LOGIN
CHAPTER 1
I landed flat on my face the very moment I stepped into school.
I sighed, this was supposed to be a good year, what an amazing way to start things. I had tripped into a trash bin and I picked myself up as the guys around me who had pushed me laughed out loudly. I ignored them and started walking away, my leg hurt so I started limping."Yo Nate, why are you walking like that?", one of them asked.
"Too many shits been into his asshole for sure",the other one, Kendal said laughing out loudly. "Take it easy on your butthole Nate, else you might start having to wear diapers ", another of his friend, Newton said and they laughed again. I got to class and went to my seat and ignored everybody. "Why do you smell like garbage?", my friend Ethan asked coming to sit beside me. "Kendal and friends", I said calmly. "Don't does creeps ever stop, the hell?". "I just hope I can survive one more year in this school and just disappear", I said. School for the rest of the day was normal, which was so new to me, maybe I can manage them a little, it's not so terrible Usually everyone just stared at me like I had a disease. I use to be a normal kid that never went noticed, just known for being a brain and that was it, until my best friend, Jamal leaked that I was gay and made me come out when I wasn't ready to, he exchanged it for popularity and to roll with the Big four, since then everyone sees me as a weird creep.Which was weird because I'm not the only gay person in this school, so I wonder why my situation is worse.
The Big four? who are theyKendal, Newton, Andre and then Cole Michaelson.
They were of course the hotest boys in school, of course every girl worshipped them, of course they had special treatments, of course their lives were better than ours. They were all bullies, and the fact that Jamal thought that leaking my secret was going to make them add him to their friends group was insane honestly, because we all know for a fact that they would have never done that. They ended up turning him into their servant and he still can't see that he is being used, but as long as he got to hang out with them, he didn't care . Honestly, only one of them wasn't a bully, and he stood out to me, it was ; Cole Michaelson. He is a family friend of mine, we use to be friends when we were younger, hung out at each other's places and I started developing feelings for him, in all honesty, he was the one that made me realize I was gay. For some reasons, he just stopped talking to me, he cut me off swiftly and I never got to see him again. He is the cold one in the group, barely ever spoke, just played basketball and bagged girls without even talking. Everyone said he went cold after his mother died, but I knew it was something else. School was over and I went into my locker to drop my things off and go home, my driver was already waiting for me at the packing lot. Immediately I I dropped the books I didn't need and closed my locker, I felt a cold liquid all over my body. I looked at myself and I was covered with paint from the top of my head down to my feet, I was furiously shaking. I looked up and saw Newton and Andre laughing. "C'mon Nate, laugh it's funny, it's the first prank of the year, you know how we do it here", Kendell said laughing. I was foaming, furiously. I can't even do anything about it, I can't fight them I could barely hit a fly, and reporting was useless, they had special treatments of course no one was going to do them anything. Everyone had their phones out laughing, I honestly didn't see what was funny. "Guys that's enough, give the boy a break, c'mon Nate", I heard a very familiar voice say behind me. I turned around and it was Cole Michaelson, my heart started beating rapidly fast. "Since when did you start feeling sorry for the gay boy?", Andre asked. "I'm doing charity work", he mumbled grabbing my back pack and leading me outside away from the crowd as everyone watched me , laughing. He took me to the parking lot and then my driver looked at me crazy. There was no way I could go in there. Cole scratched his head and then took a hose and then turned it on and all the water hit me, Washing off the paint from my body. Why was he helping me? we haven't spoken in years. The paint was out but I was now completely soaked. My driver got out and put a large water proof sheet on the chair of the back seat, that could help. "Uhm... t... thanks for helping me i-", he didn't let me finish, he just jogged off back into school. That was so strange. The drive back home was a long one, I had already made up my mind, I was going to transfer, I don't care if it's the last year, I can't deal with them anymore. When I got back home, I took a proper shower and then went downstairs to have lunch. "Hello Nate, how was school today?",my mother asked. I shook my head, "I want to apply for a transfer, I don't know if it's last minute", I said. She looked at me, a little bit stunned. "A transfer? why so soon, what happened?". "Got kicked into a trashcan and had paint spilled on me", I said calmly eating my food. "What! that's just too much, I'm going to contact your school and -" "Mom you've done that too much and they've done nothing about it okay? honestly I'm tired, let's just leave ", I said. "But, an old friend of yours needs your help with school, he was hoping you'd tutor him at any price you wanted ", she said. It better not be Jamal. "Friend?", I asked.Almost immediately, the door bell rang.
"Yes yes, I think that's him, go and check the door ", she said. "Mom". "Come on now, go and check", she said again. I took a deep breath in and then went to the door. I swear to God if it's Jamal I'll have his head buried in- Oh shit. You will not believe who I'm standing face to face with. Cole MichaelsonThe rain came before the morning did.Soft, rhythmic, like the sky was trying to hush the world. It should’ve been peaceful — the kindof morning that made you want to stay under the sheets, pretend nothing outside existed. But peacewasn’t something I could afford anymore.Cole’s arm was around my waist, heavy and protective, like even in his sleep he was daring theuniverse to come close. His breath brushed my neck, slow and even, and for a minute, I just stayedthere — still, watching the faint light slip through the curtains and fall across his face.He looked different when he slept. Softer. Like the walls he built just… didn’t exist for a while.And damn, it was dangerous — how much I liked that version of him.He stirred, his nose brushing my shoulder. “You’re staring,” he muttered, voice still rough withsleep.I smiled. “You’re imagining things.”“Uh-huh.” His lips curved. “You always do that when you think I’m asleep.”“Do what?”“Look at me like I’m gonna disappear.”My che
By Wednesday, the school felt like a stage and we were the unwilling headliners.Every hallway we walked through came with a soundtrack of whispers, half-hidden phones, andthat fake laugh people use when they want you to know they’re talking about you.I was trying to play it cool — keep my head up, keep my steps even — but my stomach keptdoing this nervous rollercoaster flip thing.Cole?He walked like nothing bothered him.Hands in his hoodie pocket. Earbuds in. Calm as ever.It made me crazy — in the good way and the what-the-hell-how-do-you-do-that way.“You’re staring,” he said, glancing at me as we walked.I blinked. “I’m not.”He smirked. “You totally are.”“Shut up.”He chuckled. “You love me though.”And I hated how easily my heart stuttered when he said that — so casually, like it was nothing.Like it wasn’t everything.We reached my locker, and for once, no one said anything. Maybe the novelty was wearing off. Ormaybe Ariana had moved on to her next round of chaos.I sho
If I said things calmed down after that note, I’d be lying through my teeth.They didn’t calm down.They just changed shape.People stopped whispering when I walked by — now they stared. Like I was a headline theycouldn’t stop reading.The weirdest part? I didn’t even flinch anymore.Okay, maybe a little.But mostly, I just learned to breathe through it.Cole, though?He was a walking storm.He didn’t yell or throw punches. He didn’t have to. His silence did the heavy lifting.And when Cole’s quiet, that’s when people should start praying.By Friday, the whole school was on edge.Even teachers gave us that look — like they could sense something building. Something that wasgoing to snap.We were halfway out of the school gates when Cole said, “I need to see Ariana.”I froze. “What?”“She started this mess,” he said, shoving his hands in his hoodie pocket. “She can end it.”I snorted. “She won’t. She doesn’t do mercy, Cole. She thrives on chaos.”His jaw flexed. “Then I’ll give her a
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVEI used to think falling for someone would be a clean thing. Like a perfect movie moment whereeverything clicked, and suddenly the world made sense.Yeah. That’s not how it happens.Falling for Cole was messy. Complicated. Loud.And right now? It was dangerous.Monday blurred into Tuesday, and the noise around us didn’t fade — it sharpened. The whispersweren’t just whispers anymore. They had edges. Names. Questions. Accusations.By the time I made it to my locker, it felt like the whole school was humming with rumors.“Did you hear—”“—they were at his house—”“—not even trying to hide it anymore—”Every sentence had our names tucked somewhere inside.When I opened my locker, a folded piece of paper slid out. My heart stumbled as I unfolded it.Four words.STAY AWAY FROM HIM.I stared at the paper a second too long, like it might rearrange itself into something less predictable.It didn’t.“Nate,” a voice said behind me.I crumpled the note and shoved it in my poc
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOURSunday nights used to feel quiet. Like the world was taking a breath before the chaos of Monday.But not anymore. Now Sunday nights felt like the calm right before a storm I couldn’t quite seecoming.I lay flat on my bed, staring at the ceiling like it had answers I couldn’t find. My room was quietexcept for the low hum of the ceiling fan and my heartbeat. Too loud. Too fast.My phone lit up beside me.Cole.Cole: You still up?Me: Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?Cole: Because it’s 1 a.m., smartass.Me: Can’t sleep.Cole: Same.I stared at the screen, fingers hovering.He typed again before I could.Cole: Want me to come over?My chest tightened. It wasn’t even about him being here — it was about him asking.Me: You’re insane.Cole: Insanely charming, yeah I know.Me: No, just insane.Cole: I’m already outside.I sat up so fast the mattress groaned.“Idiot,” I muttered under my breath, pulling a hoodie over my T-shirt.When I cracked my window open, the cool night air h
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREEThe rumor thing? Yeah, it didn’t die over the weekend. It mutated. Like some weird gossip zombiethat just wouldn’t stay in the ground.By Tuesday morning, it was everywhere. I didn’t even make it to my locker before I heard my namewhispered at least five times. And not in a cute “wow, Nate’s so cool” way. More like “oh myGod, did you hear—”I yanked my hoodie tighter around me like it could block out their voices. Spoiler: it didn’t.The hallway smelled like coffee and cheap cologne. The fluorescent lights buzzed like they werejudging me too.I caught a group of juniors by the drinking fountain. One girl leaned in close, whispering with wideeyes like she’d discovered some national secret. Another giggled. The third just stared at me like Iwas a zoo exhibit.Cute. Real cute.I tried to keep walking, head down, pretending I didn’t exist. But my ears? Yeah, they betrayed me.“—they were totally holding hands—”“I swear, Ariana said she saw them at the edge of t







