high-school romance? (not plantonic anymore)
The autumn breeze was a bit chilly, Alec's curly dark hair flew with the slow gusts of wind, his scarf which had brown, square like patterns was tied tightly around his neck, it was a cold day, after all. His steps were quick, his shoes tap-tap-tapped and he arrived at the school gate, he waved a goodmorning to the security guard, whom was a nice man in his late 70's, he was a bit slow, but he'd talk to Alec about his times in war, or something like that. Alec walked to the brick wall on the side of the school, he'd usually sit there and read before his student council meetings, and that was when his lazy eyes landed on a messy array of squiggly lines and a burst of neon colours.
The original velvet red wall was painted rainbow, the classy little brick wall! His eyes narrowed, seeing that the anonymous trouble maker had struck again, he groaned before putting back his thick book in his leather bag. Alec puts his bag to the side, setting and positioning it so it won't fall down. He then runs to the toilet for some water, he grabbed a red bucket and turned on the tap, letting a handful of freezing water enter the bucket. The bucket was as heavy as an elephant, considering how much water was stored there. “Oh, Prez!” said a familiar voice, his voice was sharp, a bit cheeky and flirty. It was Benji, he'd land in detention sometime for landing in fights or sleeping in class. Alec and him had developed a strange friendship as Alec had sometimes supervised the students in detention.
“What?” Alec looked at Benji, Benji had dyed his hair a shade of ash grey, Alec snapped, “Benjamin Jone Browns! For God's sake, hair dying is not allowed!” his sudden howl of rage had caused him to drop his red bucket of water, the water spilled an unfortunately spilled on Alec's leather pants, “shoot, that must suck.” Benji chuckles, “Can't relate, I don't have clumsy hands.” he shrugged. “I swear, if I find out that you were the cause of that mess on my favourite wall, then you're so dead.” Alec barked.
After that turn of events, Benji was sentenced to hell, aka detention. But Benji didn't mind, if he could spend time with Alec, he'd be satisfied. Alec was from a lower middle class family, so he'd usually had no lunch, but Benji would buy it for him, and take care of his financial needs, Alec wondered how he'd had gotten that money.
On a spring day, it was dawn, Alec was finally done with his student council meeting, he slowly walked out of the room, closing the wooden door behind him, the knob was cold. He walked to the exit of the school, but then, his eyes settled on something, no, someone. It was a wounded Benji, had light purple bruises on his body and a little cut wound on his left cheek, yet, he was sitting beneath the oak tree, sitting if nothing had happened, sipping a can of cold brew oolong tea.
“Benjamin Jone Browns! What the hell happened to you?” Alec shouted, his voice a bit shaky, seeing the state of health his dear friend was in. “Oh this? It's nothin’” Benji tried to brush it off, but it was obvious that he was hurt. “Is this what you do for your ‘work’?” Alec asked as he grabbed Benji and supported him with his arm around his shoulder, guiding him to the nurse office.
After they exited the nurse's office, they sat beneath the oak tree. “So why were you even doing that job?” asked Alec in a sharp tone, “it's not like you are in need of money.” Alec points out that Benji was in a middle-high class family. “My family is none of your concern.” his usual tone was replaced with a tone with slight hostility. “It is if it's the family of someone I care about!” Alec snapped.
Benji looked surprised, his ruby red eyes widened, “care?”, without hesitation, Alec admitted, “Yes, I care and love you!”. Benji's face was peachy pink, he hid his face in his arms, “well, my mom's on work trips, and her brain doesn't function well enough to remember to give me money, and part time jobs pay like shit so… so.. I did those things, I beat up people for money.. I'm a bad person”. Hearing that sentence, Alec nodded, “Bad people can change.”.
After that event, they graduated high-school, Alec was a prodigy studying medical with a scholarship while Benji developed an interest in photography, he honed his skills and joined competitions. Even though they had different career paths, they still kept in contact. One day, Benji was invited to the semi finals of a photography competition.
Benji basically ran to Alec’s apartment, and banged on the door, “Alec! Alec!” he Chirped like a small child, Alec swung open the door, “Benji? What is it?” He asked, Benji beamed, “I got in the semifinals!” Alec shrugged “knew you'd get in, good job, Benny.” Benji chuckles, “yeah, yeah, but I was wondering if you could be my… well, my project for the competition..?” Alec rolled his eyes, “of course, you don't even have to ask.”
On the photo taking day, Benji and Alec met up at a park, Alec was in a nice outfit, he wore a white turtleneck with a leather jacket, he looked like an angel that fell from heaven, Benji's mind was filled with adjective such as: gorgeous, beautiful, sweet, cute, adorable, chivalrous… every time Alec posed, he felt his heart melt, thump a thousand times, and his face get hot. ‘Focus, Benji’ he would tell himself.
After the photoshoot, Alec and Benji parted ways, of course, after a totally platonic date at a cute little Cafe. On the night before the competition, Benji found himself admiring every part of Alec, his curly hair, flawless dark skin, his soft eyes, his personality, his voice, oh his voice, so comforting and charming.
On the day of the competition, Benji presented his photographs on the stage, the audience were spellbound by the photos, they were gorgeous, parted with the perfect angles, fully capturing Alec's beauty and emotions. And when the judge asked him what the name of this project was, Benji simply answered “the light of my life, my sunshine, my reason for living, and that was when Benji spotted Alec in the audience, standing there, looking at him, with so much love.
“Excuse me, is it alright if I make a quick announcement?” Benji asked the judge. The judge quickly agreed. “Alec, thank you, for everything,” his eyes were watery, his smile genuine and true, “I love you”
The audience gasped, Alec dropped his bag, his face a mix of embarrassment and love. “Be my boyfriend, please.”
Alec pushed through the audience, running towards Benji with all his might, embracing him, his lingering body heat made Alec lose himself, as they felt each other's lips.
~end~
