CHAPTER 73: PINKY PROMISES

Chapter Seventy Three

**OLIVER WEST**

First confusion, then something that looked like his heart breaking in real time.

Then, to my complete bewilderment, William suddenly bolted upright from his chair.

"I gotta go, I’m feeling a bit sick. " He took off, moving fast but not quite running.

I blinked in surprise, half expecting him to walk towards Vince. I wouldn’t even be shocked if he confronted the basketball player about the junior standing close to him.

I knew he was quite obsessed with him, and now that he’d been acting crazy...

I was getting ready to stand up, to prevent William from doing anything as severe as that... To my utmost bewilderment, William just walked through the exit, and he didn’t look in Vince’s direction, not even once.

I watched in amazement as Vince, who had apparently spotted William’s hasty departure, said something to the dark-haired boy and they both immediately turned around and left the way they’d come.

I sat there staring at the now-empty entrance, pieces of a horrible puzzle clicking into place in my mind.

Code Black: William had officially out-weirded himself. And I was starting to understand why.

"He seems really quite sick," Xander commented.

"I’m going to find him," I said, although I wasn’t sure why I even told him that.

"Of course, see you around, Oliver."

-

-

If I was right, maybe William had finally accepted that Vince was a player.

First, the blond guy.

Now, this dark-haired haired, who knew how many more people he was possibly dating?

I found William on the rooftop, his back against the chain-link fence. I paused on a step when I saw his shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

The sight of him like this, my strong, confident best friend reduced to this broken thing made something crack inside my chest.

I’d been dismissing his feelings as a mere crush, but was he actually in love with Vince??

I didn’t say anything, I just walked over and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him against my chest.

"I’m not going to ask you to tell me what’s wrong," I whispered, my hand rubbing slow circles on his back. " But it’s going to be fine, you will be okay,"

The words felt inadequate, but sometimes that’s all you had. It was also what Mom had always said to me during the bad days.

We slid down to sit on the concrete, my back against the fence. William was still clutched in my arms, he was no longer crying, but his eyes were really sad, and his shoulders slumped dejectedly.

The bell rang somewhere below us, signalling the end of lunch, but neither of us moved.

"I lost my v-card," William mumbled against my shirt, so quietly I almost didn’t hear him.

"What?"My head snapped to him so fast that I heard it crack.

Out of everything I presumed, it certainly wasn’t this.

"Will..."

"Then, he threw me out the next morning." William’s voice cracked on the words, and fresh tears soaked through my shirt. "So embarrassing, right? I want to die."

My throat closed up. Yeah, I would want to die too. No - I would have gone completely insane. The thought of giving someone that part of yourself, that trust, that vulnerability, only to be discarded the next morning...

I stared at William’s tear-streaked face and felt anger rise in my chest like bile.

White-hot, protective fury that made my hands shake. Who dared treat my precious friend like this?

"Who is that... oh wait..." I couldn’t bring myself to voice the name, it couldn’t be.

NO WAY!!

The blonde...

SHIT!

That was him?

The emotions were running too fast in my brain like flipping a book open.

"I knew he wasn’t good for you!" The words exploded out of me. "I could see it in his eyes! That cold-hearted bastard!"

William’s expression crumbled and I realized that might not have been the best thing to tell someone whose heart just got broken.

"I’m sorry," I muttered, "I’m sorry Will,"

William smiled at me, but it didn’t reach his eyes, "No, you can go ahead, I’ve probably called myself worse since it happened. I deserve everything for being a blinded fool."

"William, you’re not a fool! In my eyes, you are the best who deserves only the best," I said it and completely meant it, but right now, it didn’t seem as though William believed me.

"He told me he doesn’t do relationships. Said it was just for fun. But I thought... I thought maybe if I was good enough... I could convince him. I can’t even think of all the embarrassing things I did like... No, let me just die!" He started to push away from me, going towards the edge of the roof while I dragged his arm.

"William, no, don’t leave me!" I tugged his arms and we both landed against the basement hard.

William suddenly pushed away from me, scowling and wincing in pain at the same time.

"What the heck, I wasn’t going to die! I still have so many costumes I haven’t even tried on,"

"Oh, you didn’t mean it?" I scratched the back of my neck, smiling awkwardly.

"Of course not! He’s just one guy, I will find better," He probably tried to sound strong, but his voice cracked with tears again. And then, he was wiping his face with the back of his hand.

"Of course, you’ll find better than that bastard." The curse felt inadequate for the rage burning in my chest. I pulled William against me, hugging him close, somehow wishing I could absorb some of his pain.

"He isn’t worth your tears. It’s his loss."

William pulled back to look at me, his eyes red and swollen but determined. "I won’t like him anymore. I totally won’t. I’m done."

"Good," I said fiercely, pumping my fist at him.

William grabbed my hands suddenly, his grip almost painful, his eyes tight with worry. "Promise me something, Oliver. That you won’t end up like me. No matter what anyone says about liking you, no matter what they promise - don’t give that part of yourself away easily. Not until you’re absolutely sure that they will put a ring on your finger."

A ring?

Now, wasn’t this too serious??

But at this moment, I was willing to tell him anything.

"I promise," I whispered.

Did this mean I was going to be a virgin forever??

What was I going to do if Kieran started asking for that... that??!