The Guy I Am Totally Into

Chapter three

I got to the chemistry lab, trying to look cool, but I definitely needed to be more chill if I was going to be able to stand within two feet of Jeremy for more than an hour without freaking out.

"Go get 'im!" Rich teased, hitting my arm gently on his way in.

"Fuck you..." I said, smiling despite myself.

"Nah. He's taken." Michael slung an arm around Rich's shoulders and kissed his cheek.

"Oh my god," I rolled my eyes. "Let's just get inside." As we walked into the classroom, I found myself scanning for Jeremy. Snap out of it...I tried to remind myself, but all those thoughts were abandoned when I saw Jeremy's unmistakable curly hair at a desk he usually didn't sit at. "Do we have new seats?"

"Looks like it," Rich groaned, looking at the board. "Ooh!" He exclaimed, prompting me to look at him as his boyfriend studied the new seating chart.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Someone gets to sit by his cr-" Rich started, grinning. I quickly slapped my hand over his mouth, looking at Michael, who was staring at me.

"What?" He asked, pulling Rich closer protectively.

"Rich!" I whispered desperately. "Don't!"

"I was only joking!" Rich protested. "Your hand's all sweaty." I blushed. Of course it was, Jeremy fucking Heere was supposed to be my new lab partner. How anyone talked to him without sweaty palms was beyond me.

"What's going on?" Michael asked, confused.

"Nothing!" I said quickly, giving him a huge fake smile.

"C'mon, babe..." Rich pulled Michael away, turning to give me an encouraging thumbs up behind his boyfriend's back.

I made my way to my lab table, my heart practically pounding out of my chest. I stood next to Jeremy, pretending to be preoccupied with my backpack so he couldn't see how red my face was. Damn this chemistry teacher.

"Hi, Jake!"

Oh god.

I looked up at Jeremy, who was giving me the sweetest half smile. Seriously, I thought I was going to get a cavity.

"Oh hey, Jer." I said as casually as I could manage, trying to appear as if I hadn't noticed him. I thought I saw a flicker of disappointment in his eyes but when I blinked, it was gone. I probably just imagined it.

"S-sorry you got stuck with me." Jeremy said, fidgeting with a loose string on his cardigan. I felt my heart snap in half.

"Are you kidding? You're the smartest person in this whole class! Probably in the whole fucking school!" I exclaimed. His face lit up in a bright smile, and I had to sit down. Jesus Christ, this boy made my knees go weak.

"Really?" He asked, his crystal eyes shining.

"Hell yeah, dude!"

I added the "dude" as a kind of failsafe. I'd rather call him "babe" but you know...that probably wouldn't go over well.

"Th-thank you." Jeremy said, a light pink dusting across his porcelain face, accentuating his freckles.

I swear to god I'm about to faint.

"Everyone please get out your test tubes and put on your goggles." The teacher said excitedly. I pulled out the glass tubes carefully and placed the large goggles over my eyes.

"Shit..." Jeremy said softly beside me. I glanced over quickly and saw that he was struggling with the straps of his goggles.

"Here," I said, taking them gently from his hands. "Let me help you." Carefully, I adjusted the straps for him and handed them back.

"Thank you!" He squeaked, causing me to smile.

"No problem." I responded. I looked up at the board and furrowed my eyebrows. "What the fuck is...ph-phen...phenl-lo..."

"Phenolphthalein." Jeremy corrected after a quick glance. "It's a universal indicator, which means it changes color to show the pH of certain solutions. It stays colorless in acidic solutions and turns pink in alkaline solutions."

I stared at him, my mouth falling open. "Sorry, what language was that?" I asked, causing him to laugh. I blushed, feeling dumber than ever before. I braced myself for the teasing that was sure to come.

"You're so funny!" Jeremy said between giggles.

Oh, yeah. I forgot that Jeremy is literally incapable of being mean without his SQUIP.

I allowed myself to smile. How was he actually perfect?

Jeremy carefully measured out the phen-whatever into the test tube, studying the instructions on the board while I studied him.

"Hand me a pipet?" He asked me, glancing up. Quickly, I handed him one. "Watch this...it's really cool." Jeremy said excitedly.

He's. So. Fucking. Cute.

I nodded, watching closely.

"This is sodium hydroxide." He explained, dipping the pipet into the liquid. "Since it's a base, the solution should turn pink...if I did everything right."

"Which I'm sure you did." I said honestly, making the corners of his lips turn up a bit.

Jeremy dropped the sodium hydroxide into the test tube, and the phenolphthalein inside turned pink.

"We did it!" Jeremy cheered.

"You did it." I corrected.

"Congratulations, boys! You finished before anyone else! No surprises there, seeing as Heere's at that table." The teacher teased gently. Grinning proudly, Jeremy observed the chemicals in the tube.

"Nice work, Jeremy!" I said, stepping forward to hug him. At the last second I decided against it, keeping my hands to my sides. Helping him clean up our station, our hands touched three times. Count 'em, folks. Three. Times.

So yeah, it was a pretty good day.