Page 76 of Black Hollow: Awakening

“And how is he supposed to greet me? I can’t expect him to throw his arms around my neck.”

“Will, he looked at you like you were a mildly interesting part of the scenery.”

Will felt his lips twist into an involuntary grimace.

“He was just busy,” Will said evasively, not wanting to drag out the topic any longer. He felt hopeless enough even without Norma’s commentary.

“Yeah, with a fascinating conversation with Rick Carter, who lost all his gray matter after he got on the football team and still hasn’t managed to find it.”

Will didn’t answer, hoping that would end the subject, but Norma wouldn’t give up.

“Are you okay with being treated like that?”

“Of course I’m not okay with it, but what am I supposed to do?” Will hissed, unable to hide his anger. “Desperately beg for his attention?”

“Ask him if you two have something serious going on?” Norma suggested instead.

“Which is desperately begging for his attention.”

“Seriously, Will? So you think that you staring at him whenever you pass in the hall and checking your phone every five minutes hoping he’ll text back to a message he’s probably been ignoring for hours…” A few days. “…is totally okay, but openly addressing the most obvious issue under the sun is somehow beneath you?” Will turned red with shame. He had no idea he was coming across as that pathetic. “Let him tell you what’s what. Maybe he cares, he just doesn’t know how to go about it. Or maybe he doesn’t. And if that’s the case, you’ll feel like shit, sure, but it’ll be a hell of a lot better than you’ll feel after a few more weeks of telling yourself this is going somewhere.”

Will wanted to disagree with Norma, he really did, but everything she said made sense, and what’s more, it hit him so hard that he couldn’t get her words out of his head. He mulled them over for the next two classes until he finally concluded that he really should make things clear.

During the lunch break, he spotted the table where Oscar was sitting and headed in that direction. Oscar was with a group of friends. They were all laughing and engrossed in conversation.

“Oscar.” Will practically cut someone off mid-sentence, but he needed to get his attention.

Oscar turned a surprised gaze on him.

“Yeah?”

“Can we talk?”

“Now?”

“Mhm,” Will confirmed nervously.

Oscar glanced at his friends, and for a moment Will had the unshakable feeling that he was going to refuse, but he finally smiled faintly and replied, “Of course.”

They left the cafeteria and went into an empty classroom.

“What’s up?” Oscar asked immediately. Only now did Will notice that he, too, seemed a little anxious.

“Do you want to be with me, or are you just treating me like some guy on the side you mess around with sometimes because you don’t have your eye on anyone you’re actually interested in?” Will blurted out in one breath, his voice trembling.

Oscar was speechless.

“I don’t understand,” he finally said, smiling awkwardly.

“Yes, you do,” Will countered firmly, annoyed by his reaction. Oscar’s expression immediately fell. “You’re not stupid. You know exactly what’s happening between us. And you know what a guy thinks when you text him all day for weeks. And how he feels when you suddenly stop.”

“We came back to school. I’ve been busy.”

“As busy as you were all last year? Remember that first party where we hooked up? We were supposed to hang out after. Exchange numbers. I waited, but the subject just sort of fizzled out. You either didn’t have time, or you came up with some excuse, or you avoided the conversation… And just when I was starting to accept it was a one-time thing, that nothing more would come of it, the second party happened. And you showed interest again. And then the scenario repeated itself. And again, I was about to give up when another opportunity came along. And so on. I have the impression… and correct me if I’m wrong… that you don’t actually want to be with me, but at the same time, you plan to keep me interested. And I get it. To some extent. It’s just that I didn’t really expect it from you. You don’t seem like someone who enjoys playing with other people’s feelings.”

For a moment, there was complete silence in the room.

“I’m sorry you think that of me,” Oscar finally said stiffly.