Contacting Space

Chapter 7

They went to school that lousy Wednesday morning, once again not finishing the chemistry work. It became such a habit that even the days when they finished their work Dan continued to go over to Jasper's house to realize they had nothing to do. "Hey?" Jasper said one day. "You wanna meet my friends tomorrow morning?"
"Would they care if I was gay?"
"No. One of them is actually gay. They have a long distance relationship with someone in a place called, Hoeton? It's a strange ass name."
"Welp, I'll be happy to meet them."
"Alright. I'll text them." Jasper pulled out his phone and opened a group chat. 'Hey y'all, I've made friends with this guy in my chemistry class. I was wondering if y'all would wanna meet him tomorrow.' He hit send, waiting for a response from the group.
After a few minutes had passed by it was confirmed by the four that they were interested in meeting the stranger. 'What do they look like?' Finn asked.
'I'll send a pic.' Jasper texted back. "Hey." He said. "My friends were wondering what you look like, would it be fine if I sent a selfie of both of us?"
"Sure! They can get a preview of who they're going to meet." Jasper leaned into Dan, holding the camera in front of them. They smiled brightly at the camera as it flashed. Jasper sent the picture to the group chat and everyone became excited.
'Is that the new kid?' Michelle texted.
'Yeah. We were kinda forced to work together in class, but now we've become close.'
'I'm glad you're finally talking to people.' Jessica said.
'See y'all tomorrow.' Jasper sent back.
"Alright," he said. "Sit with me on the bus tomorrow. Ill introduce you to my friends when we get off."
"I can't wait to meet them!" Dan replied.

The night came and went, bringing Jasper and Dan back to the bus stop. "Is it just me, or does something feel different today?"
"No, I feel it too. It's like." Dan paused. "A shift in Earth itself rather than the atmosphere."
"Nah it's probably just gonna rain. I looked at the weather and there was a 50% chance."
"Yeah, you're probably right." The bus came to a stop in front of them, and they stayed close together. Jasper let Dan choose the seat then slid in next to him.
"You excited?" Jasper put his hand over Dan's shoulder. After having worked together for a few weeks now they've grown close enough to feel comfortable touching each other in a bro type of way.
"Totally. You've been the only person I've been able to get close with. Everyone else acts like I don't exist."
"I know that they will love you." Jasper looked into Dan's eyes.

The bus halted in front of the school, spilling kids from its doors. "You first." Jasper motioned. Dan exited the bus but a hand reached and stopped Jasper before he was able to walk down the steps.
"I see you've made friends with him." Ms.Moor said.
"Yeah, I'm gonna introduce him to my other friends today."
"Do you have feelings for him?"
"What! No."
"Really? The way you look at him, how you wrapped your arm around his shoulder. You two looked like a couple."
"I'm straight. I thought you would get the memo."
"Alright, but if you two were a couple you would make an amazing one."
"Sure." Jasper responded as he exited the bus. "Have a good day!"
"You too."
"What did she stop you for?" Dan said as they headed for the doors.
"Nothing, just wanted to catch up on something." Jasper held the door open for him. 'Shit, do I really look like I'm interested in him?' He thought back to previous interactions with Dan and excused them, saying to himself that they didn't mean anything.