Chapter Text
“I can explain,” Moritz said. His thoughts were racing in his head. He couldn’t explain anything. No one just had two bags of MDMA on their nightstand - unless they were planning on selling them.
Lisa looked at him with doubt in her eyes. “Alright. Go ahead.”
Moritz said nothing. He almost asked what she was doing here, why she’d smiled the way she had when she’d come in. She’d probably say that he wanted to distract from the issue at hand. Which would be true, but he also wanted to know why she’d come in the first place.
He was still trying to come up with an excuse when Lisa asked: “Do you know what I think?”
Did he want to know?
“No, how should I?”
“Well, I think you and Lenny presented a revolutionary online shopping system for game items at the school’s competition for young innovators. Everyone knows that didn’t go all that well. I think you didn’t lie when you told my parents the ecstasy pill they found at my place was yours. I think that you are selling drugs online on a large-scale using mytems and Dan and Lenny are in on it .”
Shit.
“I mean, that’s just…” He couldn’t think of the right word. “I mean. Lenny and me? Drug dealers? Lisa. Please.”
“Give me a better explanation for the two bags of pills next to your bed. Two bags you didn’t even try to hide when I opened the door.”
Moritz didn’t have one.
Thus, there was another person in the know.
Lenny didn’t react the way Moritz would have thought. He’d expected a strong telling off, maybe an exasperated “Moritz, how could you have been that stupid.” Instead, Lenny just sighed and said: “Let’s hope she keeps her mouth shut.”
Monday, after school, they met Dan at the computer lab to tell him about Lisa. All three sat with their backs to the 3D printer.
“You won’t tell her the truth, alright?”, Lenny said.
Moritz added: “If she asks, just say we asked you to join us.”
Daniel simply nodded. Since the incident at the stables (that’s how Moritz thought of it: the incident at the stables), he’d been quieter than before. He barely talked to anyone besides Moritz or Lenny and even they only got a few sentences a day. Daniel had also changed his jogging route. It was longer and he was taking more breaks in the middle of nowhere. (It wasn’t Moritz’s fault if Daniel still hadn’t learned to protect his data online. It wasn’t like Moritz had planted a tracker on him or anything. Daniel just posted his route on insta. It was only logical for Moritz to check it every day.) Daniel’s new pattern of behaviour was slightly worrying. It could indicate that, soon, the pressure would be too much. If that happened, it could endanger their whole operation. Moritz should talk to him.
“Hey, Lenny, is it alright if I go home with Daniel today?”, Moritz asked. He didn’t want to explain the whole thing to Lenny but he also didn’t just want to leave his best friend hanging.
Lenny shrugged. “I was planning on reconfiguring some of the printer’s settings anyway.”
Moritz gave him a thumbs up and ran after Daniel.
“How are you?”, he asked when he’d caught up. Moritz was slightly out of breath. He should maybe think about working out some more. This couldn’t be healthy.
Daniel shot him a confused look. “I mean, apart from the fact that I’m being blackmailed and watched Buba blow his own brains out, I’m fine. How about you?”
Moritz laughed sheepishly. “I’m not sure I’d really call it ‘blackmail’...”
“Whatever”, Daniel said and picked up his pace.
Moritz still didn’t know why his behaviour had changed. The reason for the new route was obvious. But why was it longer? And why was he taking more and longer breaks? He couldn’t let Daniel go just yet. Moritz could feel his heartbeat everywhere in his body. He was spectacularly out of shape.
“And there really isn’t anything else going on?”
Daniel had an annoyed look in his eyes when he said: “You’d definitely be the first person I’d go to with my personal problems.”
Sarcasm. Moritz needed a new plan of attack. Humour seemed to be a good idea.
“Honestly, I can’t imagine the son of a z-list-celebrity really has anything to worry about.”
One second, Moritz was walking next to Daniel. The next, he found himself pressed against the wall, feet slightly lifted off the ground. They were at eye level, Daniel’s breath was warm on his face. So that’s what doing capoeira gets you , Moritz thought.
“You know nothing about my life,” Daniel hissed. Moritz swallowed. His mouth was dry. He’d obviously known Dan was strong - after all, he’d seen his sixpack. Considering his fitness regime, it would have been more surprising if Dan hadn’t been strong. Still, Moritz would never have expected to experience that strength firsthand. Yet here he was, feet dangling in the air, held up by Dan’s hands in his sweater and Dan’s hips against his.
“You think you’re so smart-”
Steps. Heels on the linoleum floor. Daniel was hearing them too, he fell silent and listened. Mrs Krause came around the corner of the corridor. When she saw the boys, she stopped and asked: “Everything alright?”
Her worried look mostly fell on Moritz.
Daniel and Moritz exchanged a look. For once, Moritz didn’t have to lift his gaze to meet those blue eyes.
“Well,” Moritz said hoarsely. He cleared his throat. “Well, uh…. Yeah, everything's great.”
Daniel nodded. “Yeah, we were just…”
Frau Krause’s frown disappeared and she flashed them a conspicuous smile. “Alright then, don’t let me keep you, boys.”
She left. Moritz and Daniel looked after her until she had rounded the corner. They both exhaled with relief. Moritz noticed that Daniel’s hip was still pressed against his. They were looking at each other. Moritz had no idea when they had started breathing in unison. Suddenly, the warm weight on his body was gone and Daniel was slowly setting Moritz down.
“You don’t know everything about me just because you happen to be blackmailing me, alright?”, he eventually said. He didn’t sound angry anymore, just tired.
Moritz nodded. He was hot, uncomfortably so. His mouth was still dry and to top it all off, he was feeling slightly dizzy. He’d probably caught some sort of bug that was going around the school.
“Okay. Good,” Daniel said. He laughed and sheepishly rubbed his neck. “Sorry, didn’t mean to get physical.”
“It’s alright.” The sound of Moritz’s voice was pathetic. He felt pathetic, as if he’d just been on five consecutive roller coaster rides but was also about to give the most important presentation of his life. He was sweaty, the dizziness was still there and a hint of nausea was creeping up on him.
Daniel was looking him up and down. Moritz was getting more sweaty with every passing second. “Alright. See you later?”
Moritz nodded. “Yeah. Later.”
When Daniel was gone, Moritz slid down to the floor and let his head bang against the wall.