Chapter Text
“I’m sorry Ross, I really didn’t mean to! Whatever it was, it was an accident!” Oscar said, his back in the corner of the piano room in the band room. Bakken wasn’t there that day, and Ross took his chance to finally confront the taller boy.
“You and your friends ran over Hazel, I even have the evidence to prove it!” Ross pulled out his old cracked cell phone, the video of a familiar truck swerving over the sidewalk in front of Ross’ house and hitting a young girl, her body ragdolling and flying in the air before landing with a thud in front of the camera, the truck driving off.
“Wait what? That wasn’t-”
“I saw you get into that truck after school, don’t deny it! My sister is in the hospital with multiple broken bones!” Ross interrupted before Oscar could explain himself. He was in the car, but he was dropped off at his house far before the car got close to Ross’ house. Would Theo really do such a thing?
“I’m so sorry for your sister Ross but-”
“Don’t pretend to be sorry.” Ross stated, “If you really are sorry, you’d promise to do something for me.”
“Wait what? I don’t know-”
“If you don’t, I’ll leak the video and send it to the authorities, and we’ll see how everyone thinks about you and your friends when you’re in jail.”
Oscar frowned. He didn’t expect it to come down to this. He wasn’t even involved in this and here Ross was, blackmailing him for something he wasn’t even sure who was involved. But could he risk the blame falling on him?
“What’s the promise?” Oscar asked, if he wasn’t anxious then he was anxious now.
Ross gave a creepy grin, one that made Oscar uneasy as the words came out of the blond’s mouth, “I want you to date me.”
. . .
“Chat, later should I call my crush?” Theo joked from the wheel of the truck. They were supposed to go to a football game that Friday but it was canceled at the last minute, and since Theo already planned to borrow Israel’s truck for the day he drove Israel and Oscar around town.
Later came and went and Theo said goodbye to Oscar before taking shelter from the oncoming rain under the overhanging roof of the school cafeteria.
“Now’s your chance, you should call Oscar.” Israel pointed out after Oscar was out of sight. He was right. Theo had a crush on Oscar for a few weeks now, and a phone call in the rain felt like the right time.
After a quick back and forth, Theo held up the phone and called.
. . .
As Oscar began his walk home in the rain, he thought back to that time in the truck. It was nice being alone with Theo, even if Israel was there sitting next to the boy with unnaturally ginger hair. He felt himself blush slightly as he recalled his day with his first real friends, but then, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.
“Hi?” He asked, it was Theo. He heard someone say something and laugh on the other side before quickly hanging up. Before he could even put his phone back into his pocket, Theo called again.
“Hello.”
“Hi.”
“I said I would call my crush to tell them I like them. So I called you to tell you that I like you” Theo said, his voice slightly wavering and a fit of giggles following the statement.
Then, as quickly as the call started, Theo hung up again.
Oscar stared at his phone for a minute, light raindrops falling on the screen as he waited to see if Theo would call him again. Was this all a joke? He couldn’t bear the thought of having to reject Theo just because of Ross getting in the way.
After a few minutes and he began walking again, Theo called again.
“I stole Theo’s phone and ran away.” Israel was on the other side. “So, do you like him back?” He sounded cheeky, like the whole thing was a joke. Oscar wanted to believe it was.
Oscar let in a deep breath and responded, “I have to say no. It’s for a personal reason.”
“Oh, I would’ve said yes,” Israel jokes, leaving a bad taste in Oscar’s mouth. He did like Theo back, really, it’s just he truly had to say no. Even on this empty sidewalk in the rain, Oscar felt like he was being watched by Ross.
Then, the phone hung up again.
“I know that Theo likes you.” Ross stated from the dark corner of the piano room. Oscar had agreed to meet up with the strange blond boy he was forced to call his boyfriend, but he didn’t expect this meeting to be one that brought so much unease.
“I rejected him, I didn’t break the promise.” Oscar stated, avoiding Ross’ eye contact. He wished he didn’t have to reject Theo, as he felt his love for him grow, but this was a choice he had to make if he didn’t want to risk his - and Theo’s - future. This was a choice no longer made out of self preservation - but also love.
Ross stepped uncomfortably close to Oscar, despite his shorter stature he seemed to tower over Oscar, “Oh I know that already, I’m glad you did.” He smiled, “You’re so loyal - unlike Theo. Even if you did accept his proposal, you would’ve been dumped for the next big guy and forgotten like all his other exes.” He got closer, his face weirdly close to Oscar’s, “You made the right choice.”