Page 8 of This is Me

Somehow, she managed to stay silent until our order was passed through the window.

“You need to pay more attention when driving, Peter,” Blaire scolded, grabbing the coffees from me that I’d paid for.

“Yeah, whatever. Just got lost in your eyes,” I jokingly said, but as the words left my mouth, I saw a hint of a blush on Blaire’s face, and I quickly moved my eyes back ahead of me and pulled out of the small coffee place.

Shit. Did Blaire blush? Or was I having some sort of stroke? I know that Andy and Leroy think that I like her, but they wouldn’t tell her that would they? If they did, it makes not telling her I’m gay much worse.

“So, uh, are you getting your own car?” I asked, trying to think of anything that would fill the silence on the way back to school. Something that would take my thoughts off the predicament that seemed to be unravelling.

“Eventually,” Blaire answered after a moment. “When one of my brothers gets a new one, I’m getting their old one.”

“Ah, nice.” My eyes remained trained on the road, as I didn’t want to look over at Blaire. It felt as though she was already looking at me and was expecting me to look at her, but I knew I couldn’t. I felt as though if I did, I would tell her everything. And I wasn’t ready for that.

Thankfully, it wasn’t long before we arrived back at school, and I was pulling into the carpark.

“Son of a bitch!” I yelled as I pulled up in front of where I had parked earlier and saw that there was another car there.

“Oh, no. It’s almost like your name wasn’t written on the spot! Oh, wait!” Blaire joked, and I shot her a glare.

“Hop out and take these three coffees,” I instructed, giving her all of the coffees but my own. “I’m gonna circle to try and find a spot. I’ll meet you inside.”

“Alrighty, Pete.” Blaire smiled and got out of the car with the three coffees. “See you inside!”

With that, she closed the door and started making her way up to the school, and I let out a breath of relief before I began making my way around the carpark, trying to find a vacant spot.

It didn’t take me long to find a spot, though it was almost at the furthest point away from the school's entrance. Cursing silently, I grabbed my coffee and jumped out of the car and started making my way across the car park toward the school, and it wasn’t long before I found myself walking through the doors.

“Mr Stone.” A cold, stern voice greeted me almost as soon as I set foot inside the school, and I looked up to my right to see the Vice Principal standing next to me.

It was not my ideal situation.

“Mr Ryans. How are you, sir?” I responded to him coolly.

“Wonderful. Would you please come with me?”

Silently wishing I hadn’t listened to Blaire and gone to get coffee, I followed Mr Ryans down the hall and up a set of stairs that sat at the end of it. On the way, I managed to catch a glimpse of Blaire, who was sitting in her homeroom class, though she didn’t see me as I walked past, still following Mr Ryans.

“After you, Mr Stone.” Mr Ryans gestured into a room to his right after he came to a stop and spun around to face me.

I silently nodded and slipped inside the room to my left and heard Mr Ryans close the door behind me. The room wasn’t huge, but it may have only seemed that way due to the large desk that sat in front of a giant window overlooking the school grounds. Lots of medals and certificates lined the walls of the room, along with the school banner.

My eyes drifted to my side, where Mr Ryans had walked by, and I watched him as he slid behind his desk and took a seat. He looked across his desk and up at me before gesturing to the chair opposite him that sat in front of me.

“Take a seat, Mr Stone.”

Again, I silently nodded and sunk into the seat, doing all I could to not look at the Vice Principal. My coffee, still warm in my hand, started to burn it slightly, but I didn’t know what else to do with it.

“Enjoying your morning?” Mr Ryans asked with raised eyebrows, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

“Uh, it’s not too bad, sir,” I responded, not too sure on what to say. Considering the circumstances, I didn’t want to seem too happy.

“Do you know why we have homeroom, Mr Stone?” the Vice Principle asked, and I could feel his eyes searing to my head as I continued to look aimlessly around his office, trying to focus on anything but him.

At first, it was the pictures of his family that were spread out across his office, and then it was the large box of confiscated goods that sat tucked away in the corner.

“To maintain order?” I asked, not sure about what the correct answer was, or even if there was one.

“In a way,” Mr Ryans responded. “It’s to ensure the safety of the students. So, you wandering in late makes you unaccounted for. Meaning, if something were to happen to you…” he trailed off, leaving me to fill in the blank, though I didn’t.