“It’s the perfect gift for any occasion,” Omar said with a grin. “Hey! Do you think you were giving Cameron a blowjob while I was getting one? Like at the exact same time?”
Anthony made a face. “What? Who cares?”
“Admit it, you love the idea.”
“I do not!” He seemed to reconsider. “Although it would be kind of hot if you were in the next room over and I could hear you moaning.”
Omar cackled. “Then we need to go on a double date.”
The school—and other students—came into view, so they shifted to less decadent subjects as they went inside and navigated the halls.
“Damn!” Omar said after hearing about Anthony’s most recent date. He shoved his skateboard in his locker and slammed the door shut. “That sounds amazing! Cameron has some serious moves. I should hit him up for ideas.”
“If you do, let me know what he says so I can steal a few.”
They hesitated when reaching the door to their journalism class, unwilling to say goodbye to the weekend just yet.
“Mr. Jafari!” A familiar voice called from nearby. “Mr. Cullen!”
They turned and saw another mister walking toward them, in particular, their journalism teacher. Mr. Finnegan smiled as he approached, his baby-blue eyes twinkling. “I trust you are both recharged and ready for the week?” He didn’t give them time to respond. “Anthony, excellent work on the latest music review, although I have some tips on how to express yourself with a bit more nuance.”
“‘Pablo Honey’ is a bad album,” Anthony replied. “I liked ‘Creep’ but Radiohead is going to be a one-hit wonder, mark my words.”
“That may be, but it’s important to reinforce your subjective opinion with objective criticism. Otherwise it comes across as mean-spirited. We’ll discuss that further in today’s class, since it ties in with this week’s theme. Do you mind if I use your review as an example?”
Anthony shrugged. “Not at all.”
“Excellent.” He turned to Omar. “I have your next filming assignment.”
“Catch you later,” Anthony murmured while watching Mindy approach. He followed her into the classroom, where they sat together.
“What’s it going to be this time?” Omar asked. “Please tell me I don’t have to film another chess match. The footage turned out shaky because I kept nodding off.”
“This assignment will be a bit more fast paced,” Mr. Finnegan said. “Are you available after school today? I’d like you to film the cheerleaders as they hold their tryouts.”
“Is this for the video yearbook,” Omar asked with a nudge, “or your personal collection?”
Mr. Finnegan frowned at this. “A journalist must always treat their subjects with respect. This line of work will bring you in contact with people from all walks of life. It’s imperative that you treat them each with equal dignity.”
“Yeah, of course,” Omar said. “I’ll be cool about it.”
Mr. Finnegan hesitated. “I’m not sure how to interpret that, so imagine Principal Preckwinkle reviewing the footage and noticing that you zoomed in on certain inappropriate details. I would hate to jeopardize this project over something so impulsive. Not to mention how it might make the cheerleaders feel.”
“Gotcha,” Omar said. “I’ll keep it professional.”
“I knew you’d understand,” Mr. Finnegan said with a smile before gesturing to the classroom. “Shall we get started?”
Omar went inside and sat at the desk he shared with Ricky. A few minutes remained before class would begin, so he leaned over. “How’s it going, little buddy? Did you have a good weekend?”
“Yeah,” Ricky said, pushing the glasses up on his nose with a bashful smile. “It was amazing.”
“Oh yeah? What did ya get up to?”
“I went shopping with my parents on Saturday and on Sunday I hung out with Diego.”
“On Valentine’s Day?” he asked incredulously before clamping his mouth shut. Anthony suspected that they were dating, and Diego had even alluded to the possibility when they last saw each other.
Does that surprise you, gay boy? I guess you fell in love with the wrong guy. You could have gotten somewhere with me.
At the time, Omar had thought the words had only been intended to hurt Anthony’s feelings. And they had. But maybe there really was more to it. If so, Ricky remained tight-lipped about their relationship, even now.
“Yeah.”
“Cool,” Omar replied when his friend didn’t expound. “How’s he doing?”
“Diego?” Ricky shrugged. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”
“I’ve tried. He wants nothing to do with me.”
“Then keep trying until he realizes that you really care.”
Omar shifted uncomfortably. “He knows.”
“I don’t think he does.”
Omar busied himself with unpacking his things. Words weren’t enough to heal wounds that deep. Although, as he pulled his trusty camcorder out of his backpack, he was reminded of his preferred way of expressing himself. When the bell rang, he turned his attention to the front of the class. As the lecture began, he leaned over and whispered, “I’m glad you’re friends with him. Or whatever. For real.”
Ricky smiled in response, looking very much like someone who was in love.
Later in the day, Omar was wearing the same dopey grin during the business finances elective he shared with Silvia. She sat an aisle over and closer to the front, but even the back of her head was enough to give him a boner. Not in a creepy way, like he wanted to jump her right then and there. He just loved Silvia so damn much. And yeah, okay, she was stunningly hot. Omar was startled when the bell rang. He remained seated while packing his things and tried to get himself under control. As the room cleared out, Silvia walked over to join him.
“How’d you do?” she asked, nodding at his desk. He was supposed to write a pitch for a new business. The open pages of his composition book were still white and virginal. “Omar!” Silvia said in shock when noticing.
“I write better in my head,” he said lamely. “I’ll scribble it down later.” Or he would get distracted by all the things he wanted to film. Why couldn’t he skip to college and focus on what he really wanted to do? Ah well… The renewed anxiety about his grades had at least made his boner deflate. Omar grabbed the rest of his things and stood.
“Do you work today?” Silvia asked.
“Yeah, in about an hour. I have some stuff I need to film for the yearbook first.” He grinned at her. “Wanna walk me to my locker?”
“Don’t I always?” Silvia replied, seeming amused.
He had to be the happiest guy in the school as they strolled down the hall together. Everyone else was fleeing the building now that sixth period was over. Not him. With his girl at his side, he wasn’t in a rush at all. Silvia didn’t seem to be in a hurry either.
“I gotta go to the gym,” he said after retrieving the skateboard and camcorder from his locker. “I’ll walk you outside though.”
“You don’t have to,” Silvia replied.