Chapter 1

Hi! The name is Dylan Goodwill, I'm 18 years old, in my first year of high school right now and-oh yeah! I'm crazy popular!

I don't mean to brag, but there isn't a single student who doesn't know my name at Greenville-high. Then again, the school's kind of small. Though catching the attention of 300 people AND getting them to hold me in high regards, well that's good enough for me.

Getting liked by the girls of Greenville was easy, cause y'know, I'm pretty darn handsome and I'm point guard of our basketball team. So there's no reason for them to dislike me.

My good looks didn't get me much appreciation from the guys though.

No, they like me because of a certain "rumor" about me which isn't true at all, but I still went along with it cause it got me a helluva lot attention! Long story short, the whole school thinks I'm a well-paid gigolo! And for some reason it has earned me the respect of not only the kids in my grade, but also my upperclassmen, which was quite surprising may I say!

So yeah, I've been living this lie for almost a year now and I could easily go another year...

If it wasn't for this classmate of mine finding out about my real job!

"Uhm excuse me?" Big round glasses, brown unruly hair, average clothing style... it's definitely him! "Could you maybe take my order or...?" the loner kid from my class whom I've completely forgotten the name of!

"Yeah sure...!" Why is he here??? This cafe is all the way downtown! There's no way I should ever run into people from school here! This is bad. this is really really bad! I can't have this guy ruin my image! I have to fix this ASAP!

***

Great, he's still here, time to move. "Charlotte, I'm taking a break!" I take off my apron and casually throw it over the counter before making my way through the small cafe. "hey there!" Just take it easy and act normal, let him know you're panicking and things might take an awkward turn.

"Mind if I sit here?" Even though his messy bangs hide most of his forehead, I still notice his frown. His green eyes look me up and down, a little confused. "Go ahead?" He then says, his voice surprisingly bold. "Thanks...". It appears I've caught him off-guard, which is pretty weird since he totally should have expected me to come talk to him... Shouldn't he?

"You do know me, right?" This makes him frown even deeper, closing the book in front of him. "Kind of hard not to?" Oh? He's got an attitude. Fantastic. "Haha I guess...! So uhm... you might be wondering what I'm doing in a place like this...!" Great job not turning this awkward, you idiot. "Not really? You're just working, no?"

What do you mean no?! Shouldn't you have like a billion questions to ask me??? "Well yeah, but it's not like... my other job, y'know?" He's frowning too much! As if he doesn't understand what I'm talking about. "..." After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, I sigh, lowering my voice and leaning in bit closer. "The gigolo thing..." I mutter, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed.

"...?" He becomes even quieter than before, completely lost. "I thought that was a joke?" He goes, a genuine scowl on his face. "Haah?" A joke? "Wait, people actually believe you're a gigolo?" Why wouldn't they?! "Well yeah-" His scoff cuts me off. "God what a dumbasses..." He says, slightly shaking his head disappointed.

What...What's with this guy??? "You mean you don't believe it?" He looks up at me, the scowl on his face giving me mixed messages. "You're a seventeen-year-old high school student who works almost every night at this cafe. of course I don't believe such an obvious lie." He says with his arms crossed, leaving me kind of flabbergasted. "How..." I avert my eyes before finishing that question. "how do you know that…?"

My face feels warm... am I blushing...? Oh no, I am?! Thank God I'm black, if he'd notice me blushing right now this would have gotten a lot weirder! "I visit this place almost every day?" with these words he successfully catches my eyes again. "haah??? No way!" I take a second to look at him a little better but come to the conclusion that I have indeed never seen him here before today.

"Uhm, yeah way?" he claims, one if his brows raised. "I would have recognized you if you did!" He makes another scowl, a hint of surprise and disbelieve in his eyes. "...Is that so?" He says, reaching for his glasses.

Oh? "..." with his glasses now on the table in front of him, he looks at me. "ah-" Knowing his bangs are still in the way, he lifts his hand, pushing his hair back and revealing his forehead.

"What about now?" He asks, his head slightly tilted. "Holy shit..." He's really cute. "You're a completely different person!" I shout, slamming a fist down on the table. "Not really though..." He mumbles, a bit startled by my loud reaction.

"I totally recognize you now!" I go, my volume a tad lower. "you always come around seven for a latte macchiato, right?" I've served this guy a billion times already! "That's me." I can't believe one of our regulars is actually one of my classmates! "Wow! haha this is crazy, I never-" Wait a second! None of this changes the fact that he can totally ruin me! I still need to get him to keep quiet about this!

"What's wrong?" He asks and I snap out of my panicked thoughts. Searching the table for his hands, I quickly grab them and pull him close. "Please loner kid...!" He looks at me wide eyed as I press my forehead against our holding hands, continuing my plea. "Don't tell anybody at school about this, I have a reputation to uphold!" I stay like that, holding his hands with my eyes pressed shut, hoping it will make him understand the severity of the situation.

"...you're seriously worried about that?" His voice sounds a bit tight as he says it. Opening my eyes, I'm met with a mop of hair rather than the guys face. "Well yeah," as if he's trying to hide, he looks down at the table, his shoulders visibly tense. "obviously..." Oh, his ears are really red. is he feeling okay? should I ask- "who would I tell?" He suddenly says, lifting his face again. "I'm the 'loner kid' for a reason you know?"

He's not looking at me on purpose, his eyes focused on the empty cup to his right. "huh???" I try my best to focus on his words, but damn his cheeks are so flushed and his lips are pressed in such a thin line and he just looks so embarrassed all of a sudden, it's really putting me off cause he looks incredibly cute--!!!.

His sigh brings me back, surprised by my own thoughts I kind of tighten my grip around the guy's hands. "I'm saying you don't have to worry about me telling people anything," He doesn't notice it though, he looks me in the eye, cheeks still red. "how you want people to see you is none of my business, so why would I bother ruining it? I don't have anything against you..." With that, my focus completely returns to our conversation.

It takes me a second to really get what he's saying, but when I do, I'm overcome with surprise. "Seriously?" He would do that for someone he hardly knows? "yes?" Oh wow... that-That's so nice of you!" In excitement, I let go of his hands and hit his shoulder in a friendly manner. "oh, uhm- I suppose...?" He pulls back his hands, grabbing his glasses.

"Damn dude, I didn't think you'd be this chill." A wave of relieve washes over me and I feel my entire body relax. "I try." He says with shrug, putting his glasses back on. "..." Oh? What's this? "Y'know," I really don't want this conversation to end...!

"If you recognized me all this time, you could have said something. we're classmates after all." I make myself a little more comfortable, resting my head on my palm and kicking my knee op to my chest.

He raises his brow again, but this time instead of a scowl, he's slightly smiling. "You don't even know my name and you expect me to start a conversation with you?" He points out, absentmindedly picking at the corners of his book. "...Alright, point made." I smile, amused by his straightforwardness. He hums in agreement, still playing with the cover.

With all that awkward confusion out of the way, this guy gives off a really nice vibe... I like it, it makes me feel at ease. "So, what's your name?" I ask, figuring now is better than later. "..." He looks up at me, smiling a little wider. "Not tellin~" He goes, his tone teasing. "haah?" I chuckle. Seriously, this guy's boldness isn't something you'd expect from a loner kid... to be honest, I always thought he was some shy nerd with zero guts. Joke's on me though.

"Dylan, break's over!" My boss shouts from behind the counter. "Alright coming!" I get up, quickly laying a hand on the table, trying to catch his attention one last time. "My shift ends in about two hours. Please wait till then, okay?" I say, which causes for him to frown again. "Why???" He asks, a little suspicious of my request. I can't help but to smirk. "I'm not done with you yet, loner kid~" I wink, turning this surprisingly intriguing guy into a blushing mess.

My oh my, what a cutie.

***

"So cold!" The night air sends shivers down spine. I quickly zip my jacket all the way up to my chin. "Even though it's almost summer the nights still tend to get cold huh?" I shudder. Loner kid silently agrees, nodding his head while burying his hands deep inside his pockets. He's dressed way too light, I can see the goosebumps on his neck.

"Here." I hold up the paper bag I took with me, hanging it in front of his face. "what is it?" he asks curious, taking the bag in his own hands. "A muffin! With this we seal the deal. you keep my secret, I'll give you this delicious treat~" I end my explanation with a wink and a sly smirk, hoping to get another cute reaction from the guy. "...?" only to be met with two scowling eyes. "You made me wait two and a half hours for a muffin?" For some reason that look on his face and that sassy tone in his voice makes me smile even wider.

"Not just any muffin-" I go, making a smug expression as I raise a single finger. "it's our very own, freshly baked, best sold, cranberry deluxe!". With that he drops his scowl, turning it into a surprised stare. "Inside you'll find jelly, cranberries and white chocolate-- I suggest you eat it while it's still warm, they taste best that way."

Halfway through my sentence, he cracks a smile, a sigh leaving his lips as he does. "I see," He looks me in the eye, his whole head moving along. Only now I realize how short he is compared to me, if you imagine his hair flat instead of... well ridiculously wild, he probably comes up to my chin.

"Well in that case I cannot possibly refuse, can I?" He smiles, then continues to open the neatly folded paper bag. "with this, I promise to keep your secret." He says and takes a bite. "Thank you very much." I return his smile, truly feeling grateful for the kindness he's showing me.

"Come on, lemme walk you home." I say, which earns me another confused glance. "What?" He asks, still chewing on that piece of muffin. "I made you stay so late, I'll take responsibility and get you home." I am a gentleman after all. "Pfft- alright," he snorts amused. "but I literally live down this street." Now it's my turn to look surprised. "You do???" I ask. my question's answered with a deep nod.

"Right there at the far corner on the right." He points, leaning his entire body to the side in order to get around me. I look back. "Oh..." So that's why he's able to visit our cafe every night, he's basically our neighbor. "Well whatever, I'll still walk you." I shrug in response, feeling a bit disappointed. "Go ahead." With a smile on his face he starts walking. I quickly catch up, not letting my eyes look anywhere but at him. My gaze travels to the muffin in his hand and a genius idea pops into my head.

"aah~" I lean in as I open mouth, casually draping an arm over his shoulder. He freezes, his body goes stiff, but his eyes manage to snap up at me in great shock. Pfft-! this guy's reactions are the best! It makes me wanna tease him a bit more~ "You gonna give me a bite or what?" I ask, unable to suppress my smirk. His eyes dart to my lips for a second, but then he quickly turns away from me, holding the muffin to my face.

"here." He mumbles, the red of his ears giving away the look on his face. "Yay~" Instead of grabbing the muffin, I grab his wrist, sinking my teeth into the sweet pastry as he still holds onto it. "Mhm!" I hum satisfied. "Our muffins really are the best~" I catch his eye again, everything I do seems to surprise him... though that is what I'm aiming for. The way his eyes grow wide and his lips part just a little whenever I surprise him, is a really cute sight. I don't think I've ever found a guy this cute before. "Yeah..." I let my hand slip off his wrist and my arm off his shoulder as he continues his pace.

I go back to walking by his side, glancing at him from the corner of my eye. "...So what's your deal, loner kid?" I ask, slipping my cold hands inside my pockets. "Excuse me?" He mumbles, cheeks stuffed with muffin. "Why you always alone? You're pretty chatty, so it's weird you never interact with nobody..." This makes him go quiet. which makes me burn with curiosity. "...It's a conscious choice, I guess." He says with a light shrug.

Haah? a conscious choice? So he's making himself a loner on purpose? "Why???" I ask, showing a bit too much confusion. He takes a long, hard look at me before answering. "People exhaust me." he says and turns his gaze back front.

"Really?" That's the first time I heard anybody say that. "Yeah." How can you find people exhausting? "I see..." I don't get it. "So what's your deal?" He asks, looking down at the half-eaten muffin in his hands. "Hmmm?" so he's returning the question, ey? "Why do people think you're a gigolo?" Oh...? I don't think I've ever told anybody before.

"It's quite a funny story actually." I guess loner kid will be the first. "At the start of the year I was very secretive about my job. I didn't want nobody to find out where I worked so that they wouldn't try and visit me, my boss hates it when that happens and she's right to feel that. It's way too bothersome." This time around he's the one keeping his eyes on me, while I let my gaze fall left and right and up and down as I tell my story.

"So, while my friends made a game out of guessing my job, I kept quiet and said no to any guess they made. It was fun while it lasted-" We halt at a red light, I press the button a few times, realizing we're almost at the end of the street.

"-but then came the faithful day my sister brought me to school." I remember that day as if it were yesterday. "You see, me and my sis don't look nothing alike. we have different dads, hers was some white dude, so our skin tones are like the biggest difference." we cross the street, I feel our paces slow down a bit. "But there's also a pretty huge age gap of twelve years between us. So, when people saw me stepping out of her car and giving her a kiss on the cheek..." I scratch the back of my head a bit embarrassed.

"They thought she was a client." He finishes for me, really focused on my story. I slowly nod. "Before I knew it, those guys told the entire school. I was about to shut it down, when people suddenly started to approach me, talk to me, praise me... and just like that!" I snap my fingers. "I was the most popular guy in school." That achievement still makes me smirk as proud and smug as I possibly can.

"Damn..." He finally looks away. "that sounds horrible." The honesty in his voice surprises me, but then again this is the guy who just told me he finds people exhausting, so... "It's not though," I smile. "I quite like the attention. It makes me happy." Again, he silently stares at me for a little while. "I see." He says and stops dead in his tracks. Oh? we're here? "this is your home?" The building quite old, but tall, doesn't seem quite spacious though. "mhm."

He steps through the low gate, letting it fall close behind him. "Thanks for the muffin." He says, looking at me from over his shoulder. He's gonna leave just like that? "Thanks for keeping my secret."

I rest my elbows on top of the fence, lowkey surprised it isn't collapsing under my weight. This gets him to turn around completely, with me hanging like this he actually has to look down now. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow?" I smile, tilting my head a bit. "You will?" He frowns, which I return.

"why not?" His shoulders go stiff again, those surprised eyes looking at me in awe. "Nh-nothing, I- I just thought that you, you know..." He's mumbling and looking pretty anxious... I kind of want to see more...

"Hey-" I push myself up, resting on my palms instead of my elbows. Again, I tower over him, by trying to close the gap between us, I lean in a bit too close. "I wanna hang out with you more, can I?" It's been a while since I had to pout and put on my begging voice. Am I perhaps going a bit too far? I hardly know the guy but I'm letting him see such a side of me-- uh?

His hand shoots up to his face, covering half of it. Oho what's this? "...duh-do whatever you want..." He mumbles from behind his trembling hand, he doesn't dare look me in the eye right now. "..." Never mind. If it gets me to see reactions like this, "Don't mind if I do~" I'll gladly show him my most embarrassing sides! Satisfied, I lean back. Taking the time to look at him once more, before ruffling his hair.

"See ya." I let go. Our eyes meet one last time as I turn, but it doesn't stop me. I casually take my leave- "The name's Mike!" Now that does stop me. I look back, seeing him hang over the gate the same way I did just a second ago. Mike...huh? the corners of my mouth curl up in a way they've never done before. "Goodnight, Mike." I raise a hand, then leave again. A chuckle leaves my lips, knowing that "Mike" is most definitely watching me.

Yeah, I'm sure of it now. This is gonna be a lot of fun~