Him and His Hoodie novel Chapter 2

Probably the fact that I was very much in the closet and would like to stay there for a while, but being around Jerome too much might just drag me out because I was a horrible liar and it would probably be way too obvious I was crushing on him.

So I tried staying as far away from him as possible, even though he was the only friend I had. And the only one who didn't make me feel like a complete loser compared to the rest of my family because he was always making me feel positive about myself.

One time, my whole family was going to go to the beach but since it was spring break, I knew it was going to be very crowded and I wasn't in the mood to be around people I didn't know. Jerome was invited since he lived with my brother and his girlfriend but once Jerome found out I wasn't going, he ended up coming over instead to keep me company.

Why did he have to be sweet?

"I... forgot his number," I lied.

"You... forgot his number," Ryder repeated. "Even though it's saved in your phone?"

"...Yes?"

Ryder sighed. "Normally, I would ask why you're being so weird but the studio owner just glared at me for being on my phone so I got to go."

"Bu--" I began, but I was cut off when my jerk of a brother decided to hang up on me.

And since I really didn't want to stay at the school, I had no other choice but to call Jerome. I guess it wasn't such a bad thing. If he was able to, he just had to pick me up and drop me off at home. It would just be the two of us in the car so I didn't have to worry about anyone guessing I wasn't as straight as they thought.

I went to my contacts in my phone and hesitated before calling Jerome and holding my phone up to my ear. It didn't take long for Jerome to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey," I said. "Are... are you busy right now?"

"Not unless you call lying on the couch doing absolutely nothing busy," Jerome said. "Why?"

"I'm stuck at school alone and don't have anyone else to pick me up," I said. "So I was kind of wondering if you could pick me up and drop me off at my house? If it's not too much of a hassle...

"Of course it's not a hassle," Jerome said. "I know you don't like being there for a long time so I'll come pick you up."

"Thank you," I said. "Really. I don't know how much more I can handle being here."

"Hey, it's not a problem," Jerome said. "I'll see you soon."

I released a sigh of relief once we hung up. I was saved.

It didn't take too long for Jerome's car to pull up to the school, so I got into the passenger seat. "Thank you, again," I said, closing the door and putting on my seat belt. "

"Like I said, it's not a problem," Jerome said as he pulled the car out of the school's parking lot and started heading to my house. "Why were you stuck there alone anyway?"

"Because my stupid siblings thought it would be a great idea to tell my mom she didn't have to pick us up since they both have something going on until four-thirty," I said. "It didn't clue in that I might not acutally want to stay at the school so as you can see, I'm the smart triplet." I then sighed. "I just wished they actually thought about me when they decided to text my mom. But it's not the only time where I didn't come to their mind and it probably won't be the last."

A car pulled up to the driveway and once it was parked, Ryder's girlfriend Mae and Jerome got out. Great. More people to add to the having fun party and for me to feel left out from.

However, after talking to my mom for a bit, Jerome walked inside and it wasn't long before I heard him coming up the stairs. He then walked over to me, saying, "Hey. You're not outside with the rest of your family?"

"Nope," I said. "I don't do outdoors. Or the summer."

"It's spring," Jerome pointed out.

"It's still hot out."

"Okay, but that doesn't mean it's summer," Jerome said and I only shrugged in reply. "Can I sit?"

I moved my feet so I wasn't taking up the whole bench, and Jerome sat down. As much as I liked spending time with him, I hoped he wasn't here for too long because of my probably insanely obvious crush on him.

Then again, if it was obvious, my family would have said something about it since they were huge on shipping people. And they would have known I was gay, so I wouldn't be feeling so isolated all the time.

"So..." Jerome said slowly. "How are you feeling?"

"What do you mean?"