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I had a vision of us standing like this all pressed up in the bathroom.
And I feel like I might throw up, left hook, right punch to the gut. You're so, so pretty, boy.
Bored agony. That’s how Evan Buckley would describe getting to a college class early and having to wait around for two hours. Agony heated up actually, like fresh torture that was pulled out for minutes that dragged on like a fucking tightrope. He was supposed to be studying, but all he could focus on was scrolling Instagram. He also kinda had to pee, except there were other people studying around him and he didn’t want to disturb them. God knew they were locked in. So there he sat, needing to pee, trying to study, and getting neither of those two done.
Actually, scratch that, he was going to pee.
He got up, his chair scraping along the ground as he did, and eyes flickered to him as he walked down the long hallway. Community colleges were always too big, but this particular one, Grove Lane Pennsylvania Community College was maybe the biggest building he’d ever been in. Winding halls went on for miles, and it was like a maze trying to find the bathroom, classrooms, or (god forbid you need to find it) the office of your favorite teacher. The one that was kind, and considerate, and understood how hard the class was, the man who’d inspired Evan to take that class in the first place, Mr. Leroy. He was Evan’s favorite teacher, or he was, until he wrote him up for showing up sick to class once. Then he’d had to go home, missed a class (which was not part of his scholarship contract) and Evan had to pay half the semester's tuition. Now Mr. Leroy’s office was enemy base #1, to be avoided at all costs. Coincidently, the bathroom was just one door before Mr. L’s office, so Evan didn’t have to sneak past it like a robber in the Louvre.
He pulled out his headphones as he got to the bathroom, letting Olivia Rodrigo’s Drop Dead slip from his ears. He shoved the long wires into one of the pockets of his grey zip-up and turned toward a stall. He pushed it open with one hand, covering a yawn with the other, and he sat down on the toilet, stifling the end of the yawn with a thick intake. By the time he’d settled down, there was the sound of the bathroom door being thrown open and two arguing voices filled the void of silence in the room.
“I can’t believe you, you fucking bitch! Mere weeks before the final, Tommy! I can’t believe you said that.”
“Eds, I don’t know what you heard, but I swear-”
“Save it, Thomas. And do not call me that right now.”
“Dude, I didn’t mean-”
“I fucking can’t believe that you called me a virgin. I told you that in confidence. How am I supposed to get a date now?
Evan kept quiet, trying to pee as silently as possible, and when he was done, he waited to hit the flush button until he heard the words that made him sure about what he was about to do.
“Well, you are a virgin, so I don’t know why you’re so upset.”
Evan threw open the door and tried to decide who he thought Eds was, and who Tommy was. Finally, one of them spoke and luckily he recognized their voices by now.
“Oh, uh, hi.” That was Eds then, or Eddie, Evan was guessing.
“Hello, babe. I told you to wait outside, you know I get pee shy.” Evan smiled rather softly at the stranger and then went to wash his hands, ignoring the two looks of confusion on the faces behind him. Then, finally, Eddie kicked into high gear and nodded.
“Well, obviously I was gonna wait for you. My fault you had to pee in the first place.”
And maybe that was the moment Evan really committed to this because he knew exactly where Eddie was going with that, and he knew exactly what to say.
“You heard Ms. Duben, you always gotta pee after sex.” He finished washing his hands and pretended to notice Tommy for the first time, who’d gone bright red and was staring at the two of them like they were crazy. “Oh, Tommy. It’s… nice… to see you again.”
“What the fuck?”
“Wow, that’s rude-” Evan was shoved in the shoulder by Eddie as he was speaking, and he turned to shove back but Eddie’s face was expressionless.
“Tommy, you have met my boyfriend before, right?”
Tommy just shook his head and crossed his arms, looking like he knew it was a lie. Evan just hoped all of this wasn’t for nothing. “Your boyfriend?”
“Yeah, this is Evan.”
Eddie must have been a really good guesser, or they actually did have a class together, because there was no way someone could just guess Evan’s name.
Evan held out a hand and Tommy took it politely, like he hadn’t just told Eddie he was an abstinent loser. Which- who even made fun of people for waiting anymore?
“Sorry about the sex thing earlier, this one should really keep his hands to himself when we’re on campus. Are you in Biology 102, too?” Evan tried to finagle his hand into Eddie’s back pocket, and when he got it there, he let a few fingers move like a piano. Just for the fun of it. Eddie glared at him though, so something told Evan that he didn’t appreciate it.
Tommy saw it though, so that was a plus.
“Anyway, we should get going. See you around, Thomas.” They walked out of the bathroom and Eddie slipped out of Evan’s grip. His eyes were wide and Evan just held up a hand.
“Let’s not talk here, c’mon, lemme buy you a coffee.”
“Tell me it’s just a rumor that you’re dating Eddie Diaz.”
Oh, so that’s his last name-
“And what if I am?”
Henrietta made a face, leaning over the table to hand Evan a snack. The Buckley parents didn’t give him any money for the vending machine, or keep much in the house to pack, so Hen had started bringing some extra food to make sure he had something to eat. He picked up the potato chips and threw a few in his mouth.
“Not judging you bro, but your grades are fine, you don’t need to date a nerd.”
Something boiled in Evan’s blood and he stood up, slamming down his bookbag. The sound echoed through the classroom as Evan yelled at the top of his lungs.
“And what if I love him?!”
More faces turned to him and Evan sank back into his chair, covering his face with his hands. “Oh my god-”
“That’s very interesting, Mr. Buckley, but please remember that independent learning time should be used for learning.”
But somewhere in that study hall there was a teenage girl named Sophia, Sophia Diaz, who had study hall B with her friends instead of hall C with her brother.
Sophia Diaz who knew what had happened with her older brother, and told him later that day.
“He’s just trying to help me.”
“But when he’s talking to his best friend? And only his best friend?”
“I don’t know, Sophia. I just met him.”
“Hey, there was a study that showed that 60% of people have experienced love at first sight at some point during their lives. Maybe Evan is part of that.”
Eddie made a face, but what he didn’t know was that Evan was being honest, maybe, just maybe, he wanted to know more about Eddie Diaz.
^^^
Bored agony. That’s how Evan Buckley would describe getting to college class early and having to wait around for two hours. His parents really needed to stop dropping him off early because they couldn’t be bothered to drive down to campus later. He had his license, but Maddie had to take the car to go to her Girls only school an hour away. Evan had to wait for his parents to drop him off, and they didn’t always feel like taking him on time.
“Is this seat taken?”
Evan glanced up, expecting it to be someone trying to take the chair, but instead, it was Eddie, standing there with a pink tint on his nose and ears. Evan nodded, gesturing to the chair.
“Go ahead.”
“Thanks, Buck”
“What’s that?”
“My nickname for you.” Eddie said it with a smirk on his face and Evan smiled. Something told him his whole life was about to change for the better.
And maybe we could makeout, clothes off and fall to the ground. Let's go steady, let's go out.
The most alive I've ever been, but kiss me and I might-