Chapter Text
Just like that, it was another day. Mac had thankfully not overslept this morning and made it to class with Ethan, with good enough time to have some proper conversations with the rest of his friends. Then they stood for the pledge of allegiance and moved on to social sciences.
Learning about UGL’s contributions in the second world war was kind of boring. Mac wasn’t much of a history dude. And it wasn’t more fun when their teacher had started giving them homework about it every single week.
During recess all the guys gathered around the ping pong table like normal, with no Ethan in sight. The next two classes, religion and English went by quickly. In no time it was already lunch!
Everyone left the classroom like a tidal wave when the break came around. Mac and Leonardo were walking to the ping pong table when a certain someone joined their side. “Hey guys!” Ethan greeted them and pitched along on the walk to the cafeteria. “Hey!” Leonardo replied, while Mac just smiled. He was somewhat startled by his sudden appearance, so he just didn’t bother formulating an answer.
Ethan popped a Love Heart in his mouth, cause his insulin-pump-thingy was beeping, or whatever it was called. Mac knew everything there was to know about Ethan’s diabetes (but I, the author, doesn’t, so we won’t dwell on that XD).
Together, the three of them made their way to the ping-pong table. They were the first ones there, but Sahara, Eliza, Livvie, and Elise showed up soon. Sahara took out her food, then joined the guys in the line. Her boyfriend Leonardo gave her a racket that was practically reserved for her and then went back to the kingside.
Meanwhile, Eliza, Elise, and Livvie sat down on the benches beside the ping pong table. Elise whipped out a manga, while Livvie and Eliza watched the others play by the table.
Then Shaun, John, Leon, and Thor rolled up, while talking about Pokémon. Mac didn’t know much about the topic, so he just focused on his round in ping pong. That was at least until Ethan started talking to him.
“You seem very engaged in the conversation,” he said sarcastically while smiling like a ray of sunshine. Mac scoffed but got too distracted by Ethan, which led to him losing the match. “I just don’t think fantasy furballs are for me.” Mac smirked. The others did not appreciate the remark.
“Hey! Calling them ‘furballs’ is no good, there are a bunch of reptilian Pokémon!” Leon exclaimed from the line, with Thor backing him up with a grumpy look directed at Mac. Shaun had become busy on his phone, so he did not pay attention to the discussion (how he had managed to avoid the phone jail, Mac had no idea).
“Not to mention the Pokémons that are birds!” Leonardo exclaimed from the king side of the ping pong table, backing Leon up. Mac walked to the back of the line while calling them nerds. That remark got him a nice bone-breaking hug from John. Ouch.
Standing on the sidelines, Ethan did not make a single argument against the others. To be fair, it was understandable. Five Pokémon fans versus two that weren’t. Any fight about the subject WASN’T likely to end well for Mac and Ethan. But still, how dare he!!!!
“A little bit of help here?” Mac crossed his arms and looked expectantly, yet sarcastically at Ethan. The others seemed to be doing the same. Ethan threw his hands up as if he was at gunpoint. “Hey now, I don’t recall ever expressing any interest in this argument!” He smirked while holding eye contact with Mac. He had to admit, it gave him butterflies.
“Erm, actually… “Mac pushed his imaginary glasses up, and waved his finger in the air, “you expressed an interest in the argument when you mentioned my participation in the conversation.” Immediately as the words left Mac, he got embarrassed. Holy moly, what a nerd move of him.
The others seemed to agree with his thoughts, as they burst out laughter, and then started imitating him. By the time they were done, Mac was sure he was redder than his MAGA cap. And he didn’t like the thought of matching it.
Even Ethan and Elise, who had just been engulfed in her book, were waving their fingers everywhere. Eventually, Mac didn’t feel embarrassed anymore, just annoyed. Seriously, they were REALLY dragging it out.
After a good long while, it started calming down. Or at least for most of them. Ethan, however, did not seem to want to let it go.
“I find it funny that you call them nerds, and then say something like that!” Ethan’s eyes closed in his laughter, like the joke was still wholeheartedly funny. Mac cracked a smile but then hid it away when he remembered he wasn’t supposed to agree.
“I don’t see why that has to do with anything.” Mac crossed his arms and turned his head away like a stubborn child. “I was simply correcting your contradiction.”
Mac realized he wasn’t really helping his cause of trying not to seem like a nerd. Especially from seeing the way Ethan was raising his brow at him. Argh, his fierce blue eyes. Mac could just stare into them forever-
No brothers, we must stay focused.
Ethan and Mac went from a sarcastic argument to a sassy staring contest. The guys were staring at each other, arms crossed, with about nine people looking back and forth between them trying to dissect whatever was happening. Eventually, those in line just started walking around them, cutting the line to play.
And finally (after a good long while) Ethan gave up. “Fine, fine, you can win.” He threw his hands up in a surrender and then looked around, receiving nonexistent praise for it.
For the most part the others just looked mildly annoyed that they couldn’t skip the line anymore. All though, Shaun didn’t let that stop him from mustering his way to the front of the line, where he got a nice tackle from John’s hulk-like stature. The little polish twink didn’t stand a chance against it.
Lunch went back to its usual chaotic energy. Thor rage baiting John with 6-7 and then getting chased out of the cafeteria. Shaun nearly getting caught with his phone by teachers every five minutes. Sahara judo-flipping her boyfriend Leonardo, because he tried to take her away from the ping pong table when she had died five times. The only peaceful place around was the bench where Elise, Eliza, and Livvie were quietly sitting, reading, and drawing.
“Hey Mac,” Ethan’s voice jumpscared Mac so bad, in a cartoon he would’ve jumped out of his boots! “There’s gonna be a party at that girl Socratées’ house tomorrow, want to come with me?” Ethan smiled at him, making Mac way too flustered. But thankfully he quickly got to his senses.
No way, Ethan was inviting him to a party! When Mac thought about it, he hadn’t gone to one hosted by one of the cool kids before. Mac didn’t really know this Socratées girl all that much. Only that she was in the same grade, but in a different class. It didn’t matter, she wasn’t and wouldn’t be important in his life anyway.
“Yeah, totally!” Mac replied with a big smile on his face. He had originally planned to stream tomorrow, but that could be moved to another time. Cause now he had other plans.
—
Sooner than expected, the party rolled around. Mac had whipped out the best outfit he could, while still being socially acceptable. Some light washed jeans and a white polo shirt with a minimalistic gold jewelry stack kept him looking nice… but maybe a little bit on the fence? Whatever, he wasn’t at school, so he could wear the jewelry if he wanted to. It wasn’t up for discussion.
Alongside himself, the rest of the group had also been invited to the party by Ethan, but none of the girls showed up. Supposedly, they had arranged their own little hangout at Elise’s place to watch Ninjago. Elise had not been open for compromises. Lol.
John had surprisingly gotten out of his usual sweatpants and changed into dark jeans with a blue blouse. He had also styled his long ginger hair, which was nice for a change. Shaun, however, was wearing the same white pants and a green hoodie as always, and his ridiculous old perm was as messy as always.
Leon had his shoulder length blonde hair down like usual, but it seemed extra neat tonight. But he, like Shaun, hadn’t abandoned his daily outfit, a green sweatshirt with black sweatpants. Thor was dressed similarly to John, except his blouse was a navy blue. And his short blonde hair was styled in a fringe, not different to the way he wears it at school.
Leonardo was wearing a summery cyan t-shirt and some basic jeans. His blonde hair was like it always was, in a typical Scandinavian middle part. He did a great job at blending in with the republicans, like usual.
And Ethan was looking effortlessly amazing in the outfit he always wears. A white T-shirt and black pants. Ahhh, if only he were gay. And liberal. Oh, the dream. But that wouldn’t be possible, unless he was…hmm, maybe, a spy sent by Camilla Heirs, the principal at the rivaling school All-Accepting Academy.
Mac, Ethan, John, Leon, Leonardo, Thor, and Shaun walked up to Socratées’ house, the music getting louder as they came closer. Thankfully, it truly wasn’t that loud when they got inside.
Flashing lights of blue and red shone over the slightly crowded rooms as they entered. The guys had already agreed to not split up at the party, but it was shown to be a bit difficult with such similar looking people in a confined space. And the disco lights weren’t much help.
Then out of the crowd stepped the host, Socratées McHouse Aristotles. Her long Asian hair looked colored from the lighting, but Mac knew it wasn’t. That was because colored hair was forbidden at All-Republican High. Principal Bonald Frump deemed it ‘too gay’. And as an Asian, Socratées had no wiggle room from the rules.
All-Republican High had a department called the ‘Identity Certainty Ensurers’, which most people shortened down to ICE. They were in charge of going through the profiles of every single person who applied for the school, and make sure the only teens who got in fit the visual requirements.
However, if a student had a positive rumor about their ‘rebublican-ness’, they could get into the school. Mac knew this from Sahara who was Latina and had went through the same thing as Socratées. Them not being white led to them being on thin ice. Pun unintended.
Sahara’s good rumor was only a charade of course. Going to Frump rallies, passing out MAGA hats and flyers on the streets, and singing for the school football games was all a part of keeping a good reputation. As for Socratées, it all being fake likely wasn’t the case. If she was putting up an act, we might as well call the whole school liberal.
“Hey! I’m so glad you could make it!” She greeted Ethan and openly ignored the rest of them. “There are drinks and pizza in the kitchen, but you guys came a little late, so it might’ve already been eaten up.” She said, only acknowledging the rest of them when pointing out their late arrival. But Mac was sure at a party like this, punctuality wasn’t a standard expectation.
“Well, I hope you enjoy yourself!” She went back to ignoring them, gave Ethan a smile, then disappeared back into the crowd just as fast as she had appeared. And all Mac could think was his hopes for there being some kebab pizza left.
Sure, Socratées friendliness towards Ethan was slightly off-putting. But Mac’s stomach was rumbling at the thought of some food, so he didn’t pay her much mind. And it seemed the other guys were thinking the same thing. “Let’s go find the pizza, or what?” Thor gleefully said and booked it for the crowd. The rest of them didn’t get time to react, so they all stormed inside following him.
The kitchen didn’t find itself far away, but it was righteously crowded. I mean, who wouldn’t want to stay with the pizza and totally legal drinks? Elbowing through the people, they all made it to the counters where the boxes of pizza were waiting. And hallelujah, there were still some kebab pizza slices left!
Mac ecstatically picked up a few slices and decided to go with a cup of Pepsi. John started laughing at him. “Big Mac’s a big back. Calm down, twink, these aren’t your Loverboy.” He smirked at Mac, wriggling his eyebrows at him. He felt thankful for the lights now which were concealing his blushing. But wait, how dare he call Mac a Big Mac®?! With any other person, Mac would’ve punched him in the face. But Mac was around two thirds of John’s hulk-like height, so he opted not to.
He turned to the rest of the guys. “So uh, what are we supposed to do now?” he yelled over the music. With no previous experience with partying, Mac was feeling somewhat lost now that he had done the one thing he knew he could; get food.
“How about we find somewhere not so crowded and chill there?” Leonardo suggested. No one seemed to have any opposing opinions, so they started looking around the house. Every room seemed to have just as many people as in the previous one, so they decided to go back to the kitchen.
Ethan left them to go talk to some other people that he knew. Meanwhile, Leon and Thor were yelling jokes over the music. “Why can’t Elsa hold a balloon!? Because she always lets it go!” “Why did the dinosaur cross the road? Because the chicken hadn’t evolved yet!” Then, Leonardo would say “Huh?!” every time so they would have to repeat themselves again. He was surprisingly good at rage baiting them. Poor Sahara, she must’ve been so sick of her boyfriend.
Mac was enjoying the entertainment of watching Thor trying to rip Leonardo’s balls apart when commotion in the nearby living room made the people in the kitchen flee to check it out. The guys shared a silent agreement to follow the crowd.
When making it to the living room, the people were flocking around an area just about in the middle of the room. Mac didn’t have a chance of catching a glimpse of what was happening there but looking at John, he knew that John had seen it. And by the way he kept looking worried at Mac, it couldn’t be good.
It almost seemed as if he was debating whether he should tell him what he was seeing. That honestly kind of worried Mac. He could hear people laughing at what was happening, so why did he look so concerned?
He decided just to ask him. “John, what’s happening over there?” he yelled. The question seemed to make him more uncertain. His eyes whipped back and forth between Mac and the crowd. Eventually he just said, “I don’t think you want to know.”
That honestly made Mac somewhat mad. What could possibly be happening that Mac didn’t want to know? John didn’t even have any freaky insinuations behind the statement, so what could possibly be happening?
In a fit of determination, he grabbed the shoulders of Shaun who was standing in front of him and used him to throw himself up in the air. He wasn’t flying near the ceiling for more than a second, but it was still plenty enough time to see what was happening.
It was still plenty enough time to see Ethan and Socratées kissing.