(09) Just Another Day

'Hey, Ray!' Jack called for the boy, running to catch up with him. Jack was alone, for he and his friends had just gone their separate ways.

'Hey,' Ray replied. 'What's up?'

'I was just about to ask the same of you,' Jack said. 'I just wanted to know how far you got with Ralph.'

'I'm getting there, mate,' Ray said over-confidently. 'I'll have that little bunny in my bed soon enough. Just give me two days' time.'

'Fine. Whatever,' Jack said, wondering why his companion wasn't taking advantage of the five days' time they still had. 'Do whatever you want.'

'What about you? How face have you gotten?'

'Not too far,' Jack honestly admitted. 'We're just friends.'

'What!' Ray exclaimed, staggering back slightly in surprise.

'You don't have to rub it in,' Jack murmured. 'Actually, being friends is a big step from where we started off from.'

"And it was all because of a little dream," he thought, not really knowing if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

'That's good for you,' Ray replied indifferently. 'And don't worry. I'll be sure to tell you how great a shag Ralph was when I'm through.'

Jack just rolled his eyes and, without even a goodbye, began to walk away. But new questions entered his mind before he had gone five paces: When did Ray ever find the time to seduce Ralph? They only saw each other at lunchtimes, so how could he be so supremely confident that he was going to win? Ray and Jack had a maximum of one week to seduce Ralph into their beds. Yet if Ray could do so in less time than that, why wasn't he? It was clear to Jack that Ray had wanted Ralph from Day One, so why was he biding his time and not acting on that interest?

With those confusing thoughts still in mind, Jack turned around to ask the other teen his questions, but Ray had mysteriously vanished. Jack frowned, but soon shrugged it off.

"Oh well. It will make my job easier if Ray stalls," Jack thought, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling in his heart. "It's just nerves," he reassured himself, continuing his walk down the hallway. "It's not because Ray just suddenly disappeared. I mean, the corridor is pretty crowded and it's easy to get lost in it. I'm probably just nervous about what he said, that he would win the bet."

"And you have reason to be," said another voice in his head. "Ralph likes him so much more than he likes you. Just because you two are friends now doesn't automatically put you on the level labeled 'fuck buddies', too."

"But Ralph might not even know that Ray is interested in him," reasoned yet another voice. "That kid is pretty strange. If he disappears for a couple of days, without hide nor hair of him being noticed, there's no way Ralph could still be interested in him."

"'Still'? There's a 'still' in there? That implies that Ralph was interested in him."

"But it doesn't mean that he is now!"

"Why wouldn't he be? If he hasn't seen Ray for a while, all he'll remember are the Aussie's good points."

"But—"

"JUST SHUT UP!" Jack's conscious mind screamed, drowning out the other voices. His head was reeling with his inner arguments about Ralph and Ray, yet a few questions seemed to stand out more than others did. Was Ralph interested in Ray? Did he really like the Aussie better than he liked Jack? But most importantly, would he act on that interest?

A disturbing image of Ray leading a "birthday suit"-clad Ralph to a large, fluffy bed suddenly appeared in Jack's mind. He shook his head furiously in disgust and just managed to prevent himself from puking. It came of a nice relief to him when the second bell rang, blaring in his ears and effectively getting rid of the mental pictures in his head.

"What the? The second bell already?" Jack wondered. And then he smacked his head in sudden realization. "Oh, FUCK! I'm late!" He took off down the hallway at a full-out run and didn't stop until he reached his math classroom, where he skidded to a halt just outside the door. He frantically wiped the sweat from his forehead and tried to quiet his hoarse breaths before he entered the room.

The class, which had been filled with quiet murmuring just moments before, brusquely fell silent at his arrival.

'You're late,' Mr. Piddy said disapprovingly, not looking up from his work.

'Yes, I know, sir,' Jack replied. 'Sorry, sir.'

'Lateness is something I cannot tolerate, Mr. Merridew,' Mr. Piddy said. 'Therefore, I want you to work beside my desk today. You are to do this assignment alone.'

'Alone?' Jack squeaked, abruptly dropping his books. 'But, sir,' he protested, 'Ralph is my partner. It's not right to punish him if he was on time!'

'You are quite right,' Mr. Piddy murmured, setting down his red marking pen and glancing over at Jack. 'Very well. You two shall work together on this assignment. But you, Mr. Merridew, shall do a second assignment for me . . . alone! I shall give it to you by the end of class, and it is to be done over the course of your weekend.'

'Yes, sir,' Jack muttered. With a lowered head, he gathered his books up and made his way to his seat at the back of the classroom, where the evaluator was once again sitting.

'I was wondering when you were going to show up,' Ralph whispered, breaking the still silence of the class.

As if on cue, the rest of the class continued their conversations in hushed tones, as if the interruption had never occurred.

'Sorry,' Jack replied, slumping down onto his chair. 'I finished the rest of my half last night, but I'm not sure if they're right.'

'That's okay,' Ralph said. 'I'm not sure if mine are either.'

The two teens swapped their work and began to copy the answers down onto clean sheets of paper. They worked in silence for a while, only speaking to correct the other's mistake or else ask what a sloppy letter or number was. Meanwhile, their time slowly ticked away . . .

-

After some time passed, Ralph's hand grew immensely tired and he desperately needed a break.

'I'll be back,' he murmured to Jack, making his way to the front of the room, where Mr. Piddy regarded him suspiciously.

'Yes, Mr. Macpherson?' he asked politely, but he seemed slightly irked that Ralph would dare to approach him during their work period.

'Um . . . May I please use the restroom, sir?'

'Very well. But be no longer than five minutes!' Mr. Piddy said.

'Yes, sir. Of course.' Ralph quickly exited the classroom and casually strolled down the hallway, not in any real hurry. He hadn't really had to use the lavatory, of course. He had just used that as an excuse to escape class for a while.

'Ralph?' a quiet voice inquired.

Ralph whipped his head around.

'Hey, Ray,' he replied. 'What are you doing out of class?'

'I had to run an errand for my teacher,' the other teen replied. 'I was just heading back now.'

'Oh, well, while you're out here, care to take a short walk with me?' Ralph asked.

'Sure. But what are you doing out of class?' Ray questioned him suspiciously.

'I needed a break. Math is such a bore.'

'Yeah? So was lunchtime yesterday,' Ray said bitterly. 'I can't believe you bailed on me to go to the library with Jack Merridew.'

Ralph sighed.

'I already told you, I didn't want to. I had to! We had . . . er, have this stupid math assignment thing to do. Our professor's crazy, man. He expects us to complete 200 questions' worth of new material in the course of two days!'

'New material?' Ray asked, confused.

'It's part of the assignment,' Ralph muttered. 'We have to figure out how to do it.'

'Really? That sucks.'

'Majorly . . .'

'You said two days, right?'

'Yeah . . .' Ralph replied slowly.

'So will you be able to spend the whole lunchtime with me today?' Ray questioned. 'I have something I need to show you. It's really cool!'

'I'm free today,' Ralph said. 'I'll meet you in the caf at the usual time then. But I might be a bit late.'

'Why?'

'I just have to make a quick stop at my locker to get rid of all my shit.'

'But . . . you don't have a locker.'

'I do now,' Ralph said, not thinking it wise to mention that it was Jack's locker he was using.

Ray checked his wristwatch for the time.

'Oh, fuck. Hey, listen, Ralph, I have to go, but I'll catch up with you later, k?' He leaned over and gave Ralph a quick peck on the cheek. 'Bye.'

'Bye,' Ralph murmured in embarrassment, reaching up to touch the part of his cheek that Ray had kissed. 'I'll-I'll see ya later.'

-

Meanwhile, Jack was relentlessly copying down Ralph's answers, his hand feeling quite cramped from the strenuous work.

"I wonder where Ralph is," he thought, erasing a few lead smudges from his page. "He's been gone for a while now."

Just then, Ralph re-entered the room, looking rather happy about something.

'Hey,' Jack greeted him when he sat down once more. 'What's with the look?'

'What look?' Ralph asked obliviously, taking up his pencil.

'You're smiling.'

'I'm not smiling,' Ralph said, still smiling.

'Yes, you are. What happened?'

'I just saw Ray.'
Jack paled slightly.

'And . . .?'

'And nothing,' Ralph said shortly, blushing red.

'Nothing happened?' Jack inquired suspiciously. 'Then why do you look so happy?'

'Happy? I'm not happy,' Ralph protested, and his face flushed into a deeper crimson colour.

Jack was quick to notice this and his eyes widened in disbelief.

'He kissed you!' Jack hissed quietly so as not to draw attention from their classmates.

'It was just a light kiss on the cheek,' Ralph said indignantly. 'It didn't mean anything!'

'Then why are you so happy?'

'Because . . . er . . . I . . .' Ralph stammered. 'I'm not gay, Jack!'

'Yeah? Well, I used to be straight, too, but now—'

'You're bi,' Ralph finished for him.

Jack just grinned.

'You don't know the pleasures guys can give you, man.'

By now, Ralph's face had paled to an unhealthy green colour and he had a look of immense disgust on his face.

'That's revolting,' Ralph said. 'You can do whatever you want, sleep with whomever you want, Jack . . . but you don't have to tell me about it.'

'I didn't!' Jack snapped. He inhaled deeply, for arguing was the last thing he and Ralph should be doing if he wanted the latter in his bed by next Tuesday. 'Okay, sorry about that . . . It's just . . . you have to keep your mind open, Ralph. Don't rule out guys just because you think you're straight.'

'I don't think I'm straight, I am straight!' Ralph replied, pouting cutely.

Jack fought the urge to kiss those plush, inviting lips, and instead said, 'Fine. Whatever.'

'And don't think I haven't noticed that you've been hitting on me, Jack Merridew,' Ralph said, 'because I have. I'm not stupid, you know.'

'Whoa!' Jack said, holding up his hands. 'I'm hitting on you! Last time I checked, you were the one getting hard in gym class.'

Ralph's face flamed with humiliation.

'Please don't tell anyone about that,' he whispered very, very quietly.

'Only after you admit that you were starting to desire me,' Jack said stubbornly.

'Fine! I admit it! I desired you, Jack,' Ralph murmured. 'I didn't know you could be so—'

'Are you working over there, Mr. Macpherson, Mr. Merridew?' Mr. Piddy's voice interrupted.

'Yes, sir,' Jack replied, all the while wondering what Ralph was going to say. He could be so . . . what? Charming? Attractive? Fuckable?

'We're almost done, sir,' Ralph said.

'Then quit the chit-chatting and just finish!' the professor snapped.

'Yes, sir,' they replied in unison before they hunched over their pages once more on the pretense of working.

'What were you going to say?' Jack muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

'Nothing. Forget it.'

Jack decided to let the matter drop, not wanting to start another row.

'You have twenty minutes left, people,' Mr. Piddy said loudly enough for everyone to hear. 'If you do not hand it in today, you are to hand it in first thing on Monday. Do not lose any more marks than you have to!'

The hushed murmuring that filled the room immediately ceased, and the only sound that could be heard was a quick scratching of pencils on paper, as well as the continuous sound of the evaluator's pen flowing across her clipboard.

-

Ring!

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Ralph sighed and gathered his papers together. He had just managed to finish copying Jack's work, and Jack his. The two teens made their way to the front of the room and handed in their homework, as well as the original assignment packages. They were two of the very few students to do so, and many of their classmates shot them envious looks as they walked past.

'Thank you . . .' Mr. Piddy muttered as each student handed in his papers. 'The stapler? It's on the corner of my desk, but be sure to write your name on all your pages in case they get separated . . . Thank you . . . Thanks . . . Wonderful . . .'

Ralph walked out of the classroom alongside Jack, and neither of them mentioned the incident in the gym again. Likewise, they did not mention Ralph's unfinished sentence of "I didn't know you could be so—" directed towards Jack. It was one of those rare moments where there was an unspoken understanding between them.

'Um . . . I guess I'll see ya later,' Ralph said after a while.

'Yeah,' Jack replied in a monotone type of voice.

Then the two of them went their separate ways.

-

It was lunchtime again. Ralph hurried upstairs to put his stuff in the locker, and he saw that Jack was already there.

'Hey,' Jack said warmly, stuffing his whole bag into the locker.

'Hey,' Ralph replied. He did the same, only keeping with him the brown paper bag that held his lunch in it.

Jack swung the door closed.

'I have to go now,' he said with some disappointment. 'I have a detention to serve with Lyori. I'll see you at gym, though, okay?'

'Yeah . . .' Ralph watched the other boy go, then, 'Wait, Jack!'

As if expecting it, Jack spun around.

'Yeah?'

Ralph hesitated, very aware of the icy blue gaze fixed on him.

'Erm . . . never mind,' he muttered before hurrying away to the cafeteria to meet Ray. When he arrived there, the other boy was already there, seated at their usual table.

'Hey,' Ray said.

'Hey,' Ralph replied. 'Sorry I took so long.' He sat down and carelessly tossed his lunch bag onto the table.

'No prob. You were talking to Jack again, no doubt.'

'What would you care even if I was?' Ralph asked indignantly, retrieving his sandwich from the bag.

'Like I said before,' Ray said slowly, 'you two make a cute couple.'

'Just because we make a "cute" couple doesn't mean we'd be a good one!' Ralph snapped. 'We are totally and completely 100 different!'

'Except for the way you feel about each other.'

'Yes, except for the way we feel ab—' Ralph suddenly paused in mid-sentence. 'Hey, wait a minute . . .'

Ray grinned smugly.

'Shut up!' Ralph snapped. 'I don't feel anything for Jack! We're just friends!'

'Is that so?' Ray inquired, taking a huge bite out of his sandwich.

'Yeah,' Ralph replied, unwrapping his lunch. 'Why would you even think there was anything more between us, Ray? What reasons have you got?'

The other teen swallowed his food and said, 'Nothing . . . except for the fact that you yourself almost admitted it.'

'Yes, the key word there being "almost". It was just a slip of the tongue.'

'Or was it?'

'I choose to ignore that,' Ralph said, biting into his sandwich.

Ray just smiled.