The Genius

Chapter Eight

I don't feel well. I shuddered as I walked through the crowd of students. I hate crowds, I hated them so much.

"Hey, Wyatt, wait up!" I grimaced, hearing Aiyana's voice over the noise of talking students in the hallway. It was midday at school, and I was trying to get to my gym class without passing out in the hallway.

I stopped walking, waiting for Aiyana to catch up with me. She had an excited grin on her face as she approached, cradling her gray knapsack like a baby. We started walking to class together as soon she caught up with me.

As we walked, my gaze moved to her, realizing she'd not really accepted my apology earlier. "Aiyana, I'm sorry about snapping at you the other day. I really didn't mean it. I was just — I wasn't in my right senses."

"It's okay," Aiyana muttered as a big smile made its way to her lips. She looked at me with her big brown eyes, nudging my shoulder playfully before tightening her grip on her grey bag so it didn't go tumbling down onto the school tiled hallway floor.

We soon reached the gym, leaving for the separate s*x divided locker rooms.

A sigh left my lips in irritation at the number of people crowded within. I hated locker rooms. I hated everything from the smell, the noise, and feeling that one of the school boneheads might decide to pick on you at any time.

I didn't spot Ji-Hun in the locker room but I did see Ben changing into his appropriate sports shoes at a corner. I looked away, hurrying to get into my clothes so I could get to the field in time and avoid any sort of punishment my gym teacher could give.

I scrambled out of the locker room soon after, shuddering at the thought of the place before heading out the open gym doors and into the open fields.

Our coach gave me a pitiful look when I was in sight, unlike most of my teachers that loved me, coach Casper hated my guts. I didn't blame him. I had no doubt that any sports-inclined person that saw me running laps hated me too.

"Just run two laps," he sighed, dismissing me with a wave. I nodded, walking past him as quickly as I could. Two laps may sound like a piece of cake, but I was hopeless and probably going to spend the rest of the double period trying to complete them.

After pausing for maybe the fifteenth time on my first lap Coach Casper dismissed me out of a mix of pity and annoyance. I thanked him, leaving the sunny field for the cool air-conditioned gym. What coach Casper did back there wasn't nice. He might have dismissed me but that didn't change the fact that he was going to fail me.

I hurried back to the locker room, grateful to be able to take a shower without the presence of everyone else. I changed back into my regular clothes before leaving the locker room. I was heading towards the gym entrance to make my exit, but stopped when I heard the sound of familiar non-English music lyrics.

"Ji-Hun?" I muttered instinctively, looking about the gym until I spotted Ji-Hun at the bleachers. He was sitting high up with his laptop on his lap as he typed away. He didn't have headphones on, indicating that the music was coming from his laptop.

I called his name again, watching as he turned to look at me with an expression of surprise.

"Is the class over already?" he asked, putting a stop to the music coming from his computer. I shook my head as I walked up to meet him.

"No, I just got let off early. There should still be about forty minutes to the class is over. What are you doing here anyway?" I asked, wondering why he wasn't taking part in gym class. If he was skipping class he wouldn't be sitting here in the gym where anyone could walk in on him at any time.

"I have a lot of notes to form, and assignments that I missed that my IT teacher insists I have to do. He took permission from the coach to let me do them during this period," he explained. I let my gaze go to his laptop screen, inspecting the word document he was working on. I looked away, turning my gaze to Ji-Hun's face. He had a smile on but it was obvious he was exhausted.

"That's enough about me, what about you? You looked down this morning..." He trailed, turning his gaze back to his laptop. "You don't have to tell me. Damn, I'm so nosey."

I shook my head at him, adjusting my sitting position on the bleachers so I was more comfortable. "It's okay I don't just like crowds, and I'm sorry about acting the way I did yesterday. I don't just like people mentioning my brother."

Ji-Hun gave me an odd look, like he wanted to ask me something. I watched him close his laptop, placing it on the space beside him before giving me his full attention.

"Why?" he asked, turning his body a little so our knees touched through our jeans. I looked down at my fidgeting hands, sighing before deciding to give him a proper response.

"Anyone would get tired of hearing someone's name over and over again. Caleb this, Caleb that. I'm just tired of hearing Caleb's name. I get enough of it at home, and I don't like it spilling into my school life."

"Your parents compare you two?" Ji-Hun asked. His voice was soft, and I liked how he was leaving room for me to speak.

"Yeah." I shrugged. "I don't think they do it intentionally. My parents are just seriously into arts and Caleb's an amazing artist. He's just their model child I guess."

"Was your brother the one that did those paintings from before?" he asked, looking straight at me. I bit my bottom lip, nodding at his question.

"I see," he sighed, turning away from me to look down towards the gym floor. "So that's why you were acting that way when we were in the art room."

I didn't answer him. It wasn't a question. It was more like a statement. We stared aimlessly into the gym as we dwelled in the silence that was only tinted by the soft noise of students in the field.

It was odd that Ji-Hun wasn't asking any more questions. He just took in what I said.

I was startled when Ji-Hun's rested his head on my shoulder, feeling his thick hair tickle my exposed neck. He hummed, adjusting his position before looking up at me.

"I hope this is okay," he muttered. I nodded, trying to control my flustered face. Was this what friends did? I wasn't used to close body contact, but it felt nice and I didn't complain when Ji-Hun scooted closer to rest his head better.

"Hey Wyatt," he muttered, making me look down at him. His eyes were half closed as they lazily stared at nothing in particular. His gaze suddenly moved to me, making me turn away, overwhelmed by the feeling it stirred.

"Don't let your parents get to you. You're you, you're not Caleb," he said as a lazy smile crossed his lips. "If it helps, I think you're pretty awesome — you know, even if you're grumpy half the time."

A chuckle vibrated through my chest as I looked down at him. I thought about it for a while before resting my head on his.

"Your hair's blinding me, but no pressure... none at all," Ji-Hun chuckled, making me laugh as well.

"I talked to Ben, he's not mad anymore. He even suggested that we all hung out together sometime," Ji-Hun told me as our laughter died down.

I looked up at the ceiling, letting out a small hum of approval. "Did he mention where exactly?"

"Yeah, he said we could come over to his place sometime this week. You know, just play some video games and talk... maybe check out his dad's tech repair store."

"That sounds cool," I muttered, adjusting my head on Ji-Hun's mop of shiny dark hair.

We stayed like that for a while before jumping apart when the gym door leading to the field flew open. Students started flooding in, and I took that as a cue that gym class was over.

"Well I'll see you later, I have biology," I muttered, picking up my backpack as I got up. Ji-Hun nodded at me, before turning to pack up his things.

"I have IT. I'll see you later then."

I left the Gym soon after, hurrying to change my books at my locker before heading to class. I wasn't prepared to get caught up in a sea of students.

The rest of the school day went by quickly. I opted to walk home with Aiyana since Ben and Ji-Hun just worked things out.

"I have so much to plan, it's crazy!" Aiyana complained, throwing her hands up in the air dramatically as we walked home.

"What?" I asked, not quite getting the context of her words. She tossed a frown my way before sighing and rolling her eyes.

"You weren't listening to me, were you? You've been stuck in your head since school ended, what happened?" Aiyana asked, giving me a curious look.

I felt a blush creep to my cheeks as I turned away. She obviously didn't know what happened in the gym. It's  not like anything important happened, it's just—

"You're in your head again," I heard Aiyana's voice say with a laugh, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Sorry," I stuttered as she chuckled, "I've just been thinking about a lot lately."

"I'm not even going to ask," Aiyana laughed, smacking my shoulder playfully.

I looked down at the floor as we continued down the road, my self-control failing me as my cheeks burned brighter.

"What were you talking about before?" I asked in an attempt to remedy the silence.

"I have a debate soon, but you having a crush is way more interesting," Aiyana said, chuckling. My eyes widened at her words. She said I have what now?

"I don't have a crush," I said in defense, gripping the straps of my backpack tightly.

"Sure," Aiyana said, sarcasm staining her tone so much that it was almost mocking. She reached out to stroke my hair, laughing as my face got brighter.

"Don't touch my hair, and I don't have a crush," I said, making Aiyana only laugh harder.

"Okay, okay, I was just teasing you!" she said, taking her hand away from my hair, and raising it up in surrender. She still had an odd smile on her face, like she was in on a secret.

Well, she's not, because I definitely do not have a crush.