Chapter Four: Josh Never Wanted To Feel It

The crowd roared as one. Their voices fused into a deafening wave that shook the park foundations.

Tristan launched off the ramp and defied gravity for a heartbeat. He landed with a sharp snap.

He was perfectly balanced. His posture was a mix of elegant control and raw power. The atmosphere melted under his winning aura.

Josh couldn’t look away. He saw the pulse thrumming in Tristan’s neck.

He saw the way Tristan's eyes locked onto the wooden bench where Josh sat. Josh’s breathing turned shallow. The dusty scent of the park disappeared. Only Tristan remained.

A woman reached out to touch Tristan’s hand as he walked up the ramp. Josh dropped his gaze to the pavement. A heavy rock-weight settled in his chest.

Stop it, he told himself. This isn't you. He shook his head. Strands of his dark hair flashed across his sight.

He was the definition of role-model perfection. He was the King of the high school. He shouldn't be blushing a crimson peach over a guy he met yesterday.

“Man! Tristan’s going to win!” Thomas screamed into his ear.

“Okay!” Josh yelled back.

“Mic check.” The announcer’s voice boomed. The pack of wolves in the park fell silent. They remained frozen in their places.

“Now, young teenagers! Keep the shouting down. I shall announce the winner of the City Park Throwdown!”

The crowd held its breath. Josh felt his palms go from dry to oily sweat inside his pockets.

He already knew the answer. The system error in his heart had already predicted it.

“Our winner is... Tristan!”

The crowd exploded. Josh stood up and turned to leave, but a shadow fell over him. Tristan was already standing there. He was out of breath and grinning.

“What agenda is Mr. President up to?” Tristan asked.

The flash of that grin made Josh flinch. Signals spread quickly from the bottom of his body to the top.

“Going home?” Josh reacted.

He tried to step past Tristan, but Tristan had his own set of mind. He raised his hand and prevented Josh from taking a step further.

A headache pulsed in Josh’s temples as a scent clung to his nostrils.

It was the kind of smell that made his heart flutter.

This time the scent came from a guy who just won a tournament with no excitement in his expression at all.

“You should celebrate. You won,” Josh said. He rolled his eyes to hide the uncomfortable sensation crawling through his body.

“Well, we can celebrate, Mr. President. Come on,” Tristan asked solemnly. He offered a hand for a shake.

“Sorry. We’re not even this,” Josh spoke.

His hands hovered in the air as he showed Tristan his fingers clashing together.

He was making it clear they didn't align. Tristan's annoying grin faltered. The atmosphere began to change. A voice spoke from behind them.

“Come on, Tristan! Let’s celebrate!” It was the blond girl.

Tristan turned his head. He gave her a chilling, dismissive smile. “Sorry. I can’t.”

The girl rolled her eyes. She muttered something about why Tristan would reject her like that.

“You just rejected the girl you didn't reject earlier?” Josh commented. His eyes wandered to Tristan’s back.

“Yeah. It doesn’t matter. But why do you always seem to be annoyed by me?” Tristan asked. He spoke like he was confessing something his mind didn't like.

“I’m not. I just don’t like having a social interaction with a non-familiar face,” Josh explained.

His voice shook. He couldn't seem to pronounce the words right. He had never spoken that way before.

“Your voice is shaking,” Tristan questioned him. One sharp brow moved toward the north. “Last time I checked, you don't speak like a coward trembling over nothing.”

Josh bit his lip. Inside he started to doubt everything.

Coming here was a mistake. He had met this guy in the store, and now fate was letting them meet again. Josh’s back felt weak.

He tried to step back, but his body froze. He was unable to vomit a single word to the guy standing in front of him.

Tristan’s face was undeniably handsome. It made the straight line within Josh turn into a cursive shape.

Josh shook his head. He put on a strict expression and opened his lips to show his clean, white teeth.

“Because I don’t like people who think they can just waltz in, flash a smile, and have the whole world handed to them on a silver platter.”

Josh pushed Tristan away like a piece of paper. He threw him away like a piece of imperfection that belonged in the trash.

Outside the park, Josh leaned against the tall metal staff of a street lamp. The sun was dipping below the horizon. It bled a bruised purple into the sky.

It was a silent reminder that the day was ending.

His time as a regular teenager was expiring. Soon, he would have to return home to the expectations and the cold silence of his father’s house.

But his mind refused to reset.

He couldn’t stop thinking about the way Tristan had held him back. It wasn't just a physical barrier. It was a claim.

That moment of contact had forced Josh's heart to crawl out from its protective shell.

It exposed the raw pulse underneath. The shell was supposed to be unbreakable. It was built from years of straight-A reports and perfect conduct.

Yet a guy he met yesterday had cracked it with a single grin and a sweaty palm.

He dropped his gaze to the cracked pavement. The lines in the ground were jagged and messy. That was exactly how he felt inside.

He wondered how he was supposed to fix this. How do you repair a system that has already seen the error?

He touched his chest and felt the rock-weight shifting.

It was turning into something warmer and more dangerous. He needed to find his mask again before the cursive shape in his soul became permanent.