Winter Love: with love & Ovaltine - 3. Extra Chapters

Extra Chapter: The Echo After the Fair

The story I’m about to tell takes place not long before Jace asked his dad if he could attend the same university as me. Just two days after he shouted into the mic that he loved me.

After the school fair ended, my world changed completely.

I was really happy that I got to tell Jace how I felt, and even happier when I found out he loved me just as much.

But deep down, I still hurt. Hurt from the hope. Hoping we could be boyfriends. Hoping we could spend more time together. Not just keep counting down the days we had left before we’d have to say goodbye like this.

“But now we have each other. We love each other more than ever. We’re sitting here, holding hands like this…” Jace gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “Isn’t that already good enough?”

His smile always calmed me down the moment I saw it.

He had the brightest smile in the world. Every time he looked at me and smiled, it made the whole world feel warmer. It made my heart feel full.

And every single time, it reminded me how lucky I was to know him… and to have him beside me like this.

I cried enough that day. So I had to keep the promise I made to myself—I would cherish every day I still had left with him.

“Hey! Homework. Homework!” Nick’s voice snapped us out of the moment, and we quickly let go of each other’s hands.

“Hand it over! Quick!”

I turned to Nick, who was walking toward us. “You didn’t even sit down and you’re already asking for it? You act like you’re hardworking, but all you do is copy my homework.”

“Don’t mock me, man! I spent the whole weekend editing photos for the yearbook advisor. I didn’t have time to do any homework! So it’s not even my fault, okay?” Nick flopped down across from Jace and me, grinning. “By the way, what were you two being all sweet about when I walked up, huh? I saw you holding hands. Damn, y’all are public now.”

I turned bright red.

“What the hell’s sweet about it? You’re delusional! I’ll kick your ass!”

“Nick,” Jace asked, “how long have you known about us?”

“Last year, maybe? Can’t remember,” Nick shrugged. “But it’s been a while. We all figured you two were probably low-key into each other. Just didn’t expect you hadn’t even confessed yet. Damn, Jace… you sneaky bastard.”

“Are you copying homework or not?” I slammed my notebook onto Nick’s head. “You run your mouth one more time and I’m not letting you copy.”

“OW! You jerk! Go ahead and be embarrassed, but why take it out on me?!” He grabbed the notebook from my hand. “Control your boyfriend, will ya, Jace?”

“Hey, he’s not my boyfriend yet,” Jace chuckled.

“What the hell are you waiting for then? Just do it already!”

“You’re such a shit, Nick!!”

“Okay, okay! I’m done! I’ll shut up!” Nick threw up his hands in surrender as I raised mine. “Man, chill out. You always get violent when you’re embarrassed.”

Jace slipped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. “You really need to get used to this already.”

“It’s not everyone. Like on Saturday, no one else teased us. No one said anything. It’s just this asshole right here. Mouthy as hell. Makes me wanna kick him.” I pushed Jace off and stood up.

“Whoa, where you going?” Jace looked up at me.

“Bathroom.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“Jesus, what, you two pee from the same bladder now? So clingy. Freakin’ Siamese twins,” Nick teased.

“Yeah, no thanks. Stay here and babysit the mutt in Nick’s mouth.”

Jace looked a little sulky, but I knew he was doing it on purpose to get my attention. I flicked his forehead and walked off toward the restrooms behind the building.

The digital watch on my wrist read 7:15. Students were starting to arrive in droves, but the bathrooms behind the gym were still pretty empty.

I passed a freshman walking out as I went in and stood at the last urinal, the one closest to the girls’ side. While I was doing my business, I heard a group of girls talking loudly through the thin wall.

“Girl! You saw what happened at the Winter Fair Friday, right?”

“What thing?”

“You know! The one that’s all over Insta! Look!”

“Cloe! Your ex went rainbow??! Didn't you know at all when he banged you?”

I flinched. Almost zipped myself up too fast.

“God, I’m so pissed! Jace was so hot. Cool. Athletic. And now he ends up with Eli?!”

“That Eli guy too, what the hell. Didn’t know he was into dudes. He’s cute, but what a waste.”

“Ugh, can y’all shut up? I’m gonna puke.”

That voice. I recognized it. Cloe. Jace’s ex.

“Sooo, Miss Cloe~ how does it feel having your ex-boyfriend switch teams, huh? Care to share your pain?”

“Faye! I swear to God, I will slap you!”

I couldn’t take it anymore. I washed my hands and left fast. But of course, I had to walk past the girls’ bathroom—and we ran into each other.

The four of them froze when they saw me. They started whispering and giggling. Cloe stood in front, glaring at me like I was something repulsive. Like I was filth.

“Gross…” she muttered, curling her lip. “Fucking fag.”

I turned away and kept walking. But then I heard it—

“Don’t forget to scrub your little tunnel real clean, Eli~ Leave some for Jace, will ya~?”

I clenched my fists. But I didn’t say a word. I just walked away as fast as I could, trying to outrun the taunts, the laughter, the sting.

By the time I got back to our table, I didn’t want to talk to anyone. The voices echoed in my ears. My chest felt heavy.

Jace kept asking me what was wrong, but I didn’t want to answer.

Hell, I didn’t even want to look at him.

All morning, wherever I went, it felt like eyes were following me. Whispers. Snickers. Smirks. It built up into irritation. Resentment. Toward everything. Everyone. Especially Jace—who acted like nothing was wrong.

Between classes, I walked off alone to the bathroom. As I stood there washing my face, Jace came up behind me.

“Eli, what’s with you today? You’ve been mad since morning.”

I looked at him in the mirror. “Just leave me alone.”

He frowned. “Why are you saying that? You always tell me when something’s wrong. If something’s bothering you, then say it.”

“Just drop it. I’m annoyed, that’s all. Telling you won’t change anything anyway.” I turned off the tap and started to walk past him—

But he grabbed my wrist.

“Did I do something wrong? Just tell me.”

“I told you—drop it. It’s not like you can undo anything now.” I looked at him. And my heart started to shake.

I mean… He didn’t really do anything wrong, did he?

He just confessed… It was a game. Maybe a little too loud, but that’s all.

“You washed your face, but didn’t dry it properly. Come here.”

He pulled a handkerchief from my pocket and gently dabbed my face dry.

“If I did something wrong, just tell me. I’ll make sure not to do it again.”

The gentleness in his voice—the look in his eyes—it made my heart ache.

“You… you probably didn’t do anything wrong. But it’s not like you can undo it either.”

“Undo what?”

“That thing…”

“Oh, come on~” a voice shouted from the hall.

“You guys confessed your love and now you’re doing a live romcom in the bathroom?” Then louder: “Yo! Come quick! Eli and Jace are filming a softcore scene in here!”

“What the hell?!” I panicked and pushed Jace away. The handkerchief hit the floor.

“Look at that! Eli and Jace getting all steamy in public now?”

Another student barged in from another class.

That was it. I lost it. “Cut the crap!! Jace and I aren’t anything like that, damn it!!” I grabbed the collar of the guy nearest me.

“Say something like that again and I swear you’ll regret it!”

“Whoa, Eli! Chill! We were just joking around! What’s your problem?”

“Let go of Zach’s shirt, Eli. You’re the student council president, remember? What the hell are you doing?”

I stared between them, then finally let go.

“I don’t care who you are. Don’t say shit like that to me again.

I don’t like it.”

“What, just ’cause you’re president, you can act like a damn tyrant now? Asshole.” Zach yanked his collar and stormed off.

“Eli…” Jace said softly behind me. “You’re not usually like this.”

“Don’t talk to me right now, Jace. This whole thing started with you. You just had to show off and confess in front of everyone, huh? Look what happened! Now I’m a freak show. Something for everyone to laugh at. And you… you don’t feel anything?!”

“So what, now it’s my fault for telling you I love you?”

I opened my mouth—but nothing came out.

“Got it. You made yourself pretty clear just now, didn’t you? That we’re nothing.” Jace picked up the handkerchief and tucked it back into his pocket. “This is all my fault. For falling for you all this time. If I’d just kept my mouth shut, maybe you wouldn’t have to feel ashamed like this.” There was pain in his eyes. A kind I’d never seen on him before.

And then he smiled—just a little. And that smile… hurt more than anything.

“Forget it, okay? You don’t have to remember anything.”

“Forget… what?”

“Forget whatever we talked about the other night. Forget that I ever loved you.”

And with that, he walked past me.

“Wait—Jace.”

I grabbed his wrist.

He paused. Looked at my hand—Then shook it off and walked out of the bathroom, leaving me alone, with a pain in my chest like my heart had just shattered into pieces.

...................................

Extra 2: The Real Ones

I sat alone in the bleachers, staring absentmindedly at the soccer field full of students playing. Some of them I knew, but I wasn’t in the mood to join. No—truthfully, I wasn’t in the mood to see or talk to anyone. I still felt like I was disgusting… like I didn’t belong. The things I’d heard this morning were still echoing in my head, driving me crazy.

“Hey.” A familiar voice called out nearby.

I’d been so lost in my thoughts, I didn’t even notice him walking up.

“You gonna talk or not, Squid-butt?”

I lowered my head.

“Do you hate me… because I like guys, Nick?”

“What the hell kind of question is that, man?!”

“Just give it to me straight,” I cut in, lifting my head to look at him. “I’m serious.”

Nick locked eyes with me, then let out an exasperated sigh.

“I’m serious too. What kind of dumbass question is that, Eli?! I—am—your—friend,” he emphasized every word. “All of us are your friends. What kind of friend would hate you over something like that?!”

I stared at him for a moment. His eyes were serious. He really meant it.

“If someone can’t accept who you are, screw ‘em. Don’t call people like that your friends. Besides, we’ve all suspected something was up between you and Jace for ages now. If we didn’t accept you for who you are, would we still be hanging out with both of you like nothing’s changed?”

He wasn’t wrong. But still...

“So the people who said that nasty shit to me… they’re not my friends anymore, right?”

“Just tell me what happened.”

So I told Nick everything. Everything Jace and I had talked about after the Winter Festival. Our relationship. My feelings. How embarrassed I felt when we got teased. I told him about what happened with Cloe… and the fight I had with Jace and the others in the bathroom that evening.

I poured it all out. And Nick just sat there and listened, not interrupting once.

When I finally finished, we both went quiet for a while.

Then suddenly, Nick let out a huge sigh—

“You idiot!!” He smacked me hard on the head, knocking me forward.

“OW!! What the hell was that for?!”

“You, dumbass! Come on!” He grabbed my wrist and yanked me to my feet.

“Hey! That hurt!”

“Quit whining! Get up and follow me.” He dragged me off the bleachers.

“Where are you dragging me?! I can walk, you know!” I yanked my wrist free—so he grabbed me by the sleeve instead.

“Shut up and come quietly.” He dragged me to the front of our classroom building, where some of our friends—boys and girls—were chatting by a stone table. All of them were people both Jace and I were close to.

As we got closer, everyone stopped talking and turned to look at us. The sudden silence made me feel tense and uneasy.

“Hey, I’ve got something to ask,” Nick said, letting go of my sleeve. “You all know Eli likes guys, right?”

“HEY!!” I spun toward Nick in shock.

Okay, yes—it was true.

But I didn’t think he’d just blurt it out like that.

Then laughter erupted from the group.

“We’ve known forever, dumbass!”

“Who doesn’t know?!”

“If you don’t know, you’re just dumb.”

“Yeah, we knew even before the festival, dude! At least Jace was more obvious than you.”

They all started talking over each other and laughing.

I was so embarrassed my face felt like it was on fire.

“Good. Now you know Eli’s liked Jace for a while too, right?”

“WE KNOW!!” Everyone shouted in unison.

“Alright, now I’m being serious. Eli’s serious too. You guys should know—the reason he’s been such a sour mess today, the reason he fought with Jace, is because of all this. He’s stressed. He’s afraid you guys won’t accept him. That you’d be grossed out because he likes guys. When you tease him too much, it gets to him. That’s his side of it. So I’m asking all of you straight up—Do you hate Eli and Jace? Do you think it’s wrong for them to love each other?”

This time, nobody laughed. Everyone went quiet and looked around at each other. Then Kori, our class vice president, walked up and linked arms with me.

“Why would you even think that, Eli? None of us think like that. Not at all.”

“Yeah, just like Kori said. Why are you so worried all of a sudden?
We’re your friends, man. If we didn’t accept it, would we have cheered for you and Jace that much the other day?”

“Exactly! Plus, we told you—we’ve known for a while now.
Have we ever acted like we were grossed out by you guys, Eli?”

“I think you and Jace are cute together,” Kori said with a soft laugh.

“We’re almost graduating, dude. Why worry so much now?” Logan stood up and came over. He shoved Nick aside and slung his arm around my neck. “We love you, man. Hell, the whole school loves you.”

“I don’t think that’s true.” I mumbled.

“Come again?”

Nick stepped in and pushed Logan away so he could wrap his own arm around my neck.

“Eli means other people. Some jerk said some nasty crap to him earlier, and it really got to him.”

“What did they say?” someone at the table asked.

“Doesn’t matter. But one of our friends made some crude jokes too. I mean sometimes we think it’s just a joke that we can laugh at, but for the receiver, it could be hurtful words rather than just a stupid joke. That’s what made him feel this way. So I brought him here so you guys could tell him what you really think. Not let him keep thinking no one loves him.”

“Awww, you poor thing.” Kori reached up and tugged gently on both my cheeks.

I was so embarrassed I turned my face away to avoid their eyes.

“Anyway… where’s Jace?” Nick asked.

“He left right after school. Looked pretty down too.”

Nick turned to me. “You should go find your hubby, bro.”

“Hubby my ass!!” I smacked him. “But yeah, you’re right. This whole thing was my fault. Sorry to you guys—for being such a mess. I’ll try not to overthink things anymore.”

“Good. Go fix things with him. Don’t let some assholes ruin it for you.”

“Thanks, Nick. Thanks, all of you. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I waved to everyone and started running. But only a few steps in, Logan shouted after me—

“Wait! Eli!”

I stopped and turned around.

“We love you, man. And we’d never think badly of you. Tell Jace that too. If we ever joked too much, we’re sorry. As for the rest of the world—fuck ’em. Okay?”

I smiled a little, “Okay.”

“So?” Nick added. “You get it now?”

“Yeah. I get it. Thanks, Logan. Thanks, Nick. Thanks to all of you.” I smiled at them. And in my heart, I finally knew what to care about—and what to let go.

I rode to Jace’s house. But his mom said he wasn’t home yet—she even thought he was with me. So I texted him. No read. Called—no answer.

Had he really gotten that mad at me? He’d never gone radio silent before.

I was frustrated… but mostly, I was worried.

I hopped back on my moped and rode everywhere looking for him—the grocery store, the school again, our favorite sandwich spot, the park, the basketball court, even the soccer field—everywhere.

But I couldn’t find him.

The worry just kept building. Still, there was nothing else I could do. So I rode home, racking my brain for where else he could be.

“Wait… could he be there?” I muttered as I pulled into the driveway.

“Where have you been, Eli? It’s already dark,” Mom called out from the porch.

“Just had some stuff to take care of. It’s not even late. Barely past seven.”

“Still got that sass, huh? Jace has been waiting here a while, you know.”

“Wait—what?! Jace?!”

“Yeah. Didn’t you see his moped out front?” She gave me a look like I was blind.

I turned—and sure enough, his scooter was parked right there. Had I really been so deep in my head I didn’t even notice?

“Where is he?”

“Upstairs. We’re having dinner in a bit. I already invited him.”

I bolted up the stairs and threw open my bedroom door.

There he was—Jace, sitting at my desk, like nothing had happened. He turned toward me and smiled that stupid, soft smile.

“Where were you? Took you long enough.”

“I was out looking for you, idiot! I thought you ran away or something. And here you are just chilling here like you’re not the cause of all my stress!”

I marched over to him. “Do you have any idea how far I went trying to find you? I was this close to driving up the damn mountain!”

“Why were you looking for me?”

“I…” I faltered. I didn’t even know how to answer that.

Jace stood up and pulled me into a hug. “I’m sorry. I’m not mad anymore. I know you still love me. And I know you worry about me,” he said softly, pulling back to look me in the eyes.

“You can be mad. You can yell. Say whatever you need to—I’ll listen. I get it. I just want the time we have left to be full of good memories… Before we have to part ways, Eli.”

How was he this calm? This kind?

I hugged him back.

“Why does everyone keep saying that? ‘Part ways’… I hate it.”

“But it’s the truth…”

He rested his chin on my shoulder. “Even if we’re not officially boyfriends… I love you, Eli. If something’s eating at you, talk to me. Please?”

“I’m sorry I was such an idiot earlier, Jace. It was my fault. I admit it. I promise I’ll tell you everything from now on. But first…”

I pulled away just enough to smack him lightly on the head.

Jace blinked. “Ow—what was that for?!”

“Why the hell was your phone off?!”

“It wasn’t off! My battery died! That’s why I came here—I thought you’d already be home.”

He rubbed his head, looking sheepish.

“Ugh, whatever.” I sighed. Then smiled.

“I love you too, Jace. I love you so much. I’m not gonna let anyone else shake me again. I promise.”

“‘Shake you’? Wait… who else is in the picture? Are you seeing someone else?!”

“What the hell—NO! Dumbass!” I smacked his arm. “I’ll explain later. Let’s eat first. Mom’s waiting.”

After dinner, Jace and I went back to my room.

I told him everything—just like I promised. Even though it meant telling the same painful story twice. I told him about what I’d overheard, about Nick dragging me to our friends, and about everything they said that helped me clear my head.

By the time I finished, I was completely drained.

“So yeah… That’s everything. But I’m okay now. I won’t let anyone’s shitty opinions mess with my heart again. Because I know you love me. And our friends love me. If anyone else looks down on me, I don’t care anymore.”

“Thank you, Eli. Thanks for telling me. And thanks for thinking that way.”

He reached out and took my hand. “We might still get teased, bullied—though unlikely—or hear more crap. But we’ll face it together. And if something ever gets to you—tell me. Got it?”

“Yeah, I got it. I already promised, didn’t I?” I smiled. A real smile. The happiest one I’d made all day.

“Eli, can I ask you something? Pleeeaaaase?”

“What?”

“Can I kiss you? Like… a real kiss this time.”

He started leaning in.

“HEY—wait wait wait!!” I leaned back fast, avoiding his lips.

“Why?! Why are you dodging me?!” He frowned.

“I’m not ready yet!”

“What? It’s not like it’s your first kiss or anything.”

“That last one was just a light peck, okay?! And I know you kissed your crappy ex-girlfriend a million times, but this—this is different. You said this one would be the real kiss. I need to mentally prepare!”

“Okay, so what do you need to do? Light a candle? Play mood music? How long’s this prep gonna take?”

“Not… not long.” I looked away, cheeks hot. “Just… let me go brush my teeth real quick. Okay?”

-------------END-------------