Relearning You

First Day of Senior Year

STAN

I can feel my nerves buzzing through my entire body as I step through the main doors into the high school I was meant to go to all along. Except, I didn't, and now I don't know how to act. I kept to myself most of the time at my old school, just going to classes, eating lunch alone, and going straight home. I think I have forgotten how to interact with people if I'm being honest. I frantically looked for my locker, the number and code on my phone. No luck.

"Hey, do you need help?" a voice asked from behind me, making me jump slightly.

I turned around to see Kyle, "oh, hi, yeah. Sorry. I'm so lost." I turned my phone screen to him to show him the number of my locker.

"That's right next to mine!" He beamed. I felt a sense of relief wash over me.

He guided me over to our lockers, and surprisingly, I wasn't too far away. I could've made it eventually. I put in the combination and threw my stuff in there, letting out a huff as I slammed my back against the other lockers next to it to take a breather. Good thing I came early.

Kyle looked squeamish all of a sudden, "hey, um, I wanted to ask you about the logistics of the dare."

I looked over at him, "the logistics? You make it sound like a business deal."

He rolled his eyes, "I mean, like, you know. What we are supposed to do. What you're comfortable with, and what you're not. I don't want to cross any boundaries. This is my dare, not yours."

"Yeah, maybe, but either way we are in this together, you know? I'm not backing out. There's not really anything I can think of that I won't be comfortable with," I explained to him. He's already asked me nearly a million times if I really want to go through with this, and every single time I've told him yes. Plus, even if I did want to back out, I'd never hear the end of it from Kenny. I continued, "I guess the only thing I can think of is the fact that people won't believe it? I don't know. What if they don't think I'm gay?"

That made Kyle chuckle, "dude, you've been gone for so long. You could tell people you were the pope and they'd believe it. No one knows you anymore."

For some reason, that last sentence struck a chord. No one knows me anymore. "You're right. I shouldn't worry about it and just go with the flow. Is there anything you'd be uncomfortable with?"

"No," he responded a little too quickly, but he probably over-thought this since the dare was said.

I nodded. "Should we come up with a safe word just in case?"

He seemed to like that idea, "sure. How about... hand sanitizer?"

I looked at him weirdly, "huh?"

"Yeah! I mean, it's easy to incorporate into conversations and doesn't come up too often."

"Okay, sure. Hand sanitizer it is."

The warning bell rang, which meant this conversation had to be cut short. I took my backpack back out of my locker, tossing things I didn't need in and shutting it closed. Kyle and I decided to share schedules, and it turns out we have three classes together. AP Lit, gym, and art. He's much smarter than I am, so the rest of his classes are AP level (chemistry, history, and calculus). Mine are regular, aside from my English class, which I will admit to being semi-good at. I'm in pre-calc, regular history, and regular chemistry.

Our first class is art, which is nice. Not only do we get to start the day together, I get to start the day in a class that is relaxing and not too much too early. As we started walking, I noticed Kenny standing by Butters and Cartman, and I impulsively grabbed Kyle's hand. Kyle looked at me wide-eyed for half a second, before understanding and curling his fingers into mine. His hands are actually really soft. Kenny looked over and gave us a wink, nudging Cartman in the side and pointing. They probably have some bet to see how long we last as a fake couple. Wouldn't put it past them.