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Jude was not in the mood for Calculus. It had been a long day and all he could think about was his comfortable bed, waiting for him at home with a warm comforter and fluffy pillows. Jude really just wanted a nap. He figured the next best thing, however, was music. He checked the agenda on the board and saw the word ‘review’ written and proceeded to pull his earbuds from his backpack. He plugged them into his phone and opened his music app, setting it to shuffle and sighing contentedly when the sounds of Fall Out Boy rang in his ears.
Jude watched as the teacher stepped into the room and went to the whiteboard. His mouth moved but Jude couldn’t hear – didn’t want to hear – the words coming out of it. He knew the material, he didn’t need to review. Besides, he was tired.
He felt eyes on him and glanced to his left, holding back an annoyed groan when he saw Rebecca Schriver staring at him. When she noticed him looking back, she gave a small smile and wiggled her fingers in a wave. Jude looked away. He glanced down at his phone and pulled up his messages, finding Taylor (it wasn’t hard – the only people he texted were Taylor and his family) and opening up their conversation.
Rebecca is giving googly eyes. She just waggled her fingers at me. Send help.
Here’s an idea: tomorrow, wear a shirt that says ‘I like dick, Rebecca’.
Jude snorted, then covered it with a cough when some of his classmates turned to the back of the room to look at him. When the attention went back to the front of the room, he returned to his phone.
How does she not know by now?
She didn’t go here when you came out freshman year. And no one talks about it thanks to your knight in shining armor.
Stfu taylor u know it isn’t like that
Lmao yeah ok whatever u say. Its not like he stood up to blake and Jeremy when they gave u shit and told everyone else if they so much as looked at you wrong he’d kick their asses. Not a knight in shining armor at all. Totally not in love with you.
TAYLOR HE ISNT!! STOP IT
Im in art class w him right now. I can see it in his eyes.
U need to be stopped
Suddenly an elbow was digging into Jude’s side. He glanced up and saw Jeffrey, their teacher, staring at him. He turned his volume down.
“Sorry?”
“Are you- Are you listening to music?”
Jude cleared his throat. He could feel his face heating up.
“Texting and listening to music. Not for the first time. Detention with Timothy. Today, after school.”
Jude bit back a groan and shoved his glasses back up his nose. He yanked his earbuds out and dropped his phone into his backpack, upset and embarrassed. Apparently his nap was going to have to wait.
*
“That’s really nice,” a voice said over his shoulder. Connor glanced up to see Taylor standing behind him, looking at his painting. Her face didn’t look anything but sincere, but having known the girl his whole life Connor couldn’t even remember the last time she’d said something that wasn’t sarcastic.
“Are you being sarcastic?” He asked bluntly.
Taylor snorted. “Nah. It’s good.”
“Taylor, it’s a painting of a bowl of fruit.”
“It’s a hell of a lot better than my fruit bowl. Anyway, Melissa wanted you to know the bell rings in five minutes. She called your name a few times but you didn’t answer.”
Connor glanced up to the art teacher, Melissa. She smirked at him and he felt his cheeks flush. He tended to get caught up in his art, not really paying attention to the world around him. It was why he’d been late to his athletic period four days in a row – he couldn’t leave the art room until he was at a stopping point, and sometimes that stopping point didn’t come right as the bell rang.
He went back to painting, trying to find his stopping point, ignoring as his classmates began setting their own paintings to dry, folding up their easels, packing up their bags. He was close. He could finish.
Before he knew it, the shrill sound of the bell ringing met his ears. He could definitely finish it, and maybe only be a few minutes late to baseball. Coach would understand.
Coach, however, did not understand.
“Stevens!”
Connor winced as he made his way out onto the field. The locker room had been empty when he’d arrived, the team already on the field and the non-baseball players already in the gym. He’d changed quickly, then stopped at the sink to scrub paint out from under his fingernails.
“Sorry, Coach,” Connor called, getting into line with the rest of his team as they warmed up. “Won’t happen again!”
“That’s what you said yesterday, and the day before,” Coach responded angrily. Connor grimaced. He couldn’t exactly explain his predicament in front of his teammates. How would they react to yeah but, I had to finish painting a fruit bowl? “You know what? Detention. After school today, with Timothy.
“Coach-“ Connor argued, but stopped when he received a glare from his coach. He huffed and nodded. Detention. Wonderful.
*
Jude walked into Timothy’s classroom after last period and dropped his backpack on a desk in the middle of the room, collapsing into it.
“Jude!” Timothy said. “What are you doing here?”
Jude frowned. “Using my phone in class.”
Timothy shook his head and sighed. “That’s no good. You’ve learned your lesson though, right?”
Jude opened him mouth to respond when Connor Stevens stepped into the room. He felt his heart start beating faster at the sight of him – hair messy and a little wet, cheeks flushed. He was very obviously coming from baseball practice. Jude thanked whatever God was up there that he wasn’t still wearing his baseball pants.
“And Connor?” Timothy’s voice broke Jude’s concentration. Connor shrugged a little. “What about you? Were you using your phone in class, too?”
“No,” Connor answered. He made his way through the desks and sat next to Jude, looking to the teacher to make sure it was okay. Timothy just nodded. “Late to baseball practice.”
“One tardy got you detention?”
“Um,” Connor looked down, embarrassed. “Fifth in a row.”
Jude couldn’t help it, he laughed. Connor looked at him with a small grin.
“Like you’ve never been tardy before,” he said. “Besides, who gets caught texting in class? Weak, man.”
Jude gasped dramatically. “Uh, texting and listening to music.”
“At the same time?” Connor asked, just as dramatically.
Jude rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but smile. He had many memories of this – playful banter between the two of them that never seemed to go anywhere. They had partnered on a project when Jude first arrived at Anchor Beach in seventh grade. Connor was the only person willing to work with the new kid. Jude had been hopeful that he and Connor would be friends, but he’d been transferred into a different class almost immediately afterward. Apart from the few classes they’d had together since then, they were on different planes. When they did see each other, there was always fun conversation, jokes and laughter and smiles and eye contact that sometimes made Jude wonder, but they never became friends.
As much as Jude wished they had.
“Alright, boys,” Timothy said, clapping his hands. “I’ve got a faculty meeting for the next forty five minutes, and you have detention for the next hour. Please be well behaved and do your homework. I’ll see you soon.”
Timothy left the room, leaving Jude alone with Connor for the first time in as long as he could remember.
Listening to Timothy’s advice, Jude unzipped his backpack and pulled out his English homework and a pen, beginning to work on it immediately. He could hear Connor doing the same. After a few minutes with nothing but the sound of pen scribbles, the silence was broken.
“Hey, Jude?”
Jude glanced up to Connor, who was looking at him, bottom lip between his teeth and confused expression on his face. Jude ignored how adorable he was.
“Yeah?”
“You’re good at math, right?” Jude nodded. “Okay, well, can you help me with this?”
He shoved his paper toward Jude. For a few minutes, he explained the concept and helped Connor work through a few problems.
“Thanks,” Connor said, once the homework page was almost entirely finished.
Jude nodded and went back to his own work. He couldn’t get the image of Connor’s eyes, soft and something else that he couldn’t put his finger on, out of his head. It had been like this as long as Jude could remember. Even if they weren’t friends, even though they barely knew each other, Jude felt something between he and Connor Stevens. He was pretty sure Connor was gay. It was one of those things that had been passed around as a rumor for a while in eighth grade, until Connor had apparently beaten a kid up for saying it. No one dared ask him about it or spread rumors about him ever since.
Jude didn’t believe that Connor beat anyone up. He wasn’t in the same social circle as Connor – he and Taylor were a two-person team in matching skinny jeans; he didn’t talk to jocks – so it had taken a while for the rumors to reach him. He assumed they had been twisted from their original truth, but he had hope. His hope had only strengthened freshman year.
But Jude didn’t even know what the hope was for, because it’s not like he and Connor would ever be anything. Connor was a popular jock who everyone loved; Jude was a skinny hipster who had one friend and a girl who wouldn’t take a hint hanging on his shoulder.
But still, Jude figured it would be nice to know.
“Are you gay?”
Connor’s head shot up, his eyes wide. He stared at Jude blankly.
“I know it’s kind of an unspoken thing that no one’s supposed to ask you and everything,” Jude rambled on. Now that his mouth was moving, he couldn’t make it stop. “But I don’t think you’re going to beat me up. I remember how nice you are.”
The corners of Connor’s mouth started to turn up, but he fought it and frowned instead. “You don’t know that. I could totally be about to beat you up for daring to ask me that.”
Jude snorted. “You were the only person nice enough to offer to be my partner in seventh grade. You gave me your PSP and never asked for it back. You’ve always been nice. To me, at least.”
Connor’s exaggerated frown shifted into a real one and he looked down. “Sorry I wasn’t really nice to you after that. When you switched classes I just kinda… Left you behind.”
Jude furrowed his brows. “What are you talking about? You made everybody stop picking on me when I came out freshman year. You didn’t have to do that for me.”
Connor’s head shot up again and he looked nervous. “How did you know about that?”
“Seriously?” Jude asked. “You stood up to Blake and Jeremy when you overheard them calling me rude names and then told everyone in the hallway that if they talked bad about me, you’d kick their ass. It was all over the school within an hour.”
Connor’s cheeks flushed. “It was easy for me not to get bullied about it. I – I came out to my team, and one of my teammates said something rude and so I told him I had no problem beating the homophobe out of him. I know that story’s gotten twisted to the point where everyone’s scared to mess with me. I knew I had that power and I wanted to protect you, too.”
Jude smiled, his face warm.
Confirmed.
“I wish we’d been friends,” Connor said wistfully. “After that project. I wanted to be your friend.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” Connor confirmed, then he smiled, a little embarrassed. “You know, that day that I went to your house… I kind of – Well, you were the first boy I ever had a crush on.”
Jude’s jaw dropped. He could hear his heart hammering in his ears. “I – what?”
Connor nodded, staring at the floor between them. “You kind of gave me a sexuality crisis.”
Jude sputtered. “Shut up. I did not.”
“You did!” Connor insisted, looking back up with earnest eyes. “You were so cute with your long sleeve shirts and your gelled hair and your big brown eyes…”
Jude gaped.
“Then you became a hipster.”
Jude reached over and shoved him, offended expression on his face. “Hey!”
Connor sighed wistfully. “Then it just got worse because you started wearing skinny jeans and-
“Connor!” Jude gasped, scandalized.
“Wow,” Connor continued. “Those skinny jeans threw me for a loop, honestly.”
Jude felt like his cheeks were on fire.
“Anyway, you’re still really cute, but I’m not in a crisis about it anymore,” Connor continued, pretending to be oblivious to Jude’s freak-out. He then turned and went back to his homework.
Jude stared at him, jaw dropped. Connor had a crush on him. Connor thought he looked wow in skinny jeans. He thought his heart might explode.
“The jeans, really?” Jude asked after a few moments.
Connor glanced up with a smirk.
“I remember this one time in tenth grade, at a baseball game. We were just about to start, I was playing outfield. And I looked into the bleachers and you were climbing them to get to Taylor and – “ he paused and looked at Jude, waggling his eyebrows. Jude’s eyes widened. “I couldn’t think of anything else the entire game, I swear. I still look for you at games, but…”
“I stopped going,” Jude blurted. Connor frowned. “I – That first one. It was the only one I went to. Your –“
“My…?”
“Your baseball pants, okay?” Jude could feel his blush spreading from just his cheeks to his chest. He’d never been more embarrassed and happy at the same time in his life. “They were too much.”
“Oh my god,” Connor grinned widely. Jude reached over and shoved him again. “Jude Adams Foster likes how I look in baseball pants.”
“Shut up,” Jude whined, but he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. Connor just smiled back, eyes bright.
They looked at each other quietly for a moment, before Connor said again, “I really wish we’d been friends.”
“Me, too.”
“I wanna be friends with you.”
“Like, right now?” Jude questioned. Connor nodded. “Wouldn’t that hurt your rep?”
Connor scoffed. “Having a sexy hipster boyfriend? That would only boost my rep.”
Jude coughed and then sputtered, eyes wide. “Boyfriend?”
“Sorry,” Connor smirked, not looking sorry at all. “I meant to say friend.”
Jude stared at him, gaping, when Timothy entered the room again.
“I hope you’re not talking,” he said with a smile. Connor shook his head. Jude was still staring at Connor with his mouth hanging open. “Alright, well, I figure you’ve been here long enough. If either of your teachers asked, you were here an hour.”
Jude finally snapped his mouth closed and turned back in his seat, packing up his backpack. He glanced up when Connor stood.
Connor smiled down at him. “Bye, Jude.”
*
Jude knew for certain that things between he and Connor Stevens were not going to change. Jude was sure Connor hadn’t been messing with him, but he also knew that Connor was popular and had a reputation to keep up and, no matter what he might say, hanging around Jude would only hurt that reputation.
He sat alone at a table outside school, working on his History homework, waiting for the bell to ring to signal first period. He still rode with his mom to school to save gas, and she had an early meeting, so Jude had already been there for ten minutes before other students started to arrive. He was off in a corner to assure no one was going to bother him, when suddenly he spotted Connor Stevens headed toward him, a small smile on his face.
Jude felt his heart speed up but he kept writing, determined not to show how much Connor affected him.
“Hey,” Connor said, once he was close enough that Jude could hear him. Jude nodded at him. Connor walked around the circular table, slowing when he got close to Jude. Jude wasn’t sure what he was doing – was he going to sit down with him? – but then he felt Connor’s warm hand brush his own, fingers lingering softly on his palm for a moment, and then it was gone and Connor was walking away, smirking at him over his shoulder.
Jude could feel his entire face heat up. He suddenly felt like he couldn’t breathe properly, like his lungs were on fire and his heart was on fire and his hand, where Connor had touched him, was tingling. He stared at Connor’s retreating figure while his body calmed down. What the hell was that?
*
“Hey,” Taylor said, plopping down across from Jude at their usual lunch table. Jude looked up at his best friend with wide eyes.
“Taylor,” he said seriously. She glanced up. “I think Connor Stevens wants me.”
Her face was blank for a moment before she reached across the table and felt his forehead.
Jude yanked backward. “Taylor!”
“Sorry, just checking to make sure you weren’t sick,” she said with a shrug. Jude glared at her. “I know we joke about it, Jude, but-“
She stopped talking when she spotted something over Jude’s shoulder. Jude looked and saw Connor walking toward them, grinning.
He nodded at Taylor, then turned to Jude.
And winked.
And then continued walking.
“Oh my god,” Taylor muttered.
“See?!”
“What is happening right now?”
“He’s been flirting with me since detention yesterday. He said things would be different, that we’d be friends now, but I feel like he’s only doing things secretively because he’s worried about his reputation. I don’t want to be a secret.”
Taylor still had her jaw dropped. “I can’t believe Connor Stevens just winked at you, Jude.”
“Focus, please,” Jude retorted. “I kind of have a dilemma.”
“Just tell him,” Taylor said with a shrug. “Either he dates you publicly or he doesn’t get you at all. We’re seventeen years old and everyone already knows he’s gay anyway. It’s not a big deal.”
Jude just sighed and opened his brown lunch bag, pulling out a sandwich. He began eating quietly, staring at the table, when suddenly a tray landed next to him. He looked up to see Connor climbing onto the bench next to him.
“Hello, Taylor,” he said, nodding to her. Then he looked at Jude. “Hi, Jude.”
Jude cleared his throat. “Hey.”
“So,” Connor said. He softly nudged Jude’s shoulder with his own. “What are we up to today?”
Taylor sat across the table, blatantly staring in confusion.
“Um,” Jude said. “We?”
“Well, yeah,” Connor said, as thought it was obvious. “We’re friends now. Friends hang out.”
“We barely even know each other,” Jude pointed out.
“That’s why we go on dates,” Connor said. “To get to know each other.”
“Dates?” Jude squeaked.
Connor grinned at him. “Friend dates, Jude. Don’t be silly.”
Jude opened his mouth to respond but instead just sighed. He took another bite of his sandwich and then said, “I dunno what we’re doing today, Connor.”
“Well, if you’re up for it, I kind of have an idea…”
“Am I invited?” Taylor asked with a smirk. Jude glared at her.
Connor saw the smirk and grinned back. “Dear Taylor, I’m afraid to embark on this friendship, Jude and I need to spend some quality time alone.”
Taylor snorted. “Yeah, I don’t wanna be around for your quality alone time.”
“Taylor,” Jude’s eyes were wide. Connor just laughed.
“Trust me, Taylor,” Connor assured. “You really don’t.”
Jude wasn’t sure he was even breathing anymore.
*
Can u meet me by the locker rooms??
Jude glanced at the text and felt his heart race with nerves. The bell had just rang and he had pulled his phone out to see where Connor wanted to meet only to be greeted with a message already waiting for him.
He knew where the locker rooms were. They were adjacent to the gym, leading out into a crowded hallway where groups of people stood around after school to chat. Jude wanted to hang out with Connor but he wasn’t sure he was ready to handle that.
His phone vibrated in his hand with another text.
Just got in from practice. Gonna shower I’ll be right out I promise!!
Jude took a deep breath to steel his nerves and headed toward the gym. He reached it fairly quickly and pushed his way through the crowd to stand against the wall. He was surprised at how quickly the crowd seemed to thin, until he and a few girls were the only ones standing around. He pulled out his phone and pretended to be busy on it to avoid eye contact with any of them.
It didn’t take long before the door to the locker room burst open and a large group of sweaty, smelly boys exited. A few of them immediately went to their girlfriends who had been waiting for them, and Jude cringed as he imagined embracing a boy who had just spent an hour playing baseball outside.
Jude caught the eye of one of Connor’s teammates and he noticed his expression shift into one of confusion, so he quickly looked back down at his phone, opening up his messaging app and reading through old messages, trying to make himself look busy. After a few minutes, the group of boys left, leaving only Jude and three other girls still waiting.
Jude began to wonder how long it could take someone to shower when the door opened again, and the second half of Connor’s baseball team – the half that apparently cared more about hygiene – exited. Jude scanned the boys faces as they exited, and felt confusion when a few of Connor’s teammates faces lit up when they saw him. He finally spotted Connor, who was looking around desperately before his eyes finally landed on Jude and he smiled. He pushed past his teammates and stopped in front of Jude, who stuffed his phone in his pocket.
“Hi,” Connor said softly. “Thank you for waiting for me.”
Jude shook his head. “It’s no problem.”
He felt breathless by the close proximity. Connor was leaning in his space, and he could smell the shampoo he’d used. He glanced up to see Connor had done his best to comb his hair before coming out of the locker room. The thought made him grin.
“You got this, Stevens!”
Jude glanced up. One of the boys who had lit up at the sight of Jude was pointing at Connor with a huge grin on his face. Connor flushed and shook his head at his teammate, who laughed loudly before turning away.
“Sorry,” Connor muttered. He was staring at his feet.
Jude breathed out his nerves and looked at Connor’s flushed cheeks and embarrassed posture. “Are we going on a date?”
Connor looked up and bit his lip. Jude tried to pour his emotions into a single look. If you want this to be a date, so do I.
Connor smiled and nudged Jude’s shoulder. “It’s a friend date.”
Jude chuckled, happy. The look in Connor’s eyes definitely told him it was more than a friend date.
“C’mon, let’s go to my car,” Connor said after a moment.
“Where are we going?” Jude asked, as they began walking.
“It’s a surprise,” Connor responded. “I picked somewhere that’s special to me, but that I think you’ll also enjoy.”
“Oh really?” Jude said. “And how do you know what kind of things I enjoy?”
Connor looked at Jude with a grin. “I know a lot of things about you, Jude Adams Foster.”
*
Connor pulled into the parking lot of his favorite coffee shop, the one he went to for hours every weekend, and turned to looked at Jude.
“A coffee shop?” Jude asked. Connor nodded. “Isn’t that a little like a date?”
Connor scoffed. “Jude, coffee is totally a friend thing. Did you ever watch the show Friends? Literally all they did was go to a coffee shop.”
Jude just laughed and climbed out of the car. Connor followed and made his way to the door to the small shop, opening it up for Jude. Jude thanked him quietly and they walked inside.
“Hey, Connor,” the owner, Olivia called to him. She was an older woman with greying hair and a kind smile that Connor had grown to love. “Brought a friend with you?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Connor responded happily, nudging Jude at her use of the word friend. “This is Jude.”
“Hi, Jude,” Olivia greeted warmly. “What kind of coffee do you like?”
Jude shrugged. “I don’t really drink coffee, so…”
“Well, what flavors do you like?”
“Chocolate,” Jude responded instantly. Connor grinned.
“I’ll whip something up for you. Connor, the usual?”
“Yes, please,” Connor said. Olivia turned and began making their drinks. Connor led Jude to a small table in the corner.
“How do you know her?” Jude asked, gesturing to Olivia.
“She owns this place. Sophomore year I started looking for somewhere I could go that was quiet where I wouldn’t be bothered. I found this place and I come every weekend. I’ve made friends with most of the staff.”
“What do you do when you’re here?”
Connor felt his cheeks heat up. It was true he didn’t know Jude very well. They were acquaintences. They had occasional classes together. They had worked on a project once in seventh grade. Jude didn’t know much about Connor. But Connor wanted him to know. “I usually draw. My dad doesn’t really approve of my art, so I needed somewhere to go that he wouldn’t bug me.”
“Your dad doesn’t approve?”
Connor frowned. “Dad doesn’t really approve of anything that isn’t hitting a baseball with a bat. You should’ve seen his face when I told him I was gay. I thought he was going to explode.”
Jude winced. “That sucks. I’m sorry.”
Connor shrugged. “I think he’s convinced it was a phase or something, since I’ve never had a boyfriend. He mentions girls to me all the time.”
“That’s shitty. I’ve never had a boyfriend either. I kinda would’ve expected you to, maybe outside of school or something.”
Connor snorted. “I’ve only really been interested in one person since middle school.”
Jude’s eyes widened and Connor bit his lip. Was that too much? Too honest for Jude, this boy who barely knew him? He wasn’t sure how much to say, whether it was okay to tell Jude that Connor watched him every day at lunch, that he felt his heart drop the first day of every semester when he realized they didn’t have classes together, the way his heart raced every time they’d spoken for the last five years.
“You should probably tell him,” Jude finally suggested.
Connor released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “I kind of already did.”
Jude smiled softly. “What was his reaction?”
Connor shrugged. “Not quite sure yet. Seems good so far.”
Jude nodded, then bit his lip. Connor had the overwhelming urge to be the one biting Jude’s lip instead.
“I think he’s pretty happy about it,” Jude finally said. Connor couldn’t stop his lips from curling up. “And I’m pretty sure it’s a mutual thing.”
Connor felt his heart speed up and he opened his mouth to say something (what, he wasn’t sure, because he couldn’t think past oh my god I want to kiss him) when Olivia arrived at their table with their drinks.
“Here ya go, boys,” she said, handing each of them a cup. They both thanked her and Connor waited until she was behind the counter again to look at Jude, whose cheeks still had a hint of pink in them.
“I wish we’d done this sooner,” Connor whispered. He watched as Jude slid his hand across the table until it was brushing Connor’s. He felt his breath hitch at the contact and wondered how he’d be able to survive it if Jude ever kissed him. And, God, he wanted Jude to kiss him.
“We’re doing it now,” Jude said softly. “That’s what counts.”
Connor nodded. He stretched his hand out beneath Jude’s and flipped it over, palm up. Jude let his fingers fall softly against his palm, and Connor watched, mesmerized, as Jude started to draw little shapes on his hand with his index finger.
“We’re not doing very well with the friends thing right now,” Jude pointed out. He kept drawing on Connor’s hand, oblivious to Connor’s pounding heart and tingling palm.
“No,” Connor argued. “All friends do this when they’re getting to know each other.”
Jude looked up at him and grinned, and Connor felt breathless at how happy he looked, eyes crinkled up at the corners. He remembered that look from seventh grade, when he had given Jude his PSP.
“By the way,” Connor said, changing the subject. Jude pulled his hand away and Connor ignored the way his hand felt cold suddenly. “How do you like your drink?”
Jude sighed happily. “I don’t know what she did but it’s magic. I swear, this is chocolate heaven.”
Connor laughed. “I get the same thing every week. I don’t even know what it’s called. I told Olivia I like caramel the first time I was here, and she’s made it for me ever since. When she’s not here and it’s another staff member working, I just have to tell them my name and they know what to do. It’s pretty great.”
“What do you draw?” Jude asked suddenly. “When you’re here, I mean. What kind of stuff do you draw?”
Connor shrugged. “People mostly. Strangers on the street, people in the shop, friends from school.”
“That’s really cool,” Jude said, taking a sip of his drink. “Have you ever shown anyone?”
Connor shook his head. “I mean, the art teacher sees the stuff I do in there, but everything else is private. None of my friends know I’m into art at all, actually.”
“Well,” Jude said with a soft grin. “Maybe one day you can show me.”
“Yeah,” Connor agreed. “I’d like that.”
*
“I had fun on our friend date,” Jude smirked. Connor shoved at his shoulder and Jude laughed. They were on the beach outside the school, walking along the water line, just high enough that their shoes didn’t get wet. “Seriously. We should hang out again.”
“Yeah,” Connor nodded. “Maybe tomorrow?”
Jude looked down at the sand, smiling. “Yeah, tomorrow.”
Connor stopped walking and Jude looked up, turning around to face him. Connor was biting his lip, staring at him nervously.
“Maybe tomorrow won’t be a friend date,” Connor said quietly. “Maybe it can just be a real date.”
“Yeah,” Jude breathed, stepping closer to Connor. “I don’t think today was really a friend date, either.”
Connor smiled, taking another step closer. Jude could feel his breath hitting his face. He felt dizzy with happiness. “Well, let's see. How often do you want to kiss your friends?”
“Never,” Jude said. He huffed a small sigh when Connor’s hand came to rest on his waist.
“Me either,” Connor admitted. “But I really wanna kiss you.”
Jude needed nothing else. He wrapped his arms around Connor’s neck and let one hand trail into his hair, pulling him forward. Their lips met, awkwardly at first, and then Connor shifted so Jude’s glasses weren’t bumping his nose and Jude parted his lips against Connor’s and it was perfect. Jude couldn’t hear anything over the rushing of blood in his ears, couldn’t feel anything except Connor’s lips, a little chapped but soft against his own, and Connor’s hands, big and warm on his waist.
Jude pulled back slightly when he needed to breathe, and rested his forehead against Connor’s. Connor’s breathing was heavy and his eyes were closed. Jude pressed a second, quicker kiss on Connor’s lips before pulling back all the way, letting his arms fall to his sides. He watched as Connor slowly opened his eyes and huffed a contented sigh.
“I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long,” Connor mumbled, reaching out to grab Jude’s hand. Jude let him lace their fingers together and felt his stomach swoop at the way their hands fit perfectly. “It was even better than I ever imagined.”
“Good to know I’m living up to expectations,” Jude quipped with a grin. Connor laughed breathlessly, leaning forward and pressing their lips together again, for just a moment.
“So,” he said after a few moments of silence. “Real date tomorrow?”
“I think it’s safe to consider it our second date,” Jude responded.
Connor smiled. “Really? Not our third? Maybe we should count detention as our first date.”
Jude scoffed. They started walking back toward Connor’s parked car so he could take Jude home. Jude smiled at the way their hands swung between them, fingers interlocked. “Detention was not our first date. Do not tell people that.”
“I’m gonna tell everyone. This is Jude, my boyfriend. Our first date was in detention.”
Jude flushed at the word boyfriend but didn’t argue it. It sounded right coming out of Connor’s mouth. “Um, excuse me, but I believe it was sexy hipster boyfriend.”
“You’re right,” Connor sighed dramatically. “How could I have forgotten?”
Jude shrugged. “I dunno, but it better not happen again or I’ll dump you.”
Connor gasped. “Only if you promise to come to all my games. I give you permission to stare at my ass in baseball pants.”
Jude blushed. “Yeah, well. You like my skinny jeans.”
Connor leaned back, eying Jude’s backside before locking eyes with him and smirking. “Yes, I very, very much like your skinny jeans.”
Jude shoved him, causing Connor to laugh.
Jude had never been happier to have had detention in his entire life.