Oh Boy! (BL)

29 - Hope (1/3)

We did not go all the way that night. My butt remained unexplored territory and Clay succumbed to his own nervousness. "I don't wanna hurt you," he'd breathed, and it was both very sweet and super embarrassing because he was saying the words to my bare backside.

"Then let's wait," I pulled him over my body again and caught his lips in a slow kiss. "We don't have to rush things."

"Okay," He gave me a peck on the lips before his hands roamed over my body once again. We made out for hours, I learned the taste of Clay's desire and he sent me over the edge two more times before we fell asleep. But morning came too soon, and Clay left after a long kiss which promised that our failed attempt would be made up for.

And he did. Every moment we shared in the following week was perfect. Clay was perfect. And I couldn't stop myself from repeating how much I loved him.

Though he never said it back...

"Earth to Kenji-boy?"

I blinked.

Abruptly, my mind was pulled from my rose-colored thoughts back into the now. Cloud nine turned into our pale art classroom, and Clay's handsome face got replaced by his teammate's.

Evans lifted one fair brow while drawing circles into the air with a brush that was dripping of blue color. "I could paint a mustache on your face without you even noticing it, you know that?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Fat chance."

"Haha!" He wiggled his brows. "You know I love myself a good challenge!" Then he smirked like a dork. "What's his name?"

I blanched, which made him chuckle. "C'mon, tell Uncle Evans. It's written all over your face!"

"It's not." I deflected him rudely.

"Okaaaay, sorry for asking." He rolled his eyes and turned back to the 3D model in front of him. His – let's call it creative – interpretation of an ice crystal for the ball looked more like a blue morning star that would soon be covered by a ton of glitter. At least I assumed that it would turn out like that because Evans made his way to the front desk to ask for another refill of his glitter box.

I was glad when Mr. Devereux chose that exact moment to send me to his office to get some additional supplies for the posters. I need to be more careful, I said to myself. If even Evans noticed that I was in love...

I needed to become better at hiding it.

That, or I had to avoid running into Clay's mom ever again.

On my way to the teachers' office, I tried not to stare at the walls in the hallway where bright posters were promoting Clay and Holland as candidates for the ball's king and queen. The picture was taken from the feature article we'd published a long time ago. I crumbled my nose when noticing that someone had enlarged it so much that one could hardly even make out their faces. I guessed that the bad quality was a result of time pressure. A last-minute kinda thing since all of the other couples had already begun promoting themselves weeks ago.

It was pathetic.

How could they ever become the couple at our school?

They didn't even spend time together!

Because Clay spent most of his time...well, with me.

Whenever we met in the hallway, we exchanged secret glances. If nobody was looking, our hands would touch while we were walking past each other. He invited me to the cinema, took me out to his favorite restaurant in Bellevue, and made me go with him to a studio where he got his right ear pierced. My heart ached when he told me that he'd put Bob's pin there so my star could be on his left ear with the rings of his family.

After each and every one of our dates he took me home...and stayed. No, we didn't just...you know. He showed me his favorite movies and I showed him mine, and when the weather accepted that it was finally wintertime, we watched the first snowflakes fall down in front of my living room's window.

I wished the time with him would never end.

"Careful!"

Shaking my head to get out of my thoughts, I jumped to the side to not hit a group of guys carrying a massive banner for the ball. The four students glared at me.

"S...sorry."

Man, I was so out of it. I'd better hurry to get the supplies before something bad happened.

But before I could make another step, a hand covered my mouth and dragged me backwards into a dark corner at the end of the hallway. Most people would've died of panic, but I knew immediately who was behind me.

Clay smiled down at me when I turned around in his arms. "Hi."

"Hi."

I moved on my tiptoes, Clay leaned down, and our lips met in the middle. It was risky – we were at school after all – but I just couldn't resist him. Not anymore.

Clay caressed my cheeks. "What are you doing later today?"

After a moment, I shrugged. "Nothing much, I guess."

My answer seemed to satisfy him. "I'll pick you up after school." His mouth twitched when he let go of me. "I'm gonna ask MacIntosh to give you another day off."

"Wh...what?" I called after him when he rushed back into the hallway.

He was... My cheeks were burning up even before Clay vanished around the corner. Cooper would certainly give me hell for this. With a lot of teasing on top!

Argh! Rubbing my hands over my super red face, I stumbled back into the hallway.

"Ken?"

I fell over my own two feet when looking up. "K...Kenner."

Kenner was standing right in front of me. He held a dark box with CDs in his arms while his gaze was fixed to a spot somewhere over my shoulder. I blanched. How long had he been here? How much had he seen?

"Wh...what are you doing here?" I asked casually. Or, I tried to make it casual, but my shaking voice uncovered my nervousness.

Kenner was still not looking at me but at the very spot where Clay must've walked down the hallway mere moments ago. "I'm taking these to the sports hall. For the dance."

"Oh..." I rubbed my neck and couldn't resist following his gaze. But there was no sign of Clay left. So, maybe I was just imagining things. My eyes tried to find something else that must've caught Kenner's interest...but failed.

"I gotta..." I started and wanted to tell him that I needed to hurry but when I turned around again, Kenner had already left.