Chapter Text
Ashlan and Tyler locked eyes across the room. Ashlan blushed and looked away quickly, his heart pounding in his chest (like how i pounded your mom last night)
but they were too shy to hold it. Their heart beats wildly beating against each other’s hearts,
"h-hey bro, this is kinda gay…" Ashlan stutters
"but… you didn't say no homo yet…" Tyler replies
“I-I don’t think I want to say no homo…” Ashlan stares deep into Tylers, He notices a deep yearning behind them. Without giving it much thought, Ashlan raises a hand to caress Tyler's face.
“You have no Idea how much I care about you, do you?” Ashlan whispers to a speechless Tyler, his face redder than it usually is.
“You don’t know how many nights I’ve laid awake in turmoil, trying to get over my feelings for you. Every single thought that passes through my mind is of you…” Ashlan inches closer to Tyler, his breath heavy and his eyes scanning Tyler's face as if it were the only thing in the universe. Like if he were to look away, he’d forget what it looked like.
“Before I met you, all I felt was anger and constipation. But now? I don’t feel anger anymore. I love you,Tyler”
Tyler feels his heart race and he leans in to whisper to Ashlan “I-I love you to… god… you don’t know how much I love you…”
At the peak of their romantic moment, a loud BANG echoes through the dark room of the classroom they were in. The school is closed; What happened? Why is someone here?
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU FAGGOTS DOING???" screams the groundskeeper.
Ashlan and Tylers faces flush in embarrassment and shame.
Ashlan and Tyler violently throw each other away from one another as if each others' skin burnt them.
"N-NOTHING! EW, WE AREN'T GAY!" screams Ashlan.
Tyler, hurt obviously etched on his demented features, stammers out a defensive statement shortly after his secret lover.
"U-UHH-- YEAH, EXACTLY!"
There's no real conviction behind either of their voices. But to each other, all they hear is the hurtful words rather than the guilt and longing in each others' voices.
Ashlan's expression falters for a moment, stealing a glance at Tyler's strangely chopped haircut. He looks away, not being able to bear looking at him for a second longer.
"Yeah. Even if I was, I'd never do anything with him ."
There's something real behind the way he says it. Spite? Disdain? Whatever it is, it lacks that same softness they shared in the intimate moment just prior.
The groundsman, his expression screaming that he doesn't get paid enough to watch teenage boys deny their sexuality, is still standing in the sunset-lit doorway. The light exposing their shame to the world.
"I just came here to get paid and avoid social interaction… I don't wanna watch no gay kids makin' out…" mumbles the groundsman under his breath, knowing he'll have to report this incident to the office.
Tyler glances over at Ashlan, but Ashlan refuses to make eye contact with him. Tyler feels something inside him start to crumble. Was Ashlan really so ashamed of him? It made him feel sick to his stomach, like he was going to hurl. Tyler opens his mouth to say something but Ashlan pushes past him and runs out the school gates, leaving him feeling alone and vulnerable.
The Janitor glances between the two. “What the fuck is wrong with them?” he thinks to himself. Tyler moves past him and fleds into the dead of night. Finally, the janitor can finally get back to cleaning.