6: Perseverance

Gavin

I wished Valerie were here. She knew what to do, what to say, and what to tell me. Valerie was more than a sister to me. For the longest time, she was my only friend. Sometimes I really needed to talk to her, and phone calls weren't always enough.

I just needed someone to talk to. Casper always ran away from deep conversations, and Lester was too... Lester.

And Zane. Ugh, Zane.

Confused was not even close to what I was feeling. He drove me insane.

“How could he possibly think that?!” I grumbled to a sleepy Casper and an overly excited Lester.

“Hm? Think what?” Lester murmured.

“Seriously keep up, will ya?” Casper slapped Lester's leg, which was extended over one of my bedroom’s armchairs. He looked half asleep. However, Casper's slap helped wake him up some more.

“Are you still talking about Murad?” Lester asked. He was totally clueless almost all the time. It was like he had weed built into his brain.

“Yes” both Cas and I said.

“Stubborn ass Murad.” Lester muttered, which got him another slap from Cas.

“Aye come on! You said that you didn’t ruin it, and you didn’t actually ruin it, so it’s not your fault." He paused for a second. "You didn’t ruin it, did you?” He was slapped by both of us this time. “That hurt!” he rubbed his face gently.

“Of course I didn’t ruin it!" I paced around my bedroom frantically. "Plus, the painting is the least of my worries right now.”

Lester looked at me like he understood for once. “You’re still thinking about the drawing you saw for zero point two secs.” He dragged the numbers out through long lips that resembled a duck bill at best.

"I got to go guys." Casper said, practically hurrying outside the room. Whenever boys were discussed, he found his way out of the conversation, or in other cases, out of the room. I didn't know if it made him uncomfortable or if it were his plain homophobic ass, or maybe even both.

I decided to ignore it for the mean time, but Lester didn't. "He's still upset about that Sinclair kid."

"Kent Sinclair?" I inquired. Kent Sinclair was Casper's current target. Despite countless efforts by us, he wouldn't stop picking on that guy.

"Yup." he popped the P. He loved making weird noises. "Every time he bullies him, he gets depressed, then does it all over again."

"I'll deal with him later."

"He'll come around, I'm sure." He looked at me with hopeful eyes. "You'll do too."

I sighed. “I just have this feeling and I don’t know if it’s right or not, but I HAVE to get that binder, even if I have to kidnap the guy.”

“We’re not kidnapping a boy, Gavin.”

“We’ll find a way to get it without kidnapping him.”

“Well, sneaking into his room didn't work.” I said matter-of-factly.

“How would y…” Leter's eyes widened in shock. “YOU SNUCK INTO HIS ROOM?”

“SHHHH." I hissed. He was damn loud. "Why don’t you get a bullhorn and shout it across the country? ” I said with my hands sealing his mouth shut.

I slowly removed my hands when he calmed down and no one said anything for a few minutes.

"Sooo, was he nakey nakey or dressy dressy?" He earned himself a smack to the head.

"No. He had a towel on and I ended up hiding in his closet because his mum showed up and it smelled like him."

"His mum smelled like him?"

I was going to cry with frustration at him. "No, idiot. His closest smelled like him."

"Well, Gavin, that's kinda what a closet does, you know."

"Not the point, Lester."

"Wow, you're into it deep." He teased.

"Shut up, Lester. I can't let it happen. I promised myself to not to."

He stood up. "I'm gonna tell you this because I love you and you're my friend: your promise is stupid." Then he smacked my head for a change. "You can't just pause your life for someone you barely knew when you were six." I hate it when Lester was right. He was rarely right, but when he was, it was annoying.

"You don't get it, Less. He was there for me when no one budged, and I just NEED to find him. It could be nostalgia, or something else all together different, but a part of me still holds on to that moment, and the few days I had with him. I just wanna relive it, if only for one minute."

"Yeah? And what are you gonna say? 'Hey you probably don't remember me but you were my best friend when I was six and I swore to not love anyone but you even though you might not even be gay and could very well be dead'  because that is not stupid nor creepy at all."

"I. Need. To. Find. Him."

"Whatever."

I woke up at 9am, a first for me on a Saturday. I had made my mind and I was going to do it. I was going to school.

A/N: Thanks for reading, I promise I'll update faster once my mental health is back where it should be.

More soon x.