Page 5 of Black Hollow: Awakening

Will bit back the comment that he, not Dan, was usually the victim of these attacks. It was never anything severe, but it just irritated him. He had no idea why Liam had singled him out.

The rest of the day passed in relative peace. After his last class, he met Dan by the lockers. The thickening crowd heading for the doors suddenly parted. And once again, Will knew who it was for.

At least once a day, the main hallway turned into a fashion runway where Liam and Blake strolled proudly right down the middle.

“They’re totally together,” Danny muttered under his breath.

“They’re not,” Will replied with complete conviction. “Someone asked Liam once, don’t you remember? He said no.”

“Right, because the captain of the basketball team is going to openly admit he’s into guys. Although, he doesn’t really have to, it’s plain to see.”

“But Liam has a girlfriend. Or he did. More than one.”

“Officially. Besides, he could have both.”

“No,” Will insisted. “I don’t sense any chemistry.”

“Dude, they don’t fit together in any way. None. Only sex can explain this friendship.”

Will laughed quietly under his breath, but he had to admit Danny had a point on one thing—he saw no similarities between Blake and Liam. Blake was the epitome of elegance, preferring collared shirts, dress pants, polished shoes, and various pieces of jewelry. Liam, on the other hand, looked like the picture of sloppiness next to him. Still attractive sloppiness, but sloppiness nonetheless. Always in loose jeans or sweatpants, often sweaty after practice, he seemed not to care about the impression he made.

“Because you’re gay, you see it everywhere,” Will quipped as Blake and Liam disappeared from view.

“And you’re not?” Danny snorted mockingly. “You insisted that Jackson and Willis would end up together, even though it was clear from the beginning that Jackson would end up with Mary-Ann.”

Will nearly choked in response to this blasphemy.

“Not true! The intimacy between Jackson and Willis was something special. That was true love. The show creators were insinuating from the very beginning that Mary-Ann was a metaphor for beards, pretense, self-dissatisfaction, and so on… The writers just chickened out because they were afraid of criticism, that’s all.”

“Bullshit. It was just queerbaiting.”

“No,” Will stated with complete conviction. “Not Jackson and Willis. They were meant to be. Literally.”

“God,” Dan groaned.

Soon after, they left the school grounds.

“See you later,” said Danny.

“You’re leaving already? What time do you have to be there?”

“Four.”

“Don’t you want to stop by the house and grab a bite?”

“No, no point. See you tonight, Will.”

“Bye.”

Will walked on.

He was about halfway home when something glinted in the sun, catching his eye. He looked up and narrowed his eyes, watching the drifting object. The speed at which it was descending convinced Will it was a plastic bag or something similar, but the longer he looked, the more details he saw. The thing seemed to have an ornate structure. It was relatively thin, but not like plastic wrap. So it should have been heavier, yet why was it moving so slowly?

Will waited for the object to fall, then located it on a nearby lawn. He frowned, studying the item. It looked like a device. Almost triangular in shape, but with rounded corners. It was white with a metallic sheen, and a green light pulsed in its very center.

He bent down and grabbed the object.

A violent shudder ran through his body.