Damian woke up to a thousand notifications, something that rarely happened. He usually only got texts from Amanda and his family, but that morning his phone was on the verge of blowing up. Curious and scared, he picked up the phone, and was immediately stunned by what he was looking at.
It was a badly photoshopped image of him and Ethan, probably from last night, and the photo made it seem as though they were about to kiss each other.
"That bastard!" Damain cursed through clenched teeth. He already knew who was responsible for this. Gregory! Because he had refused his advances last night, the bastard had probably followed him and Ethan around, took a harmless picture, and then photoshopped it to look like a completely different thing.
His hands shook as he scrolled through the group chats and stories—Redwood's unofficial gossip pages had already reposted it with captions like "New kid moves fast" and "Damian's got game now??" Heart racing, he swiped to his contacts and hit Ethan's name.
Straight to voicemail. The phone was off.
"Shit," he muttered, dropping the phone onto his bed like it burned.
A new text lit up the screen, it was from Amanda.
She had sent him that photoshopped image, and she was curious.
"???"
"Wait… you and Ethan??? Are you guys a thing now??"
Damian typed back so fast his thumbs blurred.
"It's FAKE. Photoshopped. I'll explain everything at school. Please don't believe it."
He threw on clothes, jeans, hoodie, sneakers, grabbed his bag, and bolted downstairs. His mother was already at the door with her keys, eyebrows raised at his rushed appearance.
"Everything okay, honey?"
"Yeah, just… running late," he lied, forcing a smile. She didn't push, but her worried look followed him all the way to the car. She still thought going back to that school was a mistake. And now she was frantically looking for a reason to pull him from it.
The ten-minute drive felt like an hour. When they pulled up to Redwood, the stares hit him before he even stepped out. Heads turned. Phones angled. Whispers chased him across the parking lot like wind.
"There he is."
"Did you see the pic?"
"Him and the new guy? Damn."
Damian kept his eyes forward, jaw tight, until he spotted Ethan near the main entrance. The new boy was surrounded by a loose circle of juniors, some laughing, some showing him their phones. Ethan looked calm, almost amused, hands in his pockets.
Damian wove through the crowd, ignoring the fresh wave of murmurs, "His boyfriend's here…"
He walked straight to Ethan and tugged his shirt to get his attention.
"Hey. Can we talk? Just for a sec?"
Ethan glanced at the group, gave them a quick "Catch you later," and followed Damian to the quieter side of the courtyard, near the brick wall.
The second they were out of earshot, Damian blurted, "I'm so sorry. About the photo. It's fake, someone photoshopped it. I never meant for any of this to blow up on you, especially not on your second day. I'm pretty sure it was Gregory. This is probably revenge for last night—"
"It doesn't matter." Ethan waved off with a shrug. He knew it was fake, he hadn't kissed Damian last night, and he already suspected that it was Gregory behind the stupid photoshop.
Damian blinked. "What?"
"I don't really care." Ethan's mouth curved into a half-smile. "It's my second day and I'm already trending. Kinda hard to complain about that kind of welcome." He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "Rumors fade, Damian. People will find something new to talk about by lunch. Besides, we both know the truth. Why waste energy worrying?"
Damian stared at him, the knot in his chest loosening just a fraction. "You're… really not mad?"
"Nah." Ethan bumped his shoulder lightly. "You're good. We're good."
Before Damian could respond, a familiar voice called from behind.
"Damian!"
Amanda jogged up, ponytail bouncing, eyes wide with curiosity. She gave Ethan a bright smile. "Morning, new kid. Congrats on going viral."
Ethan laughed under his breath. "Thanks. I think." He glanced between them. "I'll leave you two to it. See you in class, Damian."
The second he was gone, Amanda grabbed Damian's arm and dragged him behind the nearest row of lockers.
"Okay, spill. Everything. Now."
Damian exhaled, leaning back against the cold metal. He told her the whole night, Gregory cornering him, the attempted kiss, Ethan stepping in, the bonfire, Zayn with some girl, and finally the photoshopped picture this morning.
Amanda listened, eyes growing wider with every detail. When he finished, she let out a long, relieved breath and pressed a hand to her chest.
"Oh thank God," she said. "I was low-key freaking out that you'd finally gotten a boyfriend and didn't tell me."
Damian snorted. "Definitely not."
She hesitated, chewing her lip, then looked up at him with a shy, hopeful expression he'd never quite seen on her before.
"So… um. About Ethan." She twisted the strap of her backpack. "He's… really nice. And cute. And the way he just brushed off the whole rumor thing? That was kind of hot."
Damian raised an eyebrow, a slow grin spreading across his face despite everything. He knew where Amanda was headed to. She didn't act this way unless she had a crush on somebody.
"Wait. You have a crush on Ethan Brown?"
Amanda's cheeks went pink. "Maybe. A little. Okay, a lot. Shut up."
He laughed, the first real one all morning. Then he slung an arm around her shoulders.
"Your secret's safe with me."
She groaned, hiding her face in his hoodie for a second before straightening up. "Just… don't tell him. Yet. I need to figure out how to not be a disaster around him first."
"I won't, I promise." Damian replied. "Ethan's a good guy, and you're the best person I know, so it's definitely a match."
"Don't start, Damian." Amanda warned, her cheeks burning brighter just before she gave her best friend a subtle push.
"By the way," she said, bumping his hip, "you're handling all this better than I expected. Proud of you."
Damian glanced sideways at her, then down the hallway where Ethan had disappeared around the corner.
"Yeah," he said softly. "Me too."