Desolation Row [MxM]

Chapter 01

“Ugh, I am so proud of you, it's disgusting!”

I laughed as Sophie hung onto me, her arms circling around my neck. “Seriously, you're too smart! Keep it up and you'll be valedictorian next year!”

“Wouldn't that be awesome?” I asked. “Then ten years from now, you would get to tell your children you were best friends with the smartest kid in your class.”

Sophie had heard of yet another one-hundred I'd received recently, which only added to the pile. It was only the beginning of the year, but I had the highest GPA of the Junior class so far. Sophie was literally right behind me, but she didn't take second place too bad. Her excuse was that there was no way she was doing a speech in front of the entire school.

Her blonde curls bounced as she finally stepped away from me, a wide smile on her face. “Seriously, Vic. Good work.”

“Thanks, Soph.”

We smiled at each other for a second before an arm wrapped around my shoulders, and I turned to see Alex; my amazing boyfriend. Alex had been my best friend since middle school, and my boyfriend since Freshman year. He'd helped me come out to my parents, and was even on the lacrosse team.

“Heard you got another perfect grade,” he said, smiling down at me. “Good job, Victor.”

“Yeah, in history. Thank God, because it's my worst subject,” I laughed. He hummed, frowning slightly.

“I don't think you have a 'worst subject', Vic. Just a subject that you don't ridiculously excel at.”

“Same thing.”

Alex chuckled, shaking his head a little and squeezing my shoulder before dropping his arm, standing between me and Sophie.

All our group was missing was Jake. Jake was a year younger than we were, being in the same art class as Sophie. She was the one who introduced us to him, and he'd been with us since his Freshman year.

Now, it wasn't that I didn't like Jake. He was nice enough. It was just that, whenever he was with us...

“Hey, Alex! And Sophie. And Victor.”

Alex was all he saw. Half the time it was like Sophie and I were invisible. I tried not to mind so much, because I knew Alex was an attractive guy, and as sweet as anything on top of it. I knew he'd never cheat or anything like that. But still, there was the fact that he was my boyfriend, not Jake's.

“Hey, Jake. What've you been up to?” Sophie asked. “It's ten minutes past three.”

Jake shrugged a little, brushing some of his sandy hair back from his face. “Couldn't get my locker open.”

We all nodded in understanding, because for all the great things Lakeview High had, the lockers were awful and sticky. Luckily they were getting new ones next year.

“Can't help that I suppose.” Sophie continued. “Come on, let's go. I'm starving.”

Sophie linked her arm with mine as we all headed down the hall, the two of us behind Alex, and Jake in the back. The halls were mostly deserted, only a few stragglers behind, or those on sports teams. The sun was shining brightly on the concrete outside, and I was only slightly blinded. Thank God for the tinted windows of my car.

“So Alex, are you going home with Victor? It is his birthday, after all.” Sophie said suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows. I felt myself flush as I glared at her, but Alex only laughed and patted my head affectionately.

“Ah, no. Practice today. We're still on for tomorrow night though, right?” he asked, looking down at me. I smiled back and nodded, making him smile as well. “Good. Alright, I'll catch you guys later.”