11/10

Chapter Five

Fern looked at the two large double doors, just below the bright green boy's locker room sign. He yawned and used his shoulder to push the door open stepping through the doors and into the room. The locker room was a large open spaced room, that lacked changing stalls. Something the girls locker rooms were graced with. There were only a line of alternating yellow and green lockers on the wall, and four benches leaving the center of the room empty. This was an inconvenience to certain types of people. Most of the changing teens unaware and oblivious how hard their lack of clothing made it for others.

Fern wasn't too concerned about the other people that locker rooms made changing hard for, but he did know it made it hard for him. Especially at times like this, when it was first period and his cousin dropped him off too late to avoid the mob of guys changing at once. Fern turned away from the group of guys congregating in the center of the room in favor of putting his gym bag into his locker. Fern knew himself, and he knew his limitations. He knew that he wasn't exactly attracted to the men in the locker room, but he also knew he had a big staring problem. The points of interest being, the abs, the ass, the face, and recently arms. After two full years of highschool and enough awkward explanations he knew better than to change with the rest of the guys in the center of the room.

Fern grabbed his gym shirt, shorts, and sneaker from his locker. Stuffing the rest of the bag inside and closing the locker door. He heard a disapproving sound to the left of him, he turned to see Quinn Rogers, smiling and shirtless. .

"Really? It's been what two years and something-something months, and you still can't be bothered to put a lock on your locker?" Quinn smiled at him, flashing Fern his perfect white teeth. Fern couldn't remember a time when he didn't have perfect teeth. Even in elementary school when everyone else was losing teeth, it always seemed like he skipped a step and went right to perfect adult pearly whites. Fern dragged his eyes away from Quinn's teeth and met his eyes, silently hoping that he didn't stare for more than two seconds.

"I really don't care." Fern began and glanced at his locker. It dawned on him how rude he might of sounded, he mulled over how to follow up. "I mean....if they really want some beat up converse that smell like feet, then they can have them." Quinn smiled at him again, this time closed mouthed.

"Well I think if they're in the shoe taking business I think they'd expect to have the shoes smell like feet." Quinn pointed out, Fern looked at him nodding slowly. He couldn't decide what to say next, something witty probably? He tried to imagine what Anakin would say in that situation.

"They'd probably get those shoe freshener things." He doubted Anakin would actually say that but any progress was good progress.

"How about your phone? Don't you keep that thing locked, or should I say unlocked in your locker. I mean that would be a pretty penny at some pawn shop right?" Fern thought about it and looked at his phone then at Quinn and shrugged again. He didn't even really have a lock on his phone.

"Do you think anyone really wants to take my phone?" It was Quinn's turn to shrug, the toothy smile back on his face.

"I mean I definitely would, I've always wanted your number." Fern felt taken back, a frown on his face he looked around to make sure this wasn't a filmed prank or something.

"My...number? For what?" Quinn made a motion like a phone was in his hands, his thumbs moved over the invisible screen.

"You know to text you and shit? Dude I mean we have known each other since like first grade. It just seems kinda weird that we haven't linked up or anything." Fern paused for a moment thinking, it dawned on him that he really didn't have anyone's phone number. Well except for Anakin.