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It was 2:50pm on a chilly Wednesday afternoon, and Max was a hundred and ten percent done. Not because of the weather, mind you, he rather liked the crisp autumn air and overcast skies, and today was a perfect day to go out after class and enjoy the coming fall for all it was worth. Which was exactly what he planned to do as soon as he and his friends finished changing out of their workout clothes. No, the reason he no longer had the will to live was because of one, particular, very specific thing.
Isaac would not shut up about his new boyfriend.
A boyfriend that didn't exist until last week; one that Max was convinced didn't even exist at all since Isaac refused to actually give any details about the guy. All he knew was that Isaac had said yes to a date from this guy sometime last month, and now they were going steady. And Max wasn’t the only one suspicious about the recent development in his friend’s love life. Isabel, Ed, Zoey, and practically the entire world (Isaac never stopped tweeting. Ever.) knew of Isaac O’Conner’s lack of a love life, so the fact he had apparently gone on dates and ended up with a boyfriend was absolutely baffling. It wasn’t that there was anything really wrong with Isaac, not at all. He had many friends and was quite physically attractive. More so than a lot of guys Max had met, and okay, Max may have thought about dating him when they first met- but that went right out the window five minutes into their first conversation.
Isaac was just a little bit- just a pinch- a tad bit very, very, annoying. Like, obnoxiously so. And most of the time it wasn’t even his fault. However, he was the kind of guy that once you got past the general ugh-ness that was his personality and interests and became his friend, he was a friend for life. And while he and Max didn’t always have the, well, friendliest of friendships, Isaac was one of Max’s closest friends, and he wanted him to be happy.
But if Isaac didn’t stop gushing over how sweet this guy was or how nice their last date had been Max was going to commit first degree murder. Violently. And then he’d go to jail and live out the rest of his life behind bars trying not to get shanked in his sleep. He could probably get Suzy and Isabel to help him hide the body and destroy the evidence…they’d probably actually do it too……hmm…
Max was too focused on drowning out Isaac’s speech wondering how long he and Suzy could run from the law to realize he was already half-way changed into his regular clothes, until an ear-splitting screech startled him so badly that he went tumbling into the ground, screeching right back.
“AAAAHHHH, WHAT WHAT IS GOING ON,” Max panicked, trying to free his head and arm from the shirt where he had gotten tangled in it as he fell. He scrambled to his feet when he could see again, heart pounding with adrenaline. He looked around. The first thing he saw was Isaac, still fully dressed, standing frozen in front of his open locker his eyes bulging out of his head and mouth wide open. The second thing he noticed was what was in the locker.
It was quite possibly the most beautiful bouquet of red roses Max had ever seen. The flowers rested on the top shelf of the locker, obviously placed there with care. Isaac carefully picked up the bouquet, the plastic sheathe crinkling in his hands, and read the card placed on top.
“To the most beautiful person in the world; Happy Birthday, - xoxo.” Isaac’s face went from shock to Cupid on a Valentine’s Day killing spree in the span of three seconds, and if Max wasn’t so surprised that this mystery boyfriend actually existed he would have puked from overexposure to sugary sweet puppy love. By this time the entire locker room and about half the school were staring at them. Max wondered where the other kids had come from before refocusing on the important issues, aka his friend’s boyfriend and that today was his birthday and since when was today Isaac’s birthday???
Said boy was smiling like a fool, his face a nice, subtle shade of fire truck red to compliment the overall lovesick aesthetic as he gazed at the roses. Which, yeah, they were pretty impressive. Max was almost a little jealous, but he was still so baffled at the roses to notice their other friends crowding around to look at them too.
“Woah, are those roses?!” Johnny all but screamed into his ear.
“GEEZ! Johnny, what did we say about inside voices?!” Max quickly scowled his friend.
Johnny didn’t reply, instead moving closer to the other redhead, a teasing smirk on his lips making his intentions obvious. Max wasn’t really sure about the history between them, but it wasn’t a secret that Johnny loved to tease and provoke Isaac to no end. Max just tried to not be in the same room with them when they got into it; Isabel had told him of a particularly nasty shouting match that ended with a few stitches and both of them suspended for weeks. But that was years ago apparently, and Isabel had reassured him that only the friendliest of animosity remained between the two redheads. He didn't really know what that meant but he know to avoid the both of them together at all costs.
“Whatcha got there Red?” said Johnny with a shit-eating grin.
“Oh!” Isaac looked around, finally becoming aware of the massive audience he had unwittingly acquired. It was possible that his face and ears got redder than before, though no one could tell. “Um,” he said, avoiding eye contact with most of the locker room and then some, “my- my boyfriend got me flowers for my birthday.” Isaac shyly smiled down at the flowers in his hands.
“Oh, did he now,” Johnny said in a teasing lint, “isn't that sooo sweet of him.” Johnny turned to the rest of the room, arms crossed and eyes searching the crowds. “And where is this boyfriend?” His grin was still in full force, a smug assurance that whatever mischievous events about to happen was a part of his plan all along.
“Johnny,” Isaac said in a warning tone. But before they could start bickering, a new face pushed through the crowd, which was easy for them considering their massive size. Ollie Oop emerged from the crowd and walked straight into the little group that had formed around Isaac’s locker. Johnny moved next to Max to make room for his friend, fist bumping him and making obnoxious explosion sounds to greet him. When that was done Ollie turned to Isaac, who was looking up at him with… unadulterated affection?
And Ollie was bashfully returning the gaze?!
“Wait. Wait wait wait WAIT A MINUTE. No way. NO WAY. WHAT.” Max’s flabbergasted speech was cut off by Johnny’s hand over his mouth, and a quick whisper to shush so he could pay attention.
“So, um, I see you got the flowers,” the ballet dancer mumbled. “Do you like them?”
Isaac’s face was buried in the dozen or so roses, but everyone could see the dopey grin on his face. “Yeah, they’re beautiful. Thank you,” he sighed happily. Ollie smiled gently at the other boy, and leaned down to place a quick kiss to his cheek, causing Isaac to giggle like a little girl. He gently took one of the redheads’ hands in his own.
“It’s pretty nice outside, want to get some froyo?”
Isaac nodded yes. “I just have to change first. Wait for me outside?”
“Yeah sure. See you soon.” he kissed Isaac’s hand before walking away, returning an absentminded fist bump to Johnny before leaving the locker room. Ollie’s exit broke the hush that had fell over the entire room. The other kids started to talk and move freely, gossip about the two boys taking over all conversation, and it was no doubt that the roses would be the talk of the school for weeks. Max was still screaming.
Johnny quickly removed his hand from over Max’s mouth when he began hitting his arm and Johnny realized that Max couldn't breathe. Johnny awkwardly pat Max’s back while he took several deep gulps of air, trying to catch his breath.
“What. The heck. Just happened.” he wheezed.
“Oh, you didn’t know? They’ve been dating for like a month dude. Thought you knew.”
“NO, I did know that Isaac had a boyfriend cuz he wouldn’t stop talking about him BUT I didn’t know that this boyfriend WAS OLLIE. OLLIE OOP .” Max lamented. “Out of everyone I know here, I would have never guessed that THEY would get together. How did this even happen?!”
“Love works in mysterious ways dude,” shrugged Johnny Jhonny.
While Max was ranting over being unaware of this development Isaac had finished changing and was heading out of the locker room with most of the other students. “Hey, I’ll see you guys later!” he called out with no response, though he didn’t mind. He was about to go on a froyo date with his boyfriend, after all.
Max quit his ranting when he realized that Isaac had left already. It was only him and Johnny left in the locker room, and he still needed to finish changing. Max sighed in exasperation. He would never understand how he became friends with the ragtag group of oddballs, but he couldn’t really complain.
“You helped Ollie pick out flowers, didn’t you?”
Johnny smiled smugly, proud of his matchmaking skills and also bouquet-picking skills. “Yup.” Max was silent a beat, then turned to the other boy, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.
“How come you never get me flowers?”