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"You can do this, Janja!" Cheezi said, rubbing his shoulders like he was in a boxing match. Janja nodded, taking in quick, fast breaths, as though he was about to give birth.
He'd prefer that, actually. Was that an option? No? Too bad.
Janja looked down at the red rose he'd bought - five dollars. He'd be using it for its intended purpose for that price. He had dressed up... Well, as much as he could. He was wearing a black leather jacket, his cleanest black T-shirt, black, ripped skinny jeans, and the cleanest pair of tennis shoes that he owned. It was as dressed up as he could get.
Also, Cheezi was rubbing his shoulders in the middle of the school hallway. It looked weird. He pushed his friend away, making Cheezi pout. Then Cheezi spotted his boyfriend, Chungu, leaving his science class, and ignored Janja completely. They tended to do that, now that they were dating.
Janja sighed, and spotted Kion just leaving his own English class. Janja held the rose so tightly that, in the back of his mind, he was grateful that it was thornless. He headed for Kion...
And got barreled over by Beshte, who seemed to be on his way to Ono's next class. Janja looked up from his spot on the ground to confirm that Ono, as always, had hitched a ride on Beshte's shoulders. Janja searched for Kion, but he was long gone by now. Janja let out a groan, and thunked his head on the ground.
Janja's next chance came at lunch. He was just lucky that sophomores and freshmen ate lunch at the same time - otherwise, he'd never have this chance.
As Janja spotted Kion across the cafeteria, it was while Cheezi was trying to apologize to him for running off earlier. "It's just that we hardly ever get to spend time together during the week, so I-"
"Cheezi! I will forgive you if you leave me alone for five minutes!"
"Deal! I saw Chungu over there!" Cheezi scampered off, and Janja sighed in relief.
He walked over to Kion, smiling politely to his friends as he sat down next to Kion, as if he belonged there. They all gave him strange looks, but Kion just smiled politely at Janja.
"Hi, Janja. What brings you-"
"I have a rose for you," Janja interrupted, his cheeks burning a bright red as soon as the words fell from his lips. He reached into his backpack's side pocket, and was about to pull it out...
"Bunga!" Dogo called out, scampering over, a red rose clutched in his hands. Everyone in the cafeteria turned to watch as Dogo handed it to Bunga with a bright blush.
Bunga stared at the rose, a bright blush on his freckled cheeks. After a moment, he hesitantly accepted the rose. "Thank you..."
Everyone in the cafeteria started clapping. Janja groaned. He couldn't do it now. He would just look like he was trying to upstage Dogo, or something. "Never mind," he mumbled, gaining a confused look from Kion.
Janja's next, and final, chance, came in the last class of the day - the only class he had with Kion. Sure, he could give it to him on the bus or something, but tradition dictated that the rose be given during school.
Janja swallowed thickly. He wrote a note, and carefully wrapped it around the stem of his rose. "Get this to Kion," he whispered to Fuli. He watched as she passed it to Beshte, to passed it to Bunga, who passed to Kion. Who looked down at it in confusion, and unwrapped the note...
And got caught before he could read it. Zazu, the teacher, walked over, holding out a hand. "B-but it's a rose!" Kion argued, but he held out the note just the same.
Zazu read the note, looking at it for a moment more than was strictly necessary before handing it back to Kion. "I suppose it's fine. Because it's a rose."
Janja sighed in relief, cheeks burning. He's not sure what he'd have done if his note had been read aloud to the class. He faced the front, trying not to look back at Kion's expression for the rest of class.
"Janja?"
Kion.
Janja turned around, smiling innocently at Kion. "Yes, Kion?"
"You gave me a rose."
"Yes..."
"A red rose."
"That would be the color of the rose I gave you, yes. And red roses are for..."
"People you're dating, or want to date."
"Yep."
Silence fell between them, both with dark red cheeks.
Finally, Kion spoke. "I didn't get you a rose. I thought you'd laugh at me. B-but we can go on a date. If you want."
Janja grinned, and he stepped close. He pressed a soft kiss to Kion's cheek, then stepped back. "That sounds perfect."