Kyle had made a new friend.

The realization was odd to him since for the most part if his friends were from school they are either Neal or friendly acquaintances to Kyle.

But over the last three weeks, Cole had become an actual part of his life.

An actual friend.

And Kyle was probably enjoying it more than he should.

At this point he was sitting with them every single day for lunch, they all met up at Neal's locker to talk a little before classes, and he had even gone over to Kyle's house the previous week, meeting his other friends and having dinner with his family since Kyle was the only one who had the new Nintendo Switch.

Kyle felt it was great to have someone else added to their little group.

But there was still one slight problem.

Thoughts of Cole plagued his thoughts regularly and there was no stop to it.

It unsettled him thoroughly since he didn't fully understand the cause but there wasn't much Kyle could do to figure it out.

So he just tried to get used to the constant reminders of Cole's existence.

"I never thought I could be more hungry in my life!" Cole said as he sat down, sending a smile Kyle's way.

Speak of the devil... Kyle thought.

"Aren't you being a little dramatic?" Neal asked, his eyebrow raised as he watched how Cole scarfed down his meal. "You can't be that . . . hungry."

It seemed as if Neal was actually starting to believe him since Cole didn't even let in one breath with how fast he was shoveling the food into his mouth.

"No breakfast," He explained in between bites. "And. Fell. Asleep. Before. I could eat. Dinner."

"Ok ok, I think we understand." Kyle rushed out, interrupting whatever Cole had just said. "Why don't you slow down, there's no point in eating if you die halfway through the process."

It looked as if that got through to Cole and he soon started eating at a regular fast pace, no longer at unhuman-like speed.

Neal and Kyle spoke avidly about a new TV show Kyle introduced his friend to and Cole having watched the show would occasionally nod and make noises that resembled yes and no until he could actually talk and then he was talking as much as his friends.

It was fun for all three of them and eventually, the bell rang, signaling all of the students to head back into class.

Luckily at that point, Cole had finished but he was gulping down iced tea and water in alternation so he was upset that he would have to wait to finish.

"Don't worry bud, I'm sure you can drink those all the way home," Neal assured Cole. His hand was on his shoulder as he smiled creepily.

"Why do you have to be so creepy, man!" Kyle had laughed, a disgusted expression still dressing his features.

Cole laughed out loud but Neal was too busy trying to insult Kyle back.

This continued until Kyle had to split up from his little group to get to his next class.

Art.

—————

When Kyle had originally chosen Art as an elective class it wasn't that he was a die-hard art fanatic or amazingly talented but he liked art and though he was not terrible, he was not great either. But all of the others didn't appeal to him at the time so he decided on art.

One of the best decisions of his life.

First of all, his teacher, Ms. Reed, was amazing. She was enthusiastic and subtly cheerful. Though she had a particular style she never forced her students to lay out their paintings based on it. She taught Kyle and his class skills and techniques and somehow when Kyle looked at his work now, he felt as if it seriously looked good. Not just good but amazing.

The talent of all of his classmates had increased incredibly so he considered Ms. Reed the miracle worker.

Even the worst in class could get away with being considered "not bad" so it was no wonder the art department was still going strong.

And being able to express his emotions through art, or just have something to do when he was bored and that he could be proud of later made art his favorite class.

So when Ms. Reed told Kyle's class that she wanted them to make a painting involving the word warmth and that she wanted them to use at least two of the techniques she would teach them today, Kyle was beyond happy.

After Ms. Reed had taught them the three techniques she also mentioned that warmth doesn't have to be a hot summer day or a cozy fire but a warm smile or warm feeling also apply.

"Anything that comes to mind when I say the words warm, warmth, hot, and cozy, count for this project." She told them.

After that, an idea immediately came to Kyle's mind and he was already sketching it over the canvas in pencil.

A student at the far right of the large room raised her hand.

"So if the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of hot is my boyfriend pulling me onto his bed-" Ms. Reed silenced her the moment she realized where the girl was going.

"I am considering making these available for display and though the chances of them being displayed are low because it is still a possibility of that happening you may not." She explained. "If that picture wasn't supposed to be shown to all of the faculty, fellow classmates, parents, and siblings some of which are children and didn't include any nipples from either gender genitals or butt lines then I might have accepted it. Not now though."

The girl -Jessica- beamed.

"Then I will still make you that painting Ms. Reed!" Jessica seemed to burst with energy and eagerly sketched onto her canvas. "It will be appropriate for all ages!"

Ms. Reed just smiled.

"I cannot wait."

—————

Kyle and his class have been working on their paintings for a week now and would soon be done. Though Kyle had thought of an idea when he started it faded from his mind quickly and eventually everything that he was painting went straight from his heart to his fingers.

At some point, he decided to actually stop and look at what he had done and horror fell onto his face when he finally understood what he was looking at.

It was a beautifully done city view and there were two people, more specifically their silhouettes, experiencing the magic of it all from the top of a hill.

A picnic blanket had been laid out and a basket was next to them so it was clear that they ate, and they leaned into each other, not just enjoying the view but the warmth that the other’s company brought to them.

It was beautiful and would've been perfect in a couple of minutes if not for one little thing.

They were both guys.

No matter how hard or intently Kyle stared at his piece trying to find something that would make one of them, preferably the shorter man, look more like a girl they were clearly men.

Both of them had cropped short hair and wide shoulders.

Sure a lot of girls were rocking short hair nowadays and yes a lot of women had wide shoulders too but with art artists usually do what people would expect. Especially when it is not close up and not filled with little details, so they can make it clear for the audience.

And the kicker of it all,

Zero boobs

Not even the slightest hint of a chest on either of them.

If out of it Kyle had added boobs then he could leave that painting as is because with visible boobs it would definitely be female.

But no, he couldn't even have done that.

Kyle grumbled at himself the whole time he altered the shorter silhouette. Once Art finished for the day, Kyle wondered what had brought on his brain to create a painting like that. He wondered what brought upon the painting in the first place.

Well, He thought. I guess I have been thinking of Cole a lot lately.

And it was true.

Cole and Kyle had gotten significantly closer over the course of the week and more often than not Kyle found himself thinking about the grey-eyed kid. He hadn't thought of it as anything more than platonic until today.

But Kyle thought it wouldn't make sense for him to suddenly have feelings for his friend.

He liked girls and as far as he was concerned, guys were not even on his radar.

But then Cole's adorable little lips came to mind and he thought googling the categories of sexualities later might be a good idea.

Maybe there was a word for liking girls but liking the look of another guy's lips, eyes, hair, face, nose, smile, body, laugh, and personality.

Kyle sighed.

Maybe not.

But Kyle can't ponder his sexuality any longer because a girl was calling out his name.

He turns around and finds one of his art class classmates, Angela, smiling nervously in front of him.

"Hi, umm, I'm Angela your classmate, You probably already knew that, umm. I saw your painting and wow, it was just wow....you're really good like really good uh, sorry I'm kind of rambling but." She stops herself and takes in a deep breath. "Would you like to maybe go out with me? Sometime, I mean."

Kyle was actually surprised.

It wasn't known for Kyle to get asked out, he knew people thought he was handsome and he personally did not think he was all that bad himself. Being an athlete in such a physical sport like rugby forced him to bulk up and that just increased his appeal. But it was well known that Angela was the shy type and not only did she have a tight-knit group of friends she also rarely got in relationships. She was shy but very beautiful and most people's cup of tea so she was picky. It was unheard of for her to take the initiative and ask someone else out but here they are.

Kyle, the sexually confused guy, and Angela, the incredibly shy and introverted girl, are about to go on a date.

"Yeah, of course." He smiles and an adorably small one finds its way onto her face as well.

Kyle is not sure if it is a good idea or not but logically Angela is a beautiful sweet girl and he would be lucky to have her.

And since he has the opportunity he will.

So what if he's not sure about anything?

So what if Cole is standing behind Angela, his mouth agape in shock?

So wh-

Wait a minute Kyle thinks. Oh shit.

He gives Angela a rushed goodbye and sprints down the corridor after Cole.

Welp, this is just Fantastic.