be assholes” he sobs, and I rub his back soothingly. Jack soon joins into the hug and we try to comfort Pete together.
After a while, we pull away when we hear that Pete stopped crying, and started sniffling instead. He looked better after letting out all the frustration he’s been holding in since he saw Franco again.
“Do you still like him?” I ask Pete, and he nods.
“So much, but I’m torn between my homophobic family and him. I want to be with him, but I can’t afford to be kicked out now, we’re about to graduate” Pete says and I think for a bit. He could move in with me, it’d be nice to have a roommate.
“Hey, why don’t you move in with me? You could be with Franco, and then if they kick you out, just move in with me” I smile at him. He thinks it over.
“What about your parents? Wouldn’t I be a burden?” Pete asks with puffy eyes.
Right, he doesn’t know yet.
“Sit down young Peter, let me tell you the tale of a heroic man called Axel Miller, who survived the tragedy of-”
“Heroic man my ass, just get on with it” Jack interrupts me.
I stick my tongue out at him, and clear my throat, “As I was saying, a tale of the one and only, Axel Miller’s horrendous parents”
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A/N: Hey guys, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Exams are finally over, woohoo!Â
Please vote for this story and have a nice week!
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