Chapter Text
“What the fuck, Reggie?” Luke scowled as Reggie scooted into the seat beside him. There was barely enough room for two teenage boys, let alone three.
“Sorry, guys,” Reggie said apologetically, He felt bad for crowding them, even while he squished Luke into Alex, who was squashed into the window. “Bobby kicked me out of my seat.”
They were piled on a school bus, headed to the Gant Glove Museum just outside Los Angeles. Their new principal thought it would be a special treat for the Juniors. In reality, Reggie knew he was probably the only kid on the bus who was actually interested.
“We’re meant to sit in pairs,” Alex groused. He shoved back against Luke and Reggie nearly toppled into the aisle.
“I know! But I wasn’t about to tell Bobby Wilson-Shaw to fuck off,” Reggie said. “He’d probably kill me.”
“Besides, you want Bobby to fuck on,” Luke said with a lewd grin.
Reggie’s face heated. “Shut up.” He shoved Luke farther onto the seat.
“Hey!” Alex protested as he got squished up against the window again. “Don’t kill me just because Luke knows about your stupid crush.”
The heat in Reggie’s face turned to a full-on flame. His friends were well aware of his stupid and misguided crush on Bobby Wilson-Shaw. Bobby had transferred to K. Ortega High School at the beginning of the semester. Within days he’d established himself as a force to be reckoned with on the swim team, and within weeks he’d become the school’s most unobtainable crush. He was tall, dark and handsome, with a swimmer’s lean body and an aura of mystery no one could solve.
Reggie hated the fact he’d fallen in with the masses and had fallen so hard for Bobby, especially as Bobby didn’t really like him. They’d exchanged maybe five sentences since September, all of which involved Bobby telling Reggie to give him a pen, get out of his seat or get out of his way.
Not that had stopped Reggie from sitting on the bleachers by their school’s pool when Bobby’s team was swimming.
“Shut up,” Reggie said again. He sat up just enough so he could see Bobby three seats ahead. Bobby was sitting sideways in the seat, his long legs stretched into the aisle. His eyes were closed and he had his earbuds in. He looked really comfortable. And really kissable.
Reggie was hopeless.
“You’re hopeless,” Luke said. “Bobby totally bullies you and you love it.”
“He doesn’t bully me!” Reggie argued. “He just… needs a lot of pens.”
“And your seat?” Alex looked at him flatly. “Reggie, he’s always up in your face and you’ve barely even spoken to him!”
“He barely speaks to anybody!” Reggie defended Bobby. It was true. Bobby wasn’t known for his chattiness. “He probably doesn’t know how to be polite.”
Alex’s flat look got even flatter. “'He doesn’t know how to be polite. Really.”
“He’s bullying you, and you’re totally into it!” Luke said gleefully. “Kink unlocked.”
“I’m not into him!” Reggie glared at Luke. “Will you quit saying that?”
Luke grinned, unrepentant. “No.”
Reggie smacked his shoulder, and Luke smacked him back, making Reggie shove him and Alex squawk loudly and shove Luke, which caused Luke to slam into Reggie and Reggie to land in the aisle.
“Mr. Peters!” Mrs. Harrison bellowed from the front of the bus, “will you please sit down?”
Reggie scrambled back into his seat. His gaze flashed over to Bobby against his will.
Bobby was looking at him, the expression unreadable in his dark eyes. Reggie smiled. Bobby… didn’t.
Reggie sunk down into his seat. “I don’t have a crush on Bobby,” he muttered. He really wished it was true.
Luke was so bored he thought he’d die.
Like, actually die. His brain was going to literally implode from the boredom. He could feel his braincells glomming together with the pressure of how bored he was. Any moment now his skull was going to cave in and he’d be dead.
Alex frowned at him. “Stop it.”
“Stop what?” Luke stood on his tiptoes, trying to see anything more interesting than the crusty-ass gloves the museum guide was droning on about. All he could see were other kids, looking as bored as he was.
“Stop planning your escape,” Alex said. “You know Mrs. Harrison will kill you if you take off.”
“Only if she catches me.” Luke grinned. He hadn’t really been thinking about leaving, but now Alex mentioned it, it wasn’t a bad idea. He craned his neck, looking for an exit.
“Sh!” Reggie waved at him and Alex to be quiet. His eyes were still pinned on their guide. “This shit’s interesting!”
“She’s talking about gloves.” Alex rolled his eyes.
Reggie gave him a withering look. “We’re in a glove museum. Duh.”
“I’m going to kill him,” Alex muttered.
“Let Bobby do it,” Luke said as he looked around.
There was a gorgeous girl looking back at him, with big, dark eyes and a mound of soft black curls cascading down past her shoulders. She grinned at him, flirty and inviting all at once. There was an adorable gap between her front teeth. Luke’s heart pounded. “I’m in love.”
Alex followed his gaze. “With who? Not one of the Los Feliz rich kids!”
“She’s from Los Feliz?” Luke said, never taking his eyes from the girl. She bit her lip, then dropped her gaze before looking at him again. He felt like he’d been punched in the solar plexus hard enough to stop his heart. “I have to meet her.” He started moving before he’d even finished his sentence, ignoring Alex’s protest behind him.
He slid up beside her and grinned, before immediately realizing he had no idea what to say. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she said back. Her brown eyes twinkled.
“So, um, you’re from Los Feliz? I mean, duh, of course you are! It’s not like you’re from my school…” He winced.
She giggled and he grinned back, relieved she hadn’t just walked away at how awkward he was. “Yes, I’m from Los Feliz. I’m guessing you’re from K. Ortega?”
Luke nodded. “This is meant to be a “special treat” for the juniors—" He made air quotes around the words. “—because we’re not getting a semi-formal this year. Can you believe it?”
“That’s so bogus!” she said vehemently, and Luke appreciated her appropriate use of nineties slang. “Who’d want to look at crusty-ass gloves when they could be dancing?”
Luke’s eyes widened at her words. They were definitely soulmates. “That’s what I thought!”
Julie nodded. “Dancing and music. There’s nothing else as important as that. Well, except for family. Amirite?”
“So right,” Luke breathed. “Music is… It’s like an energy! It connects people together.”
Her gaze held his, impressed. “You’re a musician.”
He was a musician, but her saying it while looking at him like that made him feel seen in a way he couldn’t describe. He nodded, blushing.
Her whole face lit up, like a spotlight on a stage. “What do you play?”
“I’m lead guitar and vocals for our band,” he said, a little shy but mostly proud. “Sunset Curve.” Then he remembered what kind of private school Los Feliz was. “Are you a musician, too?”
“Oh yeah!” She nodded. “I write music and I can sing.”
“You write music?” His heart fluttered with excitement. This beautiful girl wrote music! She was totally perfect. “I write music!”
She looked over to the museum guide, who was still blabbing about gloves, then patted the fanny pack she was wearing around her waist, very similar to the one Alex had. “I have my notebook and a pen in my bag. I think we should get out of here and go write some music. What do you think?”
It was honestly the best idea he’d ever heard. Ever. “Let’s go!”
She giggled and grabbed his hand and it was like sticking his fingers into the sweetest electrical socket he could imagine. His pulse leapt and he giggled. Actually giggled to be holding her hand. They snuck around the back of the crowd, across the foyer and over to the bank of elevators. There were only two, and they looked as old and decrepit as the rest of the museum.
She hit the button going up. “I bet there’s a quiet spot on the top floor.”
Luke couldn’t believe how lucky he was. The prettiest girl he’d ever seen wanted to write music with him? Maybe he really had died from boredom and now he was in heaven. “I bet,” he echoed.
The elevator arrived. The girl grinned at him and Luke’s heart nearly burst from happiness. He followed her inside.
Alex was not amused.
Luke had fucking left, exactly like Alex had told him not to do. Mrs. Harrison was going to give him detention for a month.
Not that Alex could blame him though. The museum guide was really boring. He was actually impressed with how she was able talk that much with zero inflection in her voice. Okay, he was less impressed and more ready to spork his eyes out. But he was mostly annoyed that Luke had left him standing there with Reggie.
Because Reggie was totally into it. He’d even moved closer to the guide, so he could hear every un-scintillating word that came out of her mouth. Alex couldn’t understand how Reggie found any of this interesting, but maybe it was like how much Reggie loved country music. Or Star Wars. Or math. Reggie’s mind could be a confusing and scary place.
Alex did a slow turn to see if he could spot Luke anywhere, but he couldn’t see him. What he could see was a Los Feliz student who was standing by the back wall, looking far too casual to not be up to something.
Alex blinked. The guy was gorgeous, with long brown hair and a lean, fit body like a martial artist or a gymnast. He must have caught Alex staring, because suddenly Alex’s gaze was caught by the guy’s dark eyes. He bit his bottom lip in a blatantly flirty gesture and winked.
Alex looked around, trying to see who the guy was flirting with. He was the only one who was facing the back wall. He looked back at the guy, who was now laughing at him.
Alex blushed and crossed his arms, embarrassed for being caught acting like a dork. He thought about turning back around, but he couldn’t stop himself from looking at the guy again.
The guy was still hot as fuck, and still grinning at him. He made a “come here,” gesture with one hand.
Alex swallowed, unsure what he should do. He really wanted to talk to the hot guy, but Mrs. Harrison hated it when her students disappeared on field trips, and he really didn’t want to get in trouble. He glanced at Reggie, but his friend was still engrossed with the lecture on fingerless gloves or whatever.
The hot guy made a comical face at him, and then beckoned him again.
Alex chuckled. He stuck his hands in his jeans pockets and meandered over, like it was just an accident.
“Hey handsome,” the guy said.
Alex nearly choked on his tongue. This incredibly hot guy thought he was handsome? “Um, hi?”
“You’re from K. Ortega, huh?” His smile was the sexiest thing Alex had ever seen.
Alex nodded. “You go to Los Feliz?”
“Yup. For art mostly, but I can play violin. What’s your name?”
“Alex.”
“Alex,” the guy repeated like it tasted good. Alex blushed. “My name’s Willie.”
“Hi, Willie,” Alex said inanely. Inwardly he cursed himself for sounding so stupid. How did Luke make it seem so effortless?
“Are you bored, Alex?” Willie asked, making even that question sound flirty as fuck. “Because I’m really bored.”
“Yeah, I’m bored.” Alex’s eyes were glued to Willie’s lips. The guy was incredibly good-looking.
“I think we should make the boredom go away.” Willie gestured at a red box on the wall with the side of his head. “What do you think?”
Alex tore his eyes away from Willie’s mouth to focus on what Willie was pointing at. “Is that… the fire alarm?”
“Yup.” Willie grinned widely. “And as soon as I pull that, we’re gonna take off for the roof!”
“Wait, what?” Alex asked just as Willie pulled the alarm.
The room was immediately filled with the shrill and repetitive shriek of the alarm. Willie grabbed his wrist and started running. “Come on!”
Alex ran, his heart pounding in his chest in a strange combination of excitement and fear. Willie dragged him down a short hallway and through a door that led to a flight of stairs. He headed upwards, Alex on his heels.
“Why are we going to the roof?” Alex panted. He was in pretty good shape: he was on the school track team after all, and drumming took a lot of stamina. But he didn’t really run up stairs like this.
Willie grinned down at him, his eyes sparkling. “I hear the view is incredible!”
“Okay everyone, outside,” Mrs. Harrison called, sounding more irritated than concerned.
Reggie sighed and turned to follow his classmates out. Alex and Luke were nowhere to be seen, of course. Those guys wouldn’t know something interesting if it hit them in the face.
It was so annoying that someone had pulled the alarm. For sure it was a student, and probably some shithead from K. Ortega. Reggie looked longingly at the students from Los Feliz, who were now clustered together headed towards the exit. Los Feliz students wouldn’t’ve pulled the alarm. They knew interesting shit when they heard it.
“Reggie.”
Reggie whipped his head around at the sound of his name.
It was Bobby, looking vaguely angry like usual. Reggie’s throat immediately went dry from a combination of attraction and fear. “Bobby?”
“Let’s get the fuck outta here,” Bobby said.
The dryness in his throat had now invaded his mouth. “What?” he managed to choke out.
“We’re leaving.” Bobby curled his fingers through a beltloop on Reggie’s jeans and started walking. The boy he’d had a crush on for months was touching him and Reggie’s brain bluescreened. It didn’t even occur to him to not let Bobby hustle him through the crowd of students and out into the warm October sun. All he was aware of was the press of Bobby’s knuckles on his waist. Bobby shook his hair out of his face, the thick black strands shining in the sunlight. He propelled Reggie down the sidewalk. “We’re going to McDonald’s.”
Reggie made an inarticulate noise. His brain was slowly coming back online. Bobby didn’t like him. Why was he taking him to McDonald’s? To murder him? Did people get murdered in McDonald’s? It looked like he was going to find out.
There was a McDonald’s a couple blocks away from the museum. They went through the doors and to the seating area. Bobby took his fingers out of Reggie’s beltloops and shoved him gently. Reggie fell onto the bench seat, eyes wide.
“What’d you want?” Bobby asked, still scowling like Reggie needed to die.
Reggie froze like a deer in headlights. Bobby wanted to buy him food? Was this part of the pre-death ritual? “Ung,” he said.
Bobby rolled his eyes. “I’ll grab you something.” He went up to the counter.
Reggie sat there, stunned. Bobby, who hated him, had just dragged him to McDonald’s to buy him food? There was no way any of it made any sense. “Should I run?” he asked himself under his breath. “I should probably run,” he agreed. He didn’t move.
He watched Bobby through his lashes. Bobby was so attractive. He had a swimmers build, with wide shoulders, a strong back and a tapered waist, and that, plus his dark good looks was what had everyone in school buzzing. But Reggie knew it was more than that for him. There was something about Bobby, something soft and vulnerable under the hard exterior that Reggie really, really liked.
Or maybe he did just have a kink for being bullied, like Luke said.
Bobby came back to the table holding a tray with two burgers, two milkshakes and two orders of fries. “I got you chocolate.” He plonked the tray on the table.
“I love chocolate,” Reggie said.
“Thought you might.” Bobby took his burger out of its wrapper and took a bite, chewing violently.
Reggie swallowed again. He took a sip of his shake, hoping it would moisten his desiccated mouth. It was sweet and chocolaty, just like he remembered. He licked his lips, sighing in contentment.
Bobby was watching him, dark eyes piercing.
Reggie gulped. “Thank you?” he said quickly, realizing he'd forgotten to say it, which was probably the reason Bobby was looking at him like that.
“Welcome,” Bobby muttered. He took another bite.
Reggie ate a French fry even though his stomach was suddenly full of lead. Was buying him food another form of bullying he didn’t know about? Was it easier to beat someone up if they were sluggish from too much Micky Ds?
He wished he knew what Bobby wanted from him.
“I’ve had this tune going around in my head for forever! I can hardly wait to show it to you.” Julie pressed the button for the top floor.
“That’d be awesome!” Luke smiled at her. Everything about her, from the corkscrew curls cascading past her shoulders to the purple Converse on her feet, made him happy. He couldn’t stop smiling.
“You’re into rock, right? Duh, of course you are. You’re wearing a Rush shirt.” She rolled her eyes, clearly laughing at herself.
“I love Rush!” Luke rubbed his shoulder, hoping it was okay with her that he wasn’t wearing any sleeves. “But I also like modern stuff, too. Like—”
The elevator shuddered to a halt.
He and the girl stared at each other. “Why’d we stop?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Luke said, but now he could hear it, the muted sound of a fire alarm. “Do you hear that?”
“Sounds like a fire alarm,” she said, confirming his suspicions. She frowned, a cute downward turn of her lips. “So, why aren’t we going back to the ground floor?”
Luke pounded on the top floor button, but nothing happened. “Huh?”
“Elevators are meant to automatically return to the ground floor when a fire alarm goes off,” she explained. “I don’t know why it’s not working.”
“Probably because this building is hella old.” Luke pressed the ground floor button, but they didn’t move.
“You’re right about that. They don’t even have a phone to call the fire department.” The girl pointed to the control panel, which had a single row of buttons indicating the floors, two buttons for opening and closing the doors, a red button for an alarm, and nothing else.
Luke pressed the alarm button. It came off and fell onto the floor. He and the girl laughed. She pulled out her phone. “I’m gonna text Willie. Let him know where we are.”
Willie? Luke’s heart crashed to his stomach. Of course she had a boyfriend already. She was pretty and cool and so confident. There was no way she’d still be single. At least they could be friends, right? It’d be cool to have a girl to write music with instead of just Alex and Reggie. It’d be fun to have a different perspective. Yeah, being friends would be fine. He swallowed down his disappointment and forced himself to smile. “How long you guys been going out?”
She turned to look at him, puzzled. “Do you mean me and Willie?”
It was Luke’s turn to be puzzled. “Isn’t he your boyfriend?”
“Ew, no!” Her face crinkled cutely in disgust. “He’s my brother! He’s adopted, but still! I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Luke gave a full-body sigh of relief. “Thank God!” he exclaimed, then immediately realized he’d blown any ounce of chill he’d had. His face heated. “Sounds like a great guy,” he said, basing it entirely on the fact Willie was the girl’s brother.
The girl’s expression grew fond. “Willie is the sweetest. My parents adopted him when we were in grade six and I love him so much. So, do you have a girlfriend?” She bit her bottom lip and looked at him through her lashes.
“Not yet,” Luke grinned. He could feel it, the electric pulse of attraction, of possibility, between them. He reached out to take her hand.
The elevator’s lights went out.