The One with the Rebel and the Nerd

Nine

Nicola opens Connor's door slightly. "Hey, I'm going to Starbucks. Do you need anything?"

Connor looks up from his English notes. "No, thanks."

"Okay, then." Nicola shrugs and then begins to leave him.

"Wait!" Connor calls her, changing his mind.

"What?" She turns her head around to Connor's direction.

"Can I come along with you? I can really use a study break." Connor smiles wryly.

"Yeah, sure." She slings one arm over her brother's shoulders.

***

Troye has finally found this so-called 'Kurt' guy. After ordering a venti latte, Troye and Kurt find a table nearby the windows.

"So, you're a musician?" Troye asks.

"Yeah." Kurt nods solemnly. He adds, "I'm actually between bands now."

That piqued Troye's interest. "Oh! Which ones?"

"Our Third Life and Forever Rising Wolves."

"I've heard of Our Third Life." Troye says. And Troye thinks it's a terrible band. Pop is so overrated. Those guys will probably end up in Disney Channel to be tossed into the dumpster the next clones come along.

"Yeah, those guys just lost their bassist. Said he's serving in the military now." Kurt takes a sip of his drink.

"So, which one are you leaning to?" Troye asks.

Kurt's eyes wander to the creamy Starbucks walls. "Probably FRW."

"Why?" Our Third Life is horrible but a band with a name like a drunken toddler's basketball team sounds much worse.

"Our Third Life is amazing. The guys are awesome. I just like something more Arctic Monkeys meets psychedelic pop."

"Interesting." Weird fusion, Troye thinks.

"So, you play?" Kurt asks Troye, trying to get him to open up too.

"Keyboard. I sometimes write too when I'm bored." Troye shrugs.

"Do you sing though?" Kurt asks further.

"Sometimes." Troye begrudgingly answers.

"Hey, maybe we're onto something here. Maybe we can be the next Lennon and McCartney." Kurt tries to joke to lighten up the mood. Troye thinks it's terrible.

"Or the next Starsky and Hutch." Troye responds absent-mindedly.

"They're not music duos." Kurt says.

"Oh, God, you're right!" Troye snaps back into reality. "What was I thinking?" He begins to cover his face with his hands. His cheeks are starting to blush.

Then, they both burst into laughter. Out of the corner of his eye, Troye spots a familiar-looking person in front of the counter. What is the nerd doing here?

"Hey, do you want some sandwiches or?" Kurt gets up from his seat.

"I'm good, thanks." Troye sips his drink.

"I'll just get some for myself. Be back in five." Kurt smiles at Troye.

"Counting on it." Troye replies, smiling weakly.

Well, so far, the date's going well. The guy is not brain dead, at least. And he's really into music too. Why is the nerd here? Is he stalking me? Yeah, right. He is probably too busy studying and whatnot. Oh, crap, he saw me. Maybe he'll go away and pretend he didn't see me. Is he coming this way? No. This can't be happening. Turn away. Look at the windows. The snow has all cleared up. Maybe...

"Hi! I didn't expect to see you here." Before Troye knows it, Connor is already sitting where Kurt previously sat on.

"Oh. Hi." Troye replies flatly.

"So, who were you with?" Connor sips his macchiato latte.

"My date." Troye says.

"Oh! I get it!" Connor laughs alone. He thinks Troye's messing with him.

"Um, no, I don't think so." Troye says, feeling a bit insulted. He continues, "He really is my date. And that chair you're sitting on, it's his seat."

"So...you're not, um..." Yikes, Connor says in his head. This is awkward.

"Straight." Troye finishes Connor's sentence.

"Okay." Now, Connor just feels incredibly awkward. "I better leave now." He gets up from the seat.

"Yeah, that'd be great." Troye mutters.

"So, see you tomorrow?" Connor says.

"Whatever." Troye says barely audibly as he takes another sip of his latte.

Just as Connor leaves, Kurt returns, bringing a sandwich with him.

"So, what did I miss?" Kurt asks as he sits.

"That annoying guy from school." Troye rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, I watched." Kurt takes a bite off his sandwich.

"Let's... Let's just forget about him."

"I can tell that he has a thing for you."

"You can tell? With what? The power of music?" Troye responds sarcastically.

"Are you always this sarcastic?" Kurt smiles a little.

"Most of the time I'm more sarcastic than this. This is just a preview of who I really am." Troye shrugs while smirking.

"Anyways, I can tell by the way his eyes were like when he noticed you here." Kurt takes a sip of his drink.

"I thought dates don't talk like this?" Troye chuckles.

"No offense, dude, but I don't think we will ever be a couple, romantically." Kurt says lightly.

"That's a relief." Troye says. And he really means it. Kurt is okay but he doesn't really scream "BOYFRIEND".

"But you're cool so let's be friends, okay?"

"Sure." Troye sips his drink again.

"You can copy my number and tell me if you ever have a new song ready for us to work on." Kurt hands Troye his phone. On the screen, there's a sequence of numbers.

"Of course. I finally have a music guy." Troye replies while copying Kurt's number to his contact list.

"Me too. Apart from the bands. But they're bands so who knows what will happen if s*** goes wrong."