"Did I say the wrong thing?!" Chris called ahead as he followed PJ down the stairs and along the corridor, away from North Wing.
Small groups of boys turned to stare as they watched the crimson-faced new kid hurry past them, followed by a slightly less crimson faced Christopher Kendall, occasionally calling to the new kid in front.
"C'mon Peej! What else was I meant to have said?"
PJ picked up his pace, jogging now. Down two flights of stairs and towards reception. Chris did the same, now realising that the three and a half years of PE class he'd skipped hadn't really done him any favours.
Dodging a pillar, table and several students, PJ made it to reception, Chris appeared to be miles behind him now. He could hear him yelling. "PJ, seriously, let me talk to you"
Pushing himself to move faster, hoping he'd lose Chris completely, PJ sped through the arched door and out in to the sunlight. He stopped for a second, the sudden change in lighting left him temporarily blinded. It didn't take long for his eyes to adjust though. He examined his surroundings. He stood on a long gravel path, the end of which led to the school gates, a large, spluttering fountain stood in the middle of the wide path. To his right appeared to be the entrance to the tennis courts, football pitch and swimming pool. To his left, the staff car park and, beyond that, the woods. Yes. PJ sprinted through the rows of parked BMWs, Range Rovers, Jaguars and Bentleys, towards the woods.
He'd misjudged the distance massively. It was so much longer than he'd expected. He stopped for breath half way across the field, but carried on when he heard Chris behind him. His whole body shook with adrenaline for the second time that day.
He planned to carry on running when he reached the woods, hoping to lose Chris in the shadows.
PJ reached a small wooden fence which separated the field he was running through and the woods. He put one hand on it and threw himself over. Only to be greeted by a mass army of nettles on the other side. He was numb to the pain for only a second, just managing to stumble away from the sharp parade of stingers before collapsing to the ground and screaming.
It only took Chris a minute to reach the fence after PJ. His long distance vision definitely made up for his lack of fitness. He realised what had happened as he peered over the fence to see the disheveled PJ lying on the ground.
Chris made his way to the gate a few meters along the fence, through it and along a short path to where PJ was.
"Calm down, you pussy! It's only a few bloody nettles" Chris joked. His joke obviously unappreciated as PJ screamed cusses at him from the ground. "Well, there's no need for that language. Let me find you a doc leaf"
Chris searched around him. Sure enough, he found a clump of doc leaves and seized a few in his hand. He returned to PJ, who had pulled up the left side of his jeans to reveal tens of tiny blisters beaded on his pale skin. Chris knelt by his side and handed him the leaves. Without looking at Chris, PJ took them and gently rubbed the blisters.
"Better?" Chris asked. No reply. "Are you going to talk to me?"
PJ grunted.
"Can we talk about the smut, Peej?"
PJ's head shot up "I didn't mean it. I didn't know what I was doing, Chris. I don't feel like that, I'm straight"
Chris would never admit it, but his heart sank when he heard that; as much as he fought against it, he was beginning to crush on PJ. Chris looked down between his knees and attempted to find something to focus his eyes on, trying not to let PJ see how disappointed he was.
"It's fine, mate" said Chris, focussing on the large tree root half buried in the ground "it was some good smut" despite his efforts, he felt his cheeks flush with blood.
"Ha-ha. Thanks" PJ looked over to Chris "are you blushing?"
"No!"
"Um yes you are! Stop lying"
"I'm not lying" Chris lied
"Are you gay? Chris? Do you like men? Do you like me?"
PJ stared at Chris. Chris continued to focus on the tree root. The silence only lasted a could of seconds but, to Chris especially, the silence seemed to last so much longer.
Eventually Chris broke the silence by picking himself off the floor and adjusting the waist on his jeans. "C'mon, let's get back to school"
PJ rolled his eyes but still complied. With help from Chris, PJ was able to stand up and hobble the half mile back to Dark Wood Manor. Half way across the field, looking behind him, PJ could see why the house was called that; the woodland surrounding the school was exceptionally dark and thick, it was almost unreal. He promised himself that, when he had the time, maybe after exams had finished, he would sit in the field and paint the beautiful scenery.
The two young boys didn't talk to each other as they made their way back through reception. Chris, despite the awkward circumstances, had his arm around PJ's waist. Stairs appeared to be particularly difficult to negotiate and Dark Wood Manor, being as old as it was, had no lifts. Chris ended up carrying PJ over his shoulder for two flights. Before he had an asthma attack and almost passed out.
After almost an hour of what Chris believed was mass amounts of overreacting from PJ, they made it to room 164. Chris dumped PJ on his bed and kicked his shoes off before flinging himself on to his own. He opened his Economics study book and flicked through it. PJ began peeling his skinny black jeans from his legs, wincing quietly as he did. Chris glanced up from his book every now and then to look at PJ's legs. He was shocked at how badly they were stung. It looked as if he had been waist deep in the nettle bush: both his legs - mainly his left - were covered in tiny blisters, there was barely any skin between the raw white dots.
Chris grimaced, tossed his Economics book aside, pulled a laptop from under his bed and selected a DVD from the many on the first of the three shelves above his bed. "Wanna watch The Fifth Element? Have you seen it? It's a good film! Might take your mind off the pain" Chris smiled warmly across at his roommate 'and those stupid sexuality questions' he thought.
"Sure" PJ grinned, pleased that he had finally made some sort of positive relationship at this place, even if it was a little awkward. He pulled on a pair of shorts striped like the Italian flag and came to sit on the bed next to Chris.
The two boys lay on their stomachs and watched the film together on Chris' bed. Chris felt PJ's upper thigh on his hip. He was so close to him. Nobody had ever been this close to him. PJ seemed to have some sort of charge that sent tingles through Chris' body whenever they touched. PJ's hips moved whenever he laughed at the film or one of Chris' amusing yet sophisticated comments about the plot or actors. All the laughing must've worn PJ out though, because about half way through the film, PJ turned on his side, rested his head on Chris' shoulder and fell asleep.
They lay there for almost an hour after the film had finished, PJ's head still on his roommate's shoulder. Chris smiled to himself, feeling PJ's rhythmic breathing on his neck.
Chris made an attempt to reach around to hold PJ's middle, so that they were spooning. But as he moved his arm from under him, PJ stirred and awoke. He must be a light sleeper, Chris thought, he woke up that morning when he had left for a shower.
"Sorry, mate, did I wake you up?" Chris asked languidly
"Nah, it's ok... Um... Did I fall asleep on your shoulder?"
"Uh, yeah, ha-ha"
"Shit. Sorry"
"It's fine. Your head was comfortable. Not like it meant anything"
"No, it didn't... I have a girlfriend at home"
"Yeah I thought so"
"You thought so?"
"Aye, good looking guy like you would have thousands of girls chasing him... And boys"
PJ spun around, half way through digging his pyjamas out from under his pillow and looked at Chris "Chris" he said "it won't change anything, I'm not a dick and I won't treat you any differently, but are you gay?"
Chris, sitting cross legged on his bed, stared down and fingered the DVD case in his hands "I..." he paused for a second, lifted his head up and said, quite matter-of-factly "I don't think gender or race or religion or background or social class or any of that shit should account for anything. Obviously I can't speak for everyone, but if I were to fall in love with someone - whatever 'love' may be - I would want to fall in love with their personality and not their genitals... I suppose that makes me bisexual or pansexual or whatever you wanna call it, I don't even see why we have to categorise stuff so much"
PJ nodded and turned back to his bed. His legs were still agonisingly raw, although not as agonisingly raw as they had been nearly 4 hours ago. What time was it? It was dark. PJ glanced over at his clock. 5:04pm. "Hey Chris, when's dinner?"
"Half five, then the coffee bar outside the cafeteria is open til nine thirty." PJ threw his pyjamas back under his pillow, he didn't want to miss dinner. On the other side of the room, Chris shoved his laptop and power cable back under his bed. "I've always thought that was a weird thing to call it, y'know? Coffee bar. Co-fee baaaaaar. Firstly, because it doesn't sell coffee, or hot drinks at all for that matter: health and safety hazard, apparently. Well, that's what they say. They stopped selling it after a couple of sixth-formers working behind there once put vodka in the coffee machine and half of first-form got absolutely wankered. Secondly, it's not even a bar, it's a kiosk. Sorry, I'm going off on a tangent. I always do it. If you weren't here then I'd talk to myself."
It was nice to not sit alone at a table for once. It was even nicer not being hassled while eating. Chris had to admit it, he enjoyed PJ's company. Despite the fact he was confused about his feelings towards him. They chatted a lot that dinner time, mostly about casual things like Chris' love of comic books and PJ's video gaming addiction, nothing too personal. Chris was so overwhelmed with happiness upon the discovery that PJ had bought his PS2 with him that he almost propelled himself out of his seat.
He had been wrong about not needing a friend, he needed PJ, and PJ needed him. Batman and Robin.
