➤ ➤ ➤
"Harvey..." Ari's gentle, breathless voice exhaled into my ear, making my fur stand on end as he delicately weaved his fingers through it. "Oh, Harvey..."
I could feel his hot breath on my face and his hands everywhere on my body, in more places than one. His touch was soft but electric, creating fizzles of energy in every area he made contact with.
"Ari... Don't stop..." I whined, my eyes shut as he continued to caress and touch me over and over. "Oh, God... I want you..."
"Let me do things to you..." He begged, clawing at my fur and tugging at the strands, dominating me like he owned a leash. "Let me..."
"...Yes?"
"Let me... eat you..."
"...What?"
Suddenly, he began to sing aloud, "Looking for a cavern, a place where she can stay..."
...What the fuck?
I suddenly jumped up out of bed, gasping for air. My face was pooling with sweat and my hands and feet felt clammy. I looked around and saw my bedroom, the same as it was last night when I'd gotten home after the hangout with Ari.
"Waiting for the darkness, when she leaves obsessed to make her way to me..." Ari's voice transformed right back into Zubin Sedghi's the moment I had awoken. The origin of the sound was my daily morning phone alarm—set to 'Cannibal' by Tally Hall, as always—which somehow had disrupted the contents of my... promiscuous dream.
I immediately grabbed my phone and shut off the alarm, instantly dropping it back onto the floor. I covered my face with my hands out of shame, sighing and quietly groaning with embarrassment. The stiffness below my boxers wasn't doing me any favors. Waking up hard as a rock was definitely an interesting start to my morning.
Jeez, Harvey... One date and you're already having sex dreams about him? You're one desperate motherf...
That was when it all came back to me. My memory of last night and the events that ensued; everything returned all at once, forcing me to realize...
Holy shit, I'm dating Ari.
"Holy shit, I'm dating Ari," I muttered to myself, pulling my hands away from my face and allowing a growing smile to mask it instead. "Holy shit! I'm dating Ari!"
Well, not dating-dating... Just... dating.
And that's good enough for me!
I began to giggle, the excitement that had been silenced all night during my unconscious sleep was finally getting its chance to burst through. I tossed the blankets off of me, noticing the giant tent formed beneath my boxers. Yeah, excitement's the word for it, alright.
Like a motor car racing for the finish line, I hopped out of bed and raced through my morning routine, almost leaving a trail of fire behind me as I blazed out the front door in a matter of seconds (more like half an hour, but you get my point). Rosie and Mom probably saw me rushing and decided not to interfere. I guess you can't stop the desperate loser simp train once it's on course.
As I jumped onto my bike while simultaneously throwing my backpack over my shoulders, I suddenly had the idea to visit Ari outside of his house and offer to ride with him to school. It was a delightfully calm morning and a brisk ride with my special Aussie friend would've been fairly pleasant. I mean, it's still pretty early and I have nothing better to do before first period begins, so why not?
With that same smitten, goofy smile, I pulled out my headphones, shoved them into my ears, and tapped the shuffle button on my music app. Matching my bright attitude, the classic, melancholic 'Never Meant' by American Football poured into my ears, filling my head with sweet, euphoric melodies to aid my short trip to Ari's. I began pedaling forward, not needing a map or directions to point me in the right way toward Ari's foster home since I already memorized where in town he lived. I now knew it like the back of my own hand.
The glee and thrill bubbling inside of me kept making my stomach turn as I pedaled down the dawning streets of Cloverland. The enticement of being able to see him again after last night's success was making me dizzy. I focused my attention on the world around me that passed by, getting my mind off of the excitement.
The song really elevated my bike ride experience. Only a few early-bird townsfolk were out and about on the neighboring sidewalks, collecting their mail and newspapers off their front porches, going on morning runs, or even heading out for work. There were also students going to school, just like me. I rode my bike down the empty, damp roads, flying over the cracked asphalt pavement, colored with slivers of golden sunlight. The world seemed so much brighter when I was in a good mood.
God, I love this feeling...
I'm so pissed I only got to experience it near the end of my senior year. I wish every year of high school was this enjoyable.
As my smile grew wider, making an effort to flash each and every tooth, I stood up on the bike and pressed my feet hard against the pedals, zooming even faster down the road.
As much as I was excited to see him again, I was also kinda nervous, but not in a bad way, no, not that kind of nervous, more like a nervous-to-see-someone-you-really-really-like-because-they-give-you-butterflies kind of nervous, the kind where you have this urge to be perfect and cool and chill all the time in front of your crush just so they don't think you're an idiot, but also Ari never made me feel that way, at least he'd try not to, and he did try a lot, but I do still feel like an idiot sometimes, but that's more of a 'me' thing and, thankfully, he likes that side of me, or at least he thinks it's cute, or maybe it means I'm not an idiot after all—
With the wheel of my bike squealing as I planted my foot down onto the road, stopping the bike dead in its tracks, my eyes zeroed in on what stood out in front of Ari's foster home.
Oh, I'm an idiot...
"Harvey?" Eden called out my name, noticing me as I came biking down the street earlier, too distracted by my own thoughts to notice her presence. I immediately yanked the headphones out of my ears, abruptly pausing the song midway through.
She was sat there, on her own bike, patiently waiting outside of Ari's house in her black and silver souvenir jacket, cropped black tank top and dark brown cargo khakis. We were about two cars apart in distance, but the sudden tension in the air immediately took out all the empty space between us, shoving us together into this thick block of awkwardness.
"H-Hey, Edie," I called out in response. I just sat there, not getting any closer, forcing the two of us to talk loudly at a distance, which, of course, made things even more awkward. "...Good morning?" That shouldn't have been a question.
"...Good morning?" She repeated. Also should not have been a question.
Uhm... maybe I should ask a question.
"H-How has your day been? S-So far, I mean?"
"...Good?" Eden answered, still with a question. "...What are you doing here so early?"
"...I could ask you the same thing?" Idiot, you already know the answer to that question. She's here to pick Ari up—
"I'm here to pick Ari up so we can ride to school together," she spoke. "I thought you already knew the answer to that question."
Speechless, I shut my mouth and pursed my lips. This is an odd predicament I find myself in; stuck with the person I used to go out with on the sidewalk outside of the house of the person I'm currently going out with.
...I barely even went out with her though. I don't need to dramatize the situation. I don't know why I'm making this so weird, she's Eden, my friend! My very close friend.
Shaking my head and remembering what she meant to me, I jumped off my bike and walked it over to where Eden sat on the seat of her own. She looked down at me, her brows furrowing. "Sorry, that was weird," I apologized uneasily at a normal volume.
"You good?" Eden chuckled, reaching for my shoulder and giving me a little shove, testing my balance.
"Think so," I laughed in an ungainly manner, scratching the back of my head.
"Glad to hear it, Harv. But, seriously, what are you doing here?"
That was when we heard the sound of Ari's alleyway gate door being opened, followed by the sight of him emerging from the alleyway. His outfit for the day included his usual oversized brown flannel, a tightly-fitted black t-shirt, gray ripped skinny jeans and platform boots, as well as tiny silver sword earrings, dangling from his earlobes. I cannot lie, he is fine as hell.
He also stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of me, not expecting me to be there. "Uh... Hey?" Again, another question that's not supposed to be a question.
"...Hey," I smiled cumbersomely, regretting having turned up here without a warning. Even then, a text message this morning still wouldn't have gotten to him because of the tech on his phone. "...Just figured I'd provide you... both with some company."
"Aw, really..?" Eden was touched by my fully intentional gesture.
"Really?" Ari raised an eyebrow at me, not as convinced.
"...Yeah—yes," I stammered, frozen under his gaze like a deer caught in his headlights. He stared at me with this cheeky awareness, knowing exactly why I showed up.
Ari scoffed and unchained his bike from the fence outside of his house. "Then I guess we'd better get going," he brushed it off, his own way of teasing me indiscreetly while being in the presence of Eden, hopping onto his bike seat. "Wouldn't want to be late to school."
He glanced at me again with his eyelids slightly lowered and a foxy smirk across his face. I could feel the heat in my face develop as he began to pedal forward alongside Eden, the two riding ahead down the street. I followed quickly in pursuit.
"This is a pleasant surprise, Harv!" Eden beamed as the three of us lined up our bikes in the street, allowing us to converse far more easily as we pedaled. As much as I would've liked to be near Ari again, of course, as fate would have it, Eden had come between us (both position-wise and metaphorically). She was directly in the middle with me and Ari riding our bikes on either side of her. "If it's easy enough to get here, you should join us every morning!"
"Oh, no, please, I wouldn't want to come between... your special morning routine," I hesitated to find the right words.
"What made you decide to come this morning anyway?" Eden repeated her question, curiosity getting the better of her.
"Uhm..." My eyes darted over to Ari, who was staring right back at me, shrugging and raising his eyebrows inconspicuously. Eden noticed where my line of sight had redirected to, causing her to turn her head over at Ari, who had dropped his expression right in time. "...I dunno, just felt like it?"
Eden slowly revolved her head back over in my direction, eyeing me suspiciously. With my facial expression cluttered with tension, it was hard to pull off a convincing smile, but I tried my best anyway. Her head went back to Ari, who was now nervously staring down at the tar road ahead, and then returned to me.
"...Mhm," she hummed, her shifty eyebrows bouncing up and down. "Sure."
One last time, she turned her head back forward but, this time, held her chin up in a snarky way.
My eyes met with Ari's again. We both knew that she probably knew now, but decided not to test her theory. We all focused our attention back onto the road before us, the rest of the remaining bike ride carrying on in complete and utter silence. From here to the school, Eden wouldn't stop her devious smirking the entire time.
➤ ➤ ➤
I swear to god, time only slows down when you're impatient.
I sat hunched over in my chair, staring anxiously at the clock on the wall, waiting restlessly for it to reach 11:15. My knee was rapidly bouncing up and down, my eyes were watering from all the yawning, and from the looks of it, the clock hands were barely even moving past the marks. It was taking ages for this class period to end.
Luckily, the usual two-period AP Lit block was shortened to only one period today because it was a gym day, but even then, things felt soooo much slower than usual. Maybe it's because I was eager to see Ari again, maybe not, but it's not like I'm aching every second spent without him—
My phone on the desk vibrated, forcing me to act upon my teenage instincts and reach for it. Once I read it was a message from Ari, I suddenly felt the urge to jump for joy. Sent at eleven o'clock on the dot, it read:
ask to go to the bathroom, come to the first floor one
"Something interesting there on your phone, Harvey?" Mrs. Deirdre, the AP Lit teacher, spoke aloud, alerting the entire class. I flinched and jerked my head up at her, sitting at the front desk, staring me down.
Levi and Torrence, who sat in front of me at their own individual desks, peered over their shoulders at me, as did the rest of my classmates. I was caught red-handed.
"No, sorry," I blurted out, turning my phone over on the desk, screen-down.
"Finish up your performance task, period's almost over," she warned, nodding her head to the open laptop computer on my desk.
"I finished it, actually," I full-on lied. "...May I use the restroom?"
The moment I entered the empty, rundown bathroom (which was as dirty and as nonfunctional as every average middle-class public school restroom), a hand suddenly emerged from one of the bathroom stalls, reaching for me and pulling me inside.
Ari pressed me up against the stall door, jamming the silver sliding lock closed. Thankfully, he had chosen the only stall in this bathroom that had a working lock. With Ari's hands shoved up against the door on either side of my torso, trapping me, he leaned in close, a faint diabolical grin shrouding his face. It all happened so quickly, so of course, I was a little too stunned to speak.
"I-I-Ar—" I stammered uncontrollably, my face heating up from the closeness of our muzzles. The tips of our snouts were just atoms away from making contact. I was almost afraid that Ari could physically feel the immense heat radiating off of me.
"Hey, Northwest," he purred, his smooth and gentle voice as sultry as ever. The slight rasp and intricate diction of his whispers were so effortlessly mesmerizing, like his vocal cords were dipped in honey or syrup or... something graphic like that. This was our first actual time being alone together again since last night, and man, he sure did take the opportunity to make me squirm.
"Hi, Ahi—I mean, Ari," I shook my head, mentally cursing myself infinitely for the endless stupid mistakes I made in front of him. "S-Sorry."
Ari smiled handsomely, peeling his lips back to show off his fangs as he chuckled softly. "Bozo."
He then took a short step backward, his eyes focusing on the incorrectly-buttoned placket of my polo. Having rushed out of the house so quickly this morning, I hadn't noticed that my buttons were arranged one-off from their initial positioning. "Oh, you're such a mess..." Ari mumbled in a single breath, reaching for the placket and fixing the buttons, one by one.
For someone who was pretty skeptical about last night's decision, he sure did enjoy being flirty with me in secret. Maybe he enjoyed the fooling-around-part of an unlabeled relationship more than he did the serious talks about commitment.
"You're an idiot, you know?" Ari snickered, biting his bottom lip as he looked up at me, grasping the lapels of my shirt and readjusting them. I already knew he was referring to this morning.
"I forgot you both rode to school together," I admitted with embarrassment, shamefully rubbing my right eye. "I never meant for it to be so awkward."
"Does she know about us?" Ari questioned. "...Did you tell her anything?"
"...I figured you'd tell her, considering she's, like, what..? Your best friend?"
"Mm. We both, sorta, have this unspoken agreement to not talk about boys whenever we're alone together," Ari explained, releasing his grip on my shirt and holding his paws behind his back, crossing his feet.
"But, didn't she talk to you about me? And that I was a 'heartthrob' or something?"
"I meant, boys we liked," Ari clarified, before looking away and mumbling to himself: "...Wait. That probably was a sign that she didn't like you... And I was the one who told you to ask her out..." He then inhaled sharply and picked his head back up, smiling apologetically at me as he stated sincerely: "Sorry about that."
I opened my mouth, but ended up speechless. So, instead, I brushed it aside and changed the subject. "...Um, why did you want me to come here?"
Ari breathed in and out slowly before looking around at the sickening setting we found ourselves in. The bathroom stall was not pretty. The walls were marked with Sharpie and scissor scrapings, forming derogatory words and offensive images. The tiled floor was covered in dirt and other grimy substances that needed no identifying. The toilet behind Ari was even missing a seat and was clogged with toilet paper.
"...Honestly," Ari sighed, "I wanted to bring you here to kiss you, but I know you well enough not to play those games with you."
"Games?"
"Yeah, I would do it a lot with guys I've been with in the past."
"And you brought them here?"
"Yeah, I know, this place is disgusting," Ari rolled his eyes pitifully, looking down on every revolting detail surrounding us, "but let's be for real, the entire school is. And I've made out with guys in even worse places, so trust me when I say this is as good as it gets."
"I don't know how you do it," I shook my head, gazing at him with awe. This lanky ass dog in front of me has seen and gotten so much more action in the last three years than I have in my entire life. "I don't have the confidence."
"Yeah, well, that's a given," he teased, brushing his thumb across my cheek. I shot him an offended glare. "I'm kidding. And yeah, it's about confidence, but also, it's about how much you're willing to risk."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, for example... Dude at party wants to fuck me, he doesn't have protection, do I care that much about my own life to risk getting an STD—that kind of thing." I didn't know whether that scenario was made up or taken from a chapter of his own life, but either way, it was concerning.
"Right..."
"Don't worry, though," Ari exhaled, taking a step closer to me and touching his paw to my chest and collarbone, sending shivers down my spine. "I'm not sick. Just going deaf."
Even though he shrugged it off as if it were a joke, it was hard for me to smile and laugh at his witticism.
"Luckily, it's not transmittable," he continued, leaning in even closer, our lips almost making contact. "So, you're not at risk of catching my condition," Ari whispered, barely moving to hold the tension between us for a second longer.
I stood there, not knowing what to do, as per usual. Once Ari had had enough of holding me in suspense, he soon ended my suffering and granted me a gentle kiss on the lips. He knew exactly how to play with me; he knew all the right buttons to press and all the correct moves. He made me work for what I wanted, and deep down, I liked it that way. The satisfaction of the kiss was much more rewarding after longing for it.
With his hands squeezing my shoulders, I carefully reached my own paws out for his waist, something I had learned to do from past experiences with him. Even though we were both very new to this, Ari already knew what I liked. He spun my whiskers around his finger and combed his paws through my mangy coat of fur, eventually reaching the fur on the back of my head, sending immense waves of pleasure throughout my entire body. I desperately wanted to do the same, to give him that satisfaction in return, but I wasn't sure how to figure out what Ari liked. Asking him probably would've been weird, but testing out random things on the fly was probably even weirder. So I just did the same thing I've done every other time. All I can remember is that he likes his waist being touched or held, so I snaked my arms around his torso and held him close.
"You're stiff, loosen up, it's okay..." Ari whispered delicately and politely once he broke away from this kiss. His helpful commentary suddenly gave me the confidence to experiment while under his jurisdiction. He wrapped his arms around my back, his attempt at giving me a massive bear hug. "It's me, you know me... Touch me as if you've always known me..."
He began to kiss my neck, the ticklish sensation making my body tense up with arousal. As I heard the soft, moist pops and smacks of his lips upon my fur, I felt the urge to explore the surface of his body. My hands migrated further, moving from his waist to his hips, feeling the various ridges and bumps of his denim jeans.
That was when I took a chance and advanced even further, brushing my paws over his bottom. I could feel his fuzzy tail flinch and flap around a little, which would've been nothing compared to mine if it wasn't being held down against the stall door by my back, but it was the most I've ever seen his tail move before. It was something. He must've liked it.
I slid my fingers into the two back pockets of his jeans and pressed down, sensing the general curvature of his skin and body shape underneath the denim material. I began to think about him in more ways than one, images of his body appearing in my mind without his signature stylish clothing. Now that I've come to think to about it, I've never really seen his body. It almost happened once, but the room was unfortunately too dark for me to see anything.
"Is this okay..?" I asked quietly, closing my eyes, hoping it would help build up my confidence.
Ari faintly hummed his approval, his lips returning to mine. He kissed me cautiously, careful not to make a sound, the only audible noise being the deep breathless exhales coming from our mouths and nostrils.
"The period's about to end," Ari whispered, breaking the kiss off again, yet not distancing his muzzle any farther from where it was. "If you don't wanna be seen in here with me, I'd suggest leaving now. Someone could come in at any moment."
"I don't want this to stop, though... I don't think I can wait another few hours to be alone with you again..."
Ari faintly chuckled as I opened my eyes and stared him in the face. He tilted his head to get a better look at me, his wandering eyes hungrily scanning every part of me, up and down. He cupped both of his paws around my neck and grinned even wider.
"We have gym next and you're already sweating," he jested, finding my lust-induced perspiration amusing. "C'mon, Northwest. Have patience."
He's right. You can't rely on him to fulfill your every need, Harvey, that's obsessive and creepy.
"Alright," I sighed out of disappointment, releasing my grip on his butt. He did the same with his tender hold over my neck, the two of us setting one another free—though I could tell neither of us wanted to be. "So, I'll leave now, and..?"
"I'll wait and leave a minute later, just so no one suspects anything."
"...So, this is gonna be, like, our little secret?"
"Do you want it to be?"
"Well, I'm definitely not sure about taking our, whatever it is we have, public..."
"So, we keep it a secret."
"What about our friends, though? Do we tell them?"
"Do you want to?"
"...What about you? What do you want, Ari?"
Ari thought about it for a moment.
"...I don't mind not telling them. Just for a bit."
A faint smirk, reminiscent of the one he had shown me earlier, formed across my face.
"...Secret it is, then."