I quickly shut my locker when I saw Kieran walk by. I hitched my bag over my shoulder and ran to catch up with him.
“Hey,” I said, touching his arm. I fell into step beside him as we headed to French class. “Are you still mad at me?”
He looked over and sighed. “No, I never really was.”
“But you were ignoring me yesterday!” I said.
“Only because you hung up on me the other night when I was trying to be a good friend.”
“Yeah, but that’s because you pissed me off,” I said. “You were being rude.”
Kieran chuckled and bumped into me lightly. “Whatever, you can calm down now.”
I looked at him, a little hopeful. “Are we good now?”
“You still hanging out with Rikert?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Well, yeah,” I said.
“Then no.”
“Kieran,” I complained.
He smirked. “Don’t get your panties in a twist, jeez. I’m joking.”
“Better be.”
“I still wanna know why you’re doing this, though. Why the sudden change?”
I blinked at him a few times as we walked towards the stairs. “Okay,” I drawled. “Have you ever liked someone so much and they liked you back? And they were so nice to you and they cared about you?”
Kieran turned to me with a blank face as we ascended the stairs. “Honestly? No. Never.”
“You’re so daft,” I muttered. “Anyway, that’s how it is with Rikert.”
Kieran rolled his eyes. “I’ve known him a while and he’s never been like that with anyone. Girl or guy.”
“Well he is with me,” I said simply.
“Fine, I can tell I’m not gonna change your mind,” he said.
“You’re right about that.” I looked around and made sure no one was paying attention to us. I whispered, “Rikert asked me to be his boyfriend.”
Kieran’s eyes went comically wide. “No way, shut the fuck up!”
I smirked and shook my head. “It’s true. And I said yes, obviously.”
“Hmm,” he said slowly. “Maybe he is different now.”
“He is for me,” I said, smiling to myself.
“You can quit gloating now,” Kieran laughed. He stopped and looked at me. “You know, you do realize that you’re not going to be here forever, right?”
I frowned at him. Of course he would be the one to bring that up. I’d been trying to push that out of my mind entirely since I started really like Rikert. Why would I want to think about having to leave in a few months when I could focus on just being with my boyfriend and making it worthwhile?
“Way to ruin the moment, Kier,” I muttered.
“Well you have to think about, Caise. What happens when you go back home and you like never get to see him?”
“I don’t know,” I said truthfully.
Kieran sighed lightly. “What’s the point if you never get to see him again?”
I pursed my lips and gave him a little glare. “Oh just shut up. I don’t want to think about that right now.”
“Caise...”
I waved my hand, dismissing this conversation. “I’ll figure it out when the time comes. Got it?”
Kieran rolled his eyes. “Whatever, then,” he mumbled. “Anyway, my mom was asking about where you’ve been. She told me to ask if you’ll come to dinner tonight.”
I smiled, my mood rapidly changing. “Really?”
“Duh,” he said. “You know she likes you. And she’s only met you like four times. Oh, by the way, she knows you’re gay.”
“What! How? Did you tell her?” I asked frantically.
“Her gaydar is better than anyone’s. She hints at it to me but I haven’t said anything. Trust me, though, she knows.”
“Fuck,” I muttered. “Being mates with you was a dumb move. Now the whole world knows.”
Kieran laughed. “Not yet, but they will soon. Don’t cry about it, though. Be a big boy and get over it.”
I stuck my tongue out at him. Kieran stopped in front of the door to our French room and held it open for me. “After you, Mademoiselle.”
I sneered at him, but went through the door anyway. “Merci beaucoup. Prick.”
I punched him in the chest as I passed and went to our shared table. I heard him whining behind me and smiled satisfactorily before sitting down.
********
“Oh, Caise,” Kieran’s mum cooed when I followed her son into the house.
I smiled at her. “Hi, Nancy.”
She grinned brightly and pulled me into a tight hug. I felt awkward, not that many people got so touchy with me. I’d barely let my parents hug me more than a handful of times in the last three or four years. When it came to Kieran, Rikert, and Eryn, though, it was different. But adults didn’t usually get that close.
“You’re so sweet,” she said. She patted my shoulder before walking away.
“Wow, loves you more than me,” Kieran grumbled. “I see how it is, woman.”
“Get over yourself sweetheart,” Nancy called back. I snickered loudly and Kieran smacked me in the back of the head. “Go occupy yourselves for a little while, boys, and then come down for dinner.”
Kieran and I started to play fight with each other and chased one another up to his room. I tripped him and we both tumbled to the floor. I laughed, completely in stitches as we rolled around, elbowing and slapping at each other.
Kieran started to tickle my ribs and I writhed around. I laughed even louder and yelped over and over. “Fuck,” I shrieked, tears leaking out of my eyes as I laughed. “Off, Kieran get off!”
Kieran was dying with laughter himself and kept tickling me. He pinned me in place by sitting on my chest. “No way, this is hilarious!”
“Such a twat,” I cried. I wriggled, trying to get away from him or to push him off. Nothing worked. “I’m going to piss myself if you don’t quit.”
Kieran chuckled and finally stopped after hearing that threat. “Not on the carpet, you dog.”
I stuck my tongue out at him and laughed a little. “I hate you.”
Kieran grabbed my wrists and pinned them above my head. “Yeah, right.”
He moved closer, a smirk on his face. I swallowed awkwardly, aware of how he was sitting on me. He bit my ear, knowing how I liked that, without any notice. I struggled against his hands. This felt wrong. Just last week it hadn’t, but now it did.
“Bro, seriously,” I said. “Can you stop?”
Kieran pulled back and gave me a look. “What?”
“Don’t like kiss on me and stuff. I don’t like it.”
His eyebrows rose in amusement. “What are you talking about? We’ve made out like a million times.”
I did my best to shrug, still pinned to the floor. “Yeah, but that was before Rikert.”
Kieran snorted. “Oh God, for real?” I kept a blank face. He sighed and let go of my hands but didn’t get off. “I didn’t think you were actually going to be serious about that.”
I gave him an appalled look. “Of course I am! He’s my boyfriend now. I don’t think he’d appreciate us doing anything together anymore.”
Kieran rolled off of me. “Whatever, don’t be a spaz. I’ll stop seducing you if it’ll make your fucking boyfriend happy.”
I smirked at him. He was grumbling like a spoiled baby. “Thanks, Kieran.”
He waved his hand at me. “Whatever.” He laid back on his floor and crossed his arms behind his head. “You know, it still makes no sense to me as to why he likes you.”
I frowned. “Wow, thanks mate.”
“I’m just saying. Look at it this way. He’s really, really hot. Like super amazingly gorgeous and so manly. But then there’s you and you’re just like kind of good looking and you’re like four inches shorter than him.”
“Hey, he’s abnormally tall,” I defended half heartedly.
“And then he’s like a genius in all his classes and you’re only good at French and German. Plus he’s super athletic--soccer, lacrosse. You’re only half decent at indoor floor hockey.”
I furrowed my brow and bit my lip. Kieran wasn’t even looking at me as he recited all those things. I couldn’t help myself but to think about how what he was saying was sort of true. It didn’t make sense as to why Rikert liked me. But he did. I knew he did. He wouldn’t have asked me out if he didn’t.
“I don’t know.” Kieran shook his head. He sat up and jabbed me in the elbow. “Guess he just likes ‘em dumb and weak. That would explain why he never asked me out before.”
Kieran smirked and started to laugh. Despite myself, I forced a chorus of fake laughter out. I didn’t want Kieran to see how thinking about Rikert made me. I was so freaking pathetic sometimes.
Shortly after, I followed Kieran to the bathroom and we washed our hands before going back downstairs. The kitchen smelled amazing as we entered. Nancy was an amazing cook. She could probably even make tree bark taste delicious if she tried.
Kieran and I sat at the table, chatting with his mum for a while longer before the food was finished. Then we dished up our plates and sat down together.
“How’s French going?” Nancy asked.
“Merveilleux,” Kieran said.
At the same time, I said, “Fantastique.”
Kieran and I smirked at each other before going back to eating. Nancy laughed at us. “You know, you boys are so lucky. When I was in school, we got offered Spanish and that was it. You kids these days get to pick between everything. Sign language, Japanese, Chinese. You’ve got it all.”
Kieran snorted. “You complain about this every time, mom. When are you going to let it go?”
Nancy gave him a serious look. “When you invent the time machine and I can go back and learn a better language at your age.”
I snickered. Kieran shook his head and nudged me under the table. Nancy was oblivious. I kind of liked her attitude about things. She was so nice to me, too.
“So are you boys together yet or what?” Nancy asked.
I choked on my broccoli. Kieran jumped and smacked me on the back before shoving my glass of water into my hands. I took it and gulped it down before finally being able to breathe again. I coughed and felt the blush of embarrassment on my cheeks.
Kieran glared at his mum. “You’re not supposed to kill him, jeez!”
“I was only asking.”
“It’s fine,” I mumbled.
“Mom, he’s not gay,” Kieran tried.
She smiled in amusement. “Right,” she drawled, obviously not believing it. “Kieran, only gay boys actually become your friends. The rest don’t hang around.”
“Mom--”
“It’s alright,” I interrupted. I looked at Nancy. “I am. Gay, I mean.”
“Mhmm,” she hummed. “I thought so.”
Kieran stuck his tongue out at her. Nancy just smiled smugly at her son from across the table. “So are you dating, then?”
“Ew, no,” Kieran said. “We’re only friends.”
“Cheers,” I muttered sarcastically.
Kieran laughed. “Caise’s actually got a boyfriend, mom.” My eyes widened. “Don’t you, Caise?”
“Oh,” Nancy said, excitedly. “You do?”
“Uhh.”
“Yup. As of yesterday,” Kieran answered for me.
Nancy smiled at us. “Do I know him?”
I started to say no, but Kieran talked right over me. “It’s Rikert Evitts.”
“Kieran!” I yelled, my face flushing again.
Realization crossed Nancy’s face. “That’s great, Caise! Rikert is such a good kid. He used to volunteer at the nursing home where I work. So sweet. You nabbed a good one.”
“Thanks,” I said awkwardly.
“Mom, court-ordered doesn’t mean it’s real volunteer work,” Kieran grumbled.
“Oh whatever, you’re just being a baby. He was lovely to me and all the others. You’re simply jealous because he doesn’t like you.”
Kieran rolled his eyes and stuffed a bite of bread into his mouth. I chuckled and dodged Kieran’s hand as he went to slap me. Nancy smiled at me and I felt slightly better about everything. I loved her snarky attitude and positivity. Being around her gave me a warm feeling, but also an empty one. It kind of made me wish that I’d grown up with a mom. Not that I didn’t absolutely love my dads, but I never got experience what it was like to have a mother. I let a small smile play at my lips, thinking about how nice Kieran’s mom was to me, as I went back to eating.