Conjugated - A Jonnor Tale

Chapter Nine: Kiss, Don't Tell

Chapter Nine: Kiss, Don't Tell

It was the first assembly of the school year and the whole studentbody was gathered in the auditorium. Principal Porter was wearing a black skirt and a white shirt and walked up to the microphone. "Good morning Anchor Beach!" she said to cheers. "We're happy to begin a new school year with you, and we're going to start out with a few fun contests. The first one is going to be best kisser and best kissee. So you can either drop off a ballot outside my office, or thanks to Mariana Adams-Foster, you can go to and click on the kiss icon."

"Kissing contest?" Connor whispered to Jude. They were way back in the rear of the auditorium.

"You could win that," Jude said. "With those hot lips of yours."

Connor grinned. "Yeah but then I'd have to kiss a girl. Unless the kissee is you."

"Maybe, I doubt it," Jude said. He noticed that Blake was giving him the stink eye, which just made him grip Connor's hand tighter. They held hands in the halls a lot now, the whole school knew about them anyway and most were supportive, aside from a few exceptions like Blake and his cohort Jeremy. "Wouldn't it be funny if Blake were the kissee?" Jude asked. "I would totally dig watching him squirm while you kissed him. He probably wouldn't let you though."

Connor laughed. "Yeah, I don't think he'd be cool with that." He looked at Jude. "This assembly is hella boring, I wish we could sneak out."

"Kyle texted me, he and Myranda already did."

"Let's go then," Connor said.

"I dunno if it's a good idea if the son of the vice-principal sneaks out of an assembly. And don't give me that 'granny' look."

He got it anyway.

***

After the assembly Connor and Jude went to their lockers. Connor got his science book and slipped it into his bag and closed his locker, then walked over to Jude. "So when is the thing with Corey going down?"

"We're waiting for him to set up the rendezvous with the guy who's been bugging him," Jude replied. "Taylor already has all the stuff set up."

"Do we know anything about the guy?"

Jude shook his head. "Corey doesn't want to identify him. He's still nervous as heck about going through with this at all."

Connor bit his lip and nodded. "I can see why. Does your mom know about this?"

"No, I don't think so. I haven't said anything." Jude closed his locker.

"Well don't you think you should? I mean, it's someone here in the school, right?"

Jude looked ill at ease. "I dunno, I'm afraid she'd overreact to it and ruin the operation. Plus, we need to keep this on the down low. If Corey gets outed like we were he's not gonna be happy at all."

Connor nodded. "Oh, did you vote for the kissing contest?"

"Nah, not yet. Let's stop by Porter's office on the way to class." They walked down the hall to Monte's office. Jude picked up one of the ballots. "Kisser (boy), kissee (girl)...what is this bullshit?" He saw Mariana down the hall. "MARIANA!"

She looked up, startled. She gave him a hurt and confused look as he marched up to her with an angry look on her face. "Your neck veins are sticking out. What did I do?"

"What's the meaning of this?" he asked, handing her the ballot. She looked at it and the look turned to surprise. "Oh. No, Jude, the website does not say this. It just has fields for kisser and kissee. I never would have accepted a job that involved sex discrimination...you should know that. You're gonna have to take this one up with the administration."