Archive of Our Own ^beta

The lights in the school hallway flickered with nervous energy, almost reflecting the emotions of the blond boy trudging wearily beneath them. His fingers tapped against his sides in a flurry of anxiety and anticipation. This was the day. The day when he swore to himself that he would confess to the love of his life. Truman entered his math class just as his classmates, Leah and Lois, finished doing their homework that was literally due in a few minutes. He sighed, wagging his finger at them. “Tsk, tsk.” They chuckled in unison, flipping him off. He scoffed. “You ladies are always up to something.” They rolled their eyes, leaving to buy something from the snack cart. Well, Lois was going to buy Leah something. Shocker.
He sat down, in his usual seat next to Joel. Xavier would be sitting right behind him, with Tate. His worst enemy. He loved Xavier too. And he knew Tru liked him. He clenched his fist at the thought of the stupid boy. Just then, Xavier entered the room. It was like time had stopped. He and Xavier were the only ones there, despite him having his lackeys behind him. They made eye contact, brown eyes meeting blue. But, before they could say anything, Tate plopped into his seat and threw a spoon at Truman’s head. “Hello there, Truman.” He said politely, though Tru could feel the way his eyes pierced into his skull, words dripping with jealous venom.
Tru sneered and turned his attention back to Xavier. “Hey.” He said, with no rizz.
Xavier chuckled, making the blond boy's heart flutter violently. “Hey there, hot stuff.” Now, that’s rizz. Truman almost thought his heart had stopped beating. He knew Tate was glaring at him but he didn’t care. He didn’t even get a chance to respond since Lois and Leah came back just then, with Charlie and Ellie, talking about some unknown topic that nobody could figure out. “No, but he smiled at me!” Leah gushed. Lois laughed and took a sip of her drink. “Again? That’s the third time this month!” Ellie rolled her eyes and Charlie started making fun of the redhead for her crush on a celebrity that is literally three years older than her and doesn’t know she exists. Who they were talking about, Truman had no idea. Nor did he care. All he cared about was the boy sitting behind him.

After class, Truman rushed to walk in the hallways with Xavier. The latter let him and smiled at his frantic behavior. Tru had to find a way to get Tate away from Xavier without being too obvious. The dude was constantly at his side. He knew who he could call on. “Gentry!” He slid over to him, grabbing his shoulder tightly. The brunette looked up, confused. “What?” His voice cracked. Truman glanced at the other two, Xavier and Tate, wearily. “Can you go talk to Tate for me? I need him distracted.” He explained. Gentry raised an eyebrow, accidentally making a sigma face for a second, before switching back to normal. “Sure.” He walked over to Tate and the two of them began to discuss the ethics of worms. Tru took a deep breath. This was it. This was the moment. The moment that it would all change. Xavier looked at him with an expectant expression. “So…” Truman said, sliding next to him. Xavier smiled. “You-” Truman started to say. Xavier cut him off. “I can’t be with you.” His heart stopped.
“W-W-W-W-What?” He stuttered. The other boy sighed. His expression was solemn, almost melancholy, as if he was upset. “I can’t hurt Tate like that. It would ruin our friendship if I broke his heart.” A tear slipped down his cheek. No… This couldn’t be happening… Truman was sobbing by the time Gentry and Tate noticed from afar. “Oh no.” Gentry set a hand on his shoulder. Tru wanted to punch Tate. But he couldn’t. Because he understood. He wasn’t quite sure why everybody wasn’t in love with Xavier. Tate at least had the brains to comprehend how awesome he was. “What happened?” Tate asked. Truman sniffled. “N-N-N-N-N-N-Nothing.” He ran away. He heard Xavier call after him but he ignored it. He needed to be alone right now. He sobbed ugly stupid sobs. His eyes were puffy and his legs were numb. Truman ran downstairs and into the kids area that was barren and empty. He sunk to his knees. “Why!!!!” His voice echoed throughout the corridor. The only thing on his mind was the love of his life, Xavier Kilgore.