Five more minutes until recess.
Alfred was….well he was a lot of things, not the least of which included excited, nervous, angry, overjoyed, and embarrassed. It was almost time though, the only time of the day that he really looked forward to.
At first, Alfred hadn't really understood why he always did this, day in and day out. Why the other boy, the one with the messy brown hair and a band aid across his nose, always went along with it. Alfred didn't know. They didn't hate each other. But every single day Alfred beat up Jett, the Australian kid, and Jett beat up Alfred right back.
It all started the first day Jett came to school. Alfred had tried to approach him on the playground, wanting to make friends with the new kid who had a cool accent. Some of the other kids, including Jett, were already playing pirates on the jungle gym. Alfred had joined in on the game, but when he tried to "rescue" Jett from the pirates, he got a nose full of dirt. Jett had received a few scrapes as well.
They had been called to the principal's office after a few recesses of beating the snot out of each other. It had never been enough for anyone to get seriously injured, but that didn't stop the teachers from disapproving. Both of their parents had claimed that their sons were just being rowdy and rough housing, they were both very energetic children. So, they promised that they would try to be nicer so as to avoid getting detention.
It didn't stop them though.
The teachers just learned to ignore it. As long as no one actually got hurt, what harm could come of their overzealous play fighting? But, Alfred was tough enough to hide whatever minor pain he was sporting from some of Jett's punches, although he could have sworn he saw Jett wince once or twice in the classroom as he poked a new bruise or two.
One more minute until recess.
Alfred tensed, gripping the edges of his seat, ready to spring out the door at the first sound of the bell.
He glanced quickly over at Jett from the corner of his eye. He couldn't be sure, but he could have sworn he saw Jett's eyes flicker away from him, glancing up at the clock instead.
Ten seconds.
The chair Alfred had been sitting in was leaning dangerously forward, a knot had lodged itself in his stomach, rising up to his throat. It was so close he could taste it.
*RIIIIIIIING*
The shrill alarm sounded through the hallways and both Alfred and Jett were at the door before it had stopped ringing. Alfred thought he may have heard some angry words from their teacher, but who cared? It was time for recess, and you couldn't have stopped either one of them with a herd of rhinos.
They raced to the top of the slide, pushing and shoving and calling each other names the entire way. Jett only barely managed to beat Alfred to the top of the slide. He turned to Alfred to gloat, smile stretched from ear to ear, his green eyes twinkling in the sunlight full of mirth and accomplishment.
"Haha, I win! What do you have to say to that, Oh hero of loserville?"
Alfred didn't say anything.
He bit his lip in a strange feeling of joyful frustration that he was only barely starting to understand and pushed Jett down the slide.
Jett yelled in frustration that rivaled Alfred's. Alfred finally smiled and went down the slide feet first, landing on top of Jett, giving him a satisfying thump on the back of the head before crawling off of him.
They both laughed.
Alfred looked at Jett who was still smiling broadly. Alfred's smile probably matched.
"Dude, I like you a lot."
Jett looked at Alfred curiously, so Alfred continued.
"I can't cope with my feelings so I beat you up instead."
With only a slight pang of embarrassment he added, "I'm sorry."
Jett's usual broad smile returned to his face.
"Dude, that's really chill. We can hold hands if you want."
Alfred scrambled to his feet and helped Jett up, taking his hand to lead him up the slide again.
Jett said, "By the way, you have really good punches."
"You too!" Alfred replied through the laughter that was bubbling up as he ran.