Glass Hearts [BL]
Chapter 40: Guys Like That Don’t Belong in Our World

Chapter 40: Guys Like That Don’t Belong in Our World

Ash’s POV

I was still leaning against the lockers, arms folded across my chest, listening to June shrieking at Marcus from halfway down the hall.

"...I swear to God, Marcus, if you don’t shut up about it, I’m breaking your kneecaps!" she was yelling, tossing her ponytail as she stormed off in a huff.

Marcus watched her go, scoffing under his breath. "Pffft. I don’t even know what she sees in that guy, honestly."

He turned back to me, shaking his head. "Every guy from that stupid Glass Circle pisses me off. I don’t know why half the girls in this school are obsessed with them." He hissed like it physically pained him.

I shrugged, rubbing a thumb over a chipped spot on my locker door.

"I mean... I’m not gonna lie, Marcus. Ren does look like he fell out of a fairy tale. The whole ’mysterious snow prince’ vibe is kinda hard to ignore."

Marcus shot me a look like I’d just betrayed him personally.

"Fairy tale? Ash, please. Sometimes I think you’ve inhaled too many chemicals at the diner."

I laughed. "I’m just saying. The glass circle boys are attractive. Jerks? Sure, sometimes. But attractive jerks."

"Sometimes?" Marcus scoffed. "Try most of the damn time. They are walking red flags. And you know what I can’t stand the most?" He smacked his locker for emphasis. "The way Ren treats June. Like...just because he says two damn words to her every three months, suddenly she’s obsessed with him. It’s pathetic."

I leaned against the locker. "You do know she had a crush on him before he even noticed her, right? Freshman year. He didn’t have to say anything. She was already gone."

Marcus groaned. Yeah, well... if he’s not into her, he should have the decency to say so. Instead of letting her waste all this time, pining for a guy who doesn’t give a shit about her. Meanwhile, there’s probably someone else who’d actually treat her right."

"She’s..." His voice trailed off. "She’s better than that."

I studied his face for a second...how his expression softened whenever June’s name came up, how his shoulders tensed every time she laughed a little too hard at Ren’s attention.

I already knew exactly where this was going.

"I get it," I said quietly. "It’s annoying."

Marcus’s mouth twisted. "Annoying doesn’t even cover it. Imagine her crying all summer because he went two whole months without reaching out to her. Didn’t call, didn’t text, nothing. Like she wasn’t even worth remembering."

He shook his head, jaw clenched. "Guys like that... they don’t belong in our world, Ash. They’ll never care about people like us the way we care about them. And I wish she’d just..." He broke off, staring at the floor. "....accept that. It’s meaningless even having a crush on them when we all know it’s never gonna happen."

He wasn’t wrong.

I’d thought the same thing a thousand times.

It was pointless to hope you’d ever be anything more than a passing amusement to them. And yeah... crushing on them was basically setting yourself up for heartbreak.

And June...she deserved better than that.

"So," I said, "when are you going to tell her?"

Marcus’s head jerked up. "Huh?"

"When are you going to tell June you actually like her?"

"What?" he blurted. "I don’t...What are you even...?"

I raised an eyebrow, fighting a smirk. "Come on, Marcus."

"I don’t know where you got that insane idea," he stammered, avoiding my eyes. He gave a weak scoff and shoved my shoulder. "You’re delusional, dude."

He shoved my shoulder. "You’ve been hanging around Alia too much. Making up fairy tales."

"Uh-huh," I said, grinning. "So your little rants about her unrequited love and wasted tears are just... brotherly concern?"

Marcus snorted. "Shut up, Ash. You’re ridiculous."

Before I could press the subject any further, he spun on his heel and walked back into the classroom.

Sure, Marcus. Whatever you say.

I watched him go, shaking my head and trying not to laugh.

Marcus might think I was clueless, but he wasn’t fooling me for a second.

Because honestly? He might’ve been right about the glass circle boys being out of our world...

...but he was completely blind to the fact that his own world already revolved around June.

I was still chuckling when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket.

My entire chest did this stupid little jump thingy.

I fumbled for the phone, nearly dropping it on the floor. My fingers were shaking as I unlocked the screen.

Dominic:

Hey. Sorry I didn’t text sooner... Meet me after last period? Parking lot.

Just reading his name on the screen made my brain short-circuit.

I sighed, trying desperately to act normal like my heart wasn’t pounding.

Then my phone buzzed again.

Dominic:

Don’t be late.

God, he was... impossible.

And why did even his texts feel like they were dripping with some private secret?

I swallowed hard and typed a reply before I could start overthinking every letter.

Me:

Okay.

My thumb hovered over the send button for a second. Then, because I couldn’t help myself, I added another line:

Me:

You okay?

I hit send before I could chicken out.

No reply. Not right away.

I kept staring at the screen until the words started to blur.

"Get it together," I muttered to myself.

I forced myself to shove the phone into my pocket.

The last thing I needed was to embarrass myself further.

I was still trying to calm my pulse when I turned... and nearly collided with June.

She came stomping back down the hallway, like she was ready to fight someone. Her face was red...and there were flecks of glitter stuck in her bangs, sparkling under the lights.

"What?" she snapped, crossing her arms and glaring at me the second she saw the goofy grin on my face.

"Nothing," I said quickly, lifting my hands in surrender. "You look... festive."

"Say festive one more time and I’m telling Marcus you used to sing along to Disney songs when we were kids."

"You swore you’d never bring that up."

"Then don’t test me."

She jabbed a finger at me for emphasis, then spun on her heel and marched into the classroom.

I laughed, shaking my head as I followed her in.

Typical June. And typical me..still waiting for Dominic to text back.