Page 61 of Out of My Mind

Geology class was over.

“Good.”

They danced together until the end of the song. Delia sang into her fist. Mac wanted to absorb this night into his bloodstream.

“This is the part where you ask me out,” Rafe said. “Before I dance away.”

Mac got right up against Rafe’s ear, putting a tight arm around his waist. His erection poked against Mac’s thigh. “Let’s do lunch tomorrow. Not breakfast. I’m not that kind of gay.”

“Neither am I.”

Mac tugged on a Rudolph broach on Rafe’s Christmas sweater vest. “I’ll see you then.”

CHAPTER twenty

Gideon

Gideon hadn’t turned on his phone since he got back to campus. As if he wasn’t already dealing with the wedding fallout, right after they got back to campus, Hannah dumped him. He didn’t blame her. He’d left her alone at a wedding of strangers. And then right after he dumped her, he ran into Mac at the grocery store, giving him the coldest of shoulders. He didn’t want to deal with the world. His phone sat in the nightstand drawer, taunting him, waiting to see who was going to blink first.

He wondered what kind of message Noah left him, or that Noah left no message at all. He had emailed his mom that his phone was busted and was getting fixed. Another white lie. They were so convenient. At some point, Gideon stopped thinking of them as lies and more as beats in a story he was constantly weaving.

“Oh, I got really nauseous at the reception. I needed some fresh air, and then I went home and took some Advil.”

“Oh, my roommate moved out because he was on the waiting list for a dorm room, and a slot became available. It’s cheaper than rent. We were on a month-to-month agreement.”

“Oh Hannah, I texted you that I was leaving the wedding. The reception in that area is terrible.”

Spin spin spin.

Gideon reached a breaking point when he got back from class a few days later. He turned his phone back on and rejoined the world. His phone buzzed with texts from Seth and his mom.

He scrolled through his Instagram. All the smiling faces on his feed made him more depressed. Delia posted a picture from some frat party. Mac had his arm around this guy with a stupid sweater vest.Well, Mac’s moved on.

If only Gideon could do the same.

He shuffled to the kitchen. No stray cups on the counter. The dishwasher was full of clean dishes. Exactly how he wanted it.

He made himself a cup of coffee and sat on his sofa. Behind him was Mac’s bedroom. The dividers remained in place. Gideon didn’t bother looking inside. It was going to be empty. No bed. No clothes on the floor.

His phone rang in his pocket.

“Hey, Mom.”

“How are you feeling?” She asked with concern. Gideon had to remind himself about his stomach bug.

“Better. Yeah, feeling better.”

“Are you sure? You don’t sound great.”

“I just woke up from a nap.” He shielded himself from the glare of the sun.

“Have you gone to the infirmary yet?”

“No. I’m feeling better.”

“Well, you can never be too sure. That bug might be part of something bigger. I mean, for it to cause you to leave your brother’s wedding...”

“Mom,” he said before restraining himself. He took a breath. “I’ll go to the doctor this afternoon, to be safe.”