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A well trained sniper had to keep a watchful eye over his surroundings. Anything, anyone, could be a threat. A once peaceful scene could become dangerous at the pull of a trigger.
Stanley Snyder was not quite yet a trained sniper, but the same rules still applied for the high school cafeteria. His perch, a metal table on a raised section of the lunchroom, provided him the perfect angle to survey his peers.
Particularly, a silver haired boy sitting alone, hunched over his lunch and a thick book. After every few bites of a homemade sandwich, the boy would flick through the pages and mumble to himself. The boy wore all black, save for a purple tie he tended to have tight around his neck. It made him look more suited for an office rather than the 12th grade. His attire, haircut, and odd mannerisms made him an easy target. It was a usual part of Stanley’s day to watch and keep track of anyone trying to bother his childhood friend.
Watching was about all he could do, for now. Talking with, or even coming near Xeno, was now strictly off limits. His friend, were they still friends? Had very clearly told him that he needed to stay away. So, Stanley stuck to surveillance. Noting who tended to bother the kid while he passed through the halls.
“What do you think Stan?” The girl sitting next to him at the lunch table leaned against Stanley’s arm.
“Uh, mhm yeah.” He hadn’t heard a word she was saying before. Agreeing with whatever she said was probably fine.
“Nooo Stan~” the girl giggled and clung to his arm. “You’re not listening! I asked you what you think the theme for senior prom is gonna be! I think it’s gotta be decades. Like wouldn’t 80s be super cute? I wanna tease my hair and stuff.”
Stanley could not care less about the theme for senior prom. Anna, the captain of the girls volleyball team and the one who had decided she was his girlfriend, was a nice enough girl. He didn’t mind spending time with her at school, and she’d let him borrow her chapstick. It helped him maintain a sense of authority as well. The two most popular seniors dating made sense to people, and added to the respect Stanley had already gained as star of the football team and with his early acceptance into Westpoint.
Xeno, on the other hand, was probably on the school’s number one outcast. The kid had never gotten a break from jocks who picked on guys like him as a hobby. Even other “nerds” at school hated Xeno for his perfect GPA. Teachers weren’t too fond of him either. He found their classes a “waste of time” and instead worked on his own projects that often disrupted the rest of the class. Just last week the entire school had to be evacuated due to another explosion Xeno had caused in the school’s science lab.
To Stanley, he was the most interesting thing at this boring-ass school. Xeno knew more about science than anyone. He actually cared about things that mattered. Not who was dating who or whatever the theme for senior prom was going to be.
It was just a few months until graduation, and then the two of them were out of there. They’d never look back and certainly never talk to any of these people again.
He wondered if Xeno would ever talk to him again.
After Xeno had finished yelling at him, he felt like the scum of the earth. The only person he had ever loved, other than his mother, hated him. He said as much.
“I fucking hate you Stanley Snyder!”
It rang in his head over and over and over. I fucking hate you. Stanley hated himself too.
It had been just after summer break ended. Stanley had been gone the whole summer visiting relatives in another state and attending a JROTC bootcamp. He had tried to stay in touch with Xeno, but service was spotty and he didn’t want to run up the phone bill. When they could talk to each other, Xeno updated him on the projects he was working on and the internship he had got with NASA. Apart from it being the most time they had ever spent away from each other, everything seemed totally fine.
When school was back in session, Stanley was at Xeno’s side as always. Spending long hours with him in the school library or Xeno’s lab, assisting him with building all sorts of things. It couldn’t have been more than a few weeks into the semester, it was still blazing hot outside, when Xeno’s anger suddenly exploded.
“I don’t need your pity!” Xeno had erupted. The entire contents of his backpack were spilled on the ground around him. His normally quaffed hair was drenched in a sticky mess of soda and ice. Stanley unfortunately hadn’t seen who did it, but Xeno was once again a victim of the cruelty of high schoolers.
“Get the hell away from me!” He pushed at Stanley with what must have been all of his strength.
“Xe, let me help you…” Stanley had said carefully. He picked up one of Xeno’s textbooks.
“No! I’ve had enough of you ‘helping me’. You need to leave me alone. I don’t need you or anyone!”
“Xeno…” He reached towards his childhood friend. Xeno slapped his hand away.
“I fucking hate you, Stanley Snyder!”
A shot straight to the heart.
From then on, when Xeno passed him in the hallway he deliberately looked the other way. Even when Stanley tried to talk to him, he’d refuse to listen.
“I promise I won’t intervene anymore, Xeno, please…” he was the only person who could make Stanley this desperate. “Could you just stop avoiding me?”
Xeno wouldn’t respond.
By November, Stanley had retreated. Maybe he really did just need some space. He tried to live as normal of a high school life as he could. Kept up with football, maintained his grades, let Anna call him her boyfriend. It was just to pass the time until Xeno talked to him again. Christmas came and went, and spring semester started without him.
The bell rang. The cafeteria was a flurry of students preparing to go back to classes. Stanley watched as Xeno strode across the lunchroom, nose still in his book. Someone shoulder checked him, hard, causing the book to tumble out of his hands and on to the ground where it was trampled by several people. Stanley flinched. How much longer would he have to endure this? His heart ached when he saw Xeno’s face twist into anger. The silver haired boy picked up his book and stomped off to his next class.
“Ma, I’m home.” Stanley called out as he closed the door behind him. He threw his backpack on the kitchen table and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek.
“Hey Stan, how was practice?” His mother hadn’t been home much longer than him, just finishing a shift at the hospital where she was a nurse. She looked tired.
“S’fine” he mumbled, searching through the fridge for anything he could throw in the microwave.
“Hey you know who I was thinking about?” Said his mother. “Xeno! You haven’t brought him up in a while, you still go over to his place sometimes?”
Stanley was silent.
“Did something happen between you two…?” Stanley hated to make his mother worry. “You two were best friends… it’d be a shame—“
“It’s fine ma,” he assured her with a smile. “He’s just really busy with this internship he’s got. That’s all.”
He hated lying to her too. Nowadays all he was doing was things he hated.
“I gotta do some homework, so I’ll eat in my room if that’s ok?” At least that wasn’t a lie.
“Sure honey, don’t stay up too late.”
Morning practice finished and Stanley headed to the showers. He stayed under the lukewarm water longer than usual, savoring the bit of alone time he could have without the rowdiness of the rest of his team. He toweled off and got dressed, applying a layer of peach flavored chapstick Anna had lent him. The boys on his team knew better than to comment on his habit of lip moisturizing.
There was a commotion out in the hall. Stanley ignored it. Probably someone asking their crush to prom.
“Stan!” One of his teammates called. Stanley was lacing up his shoes.
“Stan you gotta see this.” The kid approached him sitting on the locker room bench.
“Yeah give me a sec.” Stanley took his time.
“No Stan seriously.” His teammate pulled at his shoulder. Stanley shook him off. “Stan, it’s Xeno.”
He lifted his head to look at the other teen. The look on his face was sullen. Stanley’s heart rate spiked. He pulled on his backpack and rushed out to the hall.
A crowd had congregated down the hall near the senior lockers. The students that made up the crowd were whispering, though Stanley couldn’t make out what they were saying. He had a few inches on most of his peers, so he could easily see over their heads to what they were gathered around.
Xeno.
The boy was on his knees on the floor. He looked up at his locker.
It looked like the lock had been broken open. Scrawled on the surface in red paint were six, uppercase letters.
Rage burned up in Stanley. He pushed past the people standing closest to him and grasped Xeno firmly by the arm.
“Get up.” He said roughly. He had to get Xeno out of there. His childhood friend craned his neck to look up at him. His face, normally scowling, was stiff with shock. Stanley realized how small he was and loosened his grip as to not hurt him.
“They… destroyed everything in there.” Xeno’s voice was shaking. “All my notes, the stuff I hadn’t digitized yet…”
The locker hung slightly open on its hinges, Stanley could see that the inside was dark and covered in what might have been ashes. How the hell did they do this without the fire alarm going off?
He pulled Xeno up to stand. “C’mon Xeno let’s go.”
Xeno took a shaky step towards the locker, trying to grab at a smoldering pile of papers. “All the blueprints… I was an idiot to store them here…” he mumbled. An ember singed his hand and he brought it back with a hiss.
The voices of the crowd were getting louder. A few people began snickering. Stanley pulled at Xeno again. “Xeno let’s get out of here.”
“Oh what an unfortunate accident, Wingfield!” A mocking voice came from behind Stanley and Xeno. Stanley spun to face the kid who spent the most time terrorizing his friend. He was a nobody, but he carried enough influence for a few lackeys to follow him around and do his bidding. Stanley narrowed his eyes at him.
“You really should take better care of your things. Paper is just so flammable.” The kid flicked open a lighter and held it out tauntingly.
“FUCK you.” Xeno growled. He wriggled out of Stanley’s loose grasp around his upper arm and lunged towards his tormentor.
Stanley tensed up. Xeno had been clear about being left alone. He didn’t want Stanley’s help anymore. But this kid was almost as tall as Stanley, and his time on the wrestling team made him almost as muscular.
The bully caught Xeno easily by the shoulders and pushed him back. Xeno stumbled.
Stanley straightened up. He could probably just pick up Xeno and get out of there. But the way this asshole was eyeing him really pissed him off.
“Careful, Wingfield. Your guard dog is getting all worked up,” the asshole laughed. “Or wait, is he your boyfriend? Fa—“
Stanley’s fist collided with the side of the fucker’s head.
The hallway erupted in cheers and screams. The crowd scattered. Someone called out “Fight!”
It was too one sided to be a fight. Stanley had knocked him to the ground. He straddled his chest and drove his fist into his stupid face again and again. There was a satisfying crunching sound as he hit the kid’s nose.
It took a teacher and three other boys on the football team to pull Stanley off of him. His knuckles, shaking, were covered in blood.
Suspension. His mother had talked the principal down from expulsion. What was done to Xeno’s locker was enough proof that the other party was in the wrong.
In the parking lot, his mother leaned against her car and sighed.
“Stan…”
“I’m sorry, ma.” Was all he could say. He was sorry that she had to leave work for this. He was sorry to make her worry again. He was sorry he didn’t do more than break that fucker’s nose.
His mother reached up and cupped her son’s face with her hand. “Stan, I know you’re a good boy. You’re loyal. I know you were protecting him… but you… I mean god, you could have killed him…”
He held his mother’s hand against his cheek and closed his eyes. He didn’t want to see the tear roll down her face. “I’m really sorry, ma. It won’t happen again.”
She dropped him off at home. He sat on the porch and smoked, thinking about the pain on Xeno’s face. He was always good about ignoring what other people thought of him, especially those he considered ‘lowly and inelegant.’ What he treasured more than anything else, was every bit of scientific work he poured himself into. Everything Xeno stored in his locker was reduced to ash.
When he returned to school. More people than usual gave him a wide berth in the halls. They would put their heads down and walk faster to get away from him. Good, Stanley was glad they were scared.
His friends lauded him as a hero. They clapped him on the back and cheered when he arrived at their usual lunch table.
“Atta boy Stan!” One of his male friends celebrated. “You beat the shit out of that loser!”
“I can’t believe they burned everything in poor Xeno’s locker,” Anna held Stanley’s hand in a move to comfort him. “And what they wrote on the outside…that was just awful”
Stanley’s attention was on Xeno across the room again. He had broken his promise. For sure Xeno would never ever talk to him. The young scientist looked smaller than ever curled over his usual book. Stanley wanted to die.
The bell rang. Stanley stood and slung his backpack over one shoulder. Anna squeezed his hand before breaking away and heading in the direction of her next class. For Stanley, he needed to head toward the south stairwell. He navigated through the crowd and made it out to the hallway.
He was waiting for him, arms crossed. Xeno’s purple tie was pulled tight against his throat as always.
“Stan.” He acknowledged. Stanley’s heart leapt at the sound of his name coming from Xeno.
“Xeno.” He replied. He looked down at the boy, savoring the eye contact.
Xeno looked up at Stanley. The next words that came out of his mouth were the best thing he’d ever heard.
“I need you, Stan”
He needed him. Xeno needed him. Stanley needed Xeno to need him.
“N-need me for what...?” Xeno was the only one who could make Stanley break his typical, stoic demeanor.
“Heh.” Xeno smiled and looked around suspiciously. “Just come to the lab after school.”
The lab was run out of the shed in Xeno’s family’s backyard. Going there was part of their daily routine, before Xeno stopped talking to him. All of Stanley’s best memories were inside that shed, at Xeno’s side.
“I’ve got practice…” Which was sort of an excuse. The happiness of finally talking with him struggled against the rationality of being upset that Xeno had neglected him for so long.
“After that then,” Xeno suggested. “See you.” He walked past Stanley and disappeared into the crowd of the hallway.
Stanley took his motorcycle straight from football practice to Xeno’s place. He parked next to the front lawn. It didn’t look like Xeno’s parents were home. They had never liked Stanely. He was pretty sure they didn’t like Xeno either, with the amount of time they spent neglecting their son. He pulled his carton of cigarettes out of his pocket, knocked one out and lit it. He took a slow drag and looked across the lawn to the shed Xeno used as his lab. Next to the door was an old stool. Atop it sat an ashtray, an accommodation for Stanely that Xeno kept despite their fight. He put his cigarette out, and pulled open the wooden door that squeaked loudly with age.
“Xeno.” Now that he was finally alone with him, he felt himself coming apart. He needed his attention.
Xeno was seated at a lab bench, safety goggles on to protect from the debris that flew off a metal object he was drilling. A green liquid bubbled in a large flask next to him. He was spotlighted by the lamp hanging from the ceiling. The young scientist looked up.
“Stan, there you are.” He smiled. That smile was Stanley’s and Stanley’s alone.
Stanley hurried to his side. “Xeno.” He said again.
Xeno looked at him, eyebrow raised. “What is it, Stan?”
“Do you… still hate me?” He probably had the hugest puppy-dog eyes on. He couldn’t help it, with Xeno.
“Hm,” Xeno exhaled. Stanley’s heart was pounding. “No, I don’t hate you. I never hated you.”
Stanley was overwhelmed. He threw himself forward and scooped up the smaller boy into a crushing hug. He buried his face into Xeno’s shoulder and held it there.
“Ugh, Stan!” Xeno squirmed. “Unhand me!”
“No.” Stanley squeezed him tighter.
Xeno let out a long sigh. His body relaxed and he brought his arms up against Stanley’s back to return the hug.
“It was… a momentary lapse of judgment. Not very elegant… forgive me.”
“Yes.” Stanley nuzzled into Xeno’s shoulder. “You’re so dramatic, Xeno”
“Heh, maybe so. Alright, seriously, let go.” Xeno tried to push him off. Stanley, begrudgingly, obeyed and let him go.
Xeno cleared his workstation of the project he was working on. “So like I said earlier, I need your help Stan.”
Stanley wanted to hear it a million times. “Ok. What do you need help with?”
“Revenge.” A dubious smile turned up Xeno’s lips.
Perfect. That kid had got off way too easy.
“We should kill him.” Stanley suggested.
“Hrm. I was thinking of a deadly neurotoxin…” Xeno considered. Good, they were on the same page. Stanley would rather do it with his own hands, though. “No, we can’t kill him. We can’t get arrested again. NASA would revoke my internship, and you’d get your Westpoint admission rescinded.”
Stanley grumbled. Xeno, as always, was right. The railgun they made together when they were younger, and eventually got in trouble for, was a minor enough offense that it was scrubbed from their records. Killing someone would probably ruin both their futures. Stanley still wanted to kill him.
“Hm,” Xeno tapped his fingers on the table as he thought. Stanley took a seat next to him. “Public humiliation seems like our next best option.”
“I guess so,” said Stanley with a shrug. Maiming at the very least would be more fun. “Like what?”
“Tell me, Stan, how familiar are you with chemical warfare?”
Xeno went over his plan, which was intended to incapacitate their victim rather than kill him. To ensure the right dosage was administered, and limit the possibility of anyone else getting hurt, they would have to use something akin to a tranquilizer gun.
“It would have to be very precise… and small enough to not be noticed.” Explained Xeno while he wrote schematics for the device out on a paper in between the two of them. Stanley loved watching his mind work. “Can you do it, Stan?”
“I can.” Stanley replied. Of course he could.
“I’ll need some time to order all the parts, but I think it can be ready…” Xeno ran his finger across a wall calendar, “two weeks from now..”
Two weeks from now would be… “Aw, crap…” Stanley realized.
“What?” Xeno looked annoyed
“I can’t do… two weeks from now…” he muttered.
“What?! What do you have going on that’s more important than our revenge plot?” Stanley liked that it was their revenge plot.
“Uh…” he sighed, “I told Anna I’d take her to prom…”
“Prom?” Xeno threw Stanley an incredulous look “Who the hell is Anna?”
“Ugh um,” he didn’t want to say it. Not to Xeno. He turned away from his best friend, hid his face. “My… girl…”
Xeno burst out laughing. “Girlfriend? Ohhh! That girl you’re with all the time. Girlfriend, huh? Hahaha that poor girl.”
Anna was just someone he allowed to hang around him to fill the void that Xeno left. He did feel bad that he was sort of leading her on. They hadn’t kissed or anything, but he never told her to stop holding his hand or clinging to him.
“Prom huh…” Xeno was thinking. “Yes, actually that might be perfect…”
Stanley wasn’t sure what Xeno was scheming.
“Stan, I’ll go to prom with you too.”
“Stan you look so handsome!” Anna stood on tiptoe to plant a kiss on his cheek. “What do you think of my dress?”
“Yup, looks good.” Stanley didn’t know anything about dresses. The color was nice. Xeno snickered.
They loaded into Anna’s car. Stanley took shotgun. “Thanks for giving Xeno a ride, too.”
“Oh no problem! I’m so glad you two are friends again,” Anna smiled at Xeno in the back seat. He glared back at her.
“Yes, we are best friends. We’ve known each other since we were kids, did you know that?” His eyes continued to shoot daggers at her through the rearview mirror.
“Aw I didn’t know! You never told me that Stan…” she placed a hand on Stanley’s knee.
“Hmph, Stanley tells me everything.” The young scientist huffed. Anna laughed nervously, not knowing what to make of him.
“Cool it, Xe,” Stanley did think it was cute that Xeno was jealous. It would be a hassle if he kept one-upping her all night.
It was a quick drive to the school. Students filed into the gymnasium where top 40 was already blasting. Stanley surveyed the room, making note of the accessibility of every exit.
“I love this song!!” Annalise squealed. She located a group of her friends. “I’m gonna go dance ok?”
“Ok.” Stanley replied. He genuinely didn’t want to ruin her night. It would be better that she wasn’t around. She gave him a quick hug and ran over to the girls waving and calling her over.
Xeno followed into the gym behind him. Stanley saw him fiddle with the device in his pocket.
“She’s just using you,” Xeno observed. “All of her friends have boyfriends, and she just couldn’t stand to be left out.”
“Guess so.” Stanley was just using her, too. It was beneficial for him, so he had never really thought about what she was getting out of it.
“Have you located him, Stan?” Xeno asked. Stanley continued his look through the room. There were plenty of losers about, but not the one they were looking for.
“He’s not here yet.” He concluded.
The two sat on the bleachers on the outskirts of the dance floor. Stanley sat one step above Xeno, close enough to protect him at a moment’s notice. The other kids kept their distance from the two of them.
Xeno was bouncing his leg. He was inpatient. “I can’t believe you’re subjecting me to this nonsense, Stan.” He complained.
“It was your idea…” Stanley started. He didn’t want to argue with him again, when things were going so well. “Oh, shit, there he is.” He tensed, seeing their target saunter into the gym with his usual lackeys at his side.
Xeno slipped him the device. It was small, containing a single dart that could be fired by pulling the trigger. The target wandered into the crowd, obscuring himself from Stanley’s view.
“Damn it, I gotta get closer.” Stanley stood and began to approach the dance floor.
Xeno pulled at the tail of his tuxedo jacket. “Don’t be so obvious, idiot!” He whispered. Stanley could admit he had gotten ahead of himself in the excitement. He slowed, keeping an eye on the kid they were after. Xeno followed behind them as they were surrounded by more people. A particularly popular song started up, eliciting cheers and exaggerated dance moves from the crowd. Xeno suddenly pushed up against him from behind, knocked off balance. He grabbed onto Stanley’s to catch himself, swearing. The feeling of Xeno’s hands sliding down his waist was distracting.
“I got this, stay back.” He told Xeno, who stubbornly shook his head. Stanley pushed him back with one arm. The crowd around his target parted just enough to give him a clean view.
Stanely took the shot. The dart flew from the device in a clear arc, landing cleanly in the neck of his target. The boy slapped at his neck as if swatting a mosquito. Cleverly, Xeno had made the dart destroy itself on impact to get rid of any evidence. The chemical agent began working almost immediately. Stanley watched as the boy began stumbling around like a drunkard. The kid was already a fool before this, so the people around him laughed along like he was just playing around. The look on the boy’s face turned to horror as he continued to lose control of his legs.
“Damn, are you drunk?” Someone nearby asked. The kid’s legs were shaking. He bumped into a girl, grabbed onto her for support, then threw up all over her. The crowd around him erupted into screams.
Their victim stumbled around again, looking for something to grab on to while every kid tried to dodge him. His eyes fell on Xeno who, in the commotion, had made it way too close to him.
Xeno was watching intently. The smile on his face just kept growing. The scientist began to laugh.
This was bad. Now Xeno was the one being way too obvious.
“How’s that?” Xeno taunted. “Isn’t science elegant?!”
He just couldn’t help himself, could he? Stanley planned their exit route.
“WINGFIELD! I’m gonna- ugh” The kid’s anger triggered another round of retching. “YOU’RE DEAD.”
The asshole began stumbling like a zombie toward Xeno, who would just not stop laughing.
“Xeno!” Stanley said urgently. His best friend turned to him, still smiling madly.
Xeno grabbed Stanley’s hand. “Run, Stan!”
He pulled Stan and they began to run. Their revenge target spit curses. Xeno led them out of the gymnasium, and into the fresh night air.
The two ran and ran, feet hitting pavement and then eventually the soft grass of a park far from campus.
Stanley was laughing now too. Hand still clasped against Xeno’s, he pulled slightly and the two boys tumbled to the ground.
“Stan, that was amazing!”
“Did you see the look on his face?”
“I’m pretty sure he pissed his pants.”
They continued to laugh about it, recounting every gruesome detail. Stanley took a deep breath through his nose, out through his mouth, then laid back in the grass.
Xeno was still holding his hand.
The other boy looked up at the starry sky. Stanley watched him. Their revenge plot was successful. Xeno didn’t hate him anymore. This moment was perfect.
“Stan, thank you.” Xeno suddenly squeezed Stanley’s hand. The young scientist leaned over Stanley. He had a gentle smile on his face.
“Of course…” Stanley mumbled. The streetlamps and moonlight made Xeno’s silver hair glow. Stanley lifted himself up on his elbows, shortening the distance between the two of them. “I’d do anything for you.”
“Hm, you are quite the capable knight.” Xeno referenced a game of pretend they played when they were kids. Xeno, the almighty king, and his loyal knight Stanley.
He cupped Xeno’s cheek with his hand. The other boy leaned into the touch. Xeno’s eyes fluttered closed. Stanley drew in a sharp breath in anticipation, then closed his own eyes. Everything about this was just so perfect. He pressed his lips to Xeno’s.
The kiss was gentle. Xeno didn’t move. Stanley held his lips there for a moment before pulling back. He hadn’t done this before. He wasn’t sure what was supposed to come next. He opened his eyes to the angry, furrowed brows of Xeno. Shit, was he going to hate him again?
Xeno pulled Stanley’s tie and kissed him again. He pressed into Stanley’s mouth hard and impatient. Their teeth clacked against each other. Stanley smiled, then couldn’t stop himself from giggling.
“Stan! Why are you laughing?!” Xeno put his hands on Stanley’s shoulders with a huff.
“Ahah, sorry, sorry,” Stanley apologized, still giggling. Xeno pouted. He was so cute. Stanley kissed him again. They broke apart only to take short, shallow breaths, then dove into each other again. Stanley wrapped his arms around Xeno’s waist and pulled him close. Xeno twisted his fingers in Stanley’s hair.
Time had stopped for the two. The annoyance of prom and all the people in it had completely disappeared. There was nothing else they needed in this world but each other. After graduation, they were going to leave everything behind, focus on their futures. They were destined for greatness, together.
After a while, they both pulled away, just enjoying the closeness. Stanley bumped his nose against Xeno’s.
“Stan…” Xeno whispered. Stanley gave a soft ‘Hm’ In reply. “Stanley…”
“I love you, Stanley Snyder.”
“I love you, Xeno.”