In the Classroom

Chapter Six: Keeping It

I strode into Mr. Nishomoto's classroom, desperately trying to keep my eyes open. I looked around the room still, looking for whispering conversations and prying eyes. I found none. It looks like people were still too afraid to look me in the eye, minus the fan girls It looks like my secret was safe.

"Please don't tell anyone about this, Jessica!" I had begged her last night. "I've taken every precaution to keep it a secret, and I just can't face the fact yet."

Jessica had nodded at my request. Her expression had been unrecognizable, but I knew that she was fighting hard not to cry. Being rejected is one thing—finding out you never had a chance in the first place is an entirely other situation. I didn't know what to say to her—I just knew what I wanted.

"I understand, Josh...just let me think about it for a while," she said weakly. I nodded at her, and she swept past me, hiding her expression from me. I thought I had maybe heard a half-choked off sob as the door closed behind her, but I could have been mistaken.

I collapsed into my desk, brushing back my hair. A slight bead of sweat from the anticipation and the unnatural temperature rise outside had broke out on my forehead. Popping open the first few buttons of my uniform, I loosened my tie and took it off, throwing it on my desk carelessly. After that, I pulled off my jacket, slinging it on the back of my chair. I shook back my hair, beads of sweat flying off my face. I sighed in exhaustion.

"Oh my god! So sexy!" came a cry suddenly. I looked over to see a couple fan girls staring at me with wide eyes and bright red cheeks. Slowly taking into account of how I looked, I realized that I was practically stripping in class. Instead of pulling my sweltering uniform back on, I smiled over at the girls. The leader just about fainted, squealing in euphoria.

"Damn, Josh, you're a charmer today," said David, coming up behind me. He looked closely at me and raised his eyebrows.

"What's with the baggy eyelids, dude? And don't give me that crap about 'studying', because we all know you'd never do that," said David.

"Just...couldn't sleep," I said to him. He nodded at me. He suddenly gave me a smirk.

"She must've kept you up all night, huh?" said David. I sat up straighter.

"Huh?" I said to him. He grinned. "Hey don't hide it, Josh. We all know about you two—how adorable," he taunted. I raised my eyebrow at him. "What the hell are you talking about?" I asked him. Josh kept on though.

"You're so obvious. I can see right through you, Joshua. Your face is red like a tomato!" said David. The girls behind me squealed. I tried to hide the blush that had crept into my cheeks, the real blush.

"It's hot outside, dammit!" I snapped at him furiously. "Just because my face is red from the heat doesn't mean I'm embarrassed about—what are you talking about anyways?!" The door suddenly popped open and Jessica bounded into the room. The people gasped as she rushed past the desks towards me.

"Honey!" she called over to me. I looked at her in surprise and had just enough time to brace myself before she rushed over, hugging me around the neck. I gasped for breath as she released me from her rib-cracking embrace. She held up a flowery lunch box for me and smiled.

"You forgot your lunch this morning, sweetie!" she said cheerfully. Without waiting for me to reply, she shoved the box in my hands and beamed at me, balancing her body weight on her heels like an idiot. I looked at her, dumbfounded.

“Why are you here, Jessica? This isn't your class!” I told her loudly. She stuck out her bottom lip in a cute, pouting expression.

“Come on now, Josh,” she said to me teasingly. “Is that anyway to talk to your girlfriend?” she asked me innocently. I stood up, overturning my chair in my haste.

“Say what?!” I demanded of her in an undertone. She winked at me, sticking her tongue out at me playfully.

“Don't worry about it, cutie pie,” she said to me. She turned on her heel, twirling around like a child before running out of the room.

"By, Josh! See you around!" she called back to me. I bet my expression was priceless when I found out I was apparently dating a girl I had rejected the night before. David apparently thought so.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked Jessica. The seclusion of the roof was the only place we could talk in quiet. I was exhausted from her acting as if she and I were actually going out—when I had made it quite plainly the night before that we weren't.

"What? Didn't you tell me to keep your secret?" she asked me innocently. I glared at me, and she gave me a small smile.

"The way I see it—if you seem like you've got a girlfriend, people won't question if you're gay," she said. I felt my mouth drop open in shock. She looked at me, smiling good-naturedly. "If you show absolutely no interest in the other sex, like you were doing before, then rumors may get out—and who knows how long you can hide your interests with that kind of pressure on you," she said. I closed my mouth slowly. It's not like I hadn't already thought of this kind of plot—It was brilliant, actually—I just didn't want to trick any girl into being in a cover-up relationship with me when I didn't want sex. And seeing as all of the girls in my school wanted that kind of relationship from me, I would prefer to just be alone.

"People won't question me if they're afraid of me like always," I told her. She shook her head.

"Maybe not publicly, but that won't stop them from making rumors when you're not around. Trust me, Josh, secret rumors hurt more than a confrontation," she reasoned. I thought about it, and then nodded. I still had some doubts though.

"Alright—but are you sure you're okay with it?" I asked her. She smiled at me.

"Idiot—I was doing what you were too scared to do," she told me. I looked at her in surprise and she shrugged.

"Yes, I liked you,” she told me bluntly. “Does that mean you were the only one I liked—not really." I raised an eyebrow at her. She grinned at me.

"I've actually got my sights set on Jasmine," she told me. I felt my eyes widen in surprise. I hadn't expected that.

"You're lesbian? And you like that quiet goth girl from Mr. Tulip's class?!" I asked her in shock. She nodded. "Bi, actually, Josh." Okay...now I was even more confused.

"Jasmine and I have been secretly going out since middle-school," she informed me. I tried not to look too stupid as I absorbed the information.

"Then why did you—"

"Come onto you?" she asked me. She shrugged. "I told Jasmine that I liked you...and she was okay with me having a cover-up relationship. Now I can see she was just being considerate, but I know it was hurting her inside," said Jessica sadly. I could see her guilt on her face, but she covered it up, putting on a calculating smile.

"So—here's how it will work—" she told me. She took a step towards me.

"You be my fake boyfriend, and I'll be your fake girlfriend. We'll avoid the sex, but play up the PDA whenever possible," she said to me. "Say what?" I asked her dumbly.

"You want to keep your secret, right? It's always a good idea to have a cover-up relationship when you're dealing with these kinds of secrets," she informed me. I nodded at her slowly, suddenly getting what she was getting at: I go out with her and I keep both of our secrets. I get to save face, she gets to keep her girlfriend, and no sex or love was involved. She grinned at me, gesturing unobtrusively towards the door. I saw out of the corner of my eye, several fan girls pressing their face up against the glass.

"Now would be a good time to kiss me," she said, smirking at me. I swallowed hard, but took her face in my hands gently. She closed her eyes and I pressed my lips to hers. She smelled the same as before—strawberries and cream. It must have been the scent of her perfume. Her lips tasted like cherries, and I could taste her lunch on her tongue. She pulled away from me suddenly.

"Don't kiss me too realistically, Josh, or I might end up falling for you again," she teased me, taking my hand. I gave her a timid smile.

"Right," I told her tiredly. This was going to be tiring—I could already tell.