John's POV
"It's too much, Alex! I can't!" I whined.
"Oh, come on, John. I know you can do it!" He encouraged.
"It's too many cupcakes!" I exclaimed, looking at the plate of unrated cupcakes in front of me, and feeling my stomach about to burst. Eliza's girlfriend, whose name we found out was Maria, is a professional baker and brought them in for everyone in the peds floor, and Alex thought it would be a good idea to see how many I could eat. He thought, no, thinks, I can eat the whole plate of a dozen. I think he's delusional.
"There's no way! I've already eaten five, and I can't eat anymore!" I complained.
"Come on, John! I can eat way more than five!" Alex exclaimed.
"Yeah, but I'm not you!" I said back, then Alex started laughing.
"What?" I demanded.
"You have frosting on your face." He giggled.
"Ugh." I sighed, and grabbed a napkin and started trying to find the frosting.
"Wait." Alex said, getting in really close. When I thought he was going to wipe it off with his hand, he licked it off my face instead.
"Eww!" I cried and then started laughing.
"That's really good frosting." Alex said, picking up one of the cupcakes next to me.
"Alex, that was so gross!" I exclaimed while laughing.
"What can I say? Your face tastes good." He laughed.
"Ok, we're in borderline psychopath territory here." I laughed, watching Alex lick the frosting off the cupcake he was holding. There was frosting all over his lips.
"There's frosting on your face." I said, and he grabbed a napkin off the table, but I grabbed his wrist before he could put it up to his lips. I leaned in really close, and then started kissing him. I swiped my tongue over his lips to get all the frosting off, then he opened his mouth in invitation. I slipped my tongue in, getting more of the frosting flavor out of his mouth.
"Mmm." I hummed.
"What?" He asked, pulling away.
"You taste like frosting." I smiled, and then we both started laughing.
"So, ready to finish the rest of these cupcakes? I even helped you by eating one." Alex teased.
"If eat even another bite of cupcake, I'll burst." I said, putting my hand on my stomach.
"Ok, then. How about we get some work done, then." He said, getting up grabbing my computer and putting it on the table in front of us, moving the cupcakes to the back.
"So, what courses are you in, specifically?" He asked, going through my school email.
"I have Algebra 1, earth science, French 1, but that I can pass in my sleep, US history, and generic eight grade English." I explained.
"Ok, so it looks like your science teacher sent you a list of sections of your textbook to read, with a link to the textbook in the email, and told you to take notes on them, then to email him when you have that done so he can send you the tests to take." Alex said, confused. "That's an awful way to teach."
"I know. Every night for homework, he just assigns us a section in the textbook to read and then take notes about, then we just talk about stuff that has nothing to do with the topic in class." I rolled my eyes.
"Ok, so your math teacher sent some notes and worksheets to do and a practice test. He says that he'll email you the test whenever you're ready for it."
"Ok." I responded.
"Next, your English teacher sent you an essay prompt and a few online quiz links." Alex said, reading through the next email.
"Ugh. I hate writing essays." I complained.
"What?" He asked, appalled.
"Just the process of coming up with an idea than putting it in a grammatically correct five-paragraph form makes me want to shoot myself." I whined.
"I love writing essays." Alex said. He seemed confused about why I don't too.
"What's next?" I asked, attempting to change the subject.
"Your history teacher sent you a few powerpoints, notes packets, and links to quizzes to take, and your French teacher said that since she knows your fluent, she just sent links to test PDFs so you can just take them and be done for the course." Alex finished.
"So, how much is that in the end?" I asked, getting a headache just form the notion of all of the things I have to do to pass eighth grade. I finished most of the work when I was in school for a while, but once my CF flare-ups were more often than not, my mom and Dr. Washington decided to keep me in the hospital to keep an eye on me until I got a lung transplant.
"Well, let's make a list." Alex suggested.
In the end, it looked like this -
John's Eighth Grade School Work
Science notes from textbook (4 chapters)
Math worksheets and test
English essay and online quizzes
History notes and quizzes
French tests
"Well, that's not as bad as I thought it would be." I said after we finished the list.
"And this is it for the rest of the stuff for eighth grade?" Alex asked, hopeful.
"I think so." I responded.
"Good. Then maybe you can get your freshman work done, too since the school year just started about a month ago." Alex suggested.
"I don't know, Alex. It seems unrealistic. Since I didn't pass eighth grade, I didn't even get assigned teachers or courses for ninth grade. I don't even know the guidance counselor at my high school." I lamented.
"And those are all things we can fix." Alex said, grabbing my hands and holding them. "We can ask your middle school guidance counselor to talk to the one at the high school and get your classes, and teachers, and work to do so you can pass freshman year this year. Who knows. Maybe next year you'll be able to go back to school."
"I hope so." I responded, squeezing Alex's hands. "Everyone always takes school for granted until they can't go anymore. I just wish I had a more normal life, where I didn't live in a hospital."
"Well, you met me in this hospital." Alex said, looking almost hurt.
"And I'm not saying I would ever change that." I said, scooting closer to Alex. "I just want a normal life in school, but I want you in it. Every hour, every minute." Alex smiled, and I kissed him.
(A/N - Who noticed my reference to The Flash musical episode in Johns last line? I just couldn't help putting it in. It's just so romantic! Anyway, don't forget to review!
