CHAPTER 23 | Him

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I washed my hands after using the restrooms and wiped them on my sweatshirt. I checked myself for a while in the mirror before walking out. Vincent was waiting for me near the door. He was typing on his phone, rather irritatingly. I stood next to him, catching him a bit by surprise.

"Who are you talking to?" I asked him.

He sighed. "Jai." I nodded and then he put his phone back in his pocket. "Man, this girl is so hard to conquer. I really like her but... I feel like we just don't connect." He said as he intertwined his fingers together. "She hates what I like, and I like what she hates. I've tried to impress her but nothing works. We don't have anything in common. One day I asked her if she liked pineapple in her pizza, and guess what she answered?"

"She... likes it with pineapple?"

"No." He shook his head. "She doesn't like pizza at all! Like, what the hell, who doesn't like pizza?!" He cried out.

"Wow, Vin. That really hurts." I said with an apologetic smile.

"I know right... Hey, Zack, do you know how to conquer a girl, by any chance?" He asked.

I snorted. "If I was straight and I had dated a lot of girls, I would gladly give you advice, Vin." He chuckled at that. "Why don't you ask Amber about it? She surely knows a lot about what girls like and what not."

"No, she surely wouldn't stop making fun of me. What if she tells Jaida all of my feelings for her, and Jaida says she doesn't feel the same and I make a fool out of me?"

I chuckled. He overthinks too much just like I do. "I don't think she would dare to do that. Yeah, she likes to make fun of you and embarrass you but she would never humiliate you."

"Well... I think I will ask her. But not now that she's with Jaida. I can't help but feel nervous when I'm around her." He admitted as we started making our way to the exit.

"That's exactly how I feel when... I'm around Mark." I said the last part with a low voice.

He chuckled. "Aw, Zack is in love with Mark, isn't he?" He nudged my arm.

I blushed a little at his comment. "And Vincent is in love with Jaida. So cute!" I nudged him back and he just smiled.

Then, out of the corner of a wall, Skylar appeared with a notebook on her hand, her eyes roaming around, like looking for someone. As her eyes landed on us, on mine specifically, she started walking our direction.

"There you are." She said as she stood in front of us, making us stop. I looked at her confusingly.

"Um, who?" Vincent asked.

"This kid." She replied as she motioned her head towards me. "And you, screw off." She told Vincent, pointing a thumb behind her.

"What? Why?" He asked.

"I need to talk to him." She said and I got nervous. No, Vincent, don't leave!

He looked at her suspiciously before looking at me. "We'll wait for you at the exit, okay?"

I sighed and nodded. He patted my shoulder before giving one last look to Skylar and he walked past her.

Once he left, I shifted uncomfortably on my spot, looking down at my fingers. What does she want? Is she going to make fun of me?

"Stop shaking. I'm not going to hurt you." She said as she rolled her eyes.

I looked up at her briefly, then she continued. "Look, I need you to do me a big favor, so can you please listen to me and not doze off while I'm speaking?"

A favor? Oh damn, I better do this right. "Um... okay."

"Good." She said and looked down at the notebook she was holding. "So we just left from math class, and this notebook happened to be under Mark's chair after we left. I noticed it and decided to inspect it." She then started flipping through the pages, and from here I could see some drawings on them. "I found these incredibly cool drawings and I was amazed and curious as to who had been the artist who created these pieces of art. When I looked to the cover of the notebook, I was even more surprised when I found Mark's name on it. See?" She said as she closed the notebook and showed me the cover. Indeed, it read Mark P., decorated with various lines and figures.

I nodded, so she continued. "So Mark, being the sloppy dumb idiot he is, he must have forgotten it, as always." She licked her index finger as she flipped through the pages again, looking at each one of them. "What surprises me the most, though, is why Mark never told us he could draw so well. Like, look at these drawings, they're absolutely amazing. But again, I don't know why he had kept it hidden from us all these years. It's not like this is a personal diary, or like he hides all his porn here, nothing of that. There are only drawings here. Really cool drawings, I must say. Even though I'm really not a person who gets impressed easily, well, this managed to do it."

"Mark is really silly. He thinks that just because he's the bad guy, he can't have the ability to draw super well, and he thinks that if his talent ever gets leaked to the public, everybody's going to make fun of him, mock him, I don't know. In summary, what I can see in this notebook, is a guy with very good skills and an amazing talent, but not with enough courage to show it to the world. A shame." She shrugged as she closed the notebook.

I thought about everything she had said and I couldn't help but agree to every single word. "Anyway, I need you to give this to Mark. Who knows how long he can survive when he finds out his little treasure is missing." She handed me the notebook and I took it.

But then I was confused again. "Um... but why me?"

"Rupert and Herman left already. Then I remembered that Mark and you get along now, and besides, you already know his secret talent, so you're the only one who can give it to him."

"And, why not you, then? You found it." I pointed out.

She sighed. "He said he was gonna play soccer today, so he should be in the locker room by now. And how can a girl get in the locker room full of naked men?"

The locker room. Oh no, I know what I would find there. "Oh... But... I-I"

"Look, I know you like Mark." She blurted.

I widened my eyes at her. "Shhh!" I shushed as I looked around to see if anyone had heard that. "H-How... d-do you know that?"

"I knew it since the first day you looked at him. You turned as red as a tomato and it happens almost every time you set eyes on him. Really, if you don't want people finding out, you should stop being too obvious."

I looked down in embarrassment. Damn it, I knew I was being too obvious. Every time more people are finding out! "But... Are you... Okay with that?"

"I'm not like any of those idiots. They treat you as if you were the only boy who likes Mark, while I've actually met a lot of other boys who say they like him too." She shrugged. "Anyway, don't waste time and go give it to him. You wouldn't like to miss a chance of seeing Mark shirtless, would you?" She smirked as she turned around to walk away.

Those words had me widening my eyes and I quickly turned to make my way to the locker room. Mark shirtless... Oh my God, my stomach fluttered just to think about it.

I texted the group to let my friends know that I'd take a bit longer. All of them teased me saying I was going with Mark and things of the sort. So yeah, I'm going with Mark, but this will be something real quick... I hope so.

I felt myself getting nervous as I stood in front of the doors of the locker room. I could hear chattering and laughing inside. I took a deep breath before I placed my hand on the handle. I opened it and stepped into the steamy room.

As soon as I entered I was welcomed by the hot temperature inside, the smell of sweat, but most of all, the sight of many hot guys showing their well-built bodies, with towels wrapped around their waists. Wow, I wonder why don't I come here more often.

Then I felt uncomfortable. All of them are semi-naked with such perfect and hot bodies and here I am, dressed like a vagrant, looking like someone who's got absolutely nothing to do here, but look at all of them like some sort of creep.

Okay, Zack, stop. You wouldn't like to be caught staring and they find out you like them or something. Also, you wouldn't like to have an erection in front of everyone! Calm down and head to your objective, give him the notebook and get out. Yeah.

I made my way through the many hot guys, looking around everywhere in search of Mark. Some guys started giving me weird looks, wondering why I was here, but I tried my best to keep calm and look for Mark. Come out wherever you are, Mark! This is starting to get awkward.

"Are you looking for someone, buddy?" A guy wearing a tank top asked me, making me stop.

"Um... H-Have you seen Mark?" I asked shyly.

"Mark? Yeah, he's on the bench over there." He pointed behind him and I could see the edge of a bench.

"Okay. Thank you." I said and headed there.

I turned around a row of lockers and the bench came into full view, as well as the person who was sitting on it, drying his hair with a towel, and dressed in nothing else than a pair of shorts. Mark's eyes landed on mine for a moment, and when he realized it was me, he stopped drying his hair and stood up. He got closer to me. Oh no, don't get any closer, it's torturing me!

"Zack? What are you doing here?" He asked, looking at me quite confusingly.

But I was frozen at the sight of the most beautiful human being who ever set foot in this planet in front of me, a perfect creation of mother nature, that body that looked as if it had been sculpted by the gods themselves. It looked so much better in person than in pictures.

My mind took note of every detail, starting from his broad shoulders, the tattoo located on the center of his neck, his massive, slightly haired chest and pectorals, those pink nipples that I would worship all day and night, his veiny biceps with a tattoo on one of them that covered his forearm, his sexy six pack of abs where small droplets of water ran down over them, a trail of hair that went down to his navel and finished at the hem of his shorts, and well... I couldn't see any more from there.

"I... I-I" I stuttered. Damn you Mark and your sexiness. I can't form a damn sentence! I'm even starting to feel my face getting hot.

Looking down wasn't helping either, though, because there was a pair of hairy, long and strong legs, and those big, sexy, bare feet where his wonderful figure ended. Now he is a person worthy of being called Perfect from head to toe.

"What?" Mark asked, seemingly more confused now. Then he must have seen the notebook in my hands because he quickly snatched it from me. The harsh movement made me look up at him. "What are you doing with my notebook?!"

I shook my head to head to clear my mind of any other thoughts and I tried to explain. "Uuhhh... Sky-Skylar... She t-told me-"

"Zack, you know I don't understand a thing when you talk like that." He said annoyingly.

I took a deep breath and tried again, looking at the side so I wouldn't be hypnotized again by his body. "Skylar found your notebook... When your math class ended... She told me to give it to you because... Rupert and Herman left already..."

Mark inspected his notebook as to check if it was damaged or if there was something out of place. But he didn't find anything. "Um... Okay, then."

I couldn't stay here anymore. If I stared at his body any longer, he and the others would find out that I like him (so freaking much) sooner or later.

"Well, that's all... See you tomorr- I mean, next Monday. Bye." I waved and made my way out of the locker room without even waiting for his answer.

My heart was beating rapidly and my stomach fluttered every time Mark's semi-naked figure came to my mind. I even bumped into some people because of my head who couldn't stop bringing me that image. Now that's something I'll definitely never forget.

I finally got to the exit where my friends were waiting for me.

"Zack, what took you so long? Why is your face red?" Amber asked as soon as she saw me.

"Um, it's the sun." I said nervously.

"Did that girl do anything to you?" Vincent asked.

"No, she just told me to give a notebook to Mark and I did." I shortened the story. "So, can we go now?"

They agreed and we walked to the parking lot, where Amber's van (well, Amber's dad's van) was waiting for us. It's weekend so today we decided to go to a café and have some time together. We were planning to go for pizza, but since Jaida doesn't like pizza, we had to look for another place that all of us liked.

When we got to the café, we ordered what we would have and talked for a while. Every now and then, though, I would drift off from their conversation and just picture that perfect image of Mark in my head. I couldn't help it, it's so stuck inside!

I wish I could touch any part of his body. Like his chest, just a little. Just to feel the sensation of my fingers on his skin.

Amber laughed. "He looked like a ballerina! Right, Zack?" She nudged my arm.

I turned my head at her. "Sorry, what?"

"Herman." She said.

"Um, what about him?"

"When he stepped on the wet floor and he skated all around like a ballet dancer!" She explained as Vincent and Jaida laughed again. "Then he landed on his butt all soaked in water. It was the first time I had seen him so embarrassed."

"Oh, yeah, I remember, it was very funny." I said, laughing a bit.

"What is happening to you lately, huh?" She asked as she took a sip of her chocolate.

"Nothing, why?"

"You're just sucking on your straw and you're not joining the conversation."

"You look like Mark just kissed you and you're thinking of that moment." Vincent commented, making me blush deeply and Jaida smacked his arm playfully. "Just kidding, man." He chuckled.

Amber gasped. "He kissed you?!"

"Of course not!" I exclaimed.

"But it has something to do with him, doesn't it?" Amber pushed.

I sighed. "Yeah but I don't want to talk about it."

They all exchanged mischievous looks and then laughed, while I just shook my head and blushed a bit. Amber has definitely turned them all into fangirls. And a fanboy. If only it was that easy to turn Mark gay...

"Well, I think I'll go for another one." Jaida said as she stood up from her seat near the window.

"Oh no." Vincent stood up. "You stay here, I'll bring it to you. Which one do you want?"

"Oh, okay thanks." She said as she sat back down. "Uh, bring me an iced coffee, please."

"Gladly. You, Amber?"

"Another chocolate and another turkey sandwich."

"Okay, and you Zack?"

"Nothing. I'm fine, thanks."

"Alright, I'll be right back." Vincent said and went for their drinks.

"You should eat more, Zack." Amber commented.

"And you should eat le-"

"I KNOW! DON'T REMIND ME!" Amber snapped, making me jump and others looked at our table. She faked a cry but then she started laughing like a maniac. Jaida and I gave her weird looks. She just took a sip of her empty drink after she calmed down. She's really scary sometimes. She can come to you like a screamer in a YouTube video at any moment.

"So, Jaida. Do you like him?" She asked as she looked at her.

Jaida raised a brow. "Who?"

"Vin." Amber said as she smirked.

Jaida smiled sheepishly and you could see a blush forming on her cheeks. "Well, you could say that." She chuckled.

"Aw, even though I ship gay couples better, I think you two would look cute together. And I've seen he's been pretty flirtatious with you, so I don't doubt he likes you back."

She chuckled again. "I've seen that too. I think I need more time to know him better and see if he's the ideal boyfriend for me, though."

"Yeah, but don't think too much, or he could lose interest in you."

Jaida shrugged. "So what? There are plenty of boys in the world."

"You're right." Amber nodded. "I like how you think."

Vincent came back with their drinks and food. He placed them in the center of the table. They grabbed their respective food and ate while we continued to talk again. This time I tried to talk more.

A while later we decided to leave. We paid and we went back to Amber's dad's van. She drove each of us to our own houses. This time she drove slower, since there were more cars and people outside today. Neither she nor us would like to be involved in a chaos if Amber drove normally.

After Amber dropped me off at my house, I said my goodbye to her and she drove off. She made a comment about me stopping thinking about Mark. If only she knew how I struggled to not think about him.

I stepped inside my house and there was a smell of food that covered the main hall. Maybe my aunt left the food prepared for when I was hungry. But I wasn't right now, so I simply walked over to the TV and turned it on. I changed to the music channel to make some noise and I walked upstairs to my bedroom.

I decided I should take a shower. My armpits stink badly. I walked to the bathroom that was attached to my bedroom and stripped of all my clothes. I opened the faucet and waited for the water to get hot. But not that hot, I liked it warm.

When it was warm enough, I stepped inside and pulled the curtain to cover myself. I don't know why I did that, it's not like I live with lots of people, and no one would get get inside to watch me. Unless I was in one of those horror movies where you see the shadow of a man with a knife through the curtain.

Whatever. I just started to wash myself. I poured some shampoo on my hand and applied it on my hair. It's one of the best shampoos, so it always makes my hair soft and silky. Then I proceeded to wash my body. I ran my hands over my chest and my non-existent pectorals, and... I knew it would happen sooner or later. Mark's image came to my mind once again.

I remembered perfectly how he looked. How his hot torso had been exposed to me for that moment. The only thing I couldn't see was his intimate part. Those shorts he was wearing could come down so easily... The hem of those shorts was a bit too below his waist that with a little pull, they would come down and I'd get to see the beauty of his manhood.

The thought made my member twitch in delight and I was starting to get hard. Oh fuck this. I just closed my eyes and let my mind wander.

I imagined him standing naked in front of me, in this same place. That perfect picture of him that couldn't be compared to anybody else. I ran small circles over my nipples, imagining it was his fingers the ones that were doing it, making my member get harder, and a soft moan escape from my lips. Then I imagined how his chest would feel if he pressed it against mine, how fast both our hearts would be beating, and how would his lips feel if he joined them with mine.

I let small moans as I moved my mouth, simulating I was kissing him, as I ran my hand down until wrapping it around my now throbbing member. I started off slowly, stroking myself up and down, rubbing my thumb slightly on the tip and shivering at the sensation, already feeling the precum starting to leak out.

I wondered how it would feel if he sucked me. So with the power of my head, I imagined him trailing small kisses down my chest, my stomach, until getting to my hard member. I tried to feel the warmness of his mouth if he would suck me, the slopiness of his tongue and that my hands that were stroking myself were actually his.

"Mark..."

Then I wanted to