Hand In Hand: A Pride Month Anthology

Cliche

Connor hadn't been himself lately.

He'd been fumbling, distracted, and running purely on coffee. He was normally a straight A student, but found it hard to focus. The only thing that kept him awake in class was the constant tingle of eyes on his back.

He'd hoped it would be easier once his homeroom ended, but his thoughts stayed stuck on Mason.

Connor suffered through his day until lunch, when he trudged towards the art room. He had been looking forward to this all day.

He had known beforehand that Ares's friend would be there, but Nico still caught him off guard. At the door opening, Nico looked up, and they locked eyes. Nico's face immediately flushed pink, and he looked away. Connor hid a grin; he was pretty cute.

For people who didn't know him, it would be easy to mistake Nico for a girl. He was very small, with a pudgy face and stomach. He was wearing dark wash jeans and a sleeveless gray flannel. He had beautiful olive toned skin and messy dark brown hair. He had a trans pride pin stuck to his backpack.

Ares glanced at Connor, and cussed loudly. "Shit! Fuck, I'm so sorry, Nico, I totally forgot he was coming."

"It's okay." Connor barely heard him.

"No, really, I know you need a heads up." Ares yanked out a chair, the legs scraping loudly against the tile. "Here, Connor."

Ares was covered in oil pastels from their fingertips to their elbows, colours exploding on their otherwise dark brown skin. Their yellow leather jacket was draped over the back of their chair, revealing their white tee covered in paint and hair dye. Their hair, usually let loose in big afro-textured ringlets, was pulled out of their face.

Nico sat quietly on a tablet, hiding his drawing with his shoulder.

"Nico, this is Connor," Ares said, getting back to their work. "He's an old friend of mine. He just needed a place to escape for a few days."

"Okay," he said softly. "Hi."

"Ares talks about you a lot," Connor said.

Nico blushed. "What do they say?"

Ares paused their movements. "Do not."

He glanced at them, seeing if they were serious or not. They were struggling to repress a smile.

"Just that you're a good friend."

"Connor." They blushed.

"And that you're hot."

Ares smacked him in the arm, Nico giggling. "I did not!"

"Okay, okay, you didn't." He chuckled. "Not that it needs being said. But they do tell me all the time how great you are."

"Ugh, stop," they groaned.

"What? Now he can tell me some things you've said about me."

Nico's smile faded. An awkward silence filled the room as Ares slowly went back to colouring.

A stone sunk into Connor's stomach. He changed the subject. "So, you guys sit in here every day? What about the teacher, they don't care?"

Ares and Connor hadn't really spoken since Connor first met Mason. Why would Nico know anything about him? He should have known not to say something like that.

Nico and Ares eventually got back to their projects, and Connor put his headphones in and sunk down into his seat.

He appreciated having a place to sit, but he didn't expect it to feel so lonely. Ares and Nico leaned into each other, talking too quietly for Connor to hear. Occasionally, he'd catch them complimenting each other's art or giving suggestions. He was angled away from them, though, and it was almost like they forgot he was there. He didn't want to insert them into the conversation in case he overstepped any boundaries.