Jesse's entire life is a charade. Everything he does, he does to hide the truth. His girlfriend? Fake. His hair colour? Fake. His love for soccer? Fake. His life? Fake, fake, fake.
But after years of pretending, people simply believe everything he t...
He had pretended to be sick, didn't go to school and rather wanted to rinse his memory with chloride and never think back to that one idiot of a good-looking guy.
Loek, however, proved to be just as curious by nature as Jesse was—maybe even worse—by trying to pry out an answer after an awkward silence that dragged on for minutes. Though it felt like hours.
Loek spoke quick, probably because he didn't want Jesse to cut him off again. "Can you just assure me that nothing bad happened to you?"
Jesse rolled over until he was on his back and able to look Loek in the eyes. "I said I didn't want to talk about it."
Loek bit his lip, and he looked away while his face flushed. He knew he was indeed crossing a line with his questions, and Jesse appreciated how he was visibly trying not to ask again.
"Define bad," Jesse eventually gave in when Loek opened his mouth again.
Loek's mouth snapped shut again, and for a few good seconds he kept his eyes closed. He was probably searching for the right words, and Jesse wondered what he would come up with. What did he think that happened?
"You know... like... someone forcing you," Loek eventually explained his question, and Jesse huffed in response, but then smiled.
"Nobody forced me, Loek. But I can't say it wasn't a bad experience. I just don't want to think about it."
Loek nodded in reply, and when he smiled, Jesse knew he had reassured him that he was telling the truth. After that, Loek respected his wish not to discuss the matter any further, and after they silently lay in each other's arms for a while, Jesse fell asleep again.
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Jesse was watching Calix mess around on his skateboard while Axel was trying to give him some tips. Out of the three of them, Axel was the most talented skater. Jesse was a decent skater who knew a few tricks. But Axel was the one that taught him everything he could.
They agreed on skating on a Sunday afternoon because that's what they usually did on Sunday's. But Jesse felt as if his two best friends were currently forcing a casual attitude.
Their conversations felt forced and it made Jesse feel uncomfortable. When he just arrived in the skatepark he had joined them in practising new tricks, but Jesse wasn't concentrating enough to learn new things.
He was distracted by the graffiti on a nearby wall that made him think about Loek.
And what they had done a few hours before.
Usually, the skatepark reminded him of Calix, no matter if he was present or not. Usually, anything reminded him of Calix.
The clear blue sky reminded him of his eyes, the sun reminded him of his tanned skin. Grass reminded him of Calix in his soccer outfit—in which he looked hot. Every part of town held memories of Jesse hanging out with Calix. The playground he passed almost daily on his way to school held memories of their childhood, the park reminded him of playing soccer in their free time. Many places in town held memories of Calix and his obsession with taking pictures. Which was why Jesse had started taking pictures too.
