Here's chapter 2 of my new high school fic:D Angel & Collins make me happy! But you know what makes me happier? Your reviews! ;D
Disclaimer: I own nothing from RENT. Characters, lines, or costumes- nothing.
--Tight Shirts and First Dates--
-Angel's POV-
Well, it's been about a week since school started. Collins' friends have accepted me into their group, so now I have friends! Hooray! It's kind of funny… ever since I found out that Collins is gay, I've kind of had a crush on him.
"Hey guys! What's up this morning?" I ask as I join them under the tree.
"Nothing much, Ang." Collins answers. He's given me that nickname, Ang. It used to bug me when people did that… but with him I guess it's okay. He sounds cute and sexy when he says it. Did I just say that? Erm… okay.
I took a chance today and wore that favorite black shirt I have that matches my skin-tone so well. It's a little too tight, so I'm a bit nervous that someone will say something. But all that's happened so far this morning is that Collins can't stop staring at me. He keeps blushing, and I suppose I do too, but it's really cute.
I think I finally have enough courage worked up to ask him out… like on a date. I was going to wait for him to ask me, but he's been so stubborn about not doing it. He just stares at me all the time, and I know he wants to. He's just nervous.
"Ang… that shirt is… awfully tight." He finally manages to mumble. Maureen laughs loudly.
"Collins! Are you hitting on poor Angel? Sweetie, don't worry. You have the hottest muscles EVER. Any girl would DIE to go out with you, I'm sure." She pats me on the shoulder. Is Maureen really that dense? I mean, I haven't said anything about being gay to them, but I would have figured she'd notice. I guess not.
"Sorry…" Collins mumbles again, blushing.
We go to class shortly after that, and as soon as the others are out of earshot, I whisper- "Thanks. This is my favorite shirt. I'm glad you like it." I wink at him, and skip to my first class.
-Collins' POV-
I'm going to kill Maureen. She's so dumb sometimes! She doesn't even notice how much Angel and I flirt with each other. I just… I'm too nervous to ask him out. What if he says no? What if… my parents find out? I would just die.
Although… it is worth the risk, probably. He's hot, and possibly the nicest person I've ever met. And his fashion sense is amazing. I know, I sound like some love-struck teenager in a crappy movie… but I think I love him.
I'm fidgeting through my first two classes, and my math teacher is surprised when I can't answer the question she just asked. Usually I ace everything in her class. She stops me before I can escape when the bell rings.
"Tom, are you okay? You seemed awfully distracted today."
"I'm fine, Ms. Hanson. Just… no, it's nothing. I was just thinking. I'll pay closer attention tomorrow." I smile, to convince her, but all she does is shake her head and send me on my way to the next class.
Finally after what seems like centuries I get to go to Art. We're working on a project already. We have to find something we think of as beautiful, and then sketch and paint it. I spent an hour yesterday wandering around town, trying to find something inspiring to paint. But I couldn't think of anything… except Angel. And I certainly can't paint him. That would be social suicide. Maybe I'll paint a vase with some flowers…
He sits down next to me and pokes my shoulder. "Hey Collins. This sure is a stupid assignment, huh? I mean, if I could choose any one thing to call beautiful… I would paint a portrait of you. No, I'm not joking! But of course, that would cause quite an uproar. Maybe I'll do it, just to shake things up." He grins and takes out his sketchpad. I look at him thoughtfully.
"You know, Angel… I was thinking the same thing. I would love to paint you for my project. Would that be okay?"
"Of course! It would be fine, as long as I can paint you too!" He grins again, getting a freshly sharpened pencil. We both start sketching, and by the end of class we have pictures we are somewhat happy with. We switch notebooks and study each other's drawings. I look at the sketchy picture of myself, and I swear it looks just like me.
"Wow! Ang, this is amazing!" He is somewhat busy studying the picture I drew, so he doesn't respond right away. I can tell he's impressed. I spent like fifteen minutes trying to get his nose right.
"Collins… Am I really that feminine-looking?" He is being serious. I blink.
"Um… yeah?" He squeaks happily and hugs the sketchpad.
"I love it. You could be quite an artist, you know."
I shake my head. "Nah. I mean, I could. But I'm just a philosopher at heart."
"So… you like philosophy?"
"Mhmm."
"Then what's your favorite theory?" He is looking at me sincerely.
"I call it the theory of 'Actual Reality,' and it's my own idea. I'll explain it to you sometime."
-Angel's POV-
I love how he drew me for Art class. It made me so happy… when he said that he was going to paint me. Since the assignment is to find something beautiful, I can naturally assume that he was calling me beautiful. I sit down in English and start working on my sketch again.
My hair is getting longer again… Not that it matters. It's so curly, and I hate styling it. That's the only reason I care. I think I should get a haircut soon anyway.
Lunch is the same old thing. Collins and I tone down our flirting in front of his friends, but when we get to Chemistry we sit together and pass notes. The only thing that isn't good about that is when you get caught. Like right now.
"Angelo, are you passing notes?" Shit. He saw us. "Well, if it's so important, please come up here and share it with the rest of us."
I walk dejectedly up to the front of the class and unfold the note from Collins, praying it isn't anything embarrassing. To my surprise, it's school-related.
"What chapters are we supposed to read for English tomorrow?" I read, speaking clearly. "Oh, Collins you could have just asked me after class. Chapters 5 and 6." I head back to my seat, and our teacher sighs.
"Please refrain from passing notes in my class. Get your assignments after class is over."
The rest of the day passes normally, and I offer to walk Collins home. He accepts, making my stomach flip and my heart skip a beat or two. We get a couple blocks away from school, and I look around to make sure there aren't any people nearby. It's a quiet side street, so not many cars go by.
"Collins, can I ask you something?" He suddenly blushes and looks nervous.
"Um… anything, Angel. What is it?"
"Do you um… want to I don't know… go out on Friday?"
"Like… a date?"
"Yeah. We could get pizza and go to a movie." I'm so relieved by his smile that I nearly shout and jump for joy.
"Sounds wonderful. I'm sorry I didn't ask you, but I was too nervous that you would say no."
"Why would I do that? I really like you… and I already can't wait for Friday. Oh, I have an idea though. I'll borrow my mom's car and we can go to the next town over. That'll be more fun than hanging around here, right?"
"Yeah. Good idea. Let me know if you can't get the car though, and I'll try to borrow my dad's truck." We hug and walk the rest of the way to his house. I'm so excited, I have to plan my outfit. Who can I get to help me? Not Mark or Roger… not April- she's scary. All that leaves is Maureen. Drat. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers.
-Collins' POV-
Angel just asked me out on a date! I'm so happy, I could just… jump up and down and yell! Well, I'm already jumping up and down. I'm not even thinking of what my parents will say when I walk in.
"Tom! You're home. Good. How was your day?"
I obviously don't think when I'm happy. "Stupendous!" I shout. My mother smiles at me knowingly.
"Did you meet someone? What's her name?" she asks. Completely oblivious, aren't they?
"Um… her name is Angel." I lie, because Angel is just as believable a name for a girl as for a guy. "We have a date on Friday. We're going over to the next town for pizza and a movie."
"Aw, that's so sweet! I hope this turns out better than Jesse." Yeah. I lie to my parents a lot. Well… what they don't know won't hurt them.
"Thanks mom."
"So, what are you going to wear?" I gaze at her. Wear?
"Does it really matter?"
"Of course, if you want to make a good impression! Just tell me what you're going to wear and I'll let you know if it's a good choice or not."
I escape her by going upstairs, claiming to have homework. I mean, of course I do, but I'm not going to be doing it. I'd much rather work on my art project. So I do that instead. Suddenly brilliance strikes me- I won't get in trouble. I'll draw Angel… but as a girl. It doesn't take much work, and soon I have my sketch looking pretty good. It's a good thing he's so feminine anyway- all I have to change is the hair. I fall asleep late, with my sketchpad open on my lap.
I wake up the next morning and it's gone. The picture is gone! Where did it go? Oh no, my mom probably found it! I jump out of bed and rush down the stairs to find my mother in the kitchen, cooking breakfast.
"Thomas! What are you doing running around this early? You'll wake your father."
"Mom! Where's my sketchpad? I need it for an art project!" I start searching frantically around the kitchen. She laughs at me.
"Sorry. I grabbed it when I checked on you last night. Who's that girl you drew? Is it Angel?"
I grin at her, glad she wasn't mad at me or anything. "Yeah. That's Angel."
"Well, she's very pretty."
The rest of the week passes slowly, horribly painfully slowly. I just can NOT wait for Friday!
-Angel's POV-
Finally Friday arrives! I am so excited I can barely contain all of my energy. I think I scared Mark and Roger today. They were sitting under the tree and I ran up yelling something about how wonderful the world is. I jumped around in circles and wouldn't stop until Collins got there. I proceeded to latch onto his arm, which got some stares from his other friends. I seriously couldn't care less what they think of us.
After school I convince Maureen to help me get ready. She brings a huge bag full of makeup and says she'll give me some. This is exciting, because I don't have anything like that. My dad refuses to let any makeup into the house (other than mom's).
We run up the stairs to my room, slamming the door. She dumps the contents of the bag onto my bed, giggling hysterically.
"We're going to dress you up and make you all pretty!" she squeals. "Collins will love it. Here, let's pick out some clothes for you to wear first." She goes to the closet and opens it to find two neatly divided sections. One is my school section (the tiny one), and the other is my can't-wear-in-public-anymore section. She goes to the latter, and starts to go through it, eventually pulling out some tight jeans with flowers embroidered on the bottom of the legs. "Here, put these on and let me see what they look like."
I comply and change into them, taking off my shirt too. She giggles again, mumbling something about me being pretty hot for a gay guy. She turns and grabs a green shirt and tosses it to me. It's one of my favorites, and it matches the green on the pants. With my outfit complete, we turn to the massive pile of makeup on the bed.
"So… will you teach me how to do this?" I ask. She nods, picking up a small black pencil.
"Well, this is eyeliner. It's incredibly sexy, and I know I love it. I'm sure Collins will too. Now I need you to hold really still while I do this. It might be a little scary, but don't worry. I won't poke your eye out." She applies the eyeliner thickly, holding up a mirror so I can see what it looks like. I giggle- it does look good.
"Wow! It is sexy! Haha, I love it. What else have you got?"
Together we go through finding the right shade of cover-up and discreet eye shadow and blush.
"I don't think you need anything for your lips. They're already beautiful." Maureen smiles. "Go check yourself out in the bathroom mirror. You look wonderful."
I dash off to the bathroom and gasp when I see myself in the mirror. "That's… me? Wow. Maureen, you are a genius." She sneaks up behind me.
"I know! Amazing, isn't it? I'll let you keep everything we used today, plus a couple extra things. Have fun on your date, okay?" I nod vigorously and walk downstairs with her to the front door after she grabs her bag.
"Bye Maureen. Thanks again." We hug, and she continues her walk home. I am about to turn around and go back upstairs when my mother calls me. Great. Just what I need right now- my mom asking why I look so good.
"Angelo, did you have fun with your little school friend? She seemed… nice!" I turn around and she blinks at me, surprised at my made-up appearance. "Wow. Angelo… what's the special occasion?" I sigh. I got permission to use the car, although I didn't tell her exactly what I planned to do.
"I have a date." She squeals.
"Oh, Angelo! My baby has a date! Who are you going out with?"
"Um… remember that boy I brought home after my first day at school? Tom Collins. We're going to see a movie and have dinner."
"Oh! That is wonderful! Have fun, but don't be out too late. How about, be home before ten, alright? This is wonderful!" She scurries away to do something in the kitchen and I sigh again. At least my dad isn't home yet. If he was… I wouldn't be going out. End of story.
-Collins' POV-
I'm so excited I just can't stand it! Angel called to say she would pick me up around five thirty. It is now… five o'clock. I decided what to wear when I got home. I just have to pass the mom-test now.
"Tom! Come down here and let me see what you're wearing for your date!" I groan. This is going to be interesting. I chose a black shirt that's just a little too tight, and a red plaid one to wear over that so my mom won't freak out. This, paired with my favorite faded jeans, made my outfit perfect.
"Okay, mother. Here I am." I walk down the stairs and into the kitchen where my mom is sitting with some tea. She looks up as I walk in and sighs.
"That's okay… I suppose. At least you aren't wearing just a t-shirt or something. Come here- I got something for you." She presents me with a brand new digital watch. I laugh.
"Is that your way of telling me to get home on time?"
"Bingo. No later than ten, or you'll be in serious trouble." I laugh again and go out into the living room, flopping down on the couch with a pencil and my sketchbook. I've been working on a final version of the sketch I'll use for my painting. It's a picture of Angel with long straight hair, and a little flower in his hair to perfect it.
The doorbell rings, and I leap out of my seat to open the door. I call to my mom, "Bye I'm leaving see you at ten!" and close the door before she can come out to meet Angel. We dash to the car and get in. I sigh in relief.
"We escaped without harm! Amazing." I realize I still have my sketchpad. I hand it to Angel, grinning at him. "Here. I made some changes." He gasps.
"Oh, wow! That's beautiful!"
"Just like you, Ang."
"Collins, we haven't even had our first date yet! You're so silly." We laugh and drive off towards the next town and our first date.
Well I know it's really long, but I'm going to keep writing long chapters and updating them whenever I can. :D Reviews are the nourishment that keeps me alive and writing!