It was the fourth time Jonah had come over to Nicky's that week, and the two boys had already gotten into a routine of avoiding all the other Haddad kids by sprinting upstairs, locking themselves in Nicky's room, plopping down in front of the Xbox, and turning on Jonah's playlist, basically consisting of the entire discography of Bob Dylan.
What started off as the main focus of their conversations turned quickly to background music as Jonah started to ask less and talk more, and as Nicky started to feel less like he was suffocating and more like he was having fun.
He's had that problem for as long as he could remember, and no one else in his family did. Even the little guys had tons of friends, but Nicky never really wanted any. Anytime he tried to strike up a conversation, he'd get dizzy and feel like someone was sitting on his chest, and then he'd have to walk away. For him, it was better off alone, and he didn't mind all that much.
The first day Jonah came over, he felt like that. They didn't talk much except if it was about Bob Dylan, which Nicky was sort of thankful for because he knew way too much about him for a sixteen year old kid. But whenever Jonah came back, it got a little easier.
And by the fourth time, they were talking like best friends, playing video games like they had all the time in the world, and not paying that much attention to whatever song was playingâ unless it was a favorite of course. Like a Rolling Stone had only come up twice so far, but both times they didn't hesitate on belting out the lyrics over the screaming kids downstairs.
"Excited for school?" Nicky asked as he watched Jonah run around and steal cars in whatever game he was playing. Honestly, Nicky didn't know anything about video games, but he didn't hesitate to steal some of Naveen's and pretend he did when Jonah said he liked to play them.
School was starting back up in only a few days and Nicky was already dreading going back. Jonah didn't look too excited either when he shrugged. "Nah. Hockey season's starting up again, which means no more casual practices, plus I have to deal with the team trying to vote me off as captain again like they did at the beginning of the school year."
"Why'd they do that? Aren't you their best player or something?"
"Yeah, but I think that's why they want me out of the spotlight so bad. All the scouts and the newspapers are coming to me, and they don't really get a chance to shine, you know?" He explained. "I feel kinda bad sometimes."
"Don't," Nicky said. "Seriously, Jo. From what I've heard, you deserve that spotlight more than anyone else."
Jonah didn't smile or give a humble thanks like Nicky expected. Instead, he paused the game, keeping his eyes locked on the TV. He didn't know what it was, but something about Jonah had suddenly changed. He still had the same smiling eyes, and the same resting smile, but it lacked the blinding light Nicky had gotten so used to seeing, and he found himself wanting Jonah back to normal more than anything.
"Are we friends, Nicky?" Jonah asked, catching Nicky sort of off guard. Obviously he hoped Jonah was his friendâ the guy had been hanging out at his house for three hours nowâ but now he was a little confused.
"Um," Nicky replied quietly, "I think so."
"Do you really wanna be friends? Or do you just want a social boost or something? Because if that's what you're looking for, I'm really not the guy to give it to you."
Nicky's head shot up from where it was resting on his hands after a few seconds of confusion when it fully registered in his mind what Jonah was accusing him of. "Really? You think I'm like that?"
Jonah dropped the controller and held his hands up in defense. "I have no idea, Nicky, really. For all I know you could be a fucking spy from Westview sent to mess with me. I don't know."
Nicky almost laughed. A spy? This wasn't Bring it On, it was high school hockey. "Don't be an asshole. You know me, dude. We aren't strangers anymore. Do I really seem like the type of guy to do something like that for- what- a few popularity points?" He questioned. He knew he was getting defensive, which wasn't good for anybody, really, but he couldn't help it.
"I don't know, Nicky," Jonah insisted, and this time, he sounded so genuinely lost, Nicky's ability to defend himself melted away.
He really didn't know.
And of course he didn't know. Priya told Nicky how the people at his school treated him. That would give anyone reason enough to question their relationships.
Nicky slowly laid his chin back down in his hands, scooting a little closer to where Jonah was so their knees brushed together. "I'm not that kinda person," he assured Jonah.
"Promise?"
"I swear."
They lingered their eyes on each other for a few seconds longer than they had meant to, but Jonah was smiling again, and then Nicky realized he was smiling a little bit as well.
Then, a familiar beat started coming out of Jonah's phone, and while Jonah's grin grew, Nicky's flopped right into a scowl.
"Please change the song," Nicky said after hearing the first chord, "I can't stand it."
Jonah gaped at him. "The Times They Are A-Changing? Are you kidding?"
"I can't listen to it without thinking of that one boring-ass commercial," he explained, reaching for the phone.
Jonah only had a few inches on him, but that turned out to be detrimental when Jonah reached his long arm over to where the phone was laying and snatched it up before Nicky could scoot his way over to it. "We're gonna play this until you like it," Jonah told him, holding it close to his chest.
"I swear to god I will kick your ass if we get another minute into this song."
Jonah just shrugged and hummed along with the tune. "And if your breath to you is worth saving," he sang quietly.
"Don't."
"Then you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone," this time a little bit louder.
"Jonah," he warned.
"THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGING," he beltedâ no, screamedâ at the top of his lungs, drowning out Bob Dylan's low voice.
Nicky lunged at him, going for the phone but with his terrible aim and lack of athleticism, he ended up just yanking on Jonah's arm (with an impressive amount of power), sending him tumbling forward and landing on top of Nicky.
Nicky's laugh got caught in his throat when he felt the weight of Jonah on his body. He stayed completely still, unsure of what to do about the boy who was sprawled out on top of him laughing his ass off. Jonah pushed up off his stomach and put his hands right next to Nicky's head.
His face was dangerously close to Nicky's, so close his breath fanned across Nicky's cheeks, sending actual shivers down his spine. He prayed Jonah would be too oblivious to notice his burning cheeks because honestly, he wouldn't know how to explain something like that.
Then Jonah quirked his head to the side as he leaned in the tiniest bit closer and said, "you've got a lot of freckles."
"You just noticed?" Nicky questioned with an awkward laugh, kind of surprised he was able to push out words past the lump in his throat. He thought his freckles were the first thing people noticed about him. Some people had piercing eyes, some people had a gorgeous smile, and Nicky had the constellations of dots covering his face.
Jonah shook his head. His eyes were dancing all around Nicky's face, which made his stomach churn, but he didn't make a move to push Jonah away. "I noticed the first time I saw you, there's just a lot more up close. Tinier ones."
Nicky could say the same thing. He could say something about how Jonah's got faint freckles all over his nose, but his skin is too dark to see them from far away. He could say something about how he never noticed the little green flecks in Jonah's brown eyes until right then. He could say a lot of thingsâ things he never thought he'd ever get to see about Jonah.
But instead, he just covered up his face with his hands, mostly to block Jonah's view of him, but also a little bit to cover the blush that was surely spreading like a wildfire, turning his entire face into a tomato. "If my dad let me buy makeup, these things would never see the light of day," he said through his hands.
Jonah pulled both hands away from Nicky's face and gave him a once over, tilting his head to the side a little like he was trying to get every angle he could. "Why would you cover them up?"
"They're ugly."
"They're not ugly, dude. You're, like, rare. It's cool," he assured him, getting one last good look before he rolled off Nicky and back over to the Xbox.
Nicky didn't want to be rare. He wanted to blend in, and with the dots all over his face, it was kind of hard to do so. He always thought about getting his mom to help him buy makeup to cover them up, but she insisted they were "gods gift" every time she caught him covering them up at family gatherings or when she took a picture of him, so that was never gonna happen.
But he looked over at Jonah and watched as he got back into the game, biting his lip and scrunching up his nose in concentration, and he decided that maybe Jonah calling them cool wasn't so bad.
âââââââ
This is cute :)
I wanna hear some opinions!! What's the deal with Nicky gettin all blushy with Jonah? I mean, if someone got all up in my face and started talking about my freckles, I'd act the same way... but idkððð
Sorry the uploads have been so sporadic. It's junior year, and everyone living in America knows exactly what that means :( but don't get me wrong, this story will be complete, I'm just trying to figure out how to balance school and uploading. Next chapter should be on time though!
Thanks so much for reading!
~Teddy