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Cracking a respectful smile at a few girls that had obviously planted themselves in a spot across the way to ogle at him, Stanley Snyder arrived at the front of his locker, making a mental note that he’d beaten Xeno there by a good amount of minutes.
Ah well, he’s probably chatting up a teacher…always so full of questions.
The blonde teen rolled the raspberry-flavored sucker in his mouth in a languid manner and reached into the pocket of his dark red zip-up hoodie to retrieve his cell phone. After he’d taken a quick glance through and saw nothing of immediate interest, he pocketed it once more. Without even looking up, he knew that the girls were still there and kept the eyeroll he’d been trying to hide to a minimum. He slipped one backpack strap from his shoulder and swung the bag onto the front of his body, reaching to undo the wide zipper.
Might as well get rid of some weight.
The well-worn mathematics text in his hand had served its purpose for the day and so he decided that he would stash it in his locker. After pressing his passcode into the keypad before him, there was an audible click and the door unlatched itself. Somewhere behind him, the raucous laughter of some boys resounded through the hall as they passed by, interrupted by a girl’s “you’re so stupid!”
Stanley extended his hand forward with the textbook, though his attention drew toward something that hadn’t been there when he’d opened his locker that same morning. From what he could tell, it was a small-sized pink envelope. Quickly, he realized what it was and grimaced inwardly. Oh, it’s a love note. He set the textbook inside vertically and took the envelope into his hand.
Nothin’ that I haven’t seen before.
But upon turning the envelope to its front, he was unprepared for what he found there. The envelope, in fact, was not addressed to him, but to his best friend:
To: Xeno H. Wingfield.
There was a hand-drawn heart next to the feminine script as well.
Huh?!
He felt the candy stick teeter from his mouth but he managed to rescue it with his free hand.
…There had to be a mistake.
Skeptical, Stanley flipped it over once more, noticing that the adhesive seal hadn't been done and that the contents were easily accessible. He turned the brightly-colored paper back to its front, hoping that he had read incorrectly. But there, in undoubtedly girlish handwriting, the name and scribbled heart remained unchanged.
To: Xeno H. Wingfield.
An unexpectedly detestable feeling began to rise within him and his gaze drifted to the adjacent locker on his left–Xeno’s locker. The envelope was addressed to him, Stanley could do the right thing and just pass the envelope to its intended recipient. It was narrow enough that it could easily slip through one of the ventilation holes. Whoever had placed the note into his locker had clearly done so by mistake.
But the blonde-haired teen found himself not wanting to let go of the envelope, silently pondering over its contents and its sender.
What the hell? Why am I upset?
Am I jealous that it's addressed to him and not me?
No…I’m not jealous, why the hell would I be jealous?!
Who could it possibly be from…
“Stan?”
The taller boy jumped slightly and quickly pressed the front of the envelope against the side of his jeans. Masking his expression into a neutral one, he rolled the candy sucker in his mouth.
“Oh, h-hey, guess you’re not too late haha.”
Xeno rolled his eyes with a chuckle, then directed his attention to the pink envelope in Stanley’s hand.
“I haven’t seen one of those since…a week and a half ago?”
“Y-yeah,” Stanley snorted out and stuffed the envelope into his backpack entirely, making sure that the front side wasn’t seen as he did so, “...same old same old, y’ know.”
“Oooh, I wonder what things would be like if I were in your shoes…and you were in mine. Imagine it, you nerding out and tinkering with shit in the garage of your home and me strutting around as a chick magnet,” Xeno laughed out as he punched his combination into the locker in front of him.
7439.
Not like I didn’t know that anyway…
“Man shut up, I don’t strut around…” Stanley laughed out unconvincingly, eyes drifting toward the interior of Xeno’s locker.
He could easily retrieve the envelope from his backpack, present it to Xeno with some excuse like “hey, it’s actually yours but it was in my locker and I was gonna give it to you once you got here,” but he didn’t know what kind of can of worms would follow afterward.
Ultimately, he decided against saying anything, instead watching quietly as Xeno straightened some notebooks that had he’d smushed into his locker.
“Are you alright, Stan?” Xeno’s sable eyes turned to him in genuine concern, “you sound and appear to be frazzled by something.”
“N-no I’m fine, just been a long day…and now this haha,” the blonde gestured toward his backpack with his hand.
“If you say so,” the young scientist nodded and loaded two textbooks into the metal compartment in front of him, “anyway I feel that my lunch was a bit measly…I should advise my mother against purchasing discounted sandwiches…Do you want to grab some burgers after school?”
Food. Yes, food.
Good food.
With Xeno.
“Y-yeah sure,” Stanley heaved out a little too enthusiastically, then, “...wait, I can’t. I don’t have money-”
“That isn’t an issue, Stan,” Xeno beamed, “I promised that I would pay this time, remember? I managed to not spend my allowance from last week, so we’re going…unless you don’t want to-”
“NoIdowannago!” The blonde boy spluttered out, hand tightening around one of the straps of his backpack.
The young scientist smiled, "After all, that's what friends are for!"
Stanley struggled to not crumble right then and there.
🚬🚬🚬
Upon stepping into the familiarity of his own bedroom, he turned the lock of his door ensuring that the environment was safe and secure from any interruption. Undoing the wide zipper of his backpack, Stanley rummaged his hand inside and managed to retrieve the pink envelope.
Wrinkling his mouth in anticipation and curiosity, he lifted the flap of the envelope and pulled out the stiff notecard inside:
“I’m really glad that we’re in class together. I’ve been told that I shouldn’t take interest in someone like you, but I really admire your intelligence and your willingness to help others (like me!) succeed in class…I think you’re cute. I’m too shy, but one day I’ll be able to tell you this in person! Thank you for always going out of your way to help me.
<3”
Stanley stared hard at the handdrawn heart again, irked at the lack of any name or hint that could give away the identity of the note’s author. For all he knew, the entire thing could have been a prank, designed to hurt Xeno’s feelings. As smart as Xeno was, Stanley knew that he was naive when it came to relationships, dating, and anything pertaining to romance.
Xeno…
Xeno’s mine.
What if the note is real?
Someone…else is interested in Xeno.
What girl…wait, what if it’s a guy?
Rolling his jaw, Stanley quietly decided that he didn’t like either of those possibilities.
Xeno belonged to him.
Xeno was his.
[fin]