"Alright guys, I know this weekend is a big one but can we all settle down and let me talk for 15 minutes?" The chatter remains steady as Mr. Roberson bangs a meter stick on his desk. "Settle down! Please!" The class fell silent in a matter of seconds. Christopher looks up from his phone and examines the board, projecting a powerpoint presentation about plant root absorption.
"Mr. Roberson, can't we just watch a movie? You know sure as hell that none of us are going to pay attention to this, seeing how it is the last period on Homecoming weekend." The teacher stared at him for a second with a look of disbelief.
"You're telling me you don't want to learn about plants? They give us life!" Chris raised his eyebrows in judgment. "If I let you guys watch a movie you have to promise me that you will do the work on Monday, I don't care how tired you are from the weekend, you have to work."
"Yes, we all promise." A few students nodded in agreement. "See? Now can we please just watch something?" Mr. Roberson sighed and walked to his desk where his laptop sat. He muttered something under his breath as he put on a random selection from Netflix. A majority of the class pulls out their phones or turn to face one another to talk about their plans for Homecoming. Who is going to the game? Who is ditching the game and only going to the dance to photoshop their bodies and faces and post about it when they get home? What dress are they wearing? Who are their dates? The questions fly around in a flurry while you can hear the faint noise of Grown Ups playing on the projector. The next 45 minutes soar by and the bell rings to go home.
"I have no clue how you do it!" Marcus nudges Chris as they are leaving the classroom. "You can convince any teacher to do anything you want!" Chris laughs.
"Massive talent and balls… something you'll never have" He teases. Just as he's about to go to the bike racks, Aleah jumps right in front of him.
"Hey Chris! Are you going to the dance on Saturday?"
"Uh… Aleah, hey. Yeah I am." Chris puts his hand behind his back and gestures for Marcus to come over and help him. It should be noted that Chris doesn't like Aleah, in fact, he thinks she is really fucking annoying. He and Aleah have known each other their whole lives. Both Aleah and Chris's parents went to high school together and moved over to Key West back in the 90s to get away from New York, as it was "too liberal" for their taste. Yet they moved to Key West, one of the most LGBTQ+ ridden places in all of Florida.
"I was actually wondering if you wanted to… I don't know… maybe go to Homecoming with me?" Aleah said, very hesitantly and shyly. Marcus finally noticed what was going on and laughed. Chris then switched his frantic hand wave to flipping Marcus off. He could've easily said no and grabbed his bike and left, but he is a little stupid and clams up in awkward situations.
"Um… Aleah… I…" She looked at him, she knew she shouldn't have asked, what was she thinking? "I mean, sure? I don't think I have any other plans." Her face instantly lit up.
"Wait… really?" Marcus facepalmed behind them, knowing damn well Chris is going to complain about this later today. "Oh my god! Okay. Wow. I guess I'll just text you then?"
"Yeah. Totally." Chris said. She jumped in excitement and hugged him. She then ran off to her group of friends and they all squealed in teenage excitement. Chris stood there for a second and then turned around. "Don't say a single fucking word. Get your bike. Let's go."
After a brief and awkward ride home, Chris and Marcus went through the front door, grabbed a snack and trotted up the stairs to Chris's bedroom. He swings the door open only to jump back as his brother is standing there rummaging through his drawers.
"Dude, what the hell are you doing?" Chris exclaims.
"I'm just looking for some cash. My vape ran out of juice. I need to go to the shop and get a new one." his brother, Theo, explained.
"You know there is an amazing thing called 'going and getting a job', you should try it sometime." Chris said while trying to push his brother out of the room, although he is much physically smaller than him.
"Man I know you got some cash in here from your birthday still. Just let me have some, I'll pay you back."
"Oh like the other $40 you owe me?"
"Seriously? I thought we talked about this! I told you I am dealing with my mental health first!" The man is almost 25 yet still lives at home.
"Just get the fuck out!" Marcus moves over to the side and Theo huffs and storms out, proceeding to trample down the stairs and slamming the front door shut. "Sorry Marc… he's such an ass." Chris lays on his bed while Marcus takes a seat in his desk chair.
"Nah, it's cool. Don't worry about it. But are we just going to sit here and ignore the fact that you are now going to Homecoming with one of the girls in school you hate the most?"
"Listen, I told you not to bring it up. She would've made my mom make me take her anyways. I might as well not fight it." He sat for a second. "Plus, it's only for one night, right? And then I'll tell her I don't like her like that."
"So… lead her on, making her like you even more and then ditch her? Isn't that kinda fucked up?"
"I don't care. I will just tell her to leave me alone or something. I don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead yet. Let's just drop it." He rolls over and grabs his Xbox controller.
Before they know it, it's 4:30 and they need to head back to school for the game. The boys grab their giant duffle bags full of equipment and get in the car. Once they arrive at the field, Chris tells his mom to go back home and wait until closer to the game, since all they are doing right now is warming up and taking pictures for the yearbook anyways. He also thanks her for the ride.
"All right ladies! C'mon. Hustle. We need to get started." The coach instructs. The team heads over to the locker room. One by one, the guys head out in their uniforms to the benches and converse.
"Hey isn't that the weird kid in our bio class that just sits alone most of the time?" Chris points out someone sitting at the tops of the bleachers all the way in the corner.
"What is he doing here? Isn't his name like Gabriel or something like that?" Marcus chuckles. As he says that, a Senior on the team starts walking over, prompting the rest of the team to then follow along.
"Yo Gabriel!" the Senior yells. The boy's head quickly jolts up. He scrambles for a second and tries to pack all of his belongings up. "What are you doing here?"
"Nothing, just please leave me alone." He mumbles. Before he could get everything together, the whole team had him surrounded.
"Don't you have somewhere better to be? Rather than sitting here like a loner?" Someone from the team says.
"Aw, do you have no friends or something? Not surprised, honestly. You're a fuckin' freak." Another guy chimes in. Marcus shifts uncomfortably. Gabriel stuttered and tried to figure out what to say, but nothing came out.
"You should see this guy in bio, he basically just sits there and is a teacher's pet." Chris snickers. Marcus nudged him to stop, but Chris continued. "You really are just a pussy, huh?" Gabriel stood up and collected everything quickly and shoved it in his book bag. He pushes his way through the guys who are twice his size.
"C'mon dude, you know we're just messing with you." Chris says. Gabriel darts off as soon as he reaches an exit in the sea of football players. The guys start laughing and dissipate onto the field again. Jacob, a Junior on the team steps on a book with the word 'journal' scribbled on it. He reaches down and picks it up and starts flipping through the pages. It's Gabriel's.
"Guys… look what someone left behind." He scans the pages. "Man, there is some juicy stuff in here." All of a sudden his eyes widen and starts cracking up. Once again, the team huddles around what is now a book filled to the brim, rather than Gabriel himself. Marcus wedges his way through to get next to Chris, who is next to Jacob, hovering over the book.
"No fucking way."
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