Seth Robins' One-Shots

Scribble: Don't Be A Fool

To those of you who recognize the title don't judge me; Shawn Mendes put out his new album and he's got me relistening to all his old music and extending my playlists by an extra hour (not me sobbing when his first song to his new album was him apologizing for cancelling his 2022 concert I was gonna see-)

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James' Perspective-

James stuffed his hands in his hoodie pocket as he followed his family up into their friend's home for the Christmas party. Christmas break had just started and James wanted nothing more than to go home.

He had begged his parents to let him stay home, pulling any excuse he could to get them to leave him home alone and he could call his boyfriend, but they ended up making him go.

"It'll be fun, alright? Try not to look so down." James' mother said and James held back from rolling his eyes.

The party was pretty busy with quite a few people, James recognizing a few since he hung out with them when he was a kid.

"Hey Jim-Jam."

James turned around at the familiar nickname and saw Elyssa. Elyssa was the daughter of his parent's friend and she went to the all girls Christian school down the street. They hadn't seen each other since elementary school.

"Oh- hi Elly." James smiled a bit and Elyssa giggled.

"You look just about the same as you did back then." Elyssa said, glancing James up and down.

James nervously fidgeted with his hoodie string and he nodded.

"Yeah, not a lot's been happening." He lied, having never liked talking about his online presence and all that's being going on.

"Um...what about with you? It's been forever since you transferred to that school." James said, changing the subject.

"I'm pretty good. All my teacher's like me in class since I'm ahead of most of the other girls."

"As always." James chuckled, rolling his eyes.

"Hey! You're a good student too, you know." She elbowed him and James smiled.

"Yeah but answering all the time isn't my thing. Besides I closed up a bit when middle school started since me and Liam got different schedules." James said, folding his arms and glancing around.

Elyssa frowned, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Not your fault, I made other friends eventually anyway."

"That's good! Are they nice?"

"Yeah they're both great." James said.

"What're their names?"

"Venus and Sarah." James listed and Elyssa frowned a bit.

"Oh cool, cool. Hey uh- remember that time in fourth grade when we had to learn how to do formal dancing and got partnered up?" Elyssa asked, quickly changing the subject from the other girls in James' life.

James flushed red and he laughed.

"Oh my cod, you're gonna give me war flashbacks."

Elyssa giggled. "Come on, it wasn't that bad. I thought we did quite well."

"I beg to differ." He chuckled and Elyssa laughed.

-

Elyssa and James were sitting in the living room together and catching up. Elyssa would fix her appearance every now and then, making sure her blonde curls draped perfectly over her slightly tanned shoulders and framed her face correctly.

James, meanwhile, periodically checked his phone to see if Noah had messaged him again. Despite telling him he was going to this Christmas party, he still wanted to know the second Noah sent him something.

"What do you keep looking at?" Elyssa asked after the fifth time James checked his phone during the half hour they were talking.

"Oh I was just um...waiting for a friend to message me back."

"Who is it?" Elyssa tilted her head.

"Just someone who means a lot to me..." James said in a quiet voice. Despite him being so happy about his relationship, the amount of fear and anxiety he had was overwhelming.

"Well I didn't text you."

"What?" James raised an eyebrow, confused at what she meant.

Elyssa laughed. "I'm just saying," she leaned in a bit, "Don't I mean a lot to you?"

James felt his heart stop and his fingers tightened around his phone. His doubt came crawling up his shoulders and he felt them whisper to him.

Each spoke at once, making him unable to understand them or know what to do.

"I- I mean yeah." James said in a shaky voice.

Elyssa giggled again, but this was a more soft laugh, and she brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.

James felt uncomfortable and he tried to lean back, but he felt his one insecurity stop him from going back any further.

"You really think Noah's gonna stick with you for years until you finally meet? What's the point in wishing for something that's gonna fall apart? You should just try and date someone in real life who actually likes you."

"I asked my dad if I could transfer to your high school so we could hang out more again, wouldn't that be fun? Then we could go to actual dances together." She reached to hold his hand. "What do you think?" She smiled sweetly as she looked up at James.

James felt his brain short circuit and he couldn't think as the panic and fear took control.

"I- "

His phone buzzed in his hand, helping ground him. The familiar tone distracted him and he looked at his screen, seeing that Noah had messaged him.

James giggled softly as he saw Noah send a picture of the game he was playing and Elyssa looked irritated.

"Cod, you're just one of those guys who's addicted to screens, aren't you?" She shook her head. "I don't even know why I was still trying to flirt with you when you're just as bland as always."

She stood up and fixed her red dress, making sure all the possible wrinkles were gone before walking over to one of the other guys, one a bit taller than James and definitely more handsome.

James sighed in relief as she left and he glanced back down at his phone.

"Thanks for saving me lol" he texted and Noah responded almost immediately.

"What'd I do?"

"You basically played that scary boyfriend role and stopped me from getting into some big drama"

James watched the three dots bounce before giggling as Noah's response.

"LETS GO"

James rolled his eyes and saw his brother wave to him, motioning to him that they were leaving.

James stood up and walked outside with his parents, still texting Noah. Despite the big distance, some days it really did feel like he was right there with him.