Easter Egg (Gawsten)

Teal

The bell rang for the end of fourth period and Geoff Wigington was buzzing once again. That was just the way boys like Awsten were. They're cute and they made Geoff's heart race a couple thousand miles per hour.

Especially when they walked him to class and gave him cookies.

Geoff stood on his tiptoes outside his classroom and looked around for the little splash of blue he could follow, and sank down in dismay when he couldn't find Awsten.

"Down here."

Geoff turned. Awsten stood next to him, smiling slightly, and he almost shit himself.

"Shall we?" said Awsten, gesturing to the hall. Geoff's mouth went dry, and he nodded.

They walked, nearly in silence until Geoff turned to him. "Homework again?"

Awsten grimaced in thought and shook his head. "I've already got plans."

No sooner had the words left his lips than a small Asian kid ran up to him. "Awsten!"

"Ini?" said Awsten, placing a hand on the kid's shoulder. "What's up?"

"We're off for tonight," panted Ini. "Jayden-he-"

"What happened to Jayden?" asked Awsten. Geoff realized he must be intruding on a moment, and tried to be as quiet as possible.

"He got suspended."

"What?" said Awsten. "What for?"

"I don't know," said Ini, "but, um, you know that kid he kind of had the hots for?"

"Rockets?"

"Yeah," said Ini. "He's expelled."

"Jesus Christ!" said Awsten. "What'd he do?"

"I don't know," said Ini, "but I think this means our study date is off."

"Oh," said Awsten.

"Yeah," said Ini. "So, uh, sorry."

Awsten shook his head. "No, no, it's fine, I'm just..." He trailed off, walking faster. "Surprised."

"Me too," said Ini. "But you have to get to class."

"Kinda," said Awsten, nodding. "You probably should do that too."

Ini nodded vigorously and scampered off.

Awsten turned to face Geoff. "I guess I'm down for homework with you and your friends."

Geoff nodded. "Okay. Cool."

Awsten smiled and looked back out at the signs in the hall. He rounded a sharp corner, Geoff barely hanging on behind him, and almost slammed into the classroom door. "Boom," said Awsten, and opened the door for Geoff.

Butterflies kicked up in his stomach and fifth period was a blur.

*****

School let out and Awsten was so distracted thinking about Jayden he almost forgot about his promise to do homework with Geoff. If they hadn't passed each other in the hallway, he would've totally blown him off.

Fortunately for the both of them, upon seeing each other they came to the unspoken agreement that they would walk to the weird looking hedge thing together and wait for Geoff's other friends to show up.

The wait was quiet. Neither of them spoke and in any other scenario Awsten would've found it incredibly awkward. As the minutes slipped past, though, he realized he didn't feel strange being silent with Geoff. No, Geoff's silence was...different somehow. He couldn't put his finger on why.

He was almost disappointed when Otto, Chloe, and Jenna appeared. He would've liked to continue being nice and silent with Geoff.

The walk to Geoff's house was slightly less quiet, but Geoff himself kept his mouth shut, and for that Awsten was thankful. It meant he didn't have to speak either.

They arrived and Awsten found himself sitting next to Geoff on his couch, barely able to concentrate on his essay. Awsten stared at his paper for who knows how long-could've been five minutes, could've been an hour-and by the time Geoff had finished his math Awsten had only written five words. Screw it, he thought. It's not due till tomorrow.

"Awsten."

"He speaks." The comment slipped out of Awsten's mouth before he had the chance to stop it. Geoff looked slightly miffed at this, but went on with his sentence.

"I'm, uh-" he cleared his throat "-there's a new fro-yo place downtown, and, um, I..." He trailed off, pausing as though to catch his breath, and continued. "I was just, um, wondering if, uh, maybe you wanted to, like, check it out with me?"

Shit, thought Awsten. Shit, shit, shit.

"Yeah, sure."