CHAPTER 21 – DISTRACTED

"Jude, are you awake, love? You gotta go to school," Stef called from beneath the stairs, waking up Jude. Jude shot up and looked on his watch to find that in twenty minutes, his class would start. He quickly dressed himself and hurried downstairs. He munched down three pancakes (not even bothering to drown them in syrup, which surprised Stef) and ran out, nearly forgetting his backpack. He cycled as fast as he could and in ten minutes, his school came in sight. He checked his watch and saw that he still had five more minutes before his class would start. His class would be the first door on the right upon entering the school, so he had plenty of time, as he already had his book in his bag. He parked his bike on its usual spot, next to Connor's. Jude walked into the school and took the first door on his right side. He sat down next to Justin, as Connor wasn't in this class. Jude wasn't paying attention when his French teacher started the class.
"Bonjour tout le monde, aujourd'hui, nous allons travailler en groups de trois personnes," the teacher announced. Jude hadn't heard what the teacher had said, so he turned to Justin.
"What did she say?" he asked.
"Why are you even in this class? You never understand anything!" Justin jokingly said, and Jude shot him an annoyed look.
"She said we are gonna be working in groups of three," Justin quickly added upon seeing Jude's expression. The class went by slowly and Jude couldn't wait until the break, when he'd see Connor again. They'd meet before school, but as Jude was late, Connor had already gone to his class when Jude arrived at school. Finally French was over and Jude headed to his maths class, also without Connor. This class went by even slower. Jude couldn't stop thinking about that he'd see Connor in just an hour, and kept looking at the clock to see how much longer the class would last. The minutes went by slowly, as in Jude's perspective, each second lasted an hour.

Eventually, the bell rang and Jude sprinted out of the classroom and to his locker. When he was finished there, he ran through the crowd of people to Connor's locker, almost bumping into Jesus.
"Hey!" Jesus shouted at his little brother, who was too busy to apologize. He reached Connor's locker before Connor himself did, and Jude impatiently waited for Connor to arrive. After a minute, Jude saw Connor walking around the corner and to his locker. Connor's smile widened as he saw Jude and Jude almost melted inside.
"Hey Jude!" Connor said, placing a small kiss on Jude's cheek.
"Sorry I wasn't there before class, I overslept and I barely was here in time," Jude apologized and Connor dismissed it, saying he understood. Connor changed his books and the two walked outside, both wearing a coat, as it was cold outside.
"Do you have any gum? I… didn't brush my teeth this morning," Jude asked. Connor was curious to how bad Jude's breath was.
"Exhale," he said.
"No," Jude said, pulling a face
"Come on!" Connor pushed and Jude exhaled in Connor's direction. Connor smelled Jude's breath and decided to play a joke on Jude.
"Oh my god, that's disgusting," Connor exclaimed.
"I told you!" Jude said, a little annoyed.
"I'm just kidding, but seriously, you need some gum!" Connor joked and Jude pushed his shoulder.
"No really, it's not that bad, but here's some gum if it makes you happy," Connor said while passing Jude his strip of gum. Jude took two pieces and put them in his mouth. They sat down on their usual bench and Jude laid his head on Connor's shoulder. Connor wrapped his arm around Jude's waist, making Jude feel warm and comfortable. Connor placed a kiss on Jude's head and Jude replied to this gesture of love by taking Connor's hand and softly kissing it.

The bell rang and the boys went to their class, which was science. Today they'd be working on biology. The teacher chose who'd sit where, as this particular group of students could be very loud if everybody was sitting next to their friends. When everyone was placed, Jude looked at Connor, who was sitting on the total opposite side of the classroom, and they both looked a little lovesick, being split up. The teacher passed sheets of papers around. Jude read the title of the document. 'Anonymous Questionnaire' it read. Jude took out his pen and read the first question. 'Have you ever been in love?' he wrote a confirming answer and proceeded to the next question. 'Have you ever been in love with someone of the same gender?' Jude looked at Connor and smirked as he wrote down another confirming answer. There were more question about love, sex, alcohol and drugs. Eventually, every student had to turn around their paper, leaving the blank side up. The teacher collected the papers and started looking through them.
"I see that every one of you has been in love, except one person," she said, "If you want, you may stand up if you're the one who has written this, but don't feel obligated". A girl named Avery stood up.
"Alright, Avery, could I ask you some questions?" the teacher asked.
"Sure, why not?" Avery said and she looked calm and comfortable.
"Have you never ever been in love?" the teacher asked.
"Not once ma'am," Avery said.
"Haven't you bet a special someone yet, or is there another reason?" The teacher asked.
"I identify as aromantic and asexual, ma'am," Avery said and the clause applauded her honesty and bravery. Avery sat down and the teacher went on.
"So two of you admit to have been in love with someone of the same gender," she said, "if you want to, you may stand up, but you don't have to". Jude and Connor looked at each other while someone in the class giggled.
"What's so funny, Tom?" the teacher asked.
"Well… who would it be?" Tom joked, remembering his conversation with Jude and Connor on the bench. Jude and Connor stood up, both laughing at Tom's comment.
"Ah, Jude and Connor! Surprising! Normally, boys your age don't admit to having had feelings for another boy, because they want to be seen as cool and macho. Do you mind to answer a few questions?" the teacher asked, and the two boys both said that it was no problem.
"Did you feel uncomfortable loving someone of the same gender?" she then asked.
"No," both boys said in unison.
"That's good! Did you ever love a male classmate, or someone else close?" she asked.
"Yes," Jude said, and Connor said he had too.
"That could be complicated," the teacher said, apparently oblivious to Jude and Connor's relation. The class did their best not to laugh, playing along to the game.
"Do you dare to confess who?" the teacher asked the boys, not expecting a reply.
"Jude," Connor said at the exact same time that Jude Called out Connor's name. The teacher smiled and stood up.
"Now that's quite a confession to make," she said.
"Well no, actually," Jude said, "we confessed that to each other over a year ago and we've been dating ever since. We're boyfriends". The class started laughing at the astonished face of their teacher.
"Really everyone in the class new this already, that's why Tom started laughing," Connor explained.
"Then you must be the first two to come out at this school," the teacher said and the class started laughing again.
"What's so funny?" the teacher asked.
"My mother's a lesbian," Jude explained.
"And what does that have to do with this school?" the teacher asked, getting a little upset that she got laughed at.
"His mother is Lena Adams-Foster, vice-principal of this school," Connor told her.
Poor woman, she doesn't know anything, Jude thought, but he chuckled.

The bell rang before any more questions on the questionnaire could be discussed and the students walked out, still laughing at the class that had just passed. Jude and Connor were still laughing and talking about that they teacher didn't know about their relation and not even about Lena being gay. They entered their English class and were greeted by Timothy, their favourite teacher. They were discussing a book called 'To Kill A Mockingbird' by Harper Lee, a book about two kids whose father is a lawyer defending a coloured man during the heights of apartheid. Jude and Connor weren't really paying attention to what Timothy was telling. Connor looked at Jude, who slipped a piece of paper in his hand. 'Wanna hang out after school?' it read and Connor nodded his head. 'When's your last class?' Connor wrote back and gave Jude the piece of paper. Jude looked at Timothy to see if he was watching, and as Jude saw that Timothy wasn't watching, he wrote a not back to Connor. 'Geography is my last class'. Connor smiled and wrote that geography was his last class as well.
"Jude, Connor, would you please pay attention to what I'm trying to teach?" Timothy asked.
"We were!" Jude protested.
"Then you tell me what the ambiguity of the title of this book is, " Timothy said.
"I'm sorry Sir?" Jude asked.
"The title can be explained in two ways, which ways?" Timothy asked.
"Well there is this one passage where Atticus literally talks about how it's wrong to kill mockingbirds…" Jude said.
"Yes, that's one," Timothy said.
"I'm sorry, Sir, I don't know the other one," Jude admitted.
"And that's why it's important to listen. Try to keep your focus. As I was saying, the other meaning is judging innocent creatures or people, like Tom Robinson, accused and found guilty of abuse and rape, while he was innocent, as the girl had lied about being raped and her father had abused her. So that's the second explanation. Killing referring to Tom Robinson being sentenced to death, and the mockingbird being Tom Robinson himself," Timothy continued his lecture on the book. Jude and Connor made sure to listen, as they knew that if they didn't, Lena would be informed. Jude figured that was one of the cons of being the son of the vice-principal. Overall, it had more advantages than disadvantages though, so Jude decided he liked being the son of the vice-principal. It gave a sense of security knowing that whatever was wrong, on school or in his personal life, he could always go to Lena.

When Timothy's class was over, the class got dismissed and Jude and Connor walked over to the cafeteria. They got their lunches and headed for their usual bench. They sat down and Connor took Jude's hand.
"Connor, I'm hungry," Jude said.
"Well, then eat," Connor replied while laughing.
"Can I have my hand back?" Jude asked.
"Nah, you can eat with one hand, I'm gonna hold onto this one," Connor said and Jude sighed. He took one of his sandwiches in his right hand and took a bite.
"See? It works pretty good!" Connor said and they both laughed.

The first time they'd walked hand in hand, Connor had been walking on the left side and since then, he always made a point to stand, walk, sit and lie on the left side of Jude. After more than a year, they had gotten used to it and Jude automatically went to Connor's right side when he and Connor saw each other. If Jude would walk on the left side, both boys would immediately notice that something was wrong, even though nobody else would. Nobody really realized that Jude and Connor were always standing in the same order, but the boys did. Jude knew Connor's right side better than Connor left side, whereas Connor knew Jude's left side a lot better than his right. Jude could picture Connor's right side even when Connor wasn't with him. He knew every mole, every little hair and even every zit on the right side of Connor's face. Neither of the boys could draw well, but if they could, they'd be able to perfectly draw each other's one side from memory, with every little detail included. The bell finally rang and Jude and Connor went to their last class, still holding hands. They went into the classroom and the teacher asked for silence, wanting to start the class. The class got quiet and another long hour started.

Five minutes before the bell, Connor slipped a note in Jude's hand. Jude unfolded it under his desk while he looked if the teacher was watching. When Jude saw that the teacher wasn't, he leaned backwards and read the note. ' I gotta piss real badly, wait at the bench'. Jude nodded to Connor, and when the bell rang, Connor had already packed and sprinted out of the classroom. Jude packed slowly, went to his locker to change books and headed over to the bench. Connor arrived five minutes later, and to Jude's astonishment, he had a box of chocolates with him.
"For you," Connor said, giving Jude the box.
"But… why?" Jude asked.
"Because! Jude, I'm in love, love isn't rational, and neither am I. There is no reason needed to buy the love of my life, such a beautiful boy, some chocolate. See it as a thank you for making me so happy!" Connor said, looking like a puppy whose owner had just come back from a few hours at work. Jude was speechless.
"How can I make this up to you? I mean, you make me just as happy! Maybe you even make me happier than I make you!" Jude said.
"No, I don't! No chance!" Connor said.
"Alright, it's a tie. But please, how can I repay you?" Jude asked.
"Well… A chocolate wouldn't hurt… Or a kiss," Connor said suggestively. Jude laughed as he kissed Connor on his lips.
"You're getting both," he said as he opened the box of chocolates and fed Connor one. Connor looked all happy now and Jude lied down with his head in Connor's lap. They still got stares at school, even though everybody knew, but they didn't care, nor did it stop them from showing affection for each other.
"Oh God, I love you so much," Jude said as he ate another chocolate, and gave Connor one as well. Connor just smiled, getting warm from his boyfriend's sweet voice (and just maybe also because of the chocolate).

Authors note:
I do not own anything recognizable.
I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you think via a message on here, or use my askbox on tumblr: always-jonnor-love-.-tumblr-.-com-/-ask(Without the dashes, but otherwise this site wouldn't let me post it).
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The next chapter is called "Shopping for Presents".