[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Devon looked up and scoffed, rubbing his cheeks andsighing, Oh, come on, I learned about mitosis in highschool.Seriously? Maybe he ll go deeper into it this time, Blake said witha shrug that told him he didn t even believe his own words. Besides, college-level biology is just a stepping-stone, arefresher course just in case you wanna go into any of theharder sciences. Oh, well, don t you sound so smart, Devon teased,nudging Blake s elbow with his own, grinning at him.Blakejust laughed and shook his head. Yeah, I guess I am, he replied, shooting him a sidelongglance and shifting in his seat with a soft sigh. This is gonnabe a boring class, I can tell already.I aced high school bio. I didn t, so this should be fun! Devon said, sarcasmtingeing his tone.He liked science, but the mumbo-jumbothat came with it all bored the shit out of him.He didn t likethe technical side of it all.He liked the hands-on approach.He also liked Chemistry a little more than was healthy.Hedidn t want to think about the time he and Andy had blown69 Joey James Hookup the Chem lab at their high school.Blake shook his head and glanced up at him again,curiosity lingering in his bright hazel eyes along with awicked intellect he hadn t noticed before. Do you ever takeanything seriously, Devon? he asked, and his tone wasunreadable.Devon shrugged, even though it was a very odd,out-of-the-blue question. When the situation calls for it,sure, but not very often, he said rather honestly. Hmm, was all Blake said, brows furrowing a little as heturned his attention back to the front of the room.His eyesdarkened even as he obviously took in every single word theprofessor was saying. Sometimes I think I take everythingtoo seriously. Probably, but hey, to each their own I figure.I don tjudge, Devon said, kicking back in the chair and pushinghimself so that he was teetering on the back two legs.Blake sighed and said, I suppose, and that was that.70 PhoenixChapter Elevenlake didn t really know what was going on, in his headBor otherwise, when he got out of class that evening.Hewas pretty sure he hadn t retained a single detail about whatthe professor had been talking about, but that was all rightconsidering he d aced the class in high school and it was justa refresher for more intense science classes.No, the reason it bothered him was because his mind hadbeen focusing on everything that had happened in the lastcouple of days.It all felt a little weird to him, that so manypeople were suddenly interested in him, even in a friendlymanner, or in Dominic s case, not so friendly.He was still reeling over Riley s casual revelation, and hestill couldn t quite bring himself to believe it because it justsounded so crazy to him.He d been convinced for so longthat he was just the trans kid that was going to be alone forthe rest of his life.No one wanted to deal with ahalf-transitioned weirdo like him after all.Especially notsomeone like Dominic.The idea that someone was interested in him made himshiver.Normal people would have been thrilled at thethought of having people around him for once, people wholiked him and understood him, but it honestly kind of scaredhim.At the same time, he was desperate to have someonethat close to him, who understood and loved him enough toaccept him in his half-transitioned state.That desire wasquiet but so intense it burned sometimes.71 Joey James HookHe didn t like admitting that to himself.He was waiting for one or all of them to decide he was toomuch and walk away.The one he was most terrified ofdoing that was Ethan, whom he d known the longest.Thethought of Ethan leaving him was crippling.He went back to his dorm after class, knowing that Devonwasn t going to be there.He stepped into the empty roomand tossed his bag down carelessly, letting himself sink ontohis bed with a heavy sigh before he moved to take his headinto his hands with a heavy sigh.He felt the sudden urge to cry and he hated that.Boysdidn t cry, right? Here he was, though, teetering near thatedge where coherent thought was just a no-go and he lethimself get taken down into the vortex of his poisonousthoughts.He took a shaky inward breath and shook his head, tryingto just shake it off.His father had taunted him with thosewords, treating him like the boys he coached on the baseballteam.He didn t want to think about him, though, becausethat d just make it worse
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]