[Adam]
"Thank you, god, I wouldn't know how to deal with it if you ended things with us now." I was held tighter by Max. "Just the thought... Jeez, I'll be more careful, I won't jump you again, and I won't be too handsy, just... Just don't give up on this thing we have, whatever it is."
"Max, you-" are seriously in love with me, aren't you?
"I'm what?"
I shook his head. "Nothing," I guess it should be obvious. I wrapped my arms around him. Now, all's that left is to get my feelings for him sorted. "Honestly," I couldn't help but let out a short laugh. "What am I gonna do with you?"
"Love me, too."
I felt my cheeks heat up, pulling back to stare at the blond, all wide-eyed. Oh my god. The way he said that... He was so desperate... So sincere... So...
Max looked back at me, tilting his head to the side ever so slightly. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
I blinked at him in disbelief. "Huh?" Perhaps he didn't know he said that outloud?
"Adam?"
He really didn't. "I-it's nothing, Max."
~o~
I yawned as I scribbled down the notes Mr. Olsen wrote on the board about How to Write a Term paper. Then, my phone vibrated for the nth time. I sighed, having an idea who the sender was. I discretely took a look, just in case.
From: Max Warren
Subject: While waiting
Munchin' on sum chocolates & cn't help but tink of ur eyes & hair.
P.s. Remember, I'm drivin' ya home, so luk 4 me wen u get out.
P.p.s. da chocolates r kisses, FYI. Wen cn I get sum o dat from u, babe?
[Attached photo]
I face palmed, partly in exasperation and partly to hide my blush. Jeez, he even sent a selfie of himself, lips puckered and all. And jeez, his typing... Ugh, head ache just trying to decipher it.
I should probably stop checking my phone every time it vibrates. But I had to make sure that it wasn't an urgent one. Being involved in a lot of things, I can't ignore my phone when it buzzes.
I quickly typed in a reply message and sent it, keeping my phone just in time, because Mr. Olsen looked back at us to make sure we were really taking down notes.
From: Babe
Subject: STOP
Max, complete your words, dang it.
ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)
And you're gonna get me in trouble. Stop texting me already.
(¯―¯٥)
P.s. I'll remember.
P.p.s. Not anytime soon. And FYI, there is no such thing as P.p.s and stop calling me babe.
From: Max
Subject: Sorry Not Sorry, Grammar Nazi.
Aw, ok. I'll c ya l8tr den.
P.s. Cn you blame me? I jus miz u.
P.p.s. I say der's such a ting. Ur usin' it 2 "babe"
I groaned silently, face-desking myself. Honestly, this Blondie will be the death of me. My heart can't take boldness to this degree, considering Max's romantic intentions towards me happened all too fast and all within a single month.
"Mr. Sanchez, is everything all right?" Mr. Olsen called out in concern.
I lifted up my head, embarrassed with the attention turned to me. "Er, yes sir. Just a little, erm, stressed out."
"I see. Well, with that blond guy chasing after you, I can understand why you would be." Mr. Olsen smirked, winking.
The class giggled.
I gaped. Oh my god, Professor Edwin playing mother was mortifying in it's own right. If Mr. Olsen starts playing father, I don't know what I'd do.
"Well, hang in there a little longer, son." Oh my god, kill me now. "There's thirty minutes left." He turned back to the board, adding, "oh, and you better make it hard on him. We won't let the kid win you over that easy."
I don't even want to imagine how my real parents would've handled this.
~o~
I sighed as the bell rang, signaling the end of school for the day. I'm glad we had that student council meeting early, now all I had to do was go home for the day. Autumn sent me an SMS that Jerald arranged a pep rally the following week after exams and before the homecoming dance, so they can get the votes in for my special feature on the yearbook proposal. He's really deadset on that. I'm still not so sure how I feel about being so highly regarded, but I guess part of me is flattered.
That's the least of my problems though. Max is the most of it.
Well, I guess I can't really say that it's a real problem. But I really need to get my feelings sorted out. I need to figure out what direction I want us to take. He's really serious about me, and if I don't think I'd ever be serious about him, I should be fair to him and end it before things get too deep.
But did I want it to end?
Admittedly, the initial reason for me dragging this out was to ascertain that Max wasn't playing around, that he was serious about me, and there wasn't any ulterior motive to get back on Lacey or something.
And the conclusion was pretty clear already.
This wasn't a game to him, he is actually pretty serious about me, and it has nothing to do with Lacey at all. Which begs the question, what's holding me back?
"Baaaabe~ FINALLY!" Max glomped me the second I stepped out of school.
I grunted. So much for having to look for him. The rest of the students just passed us, already used to this occurence, which should probably be a cause for concern. "Jeez, Max, you're making it seem like we haven't seen each other in years." I pushed against him.
"But waiting for you feels like a lifetime~"
I blushed heatedly, and heard some squeals. "You can be so embarrassing, you know that?" I grumbled.
"Well, I do kinda like it when you're all red and flustered. You look a hella lot cuter, ba-" Max trailed off when I covered his mouth with my hand.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Staaaaaaaah–P calling me that," I said for the nth time. "I'm still a guy. I don't need a damn pet name." I whined, pulling my hand away and walking towards Max's Porsche.
Honestly, and it's not even a done deal that we're steady dating.
~o~
"Eh? You're going to... What?" I stared at the blond.
Max rubbed the back of his head. "Let me cook you dinner. I made you upset earlier when I flirted with Tiffany, so give me a chance to make up for that."
I raised a brow, sceptical. "Yeah, that's what I thought you said."
"Hey, I ain't bad at all, excuse you!" Max protested indignantly.
That got a chuckle out of me. "While I will neither confirm nor deny that was what I was thinking," I teased. "You should try a more subtle way of saying you just want to spend more time with me or just tell it to me straight."
Max simply smirked. "Okay, fine. Adam, I want to spend more time with you cause I can never get enough of your presence."
I choked on my own saliva, covering my surely red face. I was expecting to fluster him, not the other way around! Damn it, ever since I let it slip that I sort of had feelings for him earlier, even if I didn't specify what kind, he's gotten a lot more bolder.
As if he wasn't bold enough, to begin with.
"Jeez Max!" I grumbled. "You're infuriating!"
I just heard a snicker in response. "Well, you asked for it." Max pointed out.
I uncovered my face, glaring at him. I opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, when someone beat me to it.
"Maximilian Jacob Warren!"
I saw Max tensed up and turned his head, he gawked. "D-dad?!"
Dad? I widened my eyes, turning my head to see a tall, well-built, blond man that looked just like Max, if only slightly older, coming towards us. And it occured to me what was the possible reason I was holding back.
Davidson Kurt Warren, founder and owner of Hearst Academy, who was still hell bent in shutting down my Pixelberry High, is first and foremost Max's father. Who, obviously, wouldn't ever approve of me in general, all the more, as his son's potential significant other.
Well, this is going to be fun.
[Max]
"Skipping classes? I am used to it, even let you get away with it. Trespassing at another school without prior appointment? I could handle. Lying about a faculty seminar? I can let it slide," Dad listed.
Despite the situation, Adam crossed his arms and looked at me with disapproval. "Maaaax..."
"Er, can you lecture me about that later?" I muttered under my breath, chagrined.
"But I will most certainly not tolerate you cavorting about with some good-for-nothing nameless homosexual." Dad snapped. "No son of mine will bat for the same team. For goodness sake, he could have AIDs for all we know."
The brunette beside me looks shell-shocked, as if he's been slapped in the face. And dad might as well have done just that. I clenched my fist. Father and Role model of mine or no, I won't have him talk down Adam that way.
"Well, then, you've got nothing to worry about." I seethed, "He's not nameless. He's the Adam Sanchez, pan not homo, and I can say for sure that he's as clean as a virgin."
Okay, despite the situation, I said that last part just to get some kind of reaction out of Adam. Satisfyingly, the brunette's face was an exploding red.
A-dor-a-ble.
"Oh my god, Max, really? Really?!" Adam groaned, slapping my shoulder. "I can't believe you actually used that word!"
I snickered. "What word? Virgi-?"
"Gyaaa!" Adam yelped, covering my mouth. "Don't say it again, damn it!" He released me.
I laughed. He really is one, isn't he? I opened my mouth to tease him more, but all of the sudden, Adam was collapsed when dad punched him right at the gut.
"Ack!"
I gasped, moving towards him but I was forcefully tugged to the opposite direction. "Dad! what's your deal?!"
"You will NOT use that tone on me, Max! Now, get inside the limo."
"Dad, I have my Porsche, and I was planning to have dinner at Adam's place, anyway." I hissed, trying to pull away from him to get back to Adam, but dad had my arm in a vice grip. "Dad!"
"Silence, Max!" Dad turned on me, livid. "How could you do this?! This brat slandered me! More than reason, that you are the heir to the Warren family fortune, no son of mine is going to end up poisoned by a dirty faggot!"
My blood boiled. "DON'T TALK ABOUT HIM THAT WAY!" I ground out. "YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM! TAKE IT BA–!"
"Max, that's enough."
I stop mid-sentence, and looked back to Adam, a hand over his stomach. "Like hell it's enough! I'm just getting started!"
"Max, he's your father. He's right when he said you shouldn't used a tone with him. But that's about it." Adam looked at dad steadily. "I'm a person, and I deserve to be treated as one regardless of who I'm attracted to."
Dad looked at him condescendingly. "I do not need to hear this from an abomination. You will stay away from my son, are we clear on that?"
"You say that," Adam started, "but that's not really for you to decide. Whether you like it or not, Mr. Warren, the world doesn't just revolve around you."
Dad was livid, raising his fist once more. Before he could bring it down on Adam's face however, I got in the way and raised my own arm to stop it.
"You're not hitting him again, dad." I hissed. "Not on my watch. Like it or not, I am in to him."
Dad moved his mouth wordlessly. Adam looks a little surprise, himself.
"I thought I was straight, too. Then again, Adam is the only guy I'm swingin' the other way for." I walked towards said brunette, took him by the waist and grinned. "Guess that kinda makes me pan, too. Or just... Adam-sexual."
Adam made a look at me, "Max, I get that you like me and all, and you're a shameless flirt, but really, in front of your dad? Can't you read the mood?"
"Well, I'm certain I'm in serious trouble now," I said, with a classic wave of eyebrows. "might as well do it thoroughly."
Adam opened his mouth to respond, but for some reasons, I black out.
~o~
Needless to say, when I came to, it was with Mia in my room, telling me dad was furious and I was grounded for a whole month.
"In retrospect, you should've been more discrete about wooing Adam." She pointed out while she filed her nails casually. "You should also probably forget about dad giving you leeways from now on."
I waved her off, reaching in my pocket to pull out my phone... only, no phone. "What the... where...?"
"Duh. Dad confiscated it," Mia pulled a sour face. "Mine too, he suspected that I'd let you use it to contact Adam, since he's my friend."
I grumbled and leaned back to my pillow, sulking. "Well, this sucks."
"A classic forbiddened love scenario." Mia stood up, "well, you sort of asked for it. Just so you know," she added, walking towads the door to leave. "I'm pretty sure Adam is worried about you." She left.
Well, I thought. Can't have have that. I got up and shut the lights, locking my door, before sneaking out.
