Go for it, Kel!

Friday (Part 1)

After receiving a newspaper thwack to the head and a scolding from his mom as to why he was late coming home from school, the rest of the day passed by in bliss. Kel sighed in delight that night as he was splayed out on his bed. Suddenly, even looking up at the ceiling seemed interesting enough.

"What's got you in such a happy mood?" Hero questioned as he sat at his desk on the other side of their shared room, finishing up whatever homework he was working on while with Mari a few hours prior. Man, being a twelfth grader sure sounded rough... if Kel could even get that far.

"I-It's nothing."

"Is it because you're finally working on that gigantic crush on Sunny that you have?"

"What?!" he shot up from his bed, bringing his legs up to cross them. "How did you know?"

"I'm your brother, Kel. You've practically had it plastered all over your face since the first day you met him. Besides..." he swallowed. "Someone had also confirmed my suspicions when I ran into him in the hallway at school today..."

Kel grit his teeth. Basil, curse that blabbermouth!

He rolled onto his back, his criss-crossed legs now in the air. "Okay... maybe I do have a crush on him..." he answered hesitantly, on guard. "What about it?"

Hero closed his notebook, then rolled back his chair to turn it in Kel's direction. "Nothing, I just think that it's great that my little brother's finally growing up." he teased with a grin, to which Kel met with a blegh sound. "So, are you thinking of confessing?"

"Hey! I'm taller than you now!" he retorted, then, "Mhm. But I haven't had any luck so far, though." he said, a weight of disappointment settling in his chest when he thought about his attempts at flirting or getting the other boy to acknowledge his feelings altogether. He swung his body weight to sit back up, "How did you and Mari get together?"

"Haha, well," he averted his eyes and scratched his cheek with an index finger, his cheeks turning a light pink underneath the glow of his desk lamp. "It's kind of... cliche? To say the least."

"Why? What happened?" Kel asked.

Hero recounted the memory in vivid detail. He painted the scene for Kel.

-

A Monday morning, 8th grade. The weather wasn't too hot nor too cold. Hero was just about finished putting away his textbook after the first period when someone slammed his locker shut, and pinned him against it with ease.

"Hey Handsome," Mari smirked as she paid Hero the same compliment as always.

"Oh uh, hey, Mari...?" He responded, still processing what just happened to him. "What's this all about?" She was bold, but this was taking bold to the next level. He redirected his gaze to her arm that came right up to beside his head and onward to the crowds of students that were now looking at them.

"You, me, and Gino's Pizza tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay..." he replied slowly before it clicked. "Wait... is this a date?"

She winked as she pointed a finger gun at him with her other hand, "That's for me to know, and for you to find out." In one fluid motion, she released him, and turned around, waving, "See you later!"

-

"... Woah," Kel exasperated. "Mari sure is bold..."

"Yeah... and because of that, all the guys around us started whooping and cheering. Some of them even smacked my chest with their fists because they were so happy of me." He rubbed the middle of his chest as if recalling the pain associated with the memory, wincing a little. "But you know, I'm glad that Mari made the first move because we had a lot of fun that night. Man, we ate so much pizza at Gino's I swear my stomach was going to burst."