(i had no idea what to title this, sorry)

~~

Anthony felt very conflicted right now.

He had been sitting in art, when the teacher announces that they'll be working on a project, both in and out of class. That was fine, that was something Anthony could easily handle. He could do that.

But then, the teacher begins reading off names, in pairs of two.

"Mark and Jack, Felix and Marzia..."

There's some cheering from one side of the classroom.

"Edwin and Seamus, James and Nick..."

More cheering, though James looks a little upset.

This, mind you, is where Anthony realizes that they're doing this project in partners.

Anthony found himself panicking. Like, hardcore panicking, which is impressive if you consider how good Anthony is at panicking. He hardly knew anybody in the class.

So he would either be paired up with somebody he doesn't know, or he gets paired up with somebody he (maybe) hardly knows.

It's gonna be awkward either way. And-

Oh.

What if he gets paired up with Steven? Yeah, he kinda fucked up last time, but at least they know each other, right? No, no, it'd be even more awkward. He legitimately scared the poor guy off last time, who's to say he wouldn't do it again?

Looking across the room at said boy, Anthony felt a twinge of jealousy as he watched Steven and Bryce look at each other hopefully. It was obvious that they were hoping to be partners, but...

Why can't he look at me that way?

"And... Bryce, you get to work with Steven, don't make me regret putting you two together, alright?"

The two laugh and high five each other, celebrating like they just won a trip to Disney or something. Anthony looks around, before frowning slightly. His name was never called, what was he supposed to do?

"Oh! Anthony, uh..." The teacher frowns slightly, looking around the room before continuing," We have an odd number of students. Anthony, just go work with Steven and Bryce."

Anthony nods, ignoring the butterflies in his stomach, and goes over to the two. He quickly regrets his decision to go over, however, because the second he sits down he's met with bright, beautiful green eyes.

Anthony swallows, his mouth feeling dry all of a sudden. He completely disregarded the fact that Steven was, well... Steven.

They made an agreement to meet up at Steven's place after school. Anthony didn't really remember agreeing to it, but then again, that's what happens when Anthony spends half the class observing Steven.

He learned a lot in that time, despite what some people might think. And as he made his way to his next class, big green eyes and dorky smiles were all he could think about.

In fact, he was so lost in his own mind, that Adam was starting to get pissed off.

"Chilled! Chilled, earth to Chilled! Do you read me?" Adam's all up in his face, giggling like the madman he is.

Wait. Hold on, why the hell is Adam here?

"Adam? What- Why are you here? I thought you had chemistry right now?"

Adam grins and shrugs slightly, shaking his head. "I got sent in here for being bad. Mr. Vanoss didn't appreciate my business idea. Said that dick bows are dumb, can you believe that?"

Anthony blinks, doing his best to process what Adam just said.

"Mr. Vanoss sent you to study hall for being bad?" Anthony wasn't sure if he had heard Adam right.

"Well, not exactly," Adam hums. "He said to go to the principal's office, but nobody was there. So I came here."

"Shouldn't you have waited for him?" 

Adam shakes his head. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Speaking of not knowing, what were you thinking about when I first came in?"

Anthony can feel his face heat up, thoughts of Steven flooding in faster than he can process them. How exactly does he explain something like that? There was probably no way to explain himself without sounding insane, and- 

"Oh, oh, oh! Let me guess, you got a girlfriend? No, wait! A sexy boyfriend named Steven?"

Anthony jumps, eyes wide open as he begins to shake his head. "No, no, I- what? Where-what- I just- Where the fuck did you get th-that idea from?"

Adam's grinning like a maniac, leaning over Chilled's desk and staring him straight in the eyes.

"I don't know, you tell me! Well, actually, Minx told me." Adam snickers, sits back in his chair, then goes on.

"She said that you kept staring at him like he was your lifeline or something. I mean, it seems pretty reasonable. You looked like you were off planning your future wedding or something."

Chilled's mind runs wild at the idea of actually marrying the guy.

I hadn't really given much thought into that. It'd be a nice wedding, we'd have a big cake and all our friends would show up. He's gonna look absolutely perfect as he walks down the aisle, and then we're gonna kiss and get a house with three dogs and live happily forever after.

"You know, I never thought about that until now- Wait, what do you mean Minx told you?"

It wasn't that Chilled didn't trust Minx, it was just that it would've made much more sense if Steven had said it, right?

"Well, Ze also said it, it's just that I wasn't supposed to tell you this. So if it comes from Minx, it sounds less embarrassing for him and more exciting for you."

"Since when did you guys give him a nickname?" This was news to Anthony.

"That doesn't matter. Tell me, you've been talking to Ze, right?"

Anthony leans back in his chair and nods. "Yeah... I'm going over to his place tonight, we're working on an art project with Bryce."

Adam gives a small "ooh," nodding his head slowly. "So you're not gonna be alone with him. Ouch, dude."

Without a warning, Adam stands up. He quickly turns to Anthony, then looks past him at the door.

"Crap, I think that was Mr. Vanoss going by. I better go before I get detention, Max's gonna kill me if I get three in one day."

Adam's gone before Chilled can even begin to question what the other just said. The other students seem completely unfazed by Adam's mad dash out the door, however.

Anthony just sighs, and stares down at the desk.

I'm so fucked, I'm so fucking fucked.

.

"Chilled! Hey! You ready to go?"

Steven's gazing up at him, eyes shining and sparkling with excitement. He doesn't even wait for a response, instead grabs Anthony by the arm and begins to drag him towards the front of the school.

"Bryce is gonna meet us at my place. He said that he 'got caught up with somebody.' I don't know if I believe him, but..." Steven giggles softly and shrugs. "He doesn't lie too often, so I guess it's the truth."

Anthony nods, not trusting himself to speak to Steven. Then again, if you consider how dry Anthony's throat felt, he wasn't sure if he could even if he wanted to. 

"Come on, Chilled! You're so slow today!" Steven pouts up at Anthony, and Anthony could've sworn he felt his heart melt at the sight.

He smiles and pats Steven's head. "I had a big lunch, buddy. You know me, I love pizza." 

He thinks for a moment.

I could totally grab his hand right now. You think he would mind? I mean, it's kinda obvious you're gay. Gay for him, to be specific. 

Anthony decides that it's a good idea to grab Steven's hand. So he does, doing his best to ignore the inevitable blush on his cheeks, and begins to lead Steven off to wherever his house may be.

~~~
(ding dong, guess who finally remembered what the plot was supposed to be...)

((hint: tis me, and i've gone so far off from it i may as well start over))