Sequel: Afterglow ›
Status: Complete! Sequel coming soon.
Miles Away
Fourteen.
It’s the next day at school where John decides to break the news. He wanted to keep it private at for a while, but considering the conversations they previously had, he figured that he should at least tell Kennedy. John owed him that much.
He doesn’t even wait until lunch to tell him actually. They had a math class together earlier in the day without Pat, and John wasn’t really ready to have Pat blab to the rest of their friends about these matters, not yet. This is why he decided to just tell Kennedy about what happened while they were in their Algebra 2 class, bored out of their minds and confused about the equations on the whiteboard.
“Alex and I decided to date,” John spoke, not really giving the other boy any kind of warning before breaking this news. His hand was holding his head up, not even looking at the other boy. His tired eyes were on the board. Of course it would be a surprise to Kennedy, but he wasn’t sure if it was a good one. Especially when his friend suddenly drops his calculator, a loud clanking sound coming from it as the casing came off. It made head turns, and it made John roll his eyes.
“You what?!” Kennedy hisses as soon as nobody is looking, head whipping around to properly face John.
“Alex, you know, that cute boy from crab city. We’re dating now. We decided to last night,” John repeats, giving Ken a blank look. Algebra 2 was his least favorite class, so of course he was bored out of his mind even when talking about his love life.
“I mean, congrats, but… why?”
“Figured it’d be good to at least give it a chance. My only issue with it was distance, anyway, but we’re going to be at the same college in just a couple of months,” John shrugged as he looked at the board again. He thinks back to their conversation to distract from boring old Algebra, smiling to himself.
“How will this work?” John hopes that this question doesn’t come off as rude, but luckily Alex doesn’t seem too bothered by it. He only shrugs, and there’s this wide grin on his face, his funky teeth showing. He’s so cute and so precious to John, and maybe… just maybe, this would work out perfectly. They were going to college together soon, anyway, weren’t they? Alex didn’t know, but it was still happening.
After some more tense silence, John finally speaks up again, this time with a single word that’s spoken as a question.
“Boyfriends?”
There’s this shy smile on his face, which is rare, because he isn’t one to get shy all that often. Alex seems to relax, his whole demeanor changing, and he sips up straight as he nods. “Boyfriends,” He confirms, and then he’s laughing. There’s no specific reason why he was, but he was just so relieved and full of this uncontainable joy. John joins in, and they’re happy together in that moment, laughing together and watching each other.
“So you just gave him a chance?” Kennedy asks, still in shock, “I mean, that’s great and all, considering how much you were pining over him--”
“I wasn’t “pining” over him,” John weakly protests, “I was just… really concerned about him.”
“John, look,” Kennedy starts, pretty much glaring at the love-struck boy sitting beside him, “You literally wouldn’t stop talking about him for over a week. Seriously, if anyone’s a master at pining, it’s you.”
That was true, even though John didn’t want to admit it. This wasn’t the first time he had crushed on somebody for a long, long time without making a move before it was way too late, but it was the first time he had done something about it.
“Dude, he’s right.”
It’s then that an underclassmen cuts in, one they talked to every once in a while but never really got to often because of conflicting schedules. John was cool with him and they maybe chatted at some parties when they could. John was pretty sure his name was Awsten, the spelling a little bit odd. As weird as it was, though, it somehow matched his oversized sweaters and the bright purple hair he rocked.
“Remember that one time you followed Otto around like a lost puppy?” Awsten laughs quietly as he mentions it - that douchebag - and then turns back around to face the front of the room before he got in trouble with their teacher. He wasn’t wrong. There had been a time when John was head over heels crushing on a boy that was friends with Awsten.
John was pouting without even realizing it. He doesn’t reply to the Awsten or Kennedy, even when he mutters, “Dude, even I remember that.”
They were both assholes, he decides, and he spends the rest of the time in that class sulking in his seat while he doodles over the equations filling the paper in front of him.
He doesn’t even wait until lunch to tell him actually. They had a math class together earlier in the day without Pat, and John wasn’t really ready to have Pat blab to the rest of their friends about these matters, not yet. This is why he decided to just tell Kennedy about what happened while they were in their Algebra 2 class, bored out of their minds and confused about the equations on the whiteboard.
“Alex and I decided to date,” John spoke, not really giving the other boy any kind of warning before breaking this news. His hand was holding his head up, not even looking at the other boy. His tired eyes were on the board. Of course it would be a surprise to Kennedy, but he wasn’t sure if it was a good one. Especially when his friend suddenly drops his calculator, a loud clanking sound coming from it as the casing came off. It made head turns, and it made John roll his eyes.
“You what?!” Kennedy hisses as soon as nobody is looking, head whipping around to properly face John.
“Alex, you know, that cute boy from crab city. We’re dating now. We decided to last night,” John repeats, giving Ken a blank look. Algebra 2 was his least favorite class, so of course he was bored out of his mind even when talking about his love life.
“I mean, congrats, but… why?”
“Figured it’d be good to at least give it a chance. My only issue with it was distance, anyway, but we’re going to be at the same college in just a couple of months,” John shrugged as he looked at the board again. He thinks back to their conversation to distract from boring old Algebra, smiling to himself.
“How will this work?” John hopes that this question doesn’t come off as rude, but luckily Alex doesn’t seem too bothered by it. He only shrugs, and there’s this wide grin on his face, his funky teeth showing. He’s so cute and so precious to John, and maybe… just maybe, this would work out perfectly. They were going to college together soon, anyway, weren’t they? Alex didn’t know, but it was still happening.
After some more tense silence, John finally speaks up again, this time with a single word that’s spoken as a question.
“Boyfriends?”
There’s this shy smile on his face, which is rare, because he isn’t one to get shy all that often. Alex seems to relax, his whole demeanor changing, and he sips up straight as he nods. “Boyfriends,” He confirms, and then he’s laughing. There’s no specific reason why he was, but he was just so relieved and full of this uncontainable joy. John joins in, and they’re happy together in that moment, laughing together and watching each other.
“So you just gave him a chance?” Kennedy asks, still in shock, “I mean, that’s great and all, considering how much you were pining over him--”
“I wasn’t “pining” over him,” John weakly protests, “I was just… really concerned about him.”
“John, look,” Kennedy starts, pretty much glaring at the love-struck boy sitting beside him, “You literally wouldn’t stop talking about him for over a week. Seriously, if anyone’s a master at pining, it’s you.”
That was true, even though John didn’t want to admit it. This wasn’t the first time he had crushed on somebody for a long, long time without making a move before it was way too late, but it was the first time he had done something about it.
“Dude, he’s right.”
It’s then that an underclassmen cuts in, one they talked to every once in a while but never really got to often because of conflicting schedules. John was cool with him and they maybe chatted at some parties when they could. John was pretty sure his name was Awsten, the spelling a little bit odd. As weird as it was, though, it somehow matched his oversized sweaters and the bright purple hair he rocked.
“Remember that one time you followed Otto around like a lost puppy?” Awsten laughs quietly as he mentions it - that douchebag - and then turns back around to face the front of the room before he got in trouble with their teacher. He wasn’t wrong. There had been a time when John was head over heels crushing on a boy that was friends with Awsten.
John was pouting without even realizing it. He doesn’t reply to the Awsten or Kennedy, even when he mutters, “Dude, even I remember that.”
They were both assholes, he decides, and he spends the rest of the time in that class sulking in his seat while he doodles over the equations filling the paper in front of him.