FIRST PERSON! THOMAS JEFFERSHIT!

"What. The. Fuck."

I stared at the pair in utter disbelief. Alexander was on the floor, bleeding from his nose (btw, yes, Alex has a nose.) and more bruised than usual. His eyes were red and puffy and his face was tear-stained. James...

Oh gosh, James.

There was blood on his hands from the broken nose (1. I'm probably going to add a lot of side notes this chapter so yeah, 2. Boy in the bubble anyone?) and he was panting. He looked at me in...well, I couldn't tell. His eyes showed so many emotions that I could've sworn I've never seen in my best friend.

Best friend.

Is that even a way to describe him now? I'd heard everything. I didn't even intend to speak out loud, I was going to make a dramatic entrance and reveal that I had been there that whole time, but I guess I just couldn't keep my mouth shut.

"T-Thomas?" James started. I must've been spaced out for a while, because Alexander had already gotten up and started staggering towards me. James noticed and jumped in between me and him, but I pushed him aside and hugged Alex - I swear it was for support - and I felt him heat up. James just stood there, astonished.

"THOMAS GET AWAY FROM HIM! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THE RULES I SET DOWN!" he yelled. I just glared at him. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell." He said innocently. He obviously did. Cold in my tone, I said, "What is your problem?". He looked really frustrated at that point. Devastated almost.

"My problem is that I like you Thomas Jefferson, I like you as so much more than a friend. You've just never noticed..." he said sounding desperate. If he hadn't said that I would've thought he was incapable of feeling emotions. Which brings up the question of why? Why did he love me? Is it because he knew I was gay? Because we had known each other for so long?

I'd always seen him as nothing more than a brother. A friend. 

"Yeah, well, I don't like you. When I say like I mean in a love kind of way, and even then it'd be platonic. The thing is, you're really pushing the limits here, don't make me drop it to not-friend." I said a little too harshly. He just looked at me miserably. He opened his mouth to speak, but he closed it again and looked down at his feet. I hadn't even noticed that Alex was looking at me with a mix of pity and passion. It hit me that James had literally just confessed to my crush for me.

Just another thing to be mad at him for.

"So...um..." I started awkwardly but he (luckily) interrupted me. "How long?" He asked. "Wayyy longer than a couple weeks ago." I stated sheepishly. He looked at me in shock and that pale blush of his creeped up his face. How cute. "Um...so..do..do you?" I said hopefully. He practically lit up and his chocolate eyes filled with half a million emotions.

He nodded his head vigorously.

Yes! YES! I hugged him tightly and he flinched a little bit but nevertheless he hugged me back. Then I did something I never would've done in my wildest dreams. (well...maybe I have, but that's none of your business) I brought his face closer to mine, blushing intensely and not having a care in the world.

And though I would like to say I made the first move, he closed the gap.

It was like heaven for those 10 seconds. (*cracks knuckles* alrighty, let's write the first kiss. You've been warned) When our lips connected I felt the butterflies practically swarming in my stomach. He smelled like earth and though they were bruised, his lips were soft and sweet. I would've gladly given up everything I had if it meant we could stay like this forever.

But alas, there happens to be a thing called fucking oxygen.

When he pulled away he was super pale, and I would've been concerned if I didn't know what it was. Luckily, I did and just smiled at him. He returned it, pure joy radiating off of him like the sun. I really wanted to just stay there for a few minutes more (more like a few decades-) but I remembered that James was there.

When I turned to him he looked devastated. A few tears had fallen and dripped off his chin, but the helplessness soon turned to anger and he hopped up and stormed away.

In the direction of the city.

"WAIT! JAMES WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! YOU'LL GET KILLED, JEMMY WAIT-" I yelled after him. Alexander blinked a few times and then also started yelling for him to come back. Eventually I started running towards him and grabbed his arm. "Jemmy, what are you doing?" I asked. "I'm leaving." He answered simply. I felt myself start to tear up. I don't know why, this is the man who and just beat up my Alexander. 

But he was still my best friend.

~first flashback of the book!~

Thomas climbed back up the slide so he could go again, despite his mother's warning. So what if it was mean? He was going to go as many times as he wanted, and that was that. At the top of the slide however he was greeted by snot in his face. "Hey! Watch it! Eww..." he said, wiping the nasal fluid off of him (that sounds soooo weird.)  "Well, maybe you shouldn't be climbing up the slide." another voice answered. Thomas looked up to see another boy about his age, with a blue shirt that read "just like my father but smarter" and khaki pants. He was holding a hanker chief and his nose was red. He also sounded stuffy. "Oh really? And who might you be?" Thomas asked.

"James. James Madison." The boy replied. "Well, nice to meet you James, I'm Thomas. Thomas Jefferson." he replied and they shook hands. "Hey, why are you at the park when you're sick? Shouldn't you be in bed eating alphabet soup or something?" Thomas asked. "My mommy said it's good for me to go outside and get some fresh air. I think she just wants me to have more s-social...inter..action? Yeah, social interaction." He said smartly. "Woah, what's that?" Thomas asked. He'd never heard such big words before.

"It means she wants me to make more friends. But I don't really like making friends. People are mean." He explained. "Well I have plenty of friends!" Thomas boasted. However upon seeing James's expression he added, " but yeah, people can be pretty mean." James lit up. "Hey, since we both dislike people, why don't we be friends? We can be intro...introve...introverts? Yeah, introverts together!" He said. "Sure! But um, what does intro...intro whatever, mean?" Thomas asked, excitement in his tone. Wow, a friend who understood him! "It means people who don't like to talk to other people." He explained. "So, like, we'll be lonely?" "Yeah, but in a good way." "Sounds great, I'm in!"

And with that the two high-fived and slid down the slide.

~end of flashback!~

"Jemmy wait!" I said. "NO! Don't call me that. My name is James. Not jemmy, not jemmy James, James." He said in a serious tone. I was baffled. Had I really hurt him that badly? "James..." I said pathetically. He ripped his arm from my grip, looked me dead in the eyes and said "I don't want to be an introvert with you anymore."

My heart shattered into a million pieces.

As he walked into the distance I fell onto my knees, put my head in my hands and wept.

Right then, I realized why the saying pals before gals existed.

~Hey....how ya'll doin? So yeah, I know I've been a terrible writer lately, but currently my math grade sucks, I'm juggling three essays, and it's Christmas time, so family time. But luckily for you, I was able to take time out of my day and write this chapter. Speaking of, I'm sorry it's short, but it's fine, y'all probably have better things to do anyways. Anyways, I just decorated my Christmas tree (which was mainly trying to untangle Christmas lights) so yeah. I might make a Christmas special soon, but you might know that I am HORRIBLE at keeping promises, especially when it comes to Wattpad. But I promise irl, I'm a wonderful promise (and secret) keeper. A lot is happening at school too. There's this boy that likes me and we are friends and ugh, I don't know what to tell him. He's so nice and shy and aww the poor thing, why'd he have to fall in love? But yea, imma stop ranting now. Čau lidi! ✌🏽~