At the end of classes for the day, Nick started heading to the field from the locker room. He had practice with Luke and Willie, and Carrie had cheerleading, which made Nick cringe because she was definitely going to come back with gossip from Alex and Flynn about Reggie. Nick couldn’t give that thought a second glance though, because as he passed the music room, he heard a soft voice singing a country song and strumming an acoustic guitar.
“I just might be your average joe
But I am doing the best I can
No matter what life throws my way
I can still move on with my own hands
Battle those demons back where they came from
Strive on across this land
I may not be the king of kings
But I am doing the best I can”
Nick’s heart couldn’t take much more from this boy. Everything about him made Nick fall further, and he didn’t think he could survive a harsh landing. He realized he was frozen in the doorway when Reggie looked up and saw him. “Oh, uh, hi.” Nick said quickly, “Sorry, I was on my way to practice.” He gestured at his work out clothes, wishing he could’ve been looking better.
“Uh-it’s-it’s okay.” Reggie stuttered. Nick thought it was cute. He usually saw Reggie with his friends. But around Julie, Alex, and Flynn, Reggie was confident and fun loving. Around him, Reggie always got flustered. It was endearing.
“You have a really nice voice.” Nick said quietly. He needed to say something, and his brain only supplied the most basic of compliments. It was true, of course it was true. But Nick had known that for months now, since Reggie played in the talent show with Julie and Alex. At this moment though, it was all he could say. It made Reggie blush more than earlier, and Nick couldn’t deny that he was pleased with that result. “I gotta get moving.” Nick said sadly, he really wanted to be able to talk to Reggie as himself instead of the fake confident guy he had been earlier. Reggie nodded at him, still blushing. “I hope I see you later.”
“Wait!” Reggie said suddenly as Nick turned to leave. “Don’t you want your jacket back?”
Nick shook his head with a small smile, “You keep it for now. That flannel won’t keep you warm in this weather.” Nick left before Reggie could respond that while that was true, it would keep him warmer than Nick was going to be without a jacket at all.
Nick found himself singing the little bit of lyrics he’d from Reggie a lot. Every time he realized he was doing it, he would immediately look around, making sure no one heard him. The last thing he wanted was someone thinking he wrote it and making it a big deal. It wasn’t his. He found himself humming the tune now, barely audible. He was back in English class a few days after he saw Reggie in the music room, and the teachers was talking about some Shakespeare project they needed to partner up for. He figured he would just end up with Luke again. Until Julie popped up in front of him. “Hi.” She waved, that beaming smile Luke always talked about coming to the surface. “I was wondering if you would want to partner with Reggie? Luke asked for my help because apparently his grade in this class sucks, and I can’t turn down someone that needs my help.” Nick knew that Luke’s grade was fine, because they always did their work together, and Nick was getting an A. But still he didn’t want to rat on his friend, with or without the rules of the bet. So he nodded.
”Yeah, I’d be happy to work with him.” Julie’s smiled filled with relief when Nick agreed.
”Thank you so much. He can be really shy.” She waved Reggie over, and he took the seat next to Nick, which is probably the only reason Nick noticed Luke wasn’t there anymore. Reggie waved a little awkwardly as he adjusted his books, Julie glided over to where Luke had taken up Reggie’s vacant seat.
”I guess I will be seeing more of you.” Nick grinned at Reggie, mentally berating himself for still using his fake confidence. His grin turned a little shy when he realized that draped over the back of Reggie’s chair, was his letterman jacket. “Were you listening to him? Cause I’ll be honest I didn’t hear a word of the assignment.”
Reggie laughed a little, it was soft, barely a laugh, but it made Nick’s heart go crazy. “We need to pick a character from one of Shakespeare’s works and make a collage for them. Words, images, things like that that would describe the character. We have three days. Who do you think we should do?”
”Hmm. Ophelia? She’s a very looked over character of Hamlet.” Nick offered. He was not going to let his immense crush make him a deadbeat partner.
“Ah, yes. The jock choosing the pretty girl.” Reggie said, and for just a second Nick wanted to retort that it had nothing to do with her being a girl, but then he caught the light blush dusting Reggie’s cheeks, and the sparkle in his eyes. Reggie was messing with him.
”Very funny, Reg. She’s just a minor character that doesn’t get a lot of attention. I like those people, the ones that have a complexity to them but people seem to miss even though they deserve to be in the spotlight?” Nick knew he meant Reggie. And by the blush deepening on Reggie’s face, it looked like he did, too.
”Cute, sport-o. You ready to do this?” Reggie asked, clearly trying to regain some of his composure.
”You bet, country star.” Nick winked, pulling out his personal copy of Hamlet. It was weathered, but he’d brought his own copies of Shakespeare’s plays when he found out that was the section they were doing. Reggie looked at it, giving Nick a smirk before they started working.
Nick tried to flirt with Reggie whenever he could. But without feeling fake by using some bravado, the truth was just that he wasn’t good at it. But that was okay. He and Reggie were becoming something like friends. They started talking when they saw each other in the halls, and when they ran into each other after Nick was done with lacrosse practice, cause Reggie always waited around for Flynn and Alex to finish with cheerleading. It was good. It wasn’t where Nick wanted them to be, but it was good. Nick had started wearing his team hoodie to school, since he had given Reggie his jacket. And when he was crossing the parking lot from his car, he saw Reggie walking, hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket. Well, Nick’s jacket. It made Nick’s stomach fill with butterflies, seeing the dark haired boy in his jacket. He had seen Reggie carrying it around between classes, but this was the first time he’d seen him actually wearing it. And that was entirely something else.