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Leaf Coneybare had just lost in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, but he didn’t seem sad to be in 5th place. In fact he seemed kinda happy as he drank his apple juice. Chip Tolentino noticed this and walked over to him.
“Aren’t you sad?” Chip asked
“About what? Also, also, do you have any m&m’s left?” Leaf asked looking up at Chip.
Chip shook his head, “Just threw— I mean sold the last one to William Barfy. Anyway, aren’t you sad about losing the Bee?”
“Not really, I mean I do this for fun! Don’t...don’t you?”
“...No, I do it to please my parents” Chip said as he sat down next to Leaf.
“I used to do it for the same reason too...not exactly, I wanted to prove that I’m not dumb!” Leaf said smashing the apple juice box between his hands.
“Your not dumb, in fact you’re very smart. I’ve never met anyone who can speak Latin! I don’t even think Marcy can speak latin.”
Leaf smiled, “Really?”
“Yeah!” Chip scooted towards him, “So smart that...that I’ll give you this pack of skittles for free!”
Leaf giggled as he took the skittles, “You’re smart to Chip”
That statement made Chips heart flutter, he didn’t know why but something about Leaf made his heart soar...Perhaps they could be more then just friends.
—
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee came and went, soon it became summer. Despite what the parents thought, the contestants began to hang out with one another. They all seemed to hang out with each other, even if they were “rivals”. Between all the spelling and running in Leaf’s backyard or sleeping over at Logan’s house they all became really good friends. Especially Logan, Leaf, and Marcy. The three of them could be seen hanging out with one another multiple times. The others didn’t care, but something about that made Chip sad.
He wanted to be the one Leaf spent his time with, but he couldn’t really ask him to hang out with him without chickening out. That was until one day, when Chip went to their usual spot he only saw Leaf sitting there. Usually Olive was there first then William, Leaf, Chip, Logan, and finally Marcy. But only Leaf was there.
Chip felt his face burn as he sat beside Leaf, they began to wait for the others only to find out that no one else was going to show up. Marcy was sick, William and Olive were going a date, and Logan had speech therapy. So it was going to be him and Leaf, his heart pounded.
“Wanna get ice cream?” Leaf asked
“Huh?”
“Ice cream? It’s pretty hot here, c'mon lets go get ice cream” Leaf smiled. “I’ll pay”
*You’re hot* Chip though, he stood and nodded. “Ok, let’s get ice cream”
As they walked to their local Pinkberry, Leaf told Chip about his new hyperfiction. He wasn’t listening though, he was focusing on Leaf. On his hair, how it was messily cut. On his eyes, how it seemed to light up when he was talking. His freckles, how they moved as Leaf spoke. His lips, how soft it seemed. He wanted to kiss him.
“...Chip? Chip! Are you listening?”
“What?” Chip asked snapping back into reality, “No, sorry. What were you saying?”
“I was asking what flavor you wanted.”
*I want you*
“Shut up” Chip murmured to his brain.
Leaf looked really sad “...what?”
“N-not you! I wasn’t talking to you! My brain was just saying some dumb shit.” Chip said quickly, he wasn’t trying to be mean to Leaf. It was just happening.
Leaf sniffled and nodded, “Ok, I get that. My brain says a lot of dumb things to” He giggled
Chip was relived. “I’ll have vanilla”
“Ok! And I’ll take strawberry!” Leaf said to the ice cream vendor.
They sat outside as they ate their ice cream.
“So what did it say?”
“Hm?”
“Your brain? You said it said some dumb shit” Leaf said, he pronounced shit more softly because he doesn't really cuss.
Chips face flushed, “O-oh...Its nothing”
“Was it because of me~?” Leaf teased scooted closer to Chip, who had a slight boner.
Chip turned his head away and tried to cover his pants. “W-what? Noooooo. I was thinking about...” He scrambled to think about anything. “...p-politics? Y-yeah! Politics! H-how do you feel about the socioeconomic climate in America?”
“I think hamburgers and cheeseburgers work well with fries” Leaf said as he swung his feet.
Chip couldn’t decide if he was being serious or not.
“I was thinking about you” Leaf said ever so casually.
Chip nearly dropped his ice cream “W-what? Why me?”
Leaf turned to him and smiled “I like you, Chip Toentino. I really like you.” He turned away and blushed “I know we don’t really hang out that much anymore...but I like it when we do! Like right now!”
B*a bump* He made Chips heart soar “Y-you like hanging out with me?”
“Yep!” Leaf smiled and went back to eating his ice cream, as if he hadn’t just dropped that bomb.
“...You...You like me...more then a friend?” He whispered, half hoping he would hear it.
No such luck, “You could say so! But I like being your friend too! If you don’t like me back we could still be friends!” Leaf stopped moving suddenly, and he became quiet. “That's if...your ok with gay people.”
Chip’s heart nearly broke hearing how sad Leaf seemed, hearing him sound scared that someone would no longer want to be his friend just because of something he couldn’t change. He wanted to protect him.
And without thinking Chip grabbed Leafs face and kissed him, right there. In the middle of the mall, even if everyone is watching. Leaf was surprised but kissed him back. It didn’t matter if people judged them. They were inlove and that was enough.