The Meaning of Family: The Collections

Faking It

Request:
"Yo hearing about Joon's fake het relationship sounds painful to the soul, aka sounds like something I'd love to read!"

Notes:
Now for a little look into namjoon's teen years

Ages of the Characters:
Jin - 16
Jackson - 15
Namjoon - 15
Ashley (new) - 15
Yoongi - does not yet exist
Hoseok - does not yet exist
Jimin - does not yet exist
Taehyung - does not yet exist
Jungkook - does not yet exist

Namjoon sighed deeply as he felt another wadded-up piece of paper hit the back of his head. Glancing at the study hall teacher to make sure he still wasn't actually paying attention to the class, he turned to confront the culprit. "What, Jackson?"

"Are you busy Saturday?" Jackson asked him, leaning further over his desk.

"At the moment, no." Namjoon responded. "But I wouldn't put it past my parents to find some Bible thumping activity to drag me to between now and then."

"Well if that happens, just tell them you already have plans." Jackson shrugged, causing Namjoon to raise an eyebrow. "I'm hanging out with that new girl, Ashley. We and a couple of other people are heading to Little Rock to go to the mall, and you are invited." Namjoon nodded before turning back to the front, resuming his Algebra homework.

***

Namjoon was picking at his food from Panda Express, trying to subtly stare at the guy he had noticed across the food court when they'd first sat down. It wasn't often that Namjoon indulged himself and lusted after guys, especially in public spaces, but this one was so gorgeous, he just couldn't help it. "He's cute, isn't he?"

The 15-year-old jumped, looking around to see that the rest of his friends had least at some point, save for Ashely who was staring at him with a knowing look. "What?"

"That guy over there." Ashley gestured with her head towards the guy Namjoon had been staring at. "You know how to pick 'em."

Namjoon groaned quietly, hiding his face in his hands. "Was it that obvious?"

"I'm sorry." Ashley said instead of answering his question. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I've been told I lack a filter between my brain and mouth."

"It's okay." Namjoon said quietly. "It's not you. It's just that if it is obvious, then that means my parents will find out, and I really don't want to go through...that again."

Ashley smiled sympathetically. "If it helps, I only noticed because I'm bi. We have a knack for sniffing out our own kind." Namjoon managed a small laugh at that. "And I get the parents thing. I just came out to my parents right before we moved here, and even though they say they support me, I can tell they're not exactly thrilled about it."

From there the conversation became easy, the two just getting to know each other as they walked around the mall until they eventually rejoined the rest of their friends. As they were leaving the mall, Ashley practically bullied, as Namjoon called it, him into exchanging numbers, telling him that if he ever needed anything or just wanted to talk, she would be there.

***

Namjoon pushed his food around his plate, tuning out his sister telling their parents about her day at school. "Oh, sweetie," Namjoon froze and slowly looked up at his mom, "do you remember that precious little girl, Hayley, that you used to be in Sunday School with you?"

The 15-year-old blinked. "Yeah?'

"Well her family moved back here, and I thought it would be nice for the two of you to hang out again." Namjoon held back a groan. "You know, she always had the biggest crush on you, and I'm sure-"

"I already have a girlfriend." Namjoon blurted out, as the survival part of his brain had, for some reason, latched onto a conversation with Jackson from a few weeks before where the male had tried to convince him to get a 'beard' so that his parents would stop bugging him.

"Oh, you do now?" His father asked, both him and Namjoon's mother seeming overly pleased by the news.

Namjoon nodded. "Yeah, her name is..." He bit his lip, struggling to think of a name until a familiar new friend popped into his head. "Ashley. Yeah, Ashley." His parents shared a look. "She just moved here, and we've been hanging out a bit. She's really...nice."

"Oh, how lovely." His mother beamed. "I can't wait to meet her."

Namjoon chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah, me neither." After a few more minutes, he excused himself from the table and disappeared into his room, grabbing his phone to text Ashley and ask her for a favor.