A snap that changes Everything

Facetime

That night, as Kai was getting ready for bed, his phone lit up and started playing a familiar song. It was one Cole liked to listen to when he was working out. Having been in attendance for quite a few of Cole's work out sessions, he came to associate the song with his boyfriend and ended up setting it as his personal ringtone.

Gay, but whatever. Kai sat down on the side of his bed and swiped the button, answering the call as he went to plug in his headphones.

Cole's face appeared on the screen. He was freshly showered with his wet black hair clinging to his head and a towel around his neck. "Hey."

"What's up, dude?" Kai asked, trying not to make it obvious he was enjoying the sight of a freshly showered Cole Brookstone.

"So, uh.. Our picture's getting a lot of attention. Has.. anyone asked you about it?"

"Yeah, I got a couple texts from like, Morro asking me who it was because you haven't answered anyone and they figure I'd know since I'm your 'super best friend' if no one else did. No one has guessed that it's my hand in the photo yet."

"About that..."

"Wait, someone figured it out..?"

"I.. can't tell? I've gotten a couple comments saying it's probably you, but I can't really tell if they're joking or not, since, you know, people have been joking about us being gay for years."

"Huh."

"But, uh... Vania saw it. And confirmed to everyone assuming it was her that it wasn't and she had no idea whose hand I was holding in the picture."

"So basically... you're fucked tomorrow." Kai knew Cole was gonna get swamped with kids asking who it was because of his popularity. Even quite a few girls liked him, so there was sure to be some drama.

"Yup."

Kai pinched the bridge of his nose and chuckled. "Guess we're going to have to tone it down for a while or we'll be found out for sure."

"Yeah.. but, I did have something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?"

"Who exactly are we going to tell first?" Cole asked quietly. "We talked about it briefly but we didn't establish anything."

"That's.. a good question. Definitely not the ginger ass."

"Hell no. He'd spread it like wildfire."

"Maybe like.. Morro and Zane? Or Brad and Lloyd? Since they're like, gay, maybe they'd know the best way to not have everyone flip shit. Well, actually, everyone flipped shit over them."

"Yeah, maybe.. or we could talk to Mr. Dareth. He might have some good advice."

"I dunno about that, kid," Kai replied, doing a crude impression of the school counselor. "Sounds really awkward."

"That's true.. ugh, I dunno." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Eh. Whatever happens, happens, I guess. Are you.. ready for school tomorrow?"

"As ready as I can be in this situation."

"Hah." Kai let out a yawn. "If anyone harasses you, I'll kick their ass."

"Be nice."

"...Maybe."

"Kai."

"...Only if they really, really deserve it."

"I'll take that, I guess." Cole let out a chuckle. "Alright, alright. You should go to bed."

"You should too."