“I thought he left the school!” I cried as I opened my locker and began to exchange my books. Shaw shrugged helplessly. “So did I!” he said.
Maxx Falcone was the single hottest boy in the history of the world. He was the whole reason I had found out I was gay.
I had found myself thinking he was good looking when I was around 9 or 10, and admitted to myself that I was crushing on him when I was 12. I came out as gay the next year.
But 2 years ago, Maxx had left the school. I had heard a ton of rumors, but had just assumed he had moved and attended a new school. No one had seen him around town since, and now he was back all of a sudden.
I had missed him so much while he had been gone. I was pretty sure I was in love with him, even though I rarely spoke to him. The only times I had ever spoken to him were one time in math class when he asked me for help on a long term, and one time in health class when he asked me if we had a test that day.
I was always timid, and never met his eyes when I walked by him in the halls. Just a few months ago, I had finally convinced myself that Maxx Falcone had moved away and wasn’t coming back. And now here he was!
“Mark!”
My head snapped up and Shaw rolled his eyes and stopped shaking me. He impatiently snapped his fingers in front of my eyes and I jumped back and smacked my head on a locker.
“Ow! Shaw!” I whined, rubbing my head and slamming my own locker shut. Shaw shrugged and gave me an innocent look. I pouted and we made our way down the hall towards class.
“Sorry Mark. You zoned out, and even the bell ringing didn’t snap you out of it. I hate to interrupt your wet fantasies of Maxx Falcone, but we need to get to class,” he said simply.
I smacked his arm and blushed. “You are such a pervert Shaw! I do not have wet fantasies about Maxx! Or anyone!” I added hastily.
Shaw grinned and chuckled. “Sure, Mark. Sure.”
We entered first period and sat down together. Shaw folded his arms over his desk and rested his head on them. He was asleep almost instantly, and I rolled my eyes.
“Mr. Luce, would you mind waking Mr. Courtney up for me?” the teacher, Mrs. Callaway, asked with a wink. I blushed a little and nodded, standing up and gripping Shaw’s desk.
I yanked it and Shaw fell forward with a startled cry. He fell to the ground and the class erupted into laughter as I set the desk back down with a grin on my face.
“You are an evil child!” Shaw grumbled as he got up, careful not to smack his head on the desk as he did so. I shrugged innocently as I sat back down.
“I still can’t believe there are actually people who claim you don’t have a single mean bone in your body!” he whined, fixing the desk and rubbing his eyes.
“Because there isn’t,” I said, flashing him my puppy dog eyes. “I just want my best friend to pay attention so he can get good grades and have a nice life.”
He bit his lip and covered his eyes. “I’m not looking! If I don’t look, I won’t forgive you!” he cried. He waited a minute before peeking through his fingers and groaning when he saw that my expression hadn’t changed.
“Mark, you are such a cheater! You can’t use your adorableness every time you do something to make me mad at you!” Shaw whined before pulling me in for a hug.
I grinned and he pouted. “You are such a cheater,” he grumbled before we both turned to pay attention to Mrs. Callaway. She was my favorite teacher at the school, and one of the few who was really nice to me, even though I was gay.
When Mrs. Callaway saw kids picking on me, she would actually intervene. Honestly, if it weren’t for Mrs. Callaway, I would probably skip school a lot more than I did. I hated being bullied, especially by…
Well, I wouldn’t think about that right now. Mrs. Callaway was eagerly talking about the book we were reading next, and her excitement made me smile a little.
When the bell rang to release us, Shaw playfully shoved me. “Mark Luce is a jerk!” he called out when we entered the hallway.
“I am not! Shaw Courtney is just a slacker!” I said with an affirmative nod.
“No! I’m just a normal teenager who is still tired in the morning,” he said simply as we turned down the math hallway.
I sighed and waved to him as he turned into his classroom. I went to my math classroom and forced myself to stay awake and focus on the lesson until the period ended. I hurried out of the classroom and met up with Shaw as he waited for me in the hallway.
We made our way to study hall and I froze as my eyes landed on Maxx Falcone. He was sitting at one of the desks with some kid I kind of recognized but couldn’t put a name to.
Shaw shoved me into the room and pulled me over to our usual seats, which were two behind where Maxx was currently sitting. He and the kid were talking and he had a grin on his face.
“Breathing helps you survive, Mark. Just saying,” Shaw said.
I sucked in air, realizing that I had stopped breathing. Shit. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Maxx and prayed that he wouldn’t see me staring at him. Gosh, how embarrassing would that be on his first day back?
“Maxx Falcone!” our study hall teacher, Mr. Green, said in shock as he entered the room.
“Hey Mr. Green,” Maxx greeted, the grin staying on his face. Gosh, he had the sexiest voice I had ever heard in my life. It was so smooth, and deep enough to turn on anyone.
“Breathe. Air,” Shaw reminded me, whispering in my ear.
I jumped a little and forced myself to start breathing again. Aw man; I was acting like some love-struck little girl!
“Where have you been Maxx? It’s been, what, two years?” Mr. Green asked, sitting down at the desk and watching Maxx with curiosity.
Maxx nodded and leaned back in his chair, that sexy grin never leaving his face. “I moved away for a bit, but I’m back and staying until I graduate,” he said, and I felt my heart flutter a little. He was really staying this time?
That was it! I had to talk to him. Had to…I don’t know…get to know him! I wanted to go out with him so badly. But that would never happen if Maxx didn’t even know who I was.
“Well, I’m sure everyone’s pleased to have you back Mr. Falcone,” Mr. Green said with a smile. But his eyes showed that that sentence was just a big fat lie. Maxx Falcone was trouble, and everybody knew it. Detention was his middle name.
Well, actually, I didn’t actually know his middle name. I wasn’t that hardcore stalker.
Still.
He was a well known trouble maker in the school. Maxx was a teacher’s worst nightmare, and they kept detention slips close by when he was around.
Still, the grin on Maxx’s face got wider. Ah, still a trouble maker. Yea, Mark Luce likes a bad boy. Oh joy. Lucky me.
“Mark!”
I jumped and then blushed. Shaw rolled his eyes at me. “I swear you’re zoning out today more than you usually do,” he grumbled.
I blushed harder. “What did you want?” I asked, brushing my hair out of my eyes and staring down at my feet in embarrassment. I couldn’t help it that my mind was in other (clean) places!
“I was asking if you had the Marine Bio homework?” he asked and gave me puppy dog eyes. I reached in my bag and raised an eyebrow as I held the homework.
“Your puppy dog eyes suck,” I said simply and handed his pouting form the homework. “Jerk!” he huffed and I laughed.
My thoughts slipped off into memories of when Maxx used to go to school with us before he left for those two years. I had still thought of him and crushed on him, even when he hadn’t been here. I was so creepy sometimes. Maybe I need mental help? Oh god. I was turning into my grandpa!
“MARK! THE BELL RANG!” Shaw yelled in my ear. I slapped my hands over my ears and winced.
“I’m not deaf!” I cried angrily.
Shaw rolled his eye and stood up, handing me my bag. “I put your homework in there. And when you zone out, you go deaf, blind, and mute. I’m sure your mother loves that, but I could deal without the deaf part.”
Pouting, I began to head towards the door. I honestly didn’t zone out that bad. I mean, sure, sometimes I walked into things or didn’t hear people, but that wasn’t all that bad! It’s not like I did it constantly or anythi-
I was snapped back into my senses as my shoulder clipped the door frame. Someone was yanking me out of the way of running right into the door frame and hurting my face again.
“Kid, you might want to pay more attention,” Maxx Falcone said with an amused grin as he released me. I blushed deeply and he laughed hard and walked away from me, clutching his side.
Shaw came to stand next to me as I tried to fight off the furious blush on my face. “Nice,” he whistled and let out a chuckle.
“Shaw?”
“Yes Mark?”
“I just made myself look like a complete moron in front of Maxx Falcone, didn’t I?”
“Yep.”
I groaned and buried my face in my hands, hating my life and wishing I could crawl in a hole and die. Well this was just wonderful…
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Do you guys like it? What do you think of Mark? :)