I wonder where Josh is.

Chapter 1: his worn clothes

As the bright white light of the classroom hits my closed eyes, I force myself to open them and try to pay attention to Ms. Carpenter. The usual decor of the class pops into existence. Mexican hats hanging from the walls, Cinco de Mayo paper banners spread along the white board, an acoustic guitar laying against the wall and a couple of skulls from a Día de los Muertos festival lay in her desk. You can say what you want of Ms. Carpenter, but she did go full-in spending money in her aesthetic.

She's talking about common spaniard dishes and the proper way of ordering them in a restaurant. Information I'm pretty sure I won't use in my lifespan. While I do like Spanish, and I swear I try to practice when I can, I haven't been able to get the hang of it. Plus, it's just too early in a Monday for my brain to work properly. It's also barley the third week of the semester, I'm sure there is nothing important going on right now.

Josh kicks the back of my chair. I straighten up in a jump and turn to give him the deadliest look I can. He knows better than to wake me up while napping, but quickly I understand why. Ms. Carpenter is calling names in pairs to do a role-play in front of the class, the idea is that we pretend to be ordering food in restaurant in Spain. I'm pretty sure I can get away with simply ordering some bread and water, so I drift off to my thoughts again.

I stare at Nick, who's currently in front of the class with Stacy trying to figure out how to say they want a bowl of soup. I'm so sure he is gay. I hate myself for saying it, I feel like I'm re perpetuating horrible stereotypes of what a gay guy does or looks like, but sometimes you can't deny the truth. Plus, us, the gay-folk, we recognize each other from miles. Nick, while cute, is not out yet. No gay guy in my school is out actually, and that can be quite stressful if you want to go unnoticed and keep it that way. I always find myself checking my gestures and tone of voice all the time, just making sure I "don't sound like a fag". I hate what society has done to us.

-Luke? - Ms. Carpenter voice wakes me up from my thoughts and I realice Nick is not longer in front of the class, Josh is - are you coming?

-Yes. Sorry.

I get up and try to improvise with Josh a quick conversation. It's so bad that I can hear people at the back trying not to laugh. I don't take myself too seriously, and I'm sure Josh doesn't either, so we play around a bit with the assignment and I end up ordering three shots of tequila and a burrito. Needless to say that my teacher wasn't too happy about it.

-How the fuck you got an A, and I got an C if we did the exact same thing ? - I asked Josh on our way to the cafeteria.

-Well, maybe because I can pronounce my R's - he replies while laughing at me.

-Bullshit - I laugh back - I know you're fucking her, it's the only way you keep getting good grades with your shit work.

-Ok, first of all asshole, my work isn't shit - Josh picks up his tray and starts looking for our friends at the more than a dozen tables of the cafeteria - also, I wouldn't mind fucking her at all, but regrettably that's no why I'm good at Spanish. 

-You have no shame! - I nag him while picking my own lunch - I'll admit she's hot, but she could easily be your mom. Plus, you have a girlfriend!

-How can you find her hot? Don't you like dick? - Josh winks at me and grabs his bulge jokingly with one free hand.

-I'm not blind! - I reply, trying to hide my red blushed face to all of our friends while sitting at the table.

-Well isn't it the more dynamic duo that Wilsonville High School has ever seen ! - exclaims Stacy when she sees us arrive. Everyone knows that josh and I are petty much inseparable - what were you two talking about?