↔IMPULSE↔

↔New School↔

Blake started school the following Monday.

After getting his schedule and map from the office he marked the quickest route to all of his classes so he didn't look like a new kid.

He showed his first-period teacher his schedule, a middle-aged woman who looked bored with her noisy class. Blake also wasn't used to not wearing a uniform, normally his collar covered up the hickeys but now the slowly fading for everyone to see. He walked down the aisle, taking a seat in the back feeling eyes on him which made him very uncomfortable. Being the new kid sucked.

He was pulling out his binder when a person plopped into the seat in front of him, straddling the chair and his hands tapping at the back of the chair like he'd drank too much coffee.

"Hey, new kid, what's your name?"

Blake looked up and saw around his height, maybe a little taller. He had neatly combed, light brown hair and green eyes.

Opening his binder, he said, "Blake Pierce."

"Cool. I'm Jeremy Montgomery." The guy was observing him. Blake knew what was going on, he was there to gather as much information as possible about him. "Where did you move from?"

"San Francisco."

"California? That's neat, why did you move?"

This guy was openly nosey, "I had a quarrel with my parents."

Jeremy whistled, "must've been a pretty big fight to send you across the country. Who's that?"

He was pointing to the picture of Reese giving Blake a piggyback ride on the beach. Blake's hand went to his neck unconsciously and he smiled slightly. "That's my best friend."

"You guy look tight. What's he like?" Jeremy plucked the photo and looked at it closer.

Blake sighed, staring at Jeremy's tapping fingers. "His name's Reese. He's a bit of an airhead with a sweet tooth and loves anything to do with outside."

"Sounds pretty chill," Jeremy smirked. "You play any sports?"

"Soccer."

The bell rang and Jeremy turned in the chair to face the board up front. Blake stared at the picture in his binder, fingers grazing Reese's face.

It turned out Jeremy was in the majority of his classes. That included gym. Blake stripped off his shirt, dark purple marks Reese left only days ago covered not only his neck but also his chest, stomach, back, even on his thighs.

Jeremy whistled, "Damn, Pierce. You have a girlfriend do back in Cali?"

Blake quickly pulled on his shorts, "I have someone I've been dating."

"No way, how long?"

"Three years," Blake put on his shirt.

The brunet looked at him with interest, "I figured you'd be a player."

"Before them, I dated around a little," Blake admitted. "But I'm happy. I can't wait to move back and see them."

Laughing, "such a romantic."

Blake agreed and they left for gym class.

School wasn't anything special. At lunch, Blake was dragged along by Jeremy to sit with him and his friends. There were a couple guys and twice as many girls.

"Everybody, this is Blake. Blake, this is everyone. You'll learn names with time." It had been a while since Blake was around that many girls, girls he used to think were cute didn't affect him anymore. It was like being around Nikki and her friends.

The girl sitting next to him was named Alice, she had black hair and brown eyes. "What was it like in California?" She asked, her shoulder bumping his.

"I love it there. We go to the beach a lot for parties and camping."

Her eyes lit up, "can you surf?"

Blake laughed, "a little. My best friend is really good at surfing and he tried to teach me but I still suck."

A guy, Allen, snickered, "cool it, Alice. He's dating someone."

Her mood dampened, "what's she like?"

Not a she at all. Blake sighed, sticking to gender-neutral pronouns, "they're great. Funny, good-looking, smart."

Allen wiggled his eyebrows, "looks?"

"Tan, blond hair and blue eyes, tall."

The guys laughed, Jeremy stared at him, "sounds like a babe."

It was circulated around the school about Blake, the senior from California with a 'babe girlfriend' back home. He went home, having to ride the bus (gag) for the first time since grades school.

When he got back to the house he dropped his back and went straight to the phone then sighed when he remembered the time difference. Reese would still be in school.

He changed into pyjamas and laid on his bed doing homework and he ended up falling asleep somewhere in between assignments.

Gran woke him up, "Blake! Reese is on the phone!" Blake was running downstairs before his body even registered being awake.

Blake grabbed the phone and said breathlessly, "Reese?"

"You okay? You sound weird."

His voice was like honey to Blake's ears, "I accidentally fell asleep, I just woke up."

"Today was your first day right?" He asked he sounded weird too.

Blake yawned, "yeah. I already got hooked into a clique but I miss our group. How is everything?"

"Nikki is staying over with Gabe and Sandy because she's fighting with Dory. Archie is in Oregon right now for a concert."

"What about you?"

"What about me? I'm just missing you." Blake's heart sped up. Reese was such a smooth talker and his voice sounded deeper over the phone. Blake wanted to see him more than anything.

With pink cheeks, "I miss you too."

He chuckled and sighed, "Christmas is coming up in a month, what do you want?"

"You." Blake blushed as soon as the word left his lips. How embarrassing! "Instead of a Christmas present, going home will be like a late birthday present."

His birthday was in April but he graduated in early June. "You're birthday is next weeks... I'm going to mail you your birthday present."

"So you're going to wrap yourself up, climb in a box and ship yourself to me?" Reese asked humorously.

Blake laughed, "sadly, no."

"Well damn. In that case then, just talk to me all day. It's been so boring without you."

"Same. I love you."

"Love you too."

Their call continued for another hour before Gran called him for dinner and he had to go, saying goodbye with a heavy heart.

Six months couldn't come fast enough.