-Alex's POV-
When I woke up, I blinked repeatedly at the bright sunlight streaming in from behind the French curtains on the windows. My eyes fell on Laf and Herc, curled adorably together on the other bed in the dorm, still sound asleep.
Smirking to myself, I grabbed my phone off the stand beside my bed and pulled out the charger they were kind enough to lend me. After a couple of adorkable photos, I slipped out of bed and checked my texts absentmindedly as I padded out the door after slipping on my shoes.
HelplesslyBi: Kevin's all excited bc Nina flew in at 3am last night
AndPeggy: Bet Benny's more excited {smirk face}
My eyes flickered to the white numbers at the top of my phone screen and I almost choked. 7:31?! Holy fuck it was late! Within seconds I was out their dorm, down the hall in my dorm, getting a change of clothes out-
John.
John. Was. In. My. Bed. My mind began snickering about how gay that sentence sounded, but I just stared at John.
Corkscrew curls spread across the creamy white pillow, a rich, dark brown. A sweet, happy, innocent expression that was the facial expression embodiment of a cupcake. A splattering of freckles, light brown, that perfected his already perfect face, which was peachy white with enough color to not look ghostly or unhealthy.
He was so adorable, it hurt to look at him but I couldn't stop.
His perfect, thick brown lashes fluttered and I snapped out of it, shooting off to the bathroom to shower, almost slipping on the gleaming white tiles in my haste.
By the time I exited the bathroom, after an excessively long moment of looking at myself in the mirror, John was up and dressed.
He was excited and nervous, I could tell. "Hey, classes at 9:00. We should unlock the bathroom, supply cabinets, and get coffee," he said in a rush. He'd clearly been going over this in his head, scrolling through the list of things we needed to do. He immediately looked regretful at blurting this out. Why was he so uncomfortable with making decisions?
"Wow, you're really on top of things," I appraised him earnestly. "Let's go."
~shortest time skip ever~
"Alex!" I immediately identified the shriek and spun around, beaming.
"Nina!" I hugged her tightly, muttering, "We missed you!"
She smiled brightly, fixing the pencil behind her ear. "Missed you too. How've you all been?"
I waved her off impatiently. "Nevermind that. How was California? What'd you learn at Stanford? Are you staying with your parents or Benny?" At the last question she blushed and quickly changed the subject.
"Who's this kid?" She gestured to John, who was standing slightly apart from us, looking undisturbed by the fact that he'd barely been noticed. Nina nudged me playfully as the three of us entered the coffee shop together. "Aleeex. Did you finally get a boyfriend?"
I lost all ability to speak and opened and closed my mouth wordlessly as my face took on the brightest red you've ever seen. Nina turned to John, who I refused to look at, but John didn't seem capable of speaking either. Probably too shocked by the fact that I was gay. Well, bi, but he didn't know that.
Nina introduced herself and went on to talk about how much she missed the coffee shop and Eliza and Maria, trying her best to counteract the extremely awkward vibes I couldn't seem to stop sending.
I didn't look at or speak to John until we were heading back to the orphanage. I forced myself to look him in the eye and pretend the comment was never said. "Hey, if you need anything I'm right next door." I moved to give him a gentle push towards his classroom, but caught myself before he noticed.
John gave me a smile that looked a sliver forced. "You and Nina a thing?" he immediately looked horrified at himself for asking, and both embarrassed and relieved when I shook my head vehemently.
"She's dating Benny, someone you haven't met yet. They're the sweetest straight couple you'll ever encounter." Oh, thank god he didn't take Nina's "boyfriend" remark seriously. "Why?" I asked, regretting it as soon as the words left my mouth. "Do you like her?"
"No!" John denied instantaneously. "I was just curious." I think he likes her. Poor guy. Nina and Benny would break up as soon as Eliza and Maria did. That being NEVER.
I would feel worse about John not having a chance except that part of me was happy because technically that would leave him available. Except that he'd be pining after someone else anyway.
I sent him a smile as we walked into our respective classrooms. "See you at lunch!"
Nodding with a nervous smile, he agreed quickly, "Sure thing!" I waited he was in his classroom before going into mine.
"Woo!" I sighed. "Back to the usual routine!" Striding into the classroom and clapping my hands, I greeted the new day. "Good morning, time to start the day!"
-John's POV-
I woke up to a sharp, insistent beeping and groggily opened my eyes. As I expected, Alex was not there, probably having spent the night at Lafayette and Hercules' for the night. Flailing my arms, I felt my hand hit the smooth alarm clock and the beeping stopped, leaving my ears ringing just a bit. Of course Alex's alarm would be a high, sharp beeping rather than a cheery song or something. Of course. I realized the room was barely lit by the faintest light and glanced at the time.
I did a double take. 4:45?! Are you kidding me? No wonder I was so tired. I relaxed and let myself drift back to sleep.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Holy mother fucker. I had hit snooze. And of course, Alex's snooze wasn't set for 15 minutes. Or 10. Or even 5. Hell. This guy set his snooze for 1 minute. It was 4:46. Fucking hell.
I carefully pressed the correct button and quickly fell asleep.
There were soft footsteps and I was a very light sleeper. My eyes popped open to see Alex walking into the bathroom with a change of clothes and a few minutes later I heard the shower start.
Not that I was thinking about Alex in the shower. At all.
Realizing I'd have to change clothes, I quickly did so before he could come back and see me. I wasn't much of a perfectionist, but I really liked this place. I wanted to stay here, to get this right, to fit in and have a relatively normal life. I did not want the pity of the people I had met.
Don't get me wrong, they were wonderful people. I just didn't want their friendship to be based on my bruises. I wanted their friendship to be based on me.
Plus I kinda didn't really want to talk about it. Or think about it. I focused on my tasks for the day. Teach. That was a big one. Also, unlock the bathrooms. I chuckled softly to myself, remembering yesterday morning. It felt like ages ago.
There was something else Mr. Washington had mentioned… Supply cabinets. That was it. And we needed coffee. Don't forget coffee. And lunch. I wondered what Alexander would have us do for lunch. Alex. God he was amazing.
As we swiftly went through the morning, I wondered about Alex and Nina. She was taken, so that was ok.
I turned to the class. "Hey, so can anybody tell me Newton's first law?" As usual, Alana Beck's hand rose like a shot. I wrote her answer on the board. "Second?" Alana. "Anyone other than Alana?" Alana retracted her hand, looking faintly put out.
Zoe took her hand and smiled, causing Alana to brighten, and I shot Zoe a grateful look. She grinned. Theodore raised his hand hesitantly. His quiet but confident voice answered, and I wrote that on the board as well. Philip looked more proud than Theodore.
"Third?" I scanned the room for hands that weren't Alana's. Or Theodore's. Or Philip's. He'd already answered several questions eagerly and correctly. I looked directly at Jared, knowing he knew, but he just blinked at me lazily. From previous worksheets I knew he was actually a really smart kid. I sighed and moved on, gazing at the other kids. Oh! How about- "Evan Han-"
Jared's hand shot up like a bullet and his hand was in the air before I could even blink in surprise. "Mr. Laurens," he drawled, a note of panic in his voice, "I know the answer."
I raised my eyebrows, too surprised to say anything but an incredulous, "Mr. Kleinsen?"
"Kleinman," Jared corrected briskly. "Every action has its equal opposite reaction."
"Thank you, Jared Kleinman." I sent him a puzzled smile and wrote this on the board as well. Evan looked like Christmas had come early, and was beaming adorably at Jared, who looked back nonchalantly. Except that he was hardcore blushing at what might as well have been heart-eyes from Evan.
Soon class was over and the kids filed obediently out the door, chattering brightly. Jared approached my desk as I shuffled through papers, placing them in separate stacks on my mahogany desk.
"Mr. Laurens?" It was less of a question and more of a demand, the way when a teacher says, "May I have your attention please?" It is more of a "May I have your attention please."
I looked up. "Yes Jared?"
"I was wondering," Jared began steadily. He looked as deadpan and detached as ever but there was a small catch in his voice that made me think he cared more than he wanted to show about whatever he was talking to me about. "Would- could you not call on Evan in class?"
Ah. This was about Evan. I raised and eyebrow suggestively, a motion most 11-year-olds would not get, but I figured Jared would. He blushed a very bright red but continued on, determined. "He has anxiety and he gets really nervous when he has to speak in front of a lot of people…" Jared paused and watched me carefully, unsure if he should go on.
I reassured him with a smile. "I won't call on him in class-" Jared looked immeasurably relieved. "-IF you participate."
"Deal," Jared agreed instantly, grinning. He really didn't care about the sacrifice on his part, I realized. This was all about Evan. We shook hands and he saluted me as he walked out the door, looking triumphant.
I tried not to fanboy, but a small smile worked its way out as I thought about how cute they were. I walked out the door and leaned against the wall next to the door to Alex's classroom, waiting for him to come out.
"Hey," he greeted me excitedly, his face brightening as he spotted me. "How was your first day?"
"Awesome." I replied earnestly, "The kids are so sweet and smart and friendly. Clearly, they have been raised well."
Alex chuckled. "We try."
"And my god, Jared and Evan-!"
"Oh my gosh, say no more," Alex agreed, equally excited. "They're just too-"
"-Adorable," Alex said, "And sweet."
"Cute!" I declared at the same time, "And perfect." I added.
We split up: Alex went to grab us some lunch and I went to get us a table. Alex, who never learned to take his time, was off like a shot, leaving me to ponder what it would be like for Alex and I to be too "cute," "adorable," and "sweet."
I imagined it would be perfect.