Farren sat into his chair, leaning his head back until he was facing the ceiling and closed his eyes.

It was the third class of the morning, and already he was tired. The good news, he supposed, was that it Wednesday so he'd have the house to himself when he got home. Grace and Jenny would be at work, Rowan had a swim lesson she went to with her friend, and Kaden would be at football practice.

The bell rang, signalling that classes were resuming. He doodled lazily on the cover of his notebook, mostly just random shapes and the likes.

He glanced up at the clock, wondering where Mrs Baker was. She was usually never late for class. Hopefully this meant they would have a free period, so he could do the maths homework he had due next class.

And then in maths he would probably spend all his time doing the Spanish homework he had due for the class after.

Oh the joys. You'd think that, considering he didn't really sleep and had all this free time, he would actually bother to do his homework on time.

But nope. Instead of spending his waking hours actually doing something productive, more often than not he just resorted to the usual.

Movies, movies and more movies.

The door of the classroom opened moments later, and Mrs Baker strode in, apologising for her tardiness.

However, she was not alone. Following behind her was a boy Farren had never seen before. Black hair, tall, athletic build. Who was this guy?

His question was promptly answered when Mrs Baker spoke up. The class had already fall silent upon her entrance and looked at the boy curiously. He just looked at Mrs Baker awkwardly, as if he was silently pleading for her to break the tension in the room.

She cleared her throat, standing tall at the top of the classroom. "Hello class, how is everyone?" She asked with a polite smile. This was the same routine as every day, the same opening question.

There was a mumble of "goods" to be heard from the class, before Mrs Baker went on speaking.

"Well class, I'm not sure if any of you were aware of this but we have a new student joining our school today." She smiled at the mystery boy encouragingly, as if urging him to step forward.

He gave her an unsure glance, looking up to face the class with an awkward smile. His eyes flitted around the room, never staying on any one person for longer than a split second.

"Erm.. hi. I'm Lee Dalton, and I just moved here from Ohio." He said, but it came out more as a question than a statement.

There were murmurings of 'Hi Lee's' which seemed to calm the boy down. Though Farren couldn't blame him for being nervous.

The teacher spoke with Lee quietly for another few moments before telling him to take the free seat next to Farren for today, which was normally where Jesse sat but he was out 'sick' today. In other words, some new video game has just been dropped so he would be faking a flu for the next few days.

Farren looked up as Lee dropped into the seat next to him. "Hey," he said with a friendly smile, trying to make the new kid feel a little more relaxed.

It seemed to do the trick, as Lee visibly eased a little, smiling back at Farren. "Hi." He responded quietly, sliding into the table.

"So.." Farren said, trying to break the ice. "Ohio huh? That's not too far away is it?"

"Couple of hours, so I guess not." Lee answered after a moment of consideration.

"Cool," replied Farren. "Why did you move?"

"Dad's job," shrugged Lee. "It's cool though, we've got family here so I've been here a couple of times before."

"Anyone I would know?" Farren asked out of curiosity.

"Maybe, do you know Clay Dalton? He's a Junior at Redwood High"

Realisation dawned on Farren after a moment of thinking. "Black curly hair?" He asked.

"That's him."

"Yeah I know Clay, he works down at the gas station right? Cool guy." He replied.

"Yeah yeah, that's the one." Lee smiled.

"Are you going to his party on Friday?" Farren asked, remembering some of the guys saying it earlier.

"To be honest, I'm not sure if I should." Lee replied, biting his lip uncertainly. "My parents think I should, maybe make a few friends or whatever. But I don't know. I don't really know anyone, apart from Clay and he'll be off with his girlfriend the whole night." He sighed, seemingly conflicted.

"You should." Farren assured him. "If you want to meet new people, the party is the place to do it. And besides, you know me." He sent him a friendly smile.

Lee shot him a grateful smile, turning his attention back to his worksheet in front of him. Farren did the same, reading over the questions carefully.

A while after, the bell rang signalling the end of class. Farren said his goodbyes to Lee, and made his way to the cafeteria. He offered Lee a place at their lunch table but he declined politely, after saying he had already made plans with a friend of his cousin that he knew.

He sat down at his table, waiting for the other guys to arrive. He pulled out his phone and was tapping away at the screen playing some random game when a his phone vibrated with a text message from Kaden.

From; Kaden
Hey man, and chance you can pick me up after football?

He read the text and typed a quick reply.

From; Me
Nope.

From; Kaden Rivers
Prick. No but seriously, please.

He thought about it for a second, a mischievous glint in his eye.

From; Me
No can do

From; Kaden
Don't make me beg

From; Me
What about one of your friends? Can't they do it?

From; Kaden
Luke's not going to practice he's got a dentist appointment, and the others are all either too annoying or can't drive.

From; Me
Aw Kaden, you consider me not-annoying? How sweet

From; Kaden
Oh fuck off.

From; Me
That's not any way to treat someone you want a favour from now is it?;)

From; Kaden
Let me rephrase. Kindly fuck off;). But seriously, please pick me up. It's not like you've got anything better to be doing?

Farren pondered it for a moment, before sighing in resignation. God, he never could say no to Kaden.

From; Me
Fine, I'll do it. But you owe me something.

From; Kaden
What?

From; Me
To be decided.

From; Kaden
Fine. See you at 5:30

From; Me
Unfortunately so.

He put away his phone as the other guys arrived at the table, unable to prevent the easy smile that was spreading across his face.

He was sent a few questioning looks, which only succeeded in widening his smile further. He must look like a mad man at the moment.

"What's got you so happy?" Asked Flynn as he sat into the seat diagonally across from him.

"Oh, nothing." He smiled in reply.

But of course it wasn't nothing. It was something alright. Or someone, to be more precise, that was making him feel this way.

XXXXX

Kaden finished the training session, still in shock over seeing that guy. The coach had flipped at him a few times for losing concentration, leaving him in a not the best mood.

It was currently half past five and he was leaning against the wall, waiting for Farren to come pick him up. He said goodbye to some of the other guys who were leaving.

Five minutes past and there was still no sign of Farren. It wasn't until he checked around the corner of the building that he noticed Farren's car in the lot. He was leaning against his car and seemed to be talking to someone whom Kaden could not yet see.

He pulled his gear bag over his shoulder and started over to Farren when he suddenly halted in his tracks.

No fucking way.

Why the fuck was Farren talking to the guy from the club. He froze still, knowing that if he moved quick enough he could probably make a run for it before either of them spotted him. There was a wall close enough to his right anyway.

But before he had a chance, Farren looked up from the conversation and spotted him standing there.

"Hey Kaden," he called, waving his hand to catch his attention.

Kaden ambled over, trying not to trip on his feet. He made an attempt of a fake smile, though from the lack of a questioning look on Farren's face it seemed to be working.

He was a mere three feet from them when the guy from the club turned around to face him, his eyes widening in shock as soon as he did so.

Fuck. This was going to be awkward. Who the fuck was this guy, and how did Farren know him?

"What are you doing here?" He asked bluntly, earning him a glare from Farren.

"Kaden! Don't be so rude."

"Shut up Farren."

The guy from the club was just staring at him awkwardly and in slight shock. "Talking to Farren." He replied uncertainly.

"How do you know Farren?" He asked suspicuously.

But before mystery guy had time to reply, Farren interjected looking between the two of them. "I'm sorry, do you two know each other or something?" He asked with confusion.

"No." Kaden rushed out, "No we don't. I'm just tired and want to go home."

"Oh calm down Kaden," Farren said, rolling his eyes. "This is Lee and he's new to town. He's cousins with Clay Dalton you know, the junior who works at the gas station." Farren said as this guy, Lee as he was supposedly called, just smiled awkwardly in Kaden's direction.

"Hi." Lee mumbled uncertainly.

"Yeah. Hey." Kaden replied shortly, turning to face Farren. "Can we go now?"

Farren was starting to get frustrated now. "Seriously Kaden, give it a rest." He huffed, but Lee cut him off. "It's fine, I should get going anyway. And your boyfriend seems to be tired so I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

Kaden's jaw dropped at the same time as Farren burst out laughing. "Boyfriend?" He asked in between laughs. "You think Kaden is my boyfriend. Oh man, that's a good one." He said, at the same time as Kaden left out a shocked noise, like a cat being scared. "We are not together." He declared adamantly.

Lee blushed, clearly embarrassed. "Oh, I'm really sorry. I just presumed.." he trailed off, his gaze drifting to Kaden.

Fuck, this guy must have assumed he was gay.

"Well, you presumed wrong." Kaden clarified firmly, looking Lee with wide eyes and shaking his head. ever so slightly. He was hoping that Lee would get the hint that he was to keep his mouth shut.

Lee seemed to get the idea and gave a small nod, before turning back to face Farren, who was so distracted by his laughing that he hadn't noticed their silent exchange.

"I should get going." Lee said, indicating towards the gate with his head. "My mother will kill me if I'm late for dinner."

"Okay then," Farren replied. "Sorry about Kaden, he can be a little.. grumpy." He smiled, earning him a glare from Kaden.

With a final goodbye, Lee disappeared and it was just him and Farren left.

They sat into Farren's car, turning the air conditioning on the coldest setting and pulling out of the gates.

"So.. Lee? How do you know him." Kaden asked Farren, trying to figure out if Lee had said anything to him.

Farren glanced over at him before turning his attention back to the road. "He started at Jefferson today, he sits next to me in English." He shrugged, before continuing. "He's cool. He's been to Sinclair a few times in the past, he's got family here."

"Clay?" Asked Kaden.

Farren nodded in reply to his question. "That's what I said didn't I?" He retorted as if Kaden was stupid.

Kaden chose not to respond, instead rolling his eyes and resting his head on the window.

"I can't believe he thought we were together." Farren chuckled, pulling his attention back.

Kaden felt himself flush at the thought. Him and Farren.. boyfriends.

Kaden Rivers and Farren Milton.

Farren Milton and Kaden Rivers.

How well their names seemed to sound together, at least in his head.

"Yeah," he let out a forced chuckle. "As if. Your so out of my league."

"Hey. Farren protested, sounding offending. I am not."

He snorted in reply. "Oh trust me Farren. You so are."

"Fuck yourself."

"Right here, in your car?" He replied with a smile, laughing when he saw Farren flush.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, pervert." Farren retorted with a roll of his eyes.

Kaden just laughed in response, pushing all thoughts of Lee out of his head for the time being.

He would deal with that problem soon.

XXXXX

Hope you enjoyed!! Xx
V/C/F :)

Qotc; One county you'd love to visit?

Aotc; Greece

-A