Kalon
(N.)
Ideal perfect beauty, both physically and morally. Possesing a beauty that is more than just skin deep.
"I need to go home today." Jess said as they drove to school. Their hands were interlocked over the center console and they were running on time today. No morning make out sessions this time.
Isaac nodded and brought up the back of Jess's hand to kiss it. "Okay."
He didn't question it. He didn't ask anything of Jess. He just accepted that his boyfriend needed to go home. That was something Jess liked about Isaac. He was understanding.
Of course, that's the bare minimum but it's still sweet.
There was another moment before Isaac showed the caring side once again. His voice laced with concern. "If Ki hangs around us is that going to make you uncomfortable? I can make sure we hang out separately from you if it is." He squeezed Jess's hands. "I'll understand if so."
"No." Jess shook his head, smiling at the offer. "It's okay. Just make sure the group knows not to kick his ass and is okay with it. Tally has always found him a little annoying."
"So I've heard." Isaac hummed. "I'll talk to them and see what's up."
Jess nodded. He was okay with Ki being around because he knew Isaac and him were close. There was pictures with them as kids around the house all over, it wasn't hard to figure out.
They pulled up to the school and their hands let go of each other. Jess stepped out and once he was on the sidewalk Isaac was matching in step next to him. They walked next to each other. Tally met up with them inside the building and the three walked over to Jess's locker.
Isaac chewed on his lip. Jess noticed this and the way his eyes bounced around nervously. He bumped his shoulder against the boy before going to open his locker.
Mason and Andrew walked up to join the group, Kristi walking off to somewhere behind them. Jess shut his locker now that his bag was over his shoulders and turned to face them. He smiled in greeting. "Hey."
"Hey." Mason grinned. "What's up, guys?"
Jess shrugged and glanced over at Isaac. The brunette cleared his throat and gained everyone's attention. "So, Ki came by my place yesterday."
Mason and Tally froze. They didn't let anything show on their face. Andrew tensed up.
"He wanted to apologize." Isaac cleared up fast. "Said he was sorry he let everyone talk all that shit and that he should've apologized sooner. All that stuff."
"Oh." Mason nodded slowly. "He mean it?"
"Yeah, I guess so." Isaac shrugged. "He let me deck him in the face."
Mason's eyebrows raised at that and Tally's eyes widened in surprise. Andrew didn't seem too surprised, he slowly smiled. "So, he's cool now?"
Isaac shrugged. "I guess. I don't know if he's going to want to hang out with us or not but if he does is that cool?"
Andrew nodded with a small smile. Mason shrugged, slowly letting himself smile kindly. He glanced over at Tally who was looking like he was in thought.
"It's okay, Tal. You don't have to be okay with it." Isasc said, bringing Tally out of his thoughts.
"Um..." Tally shrugged. "I don't know. I guess he can, I might get tired of him though."
"That's understandable." Isaac said with a nod.
Jess smiled at his boyfriend. His kind smile lit up his expression. Jess turned back to the group as they started fading back into normal conversation. Ki never came up to their group but Jess caught sight of him walking over to Isaac and Mason when they started heading to first hour.
The first few hours flew by. Isaac walked him to third hour and Ki trailed along. The two didn't say anything to each other but it was a reminder that the boy was chill now.
At lunch Andrew sat with Ki who was at the normal athletic table with Dagger. Jace's new group had moved tables, that group being Wyatt, Luke, Ethan, and Dean. Isaac sat with Jess, Tally, and Mason still.
"This is weird. Are you gonna have two separate friend groups now?" Tally tilted his head to the side.
Isaac shrugged. "I guess? I don't know. You guys all get along well but we'll probably hang out separately most of the time so I guess so, yeah."
Tally didn't respond verbally. He nodded instead. Jess ate his blueberry muffin in peace and watched the group.
It was slightly more quiet without Andrew making conversation constantly. They all ate and took breaks in between talking. It wasn't bad, the silences were all comfortable, it was just new.
Lots of new things and changes seemed to be occuring in Jess's life. His schedule wasn't strict anymore. He didn't do the exact same thing every day. He was finding life a little more enjoyable lately.
"Did you hear about the party tomorrow night?" Tally's voice cut in.
Everyone at the table looked up. Jess raised his eyebrows. He rarely heard about parties, when he did it was through Ray. He never went to any.
"No. Who's having a party?" Isaac asked with a tilted head.
"Jordy." Tally answered with a shrug. "He invited Mase and I and told us to tell all our friends."
Isaac hummed. "His house smells like weed."
"Just the upstairs." Mason said, not denying it. "We were thinking about going. Kristi is seeing if she can stay at a friend's that night so we can go together."
"So she can babysit with you all night?" Jess wasn't sure what he meant by that.
Based on Tally's offended expression, Isaac was talking about him. "I am not a child."
"You act like one when drunk." Mason said with a little smile.
Tally rolled his eyes. "I don't need a babysitter."
"You humped a couch last time I saw you at a party." Isaac deadpanned.
Jess choked on air and sputtered out a laugh. He looked at Tally with wide eyes. "What?!"
Tally chuckled. "I get pretty wasted sometimes."
"That's an understatement." Mason rolled his eyes. "I usually get stuck as a babysitter."
"Stop referring to yourself as that. I don't need a babysitter. You and Kristi could sneak off to have sex and I'd be perfectly fine." Tally said with a pout on his face.
Mason rolled his eyes. "You'd fall down some stairs and bleed to death."
That made Tally roll his eyes as well. Jess started laughing some more. He shifted his eyes over to Isaac and the two of them shared matching humored expressions.
"Shut up." Tally waved at Mason dismissively. He turned back towards Jess and Isaac with a smile. "Anyway, do you think you'll go?"
"Oh." Isaac's eyes cut over to Jess for a moment. "I don't know. We'll see."
They both nodded in understanding. Mason took another bite of his cheeseburger before speaking. "Do you guys think Kristi would want to go bowling or ice skating more? She's dropped hints for both but I don't wanna drive all the way to the next town over to take her skating if she wants to go bowling instead."
Isaac and Tally shrugged. Both of them looked clueless in this department. Jess decided he could help. "I can find out for you."
Mason raised his eyebrows. "Seriously?"
Jess shrugged. "Yeah. I can play it off like I'm getting ideas for a date with Isaac and ask what she'd prefer to do out of the two."
Mason smiled wide. "Thank you so much man, you're awesome."
Jess smiled and nodded. He knew the tips of his ears were red and by the smile on Isaac's face he had noticed that too. He couldn't help it, this was all still new to him.
Having friends that actually noticed him. Ones that wanted his input on things and valued his help. He had some nice friends up until now but Mason and Tally had started edging their way in on a different level.
It was all still very strange. Strange, but nice.
That's how lunch went on. They talked and joked until it was time to leave. Then Jess put the wrapper for his muffin on Isaac's tray so he'd throw it away and got up. Isaac tossed his tray in the trash and came back to walk with Jess.
"I'll see you later?" Isaac looked down and Jess nodded. Isaac leaned over to kiss his cheek before walking off.
Jess ducked his head and walked forward. He got about halfway to class before he saw Kristi. She was talking to Jane, Hailee, and one of Hailee's senior friends named Ashley.
He walked over to the group with a small smile. They all greeted him with smiles of their own. Hailee waved a little in excitement. "Hey!"
"Hey." He gave a soft smile and looked over at Kristi. "I kinda needed some help with something."
Kristi looked surprised but nodded anyway. "Alright. Mine?"
"Yeah, you're the only person I think would understand the situation." Jess said with an awkward chuckle.
"Oh. Well okay then." She seemed slightly concerned now. She turned to Hailee and Ashley. "We'll talk later?"
They both nodded and exchanged a few goodbyes before the two walked off. Jane flicked her eyes between Jess and Kristi for a moment before sighing. "I'll see you in class."
"Okay." Kristi nodded and her best friend walked off. She turned then and gave her full attention to Jess. "What's up?"
Jess rubbed the back of his neck with a small smile. "Well you're dating an athletic boy so I thought you might kinda relate. I wanna do something for Isaac, like set up a date or whatever but I'm not sure where to go. I was kinda thinking the skating rink could be cute but then I thought about maybe the bowling alley? I don't know, I just wanted a second opinion and you're the first friendly face I saw. Which one would you rather go to?"
Jess felt a small blush on his face. This was actually embarrassing for him. He never imagined he'd be asking someone for date night advice. Especially when he wasn't actually planning a date night.
She smiled. "Is this a real question or is this you sneakily trying to figure out which date I want Mason to take me on?"
Jess's eyes widened. "What? How'd you-"
She laughed quietly. "The places are too spot on. Plus you don't seem like you're the bowling or skating type."
Jess chuckled nervously. "I hate ice skating, too cold, and I suck at bowling."
Kristi smiled warmly. "Tell him to take me bowling. I would also really appreciate it if you dropped an idea for that new barbecue place in town. It's really good but my mom hates barbecue so I haven't got to go more than once."
Jess chuckled and nodded. "Alright, I got it."
"Thank you." She said kindly, resting her hand on Jess's shoulder. She walked off and Jess smiled before going to his own class.
Jess pulled out his phone once comfortably in his desk and texted Isaac.
Jess:
Tell Mason to go bowling.
I also found out she likes that barbecue place in town and it'd be a nice surprise if he took her there as well.
Isaac:
I'll relay the message.
Class flew by as it usually did. Jess looked over his notes at the end of the hour and decided he still wasn't totally sure what they were discussing. He'd have to teach himself some of it tonight using Google and whatever he could understand in his notes.
He walked down the hall and into class. The ffa boy, Braden, was in his seat taking notes and a black bag that belonged to one of the girl's was in her seat. Ki's seat was empty. Seeing his seat was a reminder that Jess might actually have to talk to him now.
The idea was scary in a way.
Wyatt walked in and took a seat. He shot a glare at Jess but it faded and he didn't say anything. He didn't have the balls to say anything really, not out loud and to Jess's face.
Ki walked in next. Jess could see Isaac out in the hallway. They had been walking together. Isaac's relaxed smile widened when he caught Jess's eye. Jess smiled back.
Ki came in and sat in the desk next to Jess. He didn't say anything though and Jess was grateful for that at least. He wasn't sure he could handle a conversation with Ki.
Behind them Wyatt scoffed. Ki heard it and spun around to face him with raised eyebrows. "You good back there?"
"Of course you're friends with the gaybos now. Makes sense."
Ki tilted his head to the side and smiled. "Wyatt, you're not talking shit about your fellow classmates are you?"
Wyatt looked confused. Jess was too.
"Coach would hate to hear one of his players is having a bullying problem. He's not the biggest fan of bigotry."
Wyatt's eyes widened. "You're too pussy to tell coach anything."
Ki shrugged. "Maybe. I'm not too pussy to talk to the team though. You know, most of them are pretty fond of Zack. If you got hit with a few basketballs that's just because you're clumsy, right? If you get fouled a bit more in practice that's just my bad, right?"
Wyatt scoffed. He didn't say anything else though. Ki spun back around in his desk looking triumphant and turned on his phone to play on it.
He was quiet the whole class period. His leg bounced under the desk and he doodled instead of his work but he was quiet. Jess was thankful for that because the material wasn't fun to learn today.
"How are you passing this class if you don't do anything?" Jess finally asked. He had promised Isaac he'd try to be nice to Ki.
Ki looked over a little surprised. He sobered up quick enough and smiled. Now, up close, he didn't seem like he could be unkind at all. It was weird how deceiving looks could be. "I had Andrew helping me for awhile. My grades are probably gonna drop because of the past two weeks but that's alright."
Jess nodded. "Oh. Is Andrew good at math?"
"No, he sucks. Better than me though." He laughed as he said it. Jess smiled a little. "You ever got roped into helping Zack?"
Jess shook his head slightly. "Only once."
"Huh." Ki looked back at his paper that had no work on it. "He's a bit better at school than me. He's always been a real shitty teacher though so even if he understood something he couldn't help me with it. I used to beat him with pillows when we were in elementary because he understood it but wouldn't help me. I didn’t unserstand at the time that he didn’t know how to help me. I guess I've always been kinda slow at coming to understand things."
The memory was weird to share but it made Jess smile. He understood Ki in a way. This was the boy's way of letting Jess know he was sorry without apologizing again. This was his way of explaining to Jess what had happened in simpler words.
Of course if it weren't for Isaac summing up what Ki had said the night before Jess probably wouldn't have caught that subtle hint.
"Well, you understand now. That's what matters." They both shared a grin and then the conversation was over.
It was simple. Jess liked it. The bell rang and Ki walked out before him. He didn't wait like they were friends because they weren't, they were nice to each other. They knew each other through Isaac. Nothing more. It was a silent understanding.
After school Jess waited outside with Kristi. They both had to wait for their boyfriends to finish showering after athletics. She smiled kindly at him.
"We should exchange numbers. We'll probably see each other at hangouts outside of school sometimes. Plus, I like you. You're chill."
Jess chuckled but pulled out his phone. He went to create a new contact and handed it to Kristi. She typed in her number and once she gave it back he saved it and sent her a text.
"There, now we both have each other's numbers." Jess said and Kristi nodded to confirm.
"Now if Mason wants help for date ideas you can text me. You can also text me if you ever actually need advice."
Jess smiled. "Thanks. It's the same here. Although, I can't promise I'll always answer. My phone's on silent a lot and I barely ever check it when I'm with Isaac."
Kristi laughed quietly. "That's okay, I get it."
An arm wrapped around her shoulders and the boy it was attached to appeared at her side. Mason smiled warmly at Jess. Tally walked up with Isaac and behind them Andrew and Ki were tagging along. Isaac went over and stood at Jess's side.
"You ready to go?" His voice was soft in a way that made Jess want to melt into him. He nodded.
"Yeah."
Isaac looked back up at the people in front of them. He gave them a wide smile but when he spoke his voice was normal. It was no longer the soft voice he used for Jess. It made Jess's insides warm, that voice was for him and him only. "See you guys tomorrow."
They all said their goodbyes before Jess and Isaac walked off. Before they got out of earshot Tally yelled after them. "Don't forget about the party Friday night!"
Isaac waved him off, slipping his hand in Jess's once it came back down. They both got in the car and Isaac started it with a small smile. He turned to look at Jess and he looked happy. They were both happy.
"Do you want to go to the party tomorrow night?" His voice was soft again. The tone he saved for when he was speaking to Jess.
"I've never been to a party." Jess stated. "Are they fun?"
"They can be." Isaac hummed. "I guess it depends."
Jess thought about it. "I guess we can go. I kinda want to experience a high school party at least once. Just so I know what they're like."
Isaac hummed in response. He started to reverse out of the parking lot then. "Okay."
Isaac's hand reached over and rested on Jess's thigh. Jess put his hand on top of his and threaded his fingers in between his. They both grinned as he drove Jess home.
They kissed goodbye. They always did. It brought a smile to Jess's face as he walked inside his house. Kleandra welcomed him with a big hug.
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This feels more like a filler chapter because it's the next one I'm more excited to write.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!
Love you ♡
- Z