The Adventure (Tomark)

Chapter 10

When Tom is sitting in class a few days later, he still can't get the thought of Mark — or rather, what Mark did — out of his head. It makes listening to Mrs. Baker's tedious explanations about formulas and mathematical rules even more exhausting than usual and, truth be told, remembering Mark's practised movements is way more interesting, anyway. Tom smiles to himself contentedly and continues to draw small circles into his notebook. That is, until Travis, who is sitting next to him as always, pushes a scrap of paper across the desk. Tom unfolds it curiously.

Yo, T! What's up with that stupid grin? Finally got laid?

The high schooler rolls his eyes as he starts scribbling on the small sheet.

Sort of.

His brief answer causes Travis to take an audible, deep breath and Tom has to chuckle because of that. His best friend always seems so cool, like someone who doesn't care about anything, but he actually is damn nosy — especially when they are talking about Tom's amorous adventures.

Are u foreal? Holy shit, dude! How was it? And what the fuck does „sort of" mean? Third base?

There are some smiley faces drawn next to the messy writing; Travis is encouraging as always and Tom appreciates that. He remembers being kind of jealous when his best friend got together with his girlfriend Abby last year, but he got over that long ago because Travis never neglected him, after all. If anything, his relationship was quite advantageous up until now as the teenager was introduced to Abby's female friends occasionally. But while Tom undoubtedly benefited from that in the past, it doesn't really matter anymore. Now, there is only one person he wants to mess around with.

It was fucking gnarly. And you are fucking snoopy.

Tom also adds a smiley face to his words, but still, Travis playfully jabs him in the ribs. Mrs. Baker immediately interrupts her explanations and gives them a stern glance, causing both boys to look down bashfully. Nevertheless, the scrap of paper is returned moments later.

Okay man, put up or shut up! Who's that mysterious chick anyway? You never told me! Is she that ugly?

Tom raises an eyebrow and looks at Travis' written question thoughtfully. He's never kept any secrets from his friend, but he doesn't really feel comfortable with telling him about Mark, although he does know that Travis probably wouldn't judge him. Still, putting his feelings into words and opening up about everything that has happened seems a little too much. Tom sighs and starts doodling on the paper; coming up with a joke is the easiest face-saver he can think of, and thus, he draws an image of Mrs. Baker. It's a NSFW version of her, though, depicting the teacher in revealing lingerie with a whip in her hand.

The high schooler chuckles quietly. His work of art actually is quite felicitous, and he is about to add a fitting description when his muse is suddenly standing right in front of him. Tom manages to grab the piece of paper and crumples it up, but it's too late — the teacher is already pointing at the small letter in his hand.

„Thomas, what do we have here?" she asks in a sweet voice. „I'm assuming you were taking notes? Let's share them with the class, shall we?"

Tom gulps. This is bad; he really doesn't need detention right now, not with everything that's going on with Mark and all the things they could experiment with (in freedom, that is). But what is he supposed to do? Making a run for it would probably still result in detention, and refusing Mrs. Baker's request doesn't seem very clever, either, since his teacher can be pretty intimidating.

The high schooler, realizing that he has to live with the consequences whether he likes it or not, sighs deeply and hesitantly puts out his hand. He can sense all eyes on him; it makes him feel almost heroic, although he is scared as shit in reality. However, right before Mrs. Baker is able to grab the scrap of paper, a sudden knock on the door interrupts the tense situation. In comes their school's secretary, an elderly woman that always appears to be a bit confused.