CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER: 02
Topher was engulfed in warmth.
Maybe that was bad phrasing, in actuality he was being suffocated by an absolute giant. Somewhere in the middle of the night, Abe had completely wrapped Topher in his gangly beast arms.
At first, annoyance took over him. His bed wasn’t particularly big, and Abe hadn’t done this last time. Topher was on the side against the wall, so he really was trapped in a way. Then the tiredness hit him once again.
Sure, he was being held hostage in his own bed, but it was warm.
It wasn’t like Abe was awake, so if he were to indulge in this cocoon of heat for just a moment; no one would know. No shame in comfort, after all.
Then he glanced at his clock, and realized he didn’t have any time for leisure.
Begrudgingly, he slowly lifted his hand up before slamming it down onto Abe’s face. The other jolted almost immediately, which was a bit strange but was the least of his priorities.
“Get off of me, you buffoon.”
Abe slowly sat up, untangling his arms from him, “Ugh, what time is it?”
Topher took this opportunity to finally sit up himself, stretching his arms behind his head, “Time to get ready for school, that’s what it is. You don’t want to miss Joan, do you?”
That got him to work, putting his energy into full drive as he ran around to get his clothes.
Eventually he got up himself, after having watched the other for a good solid minute. It was entertaining to see him flail around, especially when he had started brushing his teeth in a hurry, toothpaste flying.
Soon enough, the both of them were ready and out the door.
Arriving at school at the same time ultimately worked best in their favor, apparently. Joan had been waiting at their lockers, just as Abe had predicted somewhere in the evening yesterday.
It was a bit nerve-wracking, Topher had to admit. She seemed as if she was a shark, carefully watching her prey, or perhaps a tiger? Either way, despite him and Abe having their story down to perfect, it still made him sweat.
“Abe, there you are, and.. Topher.”
She looked down at him in mild disgust and confusion, at which he only grimaced. Yeah, that’s exactly why she wasn’t his type.
“Hey Joan, uh- what’re you doing here!” Smooth.
“Topher told me yesterday that.. that you two were together?” Joan cocked her head to the side, waiting for some form of explanation.
Abe looked around, and Topher felt mildly perturbed that he seemed to want to be just as quiet about it as possible, “Yes, we are! I hope that’s not a problem, is it Joan?”
She blinked, before shaking her head, “Oh, no! Of course not, um.. Topher also mentioned that you were telling him about me,” she tucked a hair behind her ear, smiling slightly up at him, “all good things, I hope?”
Topher quietly scoffed, rolling his eyes as Abe stuttered out an answer.
“Well hey, I have to get to class because Harriet wanted to show me something, but you should come sit with us at lunch so I can get all the details! I’m happy for you Abe, even if you’re with..”
Her long pause only added more fuel to the fire of anger in Topher's heart, “Yes, we’ll be sure to sit with you. You can leave now, you don’t want to keep her waiting.” he hissed out, his hand finding Abe’s to show some form of dominance in this conversation.
Joan had instantly looked down at him, frowning slightly before saying her goodbyes and walking away, finally.
After a short moment of silence, Abe threw his hands into the air, which immediately caused Topher to let go, “We did it! I think it worked, do you see how she was acting? Now we just have to get through lunch!”
Topher frowned, shaking his hand slightly from the pain, “Yes well, a lot of people act that way around me. We aren’t home-free yet.”
Abe opened his locker to get his books, nodding at his words.
“You’re right, we really have to sell this later when we sit at her table. You remember everything, right?”
“More like do you remember everything.”
The two of them started walking to class, speaking quietly about the situation to themselves, when they ran into someone right as they walked into the door.
“Hey, watch it!” Topher instinctively said, before looking up to see Harriet.
“Oh, sorry! I just got so excited, Joan told me the great news!”
Abe frowned, rubbing his arm that ran into her, “Great news?”
Harriet nodded, dragging the two of them further into the room by their wrists. Topher continued to frown at the contact, trying to pull away from her iron grip. “You know, about you two being together!”
Instantly, the sweat started to form on Abe’s forehead, “Oh great.. she’s telling people, huh?”
Topher shrugged, really what did he expect to happen? Abe didn’t think that only one person was going to know, did he? That’d be a bit embarrassing, if he was that stupid.
Turns out, he was that stupid, because throughout the rest of class, the two of them kept passing notes on the situation.
I just didn’t want so many people to find out
honestly abe, did you not listen to joan? she told us to sit with her at lunch to explain things, who do you think sits with her?
I guess you’re right, but what are we going to do when Joan finally wants me? Everyone is going to know I’m dating you (well, fake-dating)
we went over this last night. we’ll break up eventually you know, i dont want to be with you for all of high school
Eventually, the class period came to an end, and the notes were crumbled up and thrown in the garbage. The two had to fight off a few people for their next classes, but it was all relatively easy. All they had to do was promise to explain things at lunch, and that was that.
The periods flew by, and soon enough it was time for lunch.
Their classmates had bolted out the class door, in a hurry to make it to the lunch room, which ultimately left Abe and Topher alone in an empty classroom.
“Are you ready, Abe? You will need to use whatever lying skills you have, soon.”
“I.. am not a great liar,” Topher butted in with an immediate ‘I know’, which was playfully ignored, “but I’m ready, let’s convince everyone this is real!”
Topher nodded, making his way to the door. This was going to be a bit humiliating, he has called himself straight on multiple occasions. People were going to ask him invasive questions, and he’ll have to lie through his teeth.
Honestly, he doesn’t understand now why he decided to do all of this.
It wasn’t as if he was against embarrassing Abe, so he should’ve just told Joan the truth. In the moment though, it was a funny thought. Now it’s gone out of control, and he’ll have to live with the consequences of people not believing he wasn’t gay.
Just as he was about to walk out, he felt his hand get lifted, and turned to see Abe holding it.
“We might as well make it somewhat believable, right? What couple doesn’t hold hands!” Topher frowned at him, before focusing again on their hands. It felt warm, and tingly. In the back of his mind he wondered if Abe had some sort of disease.
“You’re right, I always see Frida hanging off of Cleo so physical affection is a great start.”
Topher then led the other out, towards the cafeteria.
It wasn’t long until sweat began to build up from both of their palms, the nervousness this entire situation has caused being unmistakable. The closer they got there, the more Abe started to nervously shake.
“Do you really think this will work?”
Topher scoffed, “Didn’t you see Joan earlier this morning? She was more interested in you than she has been in a while, of course this will work.”
Abe nodded, and soon enough the two of them found their way to the table. Everyone began to greet them, and Topher made sure to lay their conjoined hands atop the table.
“So.. now that you’re finally here, tell us all the details!”
Harriet was clearly very excited, the idea of two.. well, not friends, but acquaintances, getting together filled her with curiosity. Topher supposed that he could understand where she was coming from, they have been classmates for as long as he could remember. Seeing him with someone, fake or not, would definitely be surprising.
“Well, what do you want to know specifically?” Abe spoke up, his smile twitching very slightly.
Joan frowned, crossing her arms, “When exactly did you two get together?”
Topher looked up at him, raising his eyebrows. They both went over this, so if Abe could compose himself, this should go smoothly.
“During our sleepover! Well- our uh, second sleepover.”
Not technically a lie, but one nonetheless. The third sleepover would be more accurate.
“Oh really? You know, I’m really happy for you two, but I didn’t know you liked men Abe.” Joan questioned, eyeing Topher warily, as if he was going to jump up and attack her. He just might, if she kept up with her tone.
Abe cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his head, “It’s a new development, I don’t really know what to call it..” a chuckle was huffed out at the end.
“Bisexual,”
Frida looked up from Cleo, smiling towards him.
“Uh, what?”
“The term you’re looking for. You like women and men right?”
“Uh..” Abe looked down towards Topher, who subtly nodded, “Yeah.. yeah, I do!”
She nodded, closing her eyes in the process, “Right. That’s called being bisexual, or pansexual depending on a whole lot of other factors.”
“Oh! So, is that what you are..?” Abe gave a questioning look to Cleo, who only rolled her eyes and turned her head away from him. He awkwardly sweated, looking back at Frida who only shrugged.
“A person's sexuality is their own business, just wanted to let you know there’s one for ya.”
He grimaced slightly, “Right..”
“How did you guys get together, anyways? Not much can even happen at a sleepover besides-” Joan sat up straighter, her eyes widening, “wait, you didn’t… did you?”
Abe cocked his head to the side, frowning in confusion, “What-?”
“No! No, we didn’t!” Topher instantly shot up, turning red in the process. It was one thing for everyone to think he was dating Abe, it was an entirely other situation for them to believe they were.. getting up to some misdeeds.
Everyone instantly turned their attention onto him, making him pause and then clear his throat, “It’s way too early for that, some of us have class.”
He gave a pointed look towards Joan, who only scoffed.
“I think it’s cool you guys are together,” Confucius said, looking away from his phone, “We don’t have many gay couples here, so it’s nice to get some variety.”
Harriet instantly shushed him, “Confucius!” “What? What’d I do?!” the two began to squabble in the background, as everyone else tuned them out.
“It was Abe who made the first move, but not.. like that.” Topher coughed into his free hand, the heat on his face letting down, “It was actually very amusing, he’s not great with his words, as I’m sure you know.”
Joan frowned, “Oh really? What exactly did he do?”
Abe perked back up, having memorized their plans from the night before.
“Topher was laying in bed next to me,” JFK had lifted his hand to speak, and Topher instantly spoke up with a ‘not like that’, “and we were watching FlipFlops on his phone! It was pretty late, and I just remember looking at his hair and wanting to run my fingers through it.”
Everyone stared intently at the story, resisting the urge to jump to their first conclusions which have already been shot down.
“I’m not really great at self control, so it happened. It was a bit chaotic at first, a lot of deep thoughts were shared. I mean, we have been hanging out a lot, it’s only normal to start liking someone you’re with all the time right?”
Out of everyone, Joan looked the most suspicious. Which would make sense, Topher supposed, she was the smartest one there when it came to Abe.
“That seems a bit lackluster, doesn’t it?”
Topher glared at her, holding Abes’ hand tighter, “Yes well, not all of us get together with someone by sleeping with them.”
A quiet fell upon them, some soft ‘oh's..’ being let out by a few of them there, mainly Frida, being the only thing you could hear aside from the general racket of the cafeteria. Abe anxiously looked between the two of them.
“Haha..! What a funny joke, Topher. Such a kidder, this guy..” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “He’s just a bit protective, right man?” he subtly kicked his ankle underneath the table.
Topher continued to glare towards her, as he moved his head in the direction of Abe, maintaining eye contact for a moment longer, before focusing his attention onto the other.
“Yes, it was just a joke. It’s hard not to be protective of you, babe.”
He laid it on thick, noticing the slight jealousy waving off of Joan. It would serve her right, for how she’s been treating him all day.
Abe gripped his hand tighter, which at this point, both of them were holding on for dear life by now.
Joan continued to stare at him, occasionally looking at Abe. There was silence as the rest of the group looked between the three of them, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Then, Joan smiled, leaning back slightly.
“When was this sleepover of yours? I haven’t noticed you guys being affectionate until today.” She made a point to look down at their hands, before smugly looking back up.
Abe stuttered out an awkward ‘uh..’, while Topher sat up straighter.
“It was a week ago, and since neither of us have been with men before we decided to take things slow.” He made a move to sit even closer to Abe, smiling back at Joan, “You wouldn’t want to make Abe uncomfortable would you?”
Joan nodded, turning her full attention to Abe, “You were always so open with Cleo, but I understand wanting to figure this out. You know, I may just have an idea that can help!”
Topher watched as Abe calmed down slightly, falling right into her trap, “Really? That’s so nice of you, what is it?”
He watched as she leaned in slightly, smirking as she casted a glance down at Topher, “Why not try kissing each other? You kissed a boy once before, right? Though, I can’t remember his name.. maybe you can try again and see if you feel anything?”
Abe instantly dropped his jaw, staring in disbelief.
The two of them knew that kissing might be a possibility, but they figured none of them would feel the need to push that onto them. Of course, Joan is just as conniving as she is smart. Topher looked nervously at him, as Abe began to sweat again.
“Uh, y-yeah.. That should be easy, it’s not like it’d be the first time..” Abe somewhat muttered to himself, and all Topher could do was stare.
He was a bit surprised that Abe had kissed another man before, he had dated Cleo so surely he was as straight as they came. Evidently, that assumption was his downfall, because here he was having to kiss him.
Abe had fully turned towards Topher, having let go of his hand in favor of putting it on his arm.
Topher really wasn’t prepared for this, he felt sick to his stomach. He never kissed anyone before, let alone Abe. Let alone a man at that, unlike Abe he had no temptation to do so.
His body wouldn’t let him move though, it was as if he was frozen, and the irony wasn’t lost on him.
He could feel himself leaning his head away slightly as Abe began to lean down, and he could feel the heat of his breathing fan across his face. He squinted his eyes, purely out of disgust and fear.
“Alright, that’s enough.”
Frida’s voice spoke up from the silence, instantly pulling the two apart before they could do anything.
“You two don’t gotta do anything right now, not cool Joan.”
She had looked over at the other girl, who had been staring smugly before she paused at the words. She seemed lost in thought for a moment, before sighing. “You’re right, I don’t know what came over me.”
Joan looked over at Abe, smiling a bit sadly, before looking down at Topher.
“I’m sorry, you guys. I didn’t mean to act out like that, I just want to make sure Abe is taken care of, by someone who actually likes him.”
Abe let out an ‘awe’, along with the rest of those at the table, but all Topher could do was see red.
Not only was he about to have been forced to kiss someone against his will, but he still somehow managed to get backhandedly insulted to his face, again! His glare was heavy, as he rose from his seat and took Abe’s hand in his once more.
“It’s alright, Joan. I promise, he is well cared for.”
The two stared at each other for a moment, which felt like years but was only seconds, before Topher dragged Abe out of the room.
CHAPTER END