LeftInTheDarkness Read Online Free PDF

the stench of bad cafeteria food, Christian could still smell the spicy scent of Devlin’s cologne. Christian wanted to bury his nose onto the crook of Devlin’s neck to really inhale it in, but he reluctantly pulled away. PDA was already frowned down on by the school, let alone PDA between two guys.
    “I missed you,” Devlin whispered.
    It hadn’t been the first time Devlin admitted something like that, but it still seemed weird to hear it coming from the normally gruff guy. It made Christian feel extra special. He got to see a side of Devlin that not many others did.
    “I missed you, too,” Christian replied.
    He did, too. It still was hard to believe that just a week ago, Christian couldn’t stand the guy, and now he found himself counting the minutes until they could be together again.
    On the other hand, Christian had thought of James hardly at all. The few times Christian had, the only emotion that came across was anger.
    Okay, maybe there was a little bit of hurt feelings, too. But not in the usual, rejected-crush kind of way. Instead, Christian felt as if he’d been punched in the gut by the realization that one of his supposedly good friends had let him down.
    Maybe it wasn’t fair. James had been dealing with so much, and it was only natural that he would be confused and scared. It still didn’t make Christian want to forgive, and he wondered if that made him a bad person.
    They both sat down. So far, Jessica was the only other person at the table. As usual, she was dressed to scare and impress, her raven bangs cut unevenly and her pale face plastered with makeup. She finished off her look with thigh-high platform boots, torn fishnet stockings, and a t-shirt that read, Your girlfriend says I’m a better kisser. Jealous?
    She opened her sack lunch, her red lips pursing in disgust. “Peanut butter and jelly…again. I swear my mother thinks I’m six instead of seventeen.”
    “It could be worse. Our cook keeps packing sushi for me,” Devlin grumbled.
    Jessica rolled her eyes. “Poor little rich boy. The world just doesn’t know how hard you have it.”
    Devlin shot her a wicked grin. “You should hear some of my horror tales.”
    “God, no! I know too much as it is.” Her eyes grew wide as she waved her hands.
    Christian laughed as he snuggled against Devlin. Even though they were being good and sitting in separate chairs, they were still as close as they could be without earning a detention. They were mostly ignored, save for a few dirty looks from the jocks, but that was nothing new.
    By habit, Christian scanned the jock table, looking for James. Of course, he wasn’t there. Since he’d made his announcement, his old buddies were treating him like he carried Ebola or something. Sure, they might not be dumb enough to say anything aloud, but their attitude spoke plenty. They didn’t want a gay player on their team.
    Christian wished he’d had the nerve to ask him what had changed. Before last week, they’d all liked James and bragged how he was the best player they’d had in years. Yet by him saying two words— I’m gay — that all changed
    Then he spotted James, and Christian’s heart sank. There was one table that they all called loser land . Maybe it wasn’t the nicest thing to say, but the name had been around forever, and it’d just stuck, even though the students might have changed over several times. While the faces might change, their social status always remained the same. They were the kids who nobody liked. Be it because they painted their faces to look like their favorite band, or that they started fires, or they just were plain mean. Whatever the reason, they were on short supply of friends and at the bottom of the pecking order.
    James had it so bad that even that table wouldn’t take him anymore. He sat off by himself, the empty chairs on either side of him reminding Christian of a fence. One that separated James from everybody else.
    Christian realized that he wasn’t