Stuck in the Middle

Chapter 30

I wasn't sure how much good asking to stay in our room did. When the Headmaster pulled up our current room asignment, he seemed a bit too skeptical about John wanting to stay in the same room as Marc. Apparently, the two of them have been brought into his office on more than one occasion for fighting in the past, which didn't surprise me too much.

But he did say he'd see what he could do. It wasn't very convincing, but at least we can say we tried.

Instead of John going back to the practice he was missing, the two of us found ourselves back in our room. It was weird. Everything had changed since I left this morning. I didn't know how much longer we'd realistically have in this room, together.

"Hey," John said, wrapping his arms around me from behind. "It'll be fine. Whatever happens. Okay?"

I sighed, leaning back against his chest. "How do you know that?"

"I don't, not really." He stepped in front of me, taking my hands in his. "But I don't want to give you up. I won't give us up. No matter where our rooms end up."

I felt my cheeks heat up, sure that my face was turning bright red. "Even Marc?" I asked.

"Even Marc. If he ever decides to not be mad at me. Is he still mad? Do you know what I did?"

I chuckled, shaking my head. "I honestly don't know. You'll have to ask him."

"You know, I did crawl into his bed this morning, after you left, and ended up farting a whole bunch under the covers. Think that could be it?"

"Ew!" I stepped back from him, wondering how I could still find him so attractive even after he admitted to doing something so gross. Maybe it was his crooked smile when he said it. Or the one dimple on his left cheek. His summer tan had mostly faded by now, but he still wasn't nearly as pale as I was. He looked absolutely perfect.

"See something you like?"

I shook my head, unable to keep the smile off my face. "You're gross."

"Oh, really?" He closed the distance between us. "So gross that you won't let me do this?"

Before I had a chance to question him, his lips were on mine.

I melted into the kiss, wrapping my arms around his neck as he pulled me closer to his body. His fingers played with the waistband of my pants and I wished he'd do more. Go further. Just rip them off me and completely have his way with me. If we only had a couple more days living in the same room, I wanted to make the most of every second.

Then the door slammed shut and I jumped back from John, startled. It was only Marc, of course, and it's not like I had to hide anything I did with John anymore, but the disappointed look he gave us made me feel guilty and I didn't even know why.

"So this is what you've been doing," Marc said, dumping his backpack onto his bed. He looked worn out from practice, beads of sweat dotting his forehead. "Coach was mad that you didn't show up."

"We were busy," John said with a shrug. "Besides, I thought you might appreciate what we did, because it was for you, too."

"What? Make out while I was working my ass off at practice?"

John looked like he was about to make some snide remark, so I spoke up. "We talked to Redmond about possibly staying in this room."

"What?" Marc's whole face lit up. "Really? What'd he say?"

Between the two of us, we recounted the whole conversation with the Headmaster. I wanted Marc to say there was more hope than what I was feeling. But when we finished, Marc didn't seem all that hopeful.