The Deep End

It was already lunchtime the next day, when Alan finally noticed the stares of curious disgust that he had been receiving all day. He heard people whisper, and from their gazes being fixed on him, he could deduct it was about him. There were, however, lapses and more often than not they were key words, so he really had no idea what they were saying about him. He had better things to be thinking about than the probably cruel things people were saying about him. Like Austin.

Alan smiled absentmindedly as he stared into space; the nerds from the next table shifted uncomfortably and they erupted with hushed sentences that Alan couldn't bother to listen to.

Austin was a frequent visitor to his thoughts; and was one of the only ones that stayed. It made Alan feel a lot less lonely when he was thinking about him. Before he met Austin, he never felt lonely; he never knew any different, so he went through life being blissfully unaware of his own miserable solitude.

His pleasant, and considerably gay, thoughts of Austin were soon halted when a figure loomed over him, snapping him from his daydreams. He blinked, and the figure, a girl, sat down in the chair opposite his. He smiled weakly at her. The girl was from his church, so he tried to be civil because if anything negative got back to his parents he would be drowning in shit from them. She beamed at him and began to address the apparent rumours being spread about him:

"Hey, Alan, I was wondering if you knew the....err things that people have been saying about you?" Alan leaned forward in his seat, suddenly interested at the prospect of anyone actually sharing gossip with him, even if it is about himself. "No. I wasn't even aware people were spreading rumours about me." He put on his best puppy dog expression, and like hell it actually worked; she was swooning and he could practically see her hormone level increase by about 500%. "Well, I think you should know what people are saying about you. If that's okay with you?" Alan nodded; feigning utter innocence whilst keeping a pleasant look on his face.

"Well," She leaned in closer. "People have been spreading rumours about you getting molested by some weird guy." She watched as Alan's expression didn't turn into disgust or disbelief, it stayed relatively the same, only slightly amused. So that settled it, the rumours were not true, much to her delight. She added: "But just so you know, I didn't think they were true. No one would actually be stupid enough to even go near that weird, Goth guy anyway, right?" Slightly hurt, but definitely not showing it, Alan nodded and agreed.

The girl, Tessa, ended up staying and they made small talk for the rest of lunch. Tessa was so enthusiastic to find out that she had a few lessons with Alan, it was unsettling. She smiled and rambled on in the comfort that Alan now evidently knew of her existence and could no longer blank her anymore. Alan remained civil, Tessa's company wasn't bad, she was probably one of the nicest people in the school, but he didn't like her as anything other than a friend. He couldn't tell whether he was being egoistic or she was actually exhibiting signs of liking him in 'that way'.

They began to talk about church; Alan's least favourite subject (as long as no one knew that he was safe). Her hands were making animated gestures as she talked about some fair that was coming up. Alan just nodded every once in a while and replied with 'yeah's in the correct pauses. It wasn't that he didn't like her, it was just that he really didn't want to be thinking of church.

Lunch ended; so did their church conversation. Alan thought he was going to get through the conversation unscathed, but at the last moment it all went to shit. "So, er, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out some time?" Alan froze, unsure if it was meant in a friend way or a date sort of way. He begged God for it not to be the latter as he answered with a "Yeah, sure." in a fake, overly enthusiastic tone. His mum would probably be impressed that he was willing to hang out with someone that wasn't a goth with as many tattoos as his grandma has prejudices.

Tessa smiled; then pecked him on the cheek before skipping down the halls, so happily she could have been shoving rose petals at unfortunate passer-by and leading a herd of unicorns and it still would have been the same level of intensity.

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When Alan got home, it was empty. A note was left on the counter for him from his mum, reassuring him that she had only gone shopping and would be back in about ten minutes after he arrived home so he shouldn't get any ideas. In mum language, that roughly translated as: I will be back so don't you even think of going round the neighbour's house or I will hunt him down with a blunt wooden stake.

Dinner was a bore, just the usual pleasantries were exchanged. Alan at least decided to mention his new found friendship with Tessa to make his mum happy. "So, you know Tessa Blankhurst from church, yeah we sat together at lunch." His mum's interest sparked and increased by about 34796%. She leaned in as if he was about to spill some much awaited news. "So?" She asked, probably mentally crossing her fingers that Alan liked her. "She's.....nice." His mum continued to stare at him in anticipation for a few more seconds as if she was waiting for him to express his undying love for her. She wasn't fazed by the silence. "Well, that's nice dear. You two would be cute together, you should ask her out." Before Alan could even say an adamant 'no.' his dad had piped in. "Yeah, you should."

Alan shot him a 'don't-you-dare-join-in-on-this' glare, to which his dad just shrugged apologetically. Minutes were spent with his mother recalling the pros and cons of her teenage son dating someone. Needless to say, Alan just sort of got roped into going on a date with Tessa.

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Alan's eyes almost bulged out of his sockets with disbelief; Alan prepared for some sort of raging fit but instead Austin burst into laughter. Every time he seemed to calm down, he would take one concerned look of Alan's face and would be spent back into laughter. "Austin, help me." Alan whined, grabbing hold of his shoulders and holding him still. "Wow, shit, you really are serious aren't you?" Austin sat down on the sofa, gathering a sulking Alan in lap. "If you really can't get out of it then make her realise you don't like her like that." Alan sighed and rested his face into his shoulder. "If only it was that simple." Alan murmured dramatically, which made Austin giggle. "You parents, huh? I thought you said your dad was cool with us?" Alan's face was snuggled into his neck, as he tried to subtly breathe in his comforting scent. "Yeah, but mum is a whole other story."

Alan was caught by surprise when Austin started to kiss his lower neck. He squirmed a bit in confusion, before questioning him. "What the hell are you doing? Wha- No, Austin stop it." Alan managed to bat him away and motioned towards the now forming hickey on his neck: "What the fuck were you thinking?! People will see it." Austin smirked before leaning in close and revealing his master plan.

"Exactly. Tessa will see it and realise that you are not hers to take. If she turns out to be as decent as you say she is, it is not likely that she will throw a hissey fit." Alan was still mocking annoyance but Austin saw through it. "It's a good plan, right?" He smirked at him, revelling in how cute Alan looked when he was embarrassed. "It's a good thing I like you." Alan warned.

"It is, isn't it?" Austin chirped, kissing him sweetly on the mouth.