Rocket To The Moon.

Tom’s plan was crazy, to say the least. But to be honest, it did make some sense. I knew how badly Tom wanted to turn Rocket back into the guy he knew four years ago, and I really wanted that too. But whatever the result of this outrageous scheme there was one thing I was absolutely sure of, it would be interesting. If Rocket really was serious when he told me all that stuff in the hospital, surely seeing me with his best friend would provoke a ton of jealously, if not also anger. That way, we would have physical proof that he is jealous of Tom. It wasn’t the most foolproof of ideas, but it was worth a shot anyway. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?
Overall, going swimming with everyone turned out to be a lot of fun. It definitely took my mind off of things, despite the fact that I very nearly drowned several times. It felt good to be able to enjoy myself and goof around with my friends like a normal teenager, without having to worry about which of my loved ones was in hospital and why the hell Rocket acts so weird all the time. Not that I wouldn’t be worrying about that the moment I left the swimming pool anyway.
We didn’t leave until the pool closed at 7pm. I think the staff and lifeguards were glad to see us finally go - they must have been getting sick of us. I planned on catching the bus straight to the hospital to pay Rocket a quick visit, and then catching the bus home. But just as I was about to do so, I heard Tom call my name. He ran up to me and offered me a ride to the hospital, but he also proposed that then would be a good time to announce our “relationship” to Rocket. I agreed, though I was nervous.
My nerves only increased as we stood outside of Rocket’s ward, about to go in.
“He’s so not going to buy this.” I stated timidly.
“Chill out, it’ll be fine.” Tom insisted.
“Does he know you’re gay?” I asked.
“I haven’t told him, no.” he said “And if I had, I wouldn’t have suggested this plan in the first place.”
“It just feels so mean…” I muttered.
“But we’re doing it for his benefit, remember? It will be better for him in the end, I promise.”
“If you insist…” I said uneasily. Tom took my hand in his, for appearance purposes, and we entered the room. Rocket’s eyes fell immediately onto our joined hands, then he gave us both a stern and questioning look.
“Dude, we have some news.” Tom announced “Hero and I are together now. Isn’t that awesome?”
I forced a weak smile, and watched Rocket’s expression turn dubious.
“Since when?” he asked.
“Since a couple of hours ago.” Tom replied “She’s a really great girl. I’m surprised you didn’t get to her first.”
I detected a flicker of anger in Rocket’s expression, but it remained doubtful, “Are you guys fucking with me? ‘Cause this really isn’t funny.”
“Oh shit, he doesn’t believe us. Well that just sent that plan down the drain. What do we do now?”

“We aren’t fucking with you, dude.” Tom insisted, “Here, watch this…”
He kissed me on the lips, but it was quick and friendly…and not very convincing. I doubt Rocket would have been surprised if he had done that under regular circumstances. I cringed internally.
“We’re trying to take it slow.” I blurted, attempting to make the situation seem real. Rocket simply looked at us disbelievingly. Giving up on the persuasive techniques, Tom guided me to Rocket’s bed, his hand still in mine, where we both sat down.
“So, dude, how are you doing?” Tom asked.
“Good…” Rocket muttered.
“Does it still hurt?” I asked.
“Like hell.” he replied “But not as bad as before.”
“Apparently you’re being discharged soon?” Tom said.
“Hopefully.” Rocket replied. There was a short silence. Tom lifted up my hand which was still in his and examined it.
“Hey, Hero, did you ever play piano?” he asked.
“No, why?”
“Your hands are absolutely beautiful. Like a pianist’s hands.” he commented.
“Thanks.” I replied.
This time, I noticed Rocket stir slightly. I guess he viewed the compliments as a form of flirting.
“You should take up piano playing.” Tom continued.
“I don’t think I can afford a piano.” I replied.
“I’ll help you pay for one.” he offered.
“That would be fantastic.” I smiled affectionately at him, and I noticed Rocket’s stare sharpen. Tom glanced at the clock on the adjacent wall.
“Look at the time. We’d better be going. Hey, Rocket, seeing as you’re going to be here tonight, do you mind if I sleep in your bed? You know…in yours and Hero’s room?” he asked.
“I don’t mind.” Rocket replied through his teeth.
“Great! Thanks, buddy. Come on, sweetheart!” Tom dragged me upwards and towards the door.
“Bye, Rocket!” I turned and waved as I was walking, and he shot me an acknowledging nod as I exited the room.

“So, how do you think that went?” Tom asked me in the car on the way home.
“I wasn’t so sure at first…but then I started to notice him getting slightly tense.” I replied “I think this could work.”
“We’ll keep trying.” he said “Oh, and by the way, I really am going to steal Rocket’s bed tonight, if that’s alright with you?”
“It’s fine as long as you don’t snore.” I replied.
“I can’t promise anything.” he joked.
“If you snore, I’m kicking you out.” I stated.
“I’ll try not to.” he promised.

Once we returned home, I went straight to bed. Out of pure exhaustion, I fell asleep almost instantly. I was so deep amongst my dreams that, if Tom did snore, I wouldn’t have heard him.
_____________________________________________________________________

I went back to school the next day, after what felt like ages. I caught the bus in the morning, seeing as Rocket wasn’t around to give me a lift and I didn’t want to wake Tom, and I was met by the usual group of people. They seemed surprised to see me.
“Hero! You’re finally back!” Sean exclaimed happily. I nodded.
“You haven’t missed anything,” Adam stated nonchalantly “At all.”
“That’s good, I guess.” I replied.
“How’s Rocket?” Christa asked.
“He’s fine.” I replied.
“Everyone is still shaken up after what happened on Saturday. it’s such an unlikely situation. I’m so glad everyone got out of it okay.” Christa said.
“I have to admit, when I heard those explosions, I though I was dead for a moment.” Sean said.
“Were there any deaths?” Hunter asked.
“No,” Christa replied “No deaths. Nineteen severely injured though.”
“At least everyone survived then.” I commented.
“Does anyone else have math first period?” Hunter asked, changing the subject and apparently not even realising he was doing so. Everyone shook their heads.
“Awww…” he whined “I really don’t wanna have to sit in Mr. Stinky’s class on my own!”
Mr. Stinky = Mr. Steinkey. The teacher with the worst B.O. problem in the history of schools worldwide. I felt bad for Hunter having to be in his class.
“I have English first.” I groaned. I would also have to spend first period by myself. The only other person in my English class who I was familiar with was Luke, and I didn’t plan on starting a friendly conversation with him any time soon.
“Do you guys wanna meet up after school and go to the beach?” Sean asked “We can go surfing.”
Murmurs of agreement spread throughout our little group. None of them mine, however.
“I think I’ll just go straight home today.” I said quietly.
“Oh, come on, Hero!” Sean pleaded “I’ll bring Gracie. It’ll be loads of fun, I promise!”
“Yeah, Hero, come on!” Hunter added.
I sighed “Fine, fine, I’ll be there.”

The bell rang for lessons, and the five of us went our separate ways, after arranging a meeting place for after school. The lessons seemed to fly by, and it felt like only minutes since I was last sat facing the blackboard and whichever teacher was attempting to enlighten me on their specialist subject. School is boring, I’m sure everyone agrees with me. There’s no other explanation for it. Rocket was, of course, on my mind throughout the entire day. All day I was playing his words over and over in my head, and planning out my next visit to the hospital. I also thought about Tom’s plan, and whether or not I would have the willpower to keep it up and not cave in to Rocket’s relentless interrogations. I was sure that, if I had enough motivation, keeping up that charade would be easy enough. And I had plenty of motivation, all right. I had realised fully by that point that I did want Rocket and myself to be together. Though that thought both terrified and surprised me to begin with, I knew it was true, and I accepted it willingly. I also knew that I wanted Rocket to be a happy and normal guy, and not this closed off, un-emotional, weird, delinquent jerk that he’d turned himself into. And according to Tom, I would be able to do that for him. I trusted Tom enough, he seemed to know what he was talking about.
After school, I made my way to the designated meeting area chosen by my friends this morning. We waited until everyone had shown up, before making our way to the beach - stopping off at various people’s houses on the way in order to pick up the necessary beach stuff. Half an hour later, I found myself laying amongst the warm, powdery grains of sand with Gracie and Christa at either side of me. Adam was directly in front of us showing off his outstanding skills with a surfboard, whilst Sean and Hunter were using all their strength simply trying to stand up on a board.
“Boys…” Christa sighed as she watched Hunter plunge face first into the water, whilst flailing his arms and legs around wildly.
“Adam is like a surfing machine!” Gracie noted.
“I wish we could say the same for the other two.” I laughed.
“I don’t know, I think Sean is getting the hang of it.” Gracie protested. I looked over to where Sean was, and saw him clinging onto the end of his board, practically upside-down.
“Are you kidding me?” Christa scoffed “He sucks.”
“I second that.” I added.
“Well, at least Sean is the most good-looking one of the three. You Can’t deny that.” Gracie smiled warmly.
“I don’t know…I always found Adam the most good-looking. He’s way more buff.” Christa pointed out.
“His eyes aren’t as nice as Sean’s though.” Gracie declared.
“Yeah, but Adam has an amazing smile. Not to mention perfect teeth.” Christa said.
“I feel bad for Hunter, he seems to be getting left out of the equation here.” I joked.’
“Go marry Hunter then, Hero.” Christa laughed.
“Nah, I think I’ll pass.” I smirked.
“Hero’s going to hook up with Rocket eventually anyway.” Gracie grinned, and winked at me.
“What?! Am not!” I retorted.
“Ooh, Hero, you’re blushing!” Christa teased.
“Am not!” I repeated, hiding my cheeks.
“Where are you going after this, Hero?” Gracie asked.
“Hospital.” I blurted out, before slapping my hands over my mouth.
“What could you be going there for?” Gracie asked mockingly “Oh yeah, you’re going to see your boyfriend!”
“He’s not my boyfriend!” I snapped.
“Whatever.” Christa giggled.
“He’s not! I swear! Just ask Tom, he’ll prove it!” I insisted.
“What the hell does Tom have to do with this?” Christa asked.
“Because…well…Tom is kinda my boyfriend at the moment…” I replied quietly.
“Kinda?”
“Yeah, kinda. Not fully.”
“How can someone ‘kinda’ be your boyfriend?” Gracie asked, cocking her head to the side and looking at me curiously.
“And I was sure that Tom was gay.” Christa added.
“He isn’t actually my boyfriend…only sort of. And yes, he is gay.” I replied, cringing. There was no way in hell that I could explain this one and still sound normal.
“You are seriously weird.” Christa stated slowly.
“I’ll explain this some other time, alright?” I sighed “Just, please, stay off the subject of Rocket for a while.”
“Rocket, here we go again.” Gracie taunted “Always bringing him up, you are!”
I sighed with frustration, and then dreaded to think about how these two would react should mine and Tom’s plan pull through. I tried not to think about it. After a while, the boys appeared to get tired of surfing, so they came to join us. We all chatted for a while about pointless topics, and I noticed a small amount of flirting going on between certain couples within the group. It didn’t make me feel uncomfortable at all though…I thought it was funny. As expected, I was the first person to leave. With a lot of protesting from my friends, I headed back home to find Tom, so that we could go back to the hospital in order to participate in round two of Rocket deceiving.