CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER: 04
“Do we really have to do this?”
Topher and Abe had gotten ready for school quite early, so early in fact that the sun had barely just started coming up.
Abe had woken up in a heap of sweat, a nervous ball of anxiety, and it had only jolted Topher up with him, which had the other in a sour mood for a good hour.
“For the last time, yes.” Topher repeated, annoyed by now. He glared at Abe as the two of them made their way to the school's entrance, “Seriously what is your problem? You were onboard with this yesterday.”
Since the two had woken up, all that has been exchanged between them were the repetitive ‘are you sure’s and ‘of course i am’s. It was honestly starting to wear Topher down.
“It’s just.. what if something goes wrong?” Abe asked, biting at his nails.
Topher sighed impatiently, stopping completely before turning towards him, “Like what, Abe? What exactly could go wrong with this?”
The two stared at each other for a few moments, and it was obvious Abe was struggling to get the right words out, and honestly neither of them had time for this. They had to get there before Joan did, and they had to mentally prepare themselves for having to kiss each other in front of half the school.
Just as Abe finally strained out a sound, Topher scoffed and grabbed his hand, speed walking to the door.
“Enough of this Abe, we have important things to do.”
He pushed right inside, just as a few school buses started pulling in. Thankfully, their lockers weren’t that far from the entrance, so it was fairly easy to arrive at them on time before Joan even appeared.
“Really, don’t you want Joan? We did it last night, it’ll be easy this time.”
Abe sighed, leaning against his locker, “It’s not about that really, it’s just-”
“Just what? You’ve been making a big deal out of this all morning.” Topher glared up at him, “If you back out of this after all the trouble last night, I swear Abe..”
“I’m not! Just wondering if maybe this will backfire?”
“In what way? This will go smoothly, like butter.”
Abe went to make a gesture with his hands, before noticing Topher still had a hold on his. He honestly didn’t understand the frustration he felt, because he knew it was misplaced.
“Uh, well firstly-”
“Wait, shut up. There’s Joan!”
Abe quickly turned his head in the direction Topher was looking at, “Shit, where-”
Topher quickly put his hands on the sides of Abe’s face, turning him back and pulling him down, “Wait, Topher-!”
Both of them had miscalculated how exactly they were going to have this play out, having been distracted by the apprehension Abe had been stating since they woke up.
It wasn’t that either of them wanted this, but newsflash; when you kiss someone who is speaking, you will either get a tooth to your lips, or just an open mouth.
Add that with the surprise of coming to contact with something wet, which turned out to be a tongue, and now all of a sudden you’re accidentally tonguing it in the halls in front of way too many students.
They could have pulled away any time, but Joan was still coming over, and Topher would be damned if he let Abe chicken out of this after all that planning and.. practicing.
He racked his brain for any and all information he could from the previous times he’s seen other people kiss this way, and from the internet, and did his best to just bullshit it.
That wasn’t entirely necessary though, because while Abe did show some resistance at first, just from being unsuspecting, he eventually caved and went along with it. He said he would teach Topher how to do this, and this was just a coincidence that was in both their favor.
Somehow.
He wasn’t sure if he enjoyed this texture much either, but it was better than just having his mouth closed. Abe tasted like Topher’s toothpaste and mouthwash, which he would never admit that he hardly ever used, unless around company.
Yes, he knew that was gross. Sue him, who cares.
The feeling of someone else's tongue against his wasn’t all that bad either, if he tried to ignore that it was Abe’s. Plus, he kind of enjoyed running his tongue over the other’s teeth, it was a bit entertaining.
At one point, Abe had run his tongue over the roof of Topher’s mouth, and that part did feel good. Too good in fact, that he couldn’t ignore that he was in fact kissing another boy anymore, and knew he had to do something.
Topher had squeezed his eyes shut at first, but eventually had squinted one eye open to follow Joans movements.
She had already walked past them towards her locker, but he noticed her movements were slow, and she kept her head at a particular angle. She was definitely watching them, at least from the corner of her eye.
He could feel Abe start to pull away, but he really did want to milk this for all it was worth just one more time, and would consider this last thing the one thing he needed to be even with Joan.
So, he instead interlocked his hands behind Abe’s neck, and pulled the bottom of Abe’s lip out with his teeth. He heard a muffled noise come from where Joan was, and finally he decided that was enough.
He smirked triumphantly as he kept his hands behind the other as Abe called out to Joan, having to clear his throat before speaking.
“Uh- hey Joan!”
Abe physically winced at the crack in his own voice.
“Oh.. hey Abe! Didn’t even see you there, what’s up?” Joan spoke, and Topher could instantly hear the tension in her voice. He looked away from Joan back to Abe, a knowing smile replacing the smirk as Abe took a quick glance at him.
“Nothing, just hanging out before class..!”
Joan nodded at him before looking away, “Um, that’s great! I have to get going now, I need to speak to.. JFK!”
They both watched her quickly walk away, until she disappeared after a turn. Immediately after she was gone, Abe pulled Topher’s hands off of him.
“What was that?!”
“I know, it seems our plan really wor-”
“No! I mean why was your tongue just down my throat?!”
Topher frowned, raising an eyebrow, “Yours was down mine too! Plus, it’s your fault you didn’t stop talking. I told you to shut up!”
“You’re the one who kissed me without warning!”
“Oh please, this was our plan since last night.”
“Not like this, and.. and I didn’t even want to do this today!”
Abe wiped his mouth on his arm, and Topher started to glare, the high he was on crashing immediately, “We are not doing this here.”
“Why not? It’s not like we’re actually-”
Topher slammed a hand onto his mouth, “Enough! Save your tantrum for later, you want Joan don’t you? This was the best possible outcome.”
Abe ripped the other’s hand off him, the two had begun whispering angrily to each other, “She just ran off to go to JFK, in what world is that good for me?”
“Did you not pay any attention to her? God, do you even know anything about Joan? How can I tell that this worked and you can’t?”
Abe shook his head, “I don’t know why you were so hellbent on kissing me anyways, there’s no way that was the only option.”
Topher started to look around, and noticed that their hushed conversation gained the attention of others, even if they couldn’t quite hear what was happening. He’d be damned if multiple people found out he just kissed a man he wasn’t even actually dating.
“Look let’s just.. discuss this later, okay?”
“Why do we have to do that?!”
“Are you being serious, take a look around!”
Abe instantly grimaced the moment his eyes left Topher’s, and after scanning the hall he eventually glared back down at the other, “Fine. Let’s just go to class.”
“Great.”
The day had gone by relatively quickly, and word of their argument got out to some of the students. Nothing they said was able to be made out, just that Abe had spoken to Joan and suddenly the new love-birds weren’t happy with one another.
Topher felt genuine rage at the thought of any of that getting back to Joan, he really didn’t want her to get any satisfaction from issues in their relationship.
Word had spread enough to the point where for some reason even Cleo acknowledged him somewhere throughout the day, telling him to ‘chin up’, and that Abe was just ‘difficult to manage’.
For some reason, that made him even angrier than he was before, and he couldn’t place why.
So, today wasn’t that great for him. He was going to have to speak with Abe now too, and figure all this out because yes, Topher can still be a friend when he wants to be, and he did agree to help him get Joan.
After his last class, he had gone to Abe’s locker as he’s always done, and waited.
Then he waited some more, and more.
Okay, so add Abe avoiding him to his list of problems for his already shitty day. If he wants to act like that, then fine!
He immediately pulled out his phone, going to his contacts list before remembering Abe didn’t even have a cellphone. Topher groaned, pocketing the device and going to survey the classrooms.
It’s not weird, but he knows Abe’s schedule, down to the last detail. So, of course his last class is the one that he checks first, and of course he would be smart enough to not be there.
Then it takes Topher about 3 more rooms before he decides to give up.
He didn’t do anything wrong, not really. They were going to kiss today anyways, it wasn’t his fault that Abe was having second thoughts. There wasn’t enough time for them to have decided against it anyways, and even then it wasn’t like Abe had flat out said no.
Topher has always known he wasn’t really all that ‘woke’, he played pretend a good majority of the time to just try to fit in. Even if he didn’t like being around some people, that didn’t mean he didn’t want to be liked.
Despite that, he wouldn’t classify himself as someone who would do things without their consent, and to his knowledge he did have Abe’s. It was necessary to get him Joan, it’s not his fault he was the only one who saw that.
Okay, maybe wording it like that wouldn’t help his case, but really what more else is there to say?
Grumbling, he decided to make his way home, which took him a while to get out of the school first. Today was a total waste of time, their prearranged plan being all for nothing in the end.
As soon as the sun hit him, he squinted his eyes as he began to walk, the school buses already having left.
“Wait!”
The sound of wheels chased after him, and Topher turned to see Frida skating towards him.
“Dude, I have been trying to find you for ages. Look, we need to talk.”
“You and I have nothing to speak about, I really have to get going,” He went to turn, before hearing Frida rustle around a paper, “What about this?”
He squinted, leaning down to read it slightly before paling.
It was the note he and Abe passed around to each other a few days prior.
“I don’t know what that is.”
“Like hell you don’t, man. What does Abe mean by fake-dating? What does Joan have to do with this?”
Topher started backing away, sweating from the outdoor heat already, “How should I know? Are you sure that note was even with me and Abe? Maybe it’s someone else.”
Frida just stared deadpan at him, “Who else is Abe ‘dating’?”
He stared back.
“How did you even get that.”
“Harriet was in that class, and she loves romance.”
Topher scoffed, “She loves drama, nothing more nothing less.”
“Look man, we’ve been nice enough to keep this quiet and act like we don’t know anything, but you need to give me some answers.”
“I don’t have to give you anything.”
The two glared at one another, before Frida put the note back in her pocket, “Then I’m telling Joan.”
Topher laughed, and he honestly hadn’t meant to, but it just came out, and he couldn’t stop it.
“Go ahead, it’s not my problem. Abe can solve it himself.”
Frida shook her head, looking slightly disgusted, “Dude, we were so happy for you. Why are you acting like this?”
“I always act like this.”
She sighed, looking away. They stood in silence, and Topher was about to start walking away before she spoke up, “I mean, why even fake all of this. Joan already likes Abe.”
“I figured, already..”
“It just doesn’t make sense that you’d pretend to date Abe, you’ve always said you were straight.”
“Yes, and I am.”
“Really..?”
Topher glared harder at her, and she just shrugged, putting her hands up.
“What were you two arguing about earlier?”
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”
Frida frowned, before sitting down on her skateboard. She patted the spot on the ground next to her, and he just stared at her. She rolled her eyes, pulling him down, having him trip over himself.
“Look man, I just wanna figure this out. Joan’s my friend.”
Topher let out an annoyed huff, fixing his sitting position, “Yes well, she’s not mine.”
He honestly didn’t know what Frida expected out of all of this, there really wasn’t much to the story aside from him messing with Abe, and then messing with Joan. He never claimed he was a great person.
“Can you just explain this all to me?”
She sounded calm, and he supposed after today he did need that. He needed something normal, and so he decided to throw her a bone.
He told her everything, and it honestly took longer than he thought it would, and he paid extra attention to her expressions. Was she disgusted? She should be. Was she weirded out? He would be.
After he finished everything, Frida let out a low whistle.
“Geez, man. What even is the end goal from all of this?”
Topher frowned, bringing his knees to his chest, “To get Abe with Joan, obviously. That’s all.”
“That’s really it?”
“Of course! He’s so annoying, always going on and on about her, I just want them together already so he can shut up.”
“You know, as much as I don’t approve of you two using Joan like this, you can just tell him that she already likes him? Then everything will be solved.”
Topher snorted, rolling his eyes, “Yeah, except I actually can’t tell him that, because he totally ditched me today.”
“Wow. What a horrible fake-boyfriend.”
“Right?!”
Frida gave him a look, and he instantly frowned. Alright, so it was sarcasm, sue him.
“I heard you two finally kissed today.”
Topher snorted, “We did yesterday too.”
“You’re sure you don’t like men?”
“I’m very sure.”
“Was the kissing part of your plan too?”
“Yes.”
Silence fell on them, and they both looked at nothing. They were sat in the school parking lot, and it was honestly too hot to be outside, but neither of them made a move to leave.
“How did it feel? Kissing him.”
“Horrible.” He winced, shaking his head, “No, sorry, default reaction. It wasn’t that bad. He put his tongue-”
“You used tongue?! No one told me that!”
“Uh.. yeah.”
She laughed, “I don’t understand why a straight guy would pretend to date another straight guy.”
“I doubt Abe is straight, he’s been acting kind of weird. Plus I heard he kissed another guy before, or whatever.”
“Woah, what was that?”
“What?” Topher looked at her, confused, “You didn’t know?”
“No, no, I knew that. I was at lunch, remember?” He nodded, and she continued, “You just sounded really bitter.”
“Bitter? Over what, I don’t care who he kisses.”
She sat up straighter, slapping his arm, “There it is again!”
He looked bewildered, flushing slightly. He doesn't understand what she’s trying to get at. Topher really doesn’t care who Abe kisses, really! He can imagine him kissing Joan, and he’s totally.. fine.. with it.
Okay, so he wasn’t that fine with it. Which was weird, because he was fine with Joan getting with Abe a few days ago!
Maybe it’s because he doesn’t like kissing much in general, so he just has to imagine Abe dating someone, and that’s easy!
“You totally like him, at least a little bit man, come on..”
Topher immediately stood up, dusting himself off, “Absolutely not, and I shouldn’t have even entertained you.”
He started to walk away, before he paused, pointing back at her, “Don’t tell Joan! I will handle it.”
Frida grimaced after him, watching him begin walking again, “Sure, dude.. right.”
CHAPTER END