Farren trudged through the corridor with Jesse by his side.
It was Monday, meaning that it had been approximately three days since he had bagged himself a boyfriend. It also meant that today they had football practice.
And boy, coach would be sure to be taking it seriously.
It was the beginning of the fifth week of room sharing, meaning that it was only a mere couple of weeks until the big football match that started all this in the first place.
It also meant that his time living with Kaden was coming to an end. They didn't even have two full weeks left together.
The thought bummed Farren out a bit but he reminded himself that just because they wouldn't be spending as much time together, their relationship wouldn't suffer. He refused to let it take the fall.
He was way too invested in Kaden Rivers at this stage.
"Did you do the calc homework?" Jesse asked him, breaking him out of his train of thought.
"Yup." Farren replied for perhaps the first time ever to that question, earning him a look of surprise from Jesse.
"Wait seriously?" Jesse asked with disbelief all over his features.
"Yeah, why does that surprise you?" Farren replied with a chuckle.
"Oh I don't know Farren. Perhaps because in our four years of being in the same calc class in this school, you have done homework less times than I can count on one hand." Jesse replied snarkily, and Farren did admit he had a point.
"Well, things are different now." He replied, straightening up his back in an effort to look put together. "Besides, I always do good on the tests, which proves the homework doesn't even make a difference."
"Why are things different now?" Jesse said with a suggestive smirk and a wiggle of his eyebrows. "Is your boyfriend setting you on the right track? Making you reach your try potential as a mathlete and all that?" he said with a laugh, and Farren rolled his eyes in reply.
"Oh shut up. If anyone was to 'set me on the right track' it wouldn't be Kaden. He's not exactly the model student," Farren said with a snort.
"Why then?" Jesse asked.
"Well if you must know, Kaden is actually a math freak himself, so he got me to do it. Apparently he actually enjoys it or something." Farren said casually, but he couldn't help but show off Kaden a little bit.
"Awh, you're bragging about him. Cute." Jesse said, cooing as if he was talking to a child. Farren felt himself flush in embarrassment.
"Am not," he muttered in denial.
"What's that Farren? Trying speaking up a bit. Maybe then you'll actually convince yourself."
"God I hate you sometimes," Farren sighed wearily.
"I'm not God, I'm Jesse. But don't worry about the mix up, I'm used to it at this stage." Jesse said with a playful smirk, and Farren found himself smirking despite himself.
"I wish you had a mute button sometimes," Farren sighed as he made his way into room 24 and reached his seat in the middle row.
Jesse just sniggered in reply.
***
"Come on boys, put a little effort into it! We're not gonna beat any team acting like pussies now are we?!"
Farren rolled his eyes at Coach Carter's over the top enthusiasm as he reached the back of the queue.
He checked his sports watch. 6:38.
He sighed with annoyance. Coach had ran practice almost forty minutes over, and it didn't look to be finishing up anytime soon.
"Milton let's go, come on! You wanna call yourself caption for this game, then start acting like it!"
Farren jumped at the sound of Coach Carter's loud voice right behind his ear. He had been too busy checking watch to realise he had reached the front of the line.
"Sorry Coach," he said before running out to do the blocking drill against his opponent, successfully tackling them to the ground.
"That's more like it Milton! Keep it up. As for the rest of y'all, you could learn a thing or two from Farren here!" Coach called in approval, and Farren ducked his head in embarrassment.
Being publicly praised wasn't really his sorta thing.
Half an hour and what seemed like ten drills later, coach finally put an end to their misery and called an end to practice.
It's not that Farren didn't enjoy football, he loved it. But spending ungodly hours running in heavy gear and bashing into other boys your size takes a toll on the body.
His legs ached from running, his arms ached from tackling, and his brain ached with exhaustion.
"I'm gonna be honest with you boys, I'm not impressed. You're acting like five year olds out there! Do you not want this victory?" Coach said in frustration, and nobody answered in fear of being eaten alive.
His voice was menacingly low when he spoke again, his calm quiet composure contrasting with the evil threatening tone. "I said," Coach Carter continued when he realised no-one was going to reply. "Do you not want this? Because, if I find out that y'all have grown too close friends with your opponents, to the point where you don't have the drive to beat them, then I will ensure that you suffer the worst way imaginable."
Farren fought the urge to roll his eyes at his coach's over the top intensity.
He had come to the conclusion that Coach Carter was none other than the male reincarnation of one Sue Sylvester.
And since Coach Carter was so against the idea of them becoming too good friends with their opponents, Farren couldn't help but smirk at the thought of Coach finding out just how.. friendly.. himself and Kaden were.
He zoned out of Coach's lecture and allowed his gaze to wander around at his teammates. How exactly would they react to him and Kaden?
And how exactly was Kaden getting on over at the other side of town, now that he was sorta out of the closet?
XXXXX
Kaden wasn't surprised by the fact that it seemed the whole school seemed to know. In Redwood High, news spread faster than Nutella on warm toast.
He was surprised though, by how supportive people had been so far. He sort of presumed that things would be like they were in the movies from the 00's, with the hazing and shit, but apparently not.
So many people were congratulating him that it was almost unnerving. It was as if he had won the Nobel prize or something.
And even though everyone whispered when he made his way down the corridors, he could hear what they were saying and it was all praise.
Not to mention seven different guys slipped their numbers to him, either through his locker or into his pencil case or his pocket.
Even his teachers seemed to have heard, and apart from his old fart of a Literacy teacher who had both a very narrow mind and a vendetta against Kaden anyways, they were also super supportive.
But he knew that while things were all well and good now, it wouldn't be long until lunch time. When he would have to face the football team.
He didn't give a shit what they thought, seeing as he didn't actually even like about sixty percent of them. But he couldn't be bothered dealing with homophobic comments for the rest of the year, not when he had a team to lead and a State title to win.
He dragged his eyes to the clock. Only four minutes or so until the bell would ring and he'd be free from the confines of chemistry and lunch would be upon them.
He tapped his fingers impatiently on the table, earning him a glare from Luke after a minute or so of his incessant tapping.
He just stuck his tongue out in reply, causing Luke to roll his eyes.
"Save that tongue for Farren," Luke whispered, leaving over to him.
"Oh shut up Luke, just 'cause you can't get any," Kaden shot back with a whisper.
"Hey, no fair. If I was gay I'd totally get more than you." Luke protested, this time whispering a little too loudly so that some people in the row in front turned around to give him a weird look.
"You think?" Kaden asked with a snort, giving the people in front an apologetic smile on Luke's behalf.
"I kno-" Luke began, but the sound of the bell cut him off before he could continue, sparing Kaden a lecture from Luke about how attractive he was.
He made his way to the cafeteria without waiting for Luke, who had managed to trip over a chair, stand up, then tip over his bag all in the space of about twenty seconds.
He walked into the room that was packed with students eating lunch with their friends, heading straight to the table he usually sat at with the team after he filled his tray with cafeteria food, which was surprisingly nice in his school.
As he walked he could see the moment they saw him approach. The ones who saw him first nudged the fellas next to him, and the hushed whispers they had been previously talking in ceased.
Kaden fought the roll of his eyes at their attempt at been discreet.
He made his way to the table and observed the guys' reactions, before slipping into his seat.
None of them seemed to be throwing rotten tomatoes at him yet, so far so good.
"Hello?" He said, after a minute of silence wherein felt the other boys' eyes on him as he picked the peppers out of the spaghetti bolognese.
He felt Luke slide into the seat beside him and meet his eyes with a humorous look.
As soon as the words left his mouth there was a rushed chorus of heys and hellos thrown at him, as the other boy's tried to act casual.
God this was hilarious. They were all dancing on eggshells around him, which was not the reaction he expected. Nevertheless it was becoming tiring, and fast.
"Oh loosen up a little boys. He's gay, so what? It's still the same Kaden. Y'all look like you've seen a ghost." Luke broke the silence with a laugh before Kaden had the chance to.
He smiled gratefully at Luke when the other boy's visibly relaxed and got back to their conversations, no longer afraid of the awkward tension.
"Hey, Rivers?" called Finn Mahoney, one of the other seniors on the team.
"Yeah?" he said back in reply.
"Just so you know, on behalf of the team and stuff. We're all cool with you being gay, or whatever." Finn said with a small smile, and the other boys on the team nodded and murmured in agreement.
"Thanks Mahoney, thanks all of you." Kaden said, trying to seem cool even though his heart was swelling a little bit.
It just felt so good to finally be who he was. He may not have fully known he was gay for a long time, but he always felt as if there was something missing. Perhaps that was why he was always so snarky and cold.
And now he had found it, he felt great. No, he didn't suddenly feel like becoming best friends forever with his teammates. But he no longer had the urge to resign from the team purely because they annoyed him so much. Which was progress he presumed. Hey, you know what they say. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was Kaden Rivers' heart.
"Careful Kaden, people might think you actually have a heart if you don't stop smiling. You might wanna straighten your face out. Pun intended." Luke said with a laugh, earning him a light punch on the shoulder from Kaden.
"Oh shu-" he began, but Luke cut him off.
"Yeah yeah, shut up I know. You might want to get a new line bro. Or should I start calling you 'homie.'" Luke sniggered.
Kaden just gave Luke the middle finger, both laughing and rolling his eyes and Luke's lame pun.
XXXXX
OMG THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR 2k !!!!!!!!! When I started this story less than two months ago I remember thinking it would be so cool to get to 1k now here I am!!! Thank you Xxx
Qotc; Something that you love that is generally disliked among your friends or the general population
Love y'all, and plz vote and comment!!
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-A