Spierfeld Week

College/Uni

Simon

College is just as gay as I thought it would be.

I walk through the courtyard of Georgia State University to my Performing Arts class with Abby. She bumps my hip as we walk along, and I grin at her.

"Ready for your first day of class?" She asks cheerily.

"No," I say honestly. "Are you?"

She rolls her eyes, sipping her iced coffee. "Yep."

I scoff. "No, you aren't. You're running on coffee and ramen."

She grins. "You aren't wrong about that." She takes another sip off her coffee, finishing it off. "Excited for your introduction to the college life?"

I groan. "Are you and Leah ever going to tell me where we're going tonight?"

"Nope!"

———

Bram

I shouldn't have let Garret drag me here. I lean nervously against the bar, eyes darting around. It's not as if I expect someone to leap at me or anything, it's just my first time in a place like this, and it's certainly...

Interesting.

I scoff. Understatement of the year. Frickle Frackle Eat Your Snackle(The Snackle Referring to Something Else) is the biggest gay bar in New York, and it "might be a bit of an adjustment," as Garret put it.

No, that's the understatement of the year.

I squint at the mass of glitter that is the dance floor. Not trying my luck there. I'm too nervous to even have a drink.

"C'mon," Garret pleads. "Live a little!"

"No." Garrett pouts, and I cross my arms indignantly. "Some creep might drug it!"

Garrett rolls his eyes. "Nobody's gonna drug your drink."

"You don't know that," I say.

He sighs. "Fine. Sit in here and be antisocial. I'm going to dance." And that he does, sauntering onto the dance floor with a twist of his hips.

I linger at the bar, watching Garrett, but I quickly lose him in the crowd of gays and their over-enthusiastic straight friends that were dragged here. I'm just about to leave the bar, if I can find the fucking exit- when a voice suddenly asks "Do you know what my shirt is made of?"

"No," I say, confused, and turning to find the speaker.

"Boyfriend material," They quip, and I laugh.

"Oh!" I finally find who was talking to me- Simon Spier? I feel a twinge if guilt- I did, after all, abandon him on a Ferris wheel after a pretty darn romantic motivational speech.

"Bram?" He asks, but he doesn't sound shocked or embarrassed, just pleasantly surprised. "Sorry, that was an awful pickup line." His eyes are bright and cheeks flushed red as he flashed me a sloppy grin. He's wasted, I realize. This is not the shy, awkward kid I knew revealing his secrets to a stranger over the Internet, no, this is someone new.

"Oh," a surprised voice says. "I didn't realize you were queer, Bram." It takes me a moment of searching, but I find Leah, sandwiched between two large, glittering drag queens. She offers me a small smile.

"Yeah. Uh, homosexual, actually." I shove my hands in my pockets, hating how formal I sound.

"Cool." Leah takes a sip of her drink. "I'm bi."

"I'm gay, but you knew that already," Simon says with a sloppy wink. Leah looks at him with mild concern- at least she's sober enough to see how wasted he is- but suddenly a dazzling presence bursts into our little bubble.

"Ssssssimmmmon," Abby drawls. "My man!" She throws an arm around Simon's shoulders, clearly as wasted as he is.

"Abbyyyyyyy," Simon mimics her, grinning like a maniac. Leah rolls her eyes with a small smile, like she was used to staying in the shadows.

"So, whaddya up to? Gettin' some of that D?" Abby squints at Bram. "Oh! It's Bram!" She nudges Simon with her hip. "It's Bram!" I look at Leah, arching an eyebrow, and she looks at me, like, I know, right? And in that moment, I feel a sort of bond connect between them, the bond of the quiet and the overshadowed.

"Funnily enough, I noticed," Simon says with a roll of his eyes.

"Right," Abby says.

"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait," Simon says, the words slurring together. "I gotta good one." He straightens and looks me in the eye. "I'm good with numbers. Why don't you give me yours and see what I can do?"

I laugh, but the Simon gives me is a serious one. "Wait, you're serious?"

"Yeah, 'course," Simon says, looking confused. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Alright," I say with a smile.

———

Simon

Owwww. I wake up on my second day of college with a massive headache. God.

I look up. On the stand next to my bed, there's a glass of water. two aspirin, and a note from Leah.

Figured you might need these. You were totally wasted. I would stay over, but I've gotta check on Abby, she's worse. By the way, you totally hit on Bram. You've got his number.

Leah

P.S: Your coat is in the closet. The state of this place is horrendous, you heathen.

I smile, take the aspirin, and pick up his phone. Damn. I have a whopper of a message from a phone number listed in my contacts as Bram the Hammmmmmmmm <3.

Bram the Hammmmmmmmm: Simon, I know you won't see this until you wake up, but I want you to know something: I'm Blue. I know, I'm sorry, and I hope you forgive me for abandoning you on that Ferris Wheel. Feel free to cut me out of your life.

I smile.

And begin to type a response.