Toss: Chapter 2

Alex meets someone new and it's a good thing

Chapter 2

 

                I told my parents when I was fifteen. Their reaction was honestly not what I expected from the two of them. My dad just nodded and my mother went silent. After about what felt like an eternity of nodding and silence, my parents both got up and hugged me and told me they loved me no matter what. I was happy that they were so open about it, but at the same time I thought they were lying. I thought that behind the hugs and the downpour of unconditional love that they were hiding the fact that they were disappointed. I couldn’t sleep that night. I was happy that the weight of the world was off my shoulders, but I feared what was to come. I get irrationally nervous about most things, but this didn’t seem all that irrational.

                At first it was awkward around my house. My mother would always stop and correct herself when she asked if was interested in anyone.

                “So do think any gir- I mean boys are cute” she would say.

I appreciated her effort, but it got to be annoying after a while. Every time she would correct herself, my mom looked at me like I was going to cry or have some sort of mental breakdown. My dad on the other hand seemed to be more comfortable with the idea. He would make a joke every now and then if a shirtless guy was on TV and I would just give him a half-hearted smile. I can’t say I blame them. I knew since I was twelve and had plenty of time to be comfortable with myself. Everything is good now. My mom and I tell each other if we think a guy is cute, and my dad points out guys in public he thinks I might find attractive. None of them were.

Fast forward now to the present. Chris was sitting right across from me. I could only picture the demented look on my face as I was staring at him. I just kept thinking damn he’s hot. Of course I thought other boys in my school were attractive, but not like this. When I realized I had been staring at him for over a minute, I forced myself to look back down at the foreign language I had little interest in. Way to go dumbass, you have now solidified your status and a grade A creep, I kept thinking to myself.

I forced myself to keep my head down to avoid further embarrassment, but I kept thinking that was embarrassing too. I only looked up to see the clock and was horrified to see I had thirty-seven minutes left of Lunch Detention. When I looked back down I saw a folded up piece of paper on top of my homework. I looked at it with a face that said where the f**k did this come from. The only logical explanation was that it was from Chris. I looked to see if Mr. Quink was watching, but he was too preoccupied grading tests. I opened the note to find a simple “Hey”.

I stared blankly at that three-letter word. I didn’t even know how to respond. I looked back up to see if Chris was looking at me, but he wasn’t . He was leaning back in his chair looking up at the ceiling. He only glanced back when he heard the sound of me writing my reply, but quickly went back to looking at the ceiling. I tossed the note back with a simple “Hi” written back.

When he read it he smiled. He had a nice smile. He wrote his reply, and this time it was longer than one word. He then glanced at Mr. Quink and tossed the note when he knew he was in the clear.

“The number five student in the class can only respond with Hi. I’m disappointed”, was his reply. I didn’t know whether to be annoyed or amused, and how did he know I was the number five? I thought about my response and responded with what I felt was an equally sarcastic retort.

“Isn’t it a little juvenile to be passing notes in school”, toss.

“Oh someone has a sassy side to them”, toss.

“Oh yes I just ooze sass”, toss.

“And a little bit of sarcasm too”, toss.

I laughed at his response which got the attention of the people around me. I looked down in embarrassment and decided not to answer. What am I even doing, I thought to myself. I don’t even know this kid or if he is even-. Before I could finish my thought another note landed in front of me.  It read, “You have a cute laugh”. I blushed,

“Thanks”, toss.

“No problem :)” toss.

“So how are you?” I wrote trying to make the conversation more in depth. Toss.

“I’m good, can’t complain, a little tired though. How about you?”, toss.

“A little tired as well. I take it you’re new here”, toss.

“Yes, just started today. My name is Chris if you hadn’t figured it out yet”, toss.

“Really? I thought it was Young Man”, toss.

This time HE laughed and I have to say, it was pretty cute too. I couldn’t help but smile. He just looked even cuter when he laughed. I almost didn’t notice Mr. Quink’s annoyed glance toward us.

“You’re funny. Nice to meet you Mr. Alex”, toss.

“Nice to meet you too Mr. Chris”, toss.

“Sorry. I didn’t let you properly introduce yourself”, toss.

“It’s okay. I’m not one for grandiose introductions”, toss.

He seemed to think about his response this time. He looked at the creased sheet of lined paper in front of him with much trepidation. I could only imagine what he was going to say.

“I don’t want to seem too intrusive, but are you gay?”, toss.

This was not what I was expecting. I wasn’t sure how to respond. I had never been ashamed of my sexuality and wouldn’t deny it if I was questioned, but I was hesitant to respond. I feared he would go run and tell everyone. Again, I’m not ashamed, I just don’t want any more unnecessary attention. I sighed and thought f**k it.

“Yes”, toss. He smiled.

“Cool. So am I”, toss. I smiled.

“Where did you move from?”, toss.

“Are you single?”, toss.

“You didn’t answer my question.”, toss.

“Florida. Your turn.”, toss.

“Yes”, toss.

His smile was bigger than before. I couldn’t understand why he was so happy about me being single. It’s not like I would go out with him; I don’t even know him. He is really cute though. No, no, no, I thought to myself. For all I knew he could be some psychotic murderer, or worse.

“Sorry. I don’t want to seem to forward”, toss.

“Well you kind of blew it”, toss.

“Again. I am sorry”, toss.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it”, toss.

“Okay. So, Number Five, how does it feel to have that title?”, toss.

“It’s alright”, toss.

“Not satisfied with being number five?”, toss.

“No, I honestly don’t know why to be honest”, toss.

“Oh okay. Um…what’s your favorite color?”, toss.

“Blue. You?”, toss.

“Green. Your turn”, toss.

“My turn for what?”, toss.

“To ask a question”, toss.

I can’t remember the last time I did the whole question thing with someone. I think the last time was in elementary school. I have to say though, I was having fun. Before I could write my answer, the bell rang. I had gotten through my first, and hopefully last, Lunch Detention. I put my homework back into my school bag and made my way out of the library. Before I left I looked at Chris and he gave me a small smile. I returned the smile and left.

After Lunch Detention was AP Calculus. This was my second favorite class because I liked math. I guess I had a knack for numbers and formulas. The Number Two of our class, Su Hwang, shared this class with me. From what I could tell, she was a nice girl. Always polite and not really one to flaunt her intelligence around. I guess that’s why I liked her. She wasn’t like Thomas or Jessica. I never really talked to her though. She mostly kept to her group of Korean friends.

I liked my teacher for AP Calculus. Mr. Smith was what we had to call him. He was one of those rare teachers who made learning fun. Somehow he took what most people think to be the most boring school subject and make it a pleasurable experience. He also didn’t faun over the smart kids like the other teachers in my school did. I think that’s why I liked him the most.

The day continued on. This marking period I had Gym which was tolerable. I’m not the most athletic type, but I do enjoy playing some sports. Today we played soccer because the teacher thought we should enjoy the sun while it lasted. He failed to remember the mud. On the upside, I scored two goals and my team won. After Gym was AP American Literature. I can’t stand English classes, but my pride wouldn’t let me slack off in this class. Next was a study hall which I didn’t need because of Lunch Detention, so I listened to music and took a nap.

My last class was AP Government. I hated this class more than AP Bio. Why? All of the top students were in this class. Thomas, Su, Jessica, Harshal Patel, the number four, and me. The rest of the class consisted of the students who wanted to have at least one AP class under their belt. I chose a window seat just as I did in AP Bio. Even with the air vent humming beside me I could still hear Thomas and Jessica reveling in the fact that I got a Lunch Detention.

“I guess he’s not as smart as everyone makes him out to be” snickered Jessica.

“You’d figure he would  be smart enough to not let someone cheat off of him in Langston’s class”, Thomas added.

I just rolled my eyes. For some reason, the Number One and Number Three couldn’t come up with wittier things to say. It’s almost comical. Mrs. Mason arrived to class with a minute to spare. For an AP teacher, she wasn’t very punctual. She began the class by continuing where she left off the day before. We were learning about voting trends when it came to elections. The basic rule was that if the state of the country is good, then the current political party stays in office. If the state of the country is bad, then the current political party is voted out. It was a good ten minutes into the class when the door slammed open. The whole class looked up. Some students with faces of shock, others with annoyance. I was one with a look of shock. There in the doorway stood Chris.

He had the same rushed look on his face when he arrived late to Lunch Detention. I assumed he had the same look for the same reason. Mrs. Mason took quick notice of the disruption to her class and matched the annoyed look of the other half of the class,

“You must be the new student Christopher”, she nearly hissed.

“Yes I am, but please call me Chris”, Chris responded with a polite smile.

“Alright Chris. You are ten minutes late for class. This is you’re only warning”, she spat.

“Yes ma’am”, he said with a cynical tone.

“Yes, now please find a seat. Let’s hope one of your fellow students will be nice enough to share his or her notes”, she said with an air of superiority.

Chris made his was across the class room, passing each column of desks. He looked like he was on a mission to find the perfect seat. When he reached the middle row, we made eye contact. A small smile spread across his face and he walked over to his chosen spot. The desk right next to mine. When he sat I broke eye contact and looked out the window. A small smile made its way across my face too.

I tried my hardest not to look at him. I felt so stupid, like I was a little girl or something. I only looked at him out of the corner of my eye and could see he was listening intently to the lesson. I figured I should do the same. There were ten minutes left in the period when Mrs. Mason finished her lesson, which gave me plenty of time to do my homework. I was happy with this homework because there was some math in it. Mrs. Mason wanted us to figure out the GDP of our country and determine how much debt has accumulated based on spending; simple stuff. I was writing my last answer when a note landed in front of me.

“It’s still your turn to ask a question”, it read.

I pondered the never ending list of questions I could ask him. Why was it so hard? I’m usually not the one to ask questions. I’m usually the one who gives answers. I finally decided on a pretty mundane question.

“Is this your only AP class?”, toss.

“No. I’m also taking AP Bio”, toss.

“Do you have Langston?”, toss.

“Yeah, can’t stand her…I heard she gave you detention”, toss.

“Yeah. I detest her immensely”, toss.

“I am kind of grateful for her tbh”, toss.

“Why?”, toss.

“If it wasn’t for her, I don’t think I would have met you”, toss.

I stared at his latest reply with my mouth slightly open. I couldn’t tell if I was happy or just in shock. This kid barely knows me and he is already saying stuff like this I thought in a loud voice. I was absolutely sure now that he had some hidden agenda.

“You barely even know me”, toss.

“Well that’s what the question game is for”, toss.

“Well it’s your turn”, toss.

He thought about his next question this time. “Are you always this standoffish when guys try to flirt with you?”, toss.

“You call this flirting?”, toss.

“Well what would you call it?”, toss.

“The Question Game”, toss.

“Aren’t you a buzz kill”, toss.

“Oh I know. P.S. I get to ask two questions now”, toss.

“Ask away Mr. Buzz Kill”, toss.

“You’re soooo funny. Why did you get detention? Favorite movie?”, toss.

“I was eating food in Langston’s class. Frozen”, toss.

I wasn’t expecting that for an answer. The second one obviously. I knew Langston would look for any excuse to put someone into Lunch Detention, but Frozen? I will admit I enjoyed the movie, but I didn’t think it was that good. I decided to appeal to his interests this time.

“Let it go, let it go!!”, toss.

“Haha. Good song. What is your favorite movie?”, toss.

“The Social Network”, toss.

“I’m not surprised. It was a fantastic movie though”, toss.

“It was completely robbed at the Oscars”, toss.

I didn’t write a question back because there was only a minute left in class. Everyone had started to pack up and some students were already at the door. Chris packed up pretty quickly and I felt him brush up against me. He looked back and gave me that small smile and joined the rest of the students at the door. The last bell rang signifying the end of the school day and I could honestly say it was the first time I had fun in school. I walked down the hall and out the side entrance that put me right in front of my bus. I found Alexandra and sat next to her. Her social status garnered a spot in the back which, in the most immature way, made me happy. I felt like a cool kid.

I sat down next to her and we greeted each other the same as we always have. She continued to gab on and on about her day and how she thought this one boy in her Geometry class was a total hottie. I didn’t know if I should tell her about Chris. I decided not to. I’m very pessimistic, and I didn’t think this note passing was going to go anywhere. The buses started to pull away and Alexandra talked louder as the bus engine roared. She finally quieted down and thought this was a good time to take my iPod out. When I reached into my hoodie pocket if felt a sharp poke. I winced at the slight pain, and slid my hand slowly back in. I pulled out a folded up note with the words “From Chris” written on the front.