Not that 'together.'
Buford laughs so hard that he needs to take a pause from the story he was telling, the table is full with his teammates and cheerleaders and they all can't wait to hear more. Poly covers her face as her blush becomes more evident.
"She drops her drink and everyone turns. And Everyone knows!" Buford says as he poses and smiles, the table burst in laughter and Poly throws some french fries at Buford.
"I look like a complete dork in front of Jo!" The girl whines, and the group continues to laugh at her misfortune.
"Believe me it is better that way! Before you look like an exaggerated version of 'mean girl,' even your outfit was on point!" Buford laughs at the memory, but mostly he remembers Baljeet laughing. The small indian boy laughed so hard that little tears got stuck on his long eyelashes, his face red and happy and his lips formed a bright smile. The sound of his laughter always made Buford feels like nothing on the world was a precious as Baljeet being happy.
"Your boyfriend was the first one to laugh." Poly remembers the little indian boy eyeing her like he was getting ready to fight her over Buford, she wasn't even into guys.
"That little thing!" Another cheerleader asks.
"He is tiny!" The guy next to Buford adds.
"He can be pretty scary when he is jealous -wait. Jeet isn't my boyfriend!" Buford almost forgets to correct her.
"Again with this! Dude, the whole team knows you're gay, you don't need to hide your boyfriend from us!" One of his teammates comments but Buford only blushes and denies it once again.
"Guys stop. Baljeet is just Buford's best friend!" The captain says and he turns and winks at Buford, the whole table erupted with laughter once again. But Buford looks down at his food, his appetite gone.
"It so cute! I actually got distracted because you two are like 'the couple.' If I could I would vote for you guys for prom king and...king (?)" Poly says and questions how would it work, but soon she is distracted with her own fantasy of she and the cute cashier, Jo, dancing.
"I think you guys would be adorable!" A girl says as she visualizes both men dancing.
"Except, we are not dating." Buford says.
"I would vote for you two." His captain says trying to sound supportive.
"That's nice, and pointless 'cause we aren't dating."
"You can see he really likes you by the way he looks at you." One of the girls says and that angry Buford.
"We are not Together!" He says a little too laugh, and after saying it aloud he could feel his heart breaking.
The table becomes silence, and for first time people start to believe Buford.
"Why?" Poly asks, it feels like a stupid question and it kinda is, but she feels like she needs to know.
Buford looks down, his food is cold now, and he sighs and wishes Baljeet was there. Everything's better when his better half is with him, and Baljeet could explain, because Buford doesn't really know.
"That's just not what we are." Buford says and no one asks him to elaborate.
Buford stays quiet as he makes excuses on his head of why it wouldn't work. The door of the small fast food restaurant opens, and Buford sees Baljeet walk in like he had heard his prayers.
"I gonna say 'Hi' to a friend." Buford tells his group but he doesn't wait for anyone acknowledgment, and he runs towards Baljeet.
The darker boy was holding a yellow note and reading over the orders.
"Is this brain food?" Buford asks once he is next to Baljeet. The nerd smiles and turns from his note to Buford.
"No. But it would had to do. The Mathematics' brains are starving." Baljeet says with an effortless smile. Buford snorts at their personal joke, since both of them are athletes they just use different muscles.
"But that food has like...a bunch of fructose syrup, how is Pete or Peat or Pette...how is that guy eating it?" Buford asks as he peeks on the list.
"Petter. Is having a salad. You are usually good with names." Baljeet explains and he advances a little more on the line.
"I don't like Petter, he sounds like an arrogant idiot. And who orders salad at a burger place?!" Buford asks, Baljeet laughs a little.
"You have never meet him. And I found his determination to avoid harmful substances inspiring. So much, that I am too, ordering a salad." Baljeet says looking down on the taller boy.
"Baljeet No, don't be the weirdo who orders salads. There is a smoothie place a street from here. I would get you something nice if you don't order a salad from here. Plus I don't trust my veggies being done by meat makers. It ain't natural." Buford says as he lightly pulls Baljeet from the line.
"I still had to buy my teammates' orders, and you are not alone." Baljeet says as he looks at the table of the 'popular kids,' who look back at them with curiosity. Then Baljeet remembers what Isabella said.
'Everyone thinks you guys are dating.'
But the presence of Poly Carroro bothers Baljeet even more than that lose rumor.
Buford leans over until he can whisper on Baljeet's ear.
"They are all a bunch of loser! Even you are cooler than them." Buford whispers, and his breath tickles Baljeet's neck. He smiles and looks at Buford who waits for an answer.
Buford only waits for Baljeet, ready to pick up the smaller boy and take him to the 'king's smoothies.'
The cashier clears his throat to bring both boys back to reality, and Baljeet blushes and hurries to order.
They wait for the order near the pick up counter.
"Well, since you are paying… I would be a fool to decline your offer, and I am no fool." Baljeet says, and he glares at Poly Carroro from the corner of his eye feeling like he is winning some type of competition.
They talk of everything that had happened that day. Any specially hard math problems or strategies for a game, who got wrong their equation or who stand on the wrong position, and what would they do once they can actually hang together.
"My mom said that she already tried to throw away that t-shirt like seven times, but I keep rescuing it, so she won't wash it anymore. And I can't get that stupid stain out. So, can we go shopping?" Buford asks as he remembers his favorite t-shirt, though it did fit him a little tight.
"I'm sure we will find another plain blue shirt." Baljeet rolls his eyes at Buford's worries.
When the order is ready and each picks up a bag.
"Actually I like black better." Buford says like he is remembering.
"...So you want to buy black t-shirt?" Baljeet asks as they walk out of the restaurant and set course to the smoothie place.
"Yes, but I also want one that you choose. You were the only one that started giving color cloths, and pastels!" Buford says as he remembers his surprise when he opened his present and saw the many pastel colored t-shirts.
"I did not think you would wear them!" Baljeet explains like he had many times before.
"I Know. I just didn't wanted to let you win!" Buford says and Baljeet laughs.
"Not everything is a competition, Mr. Van Storm."
"Lies, this type of behavior could get you disqualified Mr. Tjinder!" Buford points the other with his finger, and Baljeet puts the larger arm down.
They enter the smoothie place and welcome the cold air.
"Plus, you said I look nice." Buford adds a little embarrassed.
Baljeet beams at the commentary, and walks a little faster.
"Hey!" Buford says before trying to catch up even though Baljeet had only move a few steps from him. With time they had become like planets; attracted it to each other, and pull together by some sort of magnetic force.
They order their smoothies, Baljeet lets Buford choose for him, since the boy knows his favorites and he is paying.
"Carrots, orange and celery. Eww" Buford says as he gives Baljeet his drink.
"Thank you."
"I would had thought that you more than anyone would understand that green stuff only belongs on green smoothies!" Buford says as he makes a face and opens the door for Baljeet.
The darker boy laughs at his bully's irritation of the mix of color fruits and vegetables. And old lady walks by them and glares at them like they were committing a crime.
"What's her problem?" Buford notices her, but he doesn't say anything else about her, instead he returns to talk about beets and tomatoes.
Baljeet feels sick at the idea of being anyone's target for hate, but he instead concentrates of what she thought.
They look like a couple, they are friends and that's obvious, but they also look like a couple.
"Are we dating?" Baljeet asks, because even if it embarrassing, he prefers to know what Buford thinks instead of trying to guess.
Buford spills some of his smoothie and chokes on what he was drinking. The boy turns feeling his cheeks heating up and his throat closing.
"No. Why? Do you want to?" Buford answers even before cleaning himself.
"What? No, maybe. Why? Do you want to? I just asked because I heard people saying that it looks...like we are dating…" Baljeet says and drinks from his smoothie.
"People talk! That's what people do!" Buford hurries to push the conversation to a safer topic.
"That is very true. But of late, I feel like we had giving them many cues that can easily be mistaken like...something else, and I would hate if this affect your everyday life…." Baljeet explains and concentrates on looking at his smoothie, like he is trying to count the tiny fibers of carrots or celery.
"I don't care what people think!" Buford hurries to answer, but he could only hear how fake that sounded until it left his mouth.
Buford cares what people think, he had work very hard for his reputation and he had fought to keep it intact for years.
"...oh...It makes no difference to you if our friends think we like each other or not. Is our relationship not of enough value to be correctly label, or you simply do not care?" Baljeet asks trying to think rationally, but he could feel his throat close and his eyes sting.
He knows that Buford is a big fan of his own reputation, and he had fought plenty of people for misunderstandings or aggressive behavior. So, if Buford cares about his reputation but he doesn't feel the need to quiet the rumors, them maybe he doesn't care about what people think about them because it isn't important to the bully.
It didn't matter enough.
The thought was heavy and sour.
"No! That's not what I meant!" Buford insists, reaching Baljeet's thought path and trying to say something right.
"We both know you care about your reputation, is not like you to try to ignore rumors…" Baljeet states as he feels his sadness grown into anger, and the cold smoothie on his hand feels a lot like a weapon.
"Yes. I do. But ...I'm trying...to grow up (?)" Buford tries to lie but he knows that if there is someone he can't lie to is Baljeet.
"Does our relationship does not deserve your attention, a social status, or a well put lie?" Baljeet asks as he readies to throw his drink, not wanting to listen to whatever Buford had to say.
"Is not a bad rumor, okay?! Listen, Jeee-" Buford starts but he is interrupt by the splash of the orange cold liquid against his face.
"What?" Baljeet asks as he runs Buford's last sentence through his thought process.
"You threw Orange and Celery at my face! I love my face Jeet!" Buford says as he looks through the paper bags of fast food for napkins.
"I am sorry...what were you saying?" Baljeet asks even though he knows that he should let the conversation die. He knows that they had become such close friends by never rushing anything. Just enjoy each other's time and wait for the next of their relationship move naturally.
But now Baljeet feels like they had wasted time.
"It's disgusting! Fruits and vegetables shouldn't share the same cup. I was telling you early..." Buford answers, not really ready to continue their conversation and exposed too much of his heart.
"...let us cancel our weekend plans…" Bajeet says as he feels his brain pushing dormant ideas he thought he would never truly consider.
"What?! I should be angry at you for ruining my t-shirt! I lot 2 t-shirts this week Baljeet! I need to go shopping!" Buford haft jokes but he worries he might had said something wrong, and Baljeet can be quite irrational when mad.
"I just want you to had your weekend free for when I ask you on a date!" Baljeet says blushes, he looks down embarrassed at the chain of event; first he fought with Buford, then he threw a smoothie at his face, and now he is going to ask him on a date.
"oh...OH!"