Reggie loved his sister. And Julie swore it would be fine. And Reggie swore that one day, he may have to kill her. He forgot his flannel at home, along with his leather jacket, and they were having gym class outside so on her way to class Julie told him to just ask the teacher if he could grab something from the lost and found to stay warm in the early November air. The teacher had barely looked up, giving Reggie a gruff yes and shooing him in the direction of the box. He grabbed the first thing he saw with sleeves, a hoodie for their school team. He just threw it on without paying attention.
Reggie wasn’t used to getting attention at this school. At first he thought it was because they were doing wind sprints and he was fast, something he got from running from bullies and his dad before he moved in with the Molinas, but then a long haired kid stopped beside him. “What’s your name?”
Reggie blinked, “Uh, Reggie.”
“Reggie, okay.” The boy nodded, “What do you like to do?”
He blinked again, “I like to read? And I play bass?” Reggie didn’t know why he was sounding like he was asking questions. The boy just smiled and walked over away.
‘Weird.’ Reggie thought. Reggie went back to his sprints.
The bell for the next class rang, and Reggie forgot to put the hoodie back. He was walking to his locker when a boy about an inch or two shorter than him with shaggy hair and a tall blond boy came up beside him, “Hey!” The shaggy haired boy smiled. Reggie knew him, at least his face and name. Julie talked about him a lot. Luke Patterson. Which meant the tall one was probably Alex Joyner. Reggie just looked at them. “We wanted to come introduce ourselves. Your boy is at the doctor’s for his yearly physical, but he never told us about you.”
Reggie raised an eyebrow, ‘My boy?’ Before he could say anything, the blonde smacked Luke in the back of the head, “You’re freaking him out, Luke.” Alex turned to Reggie, “Sorry. He can be a bit much.” Luke made an offended noise and Alex rolled his eyes fondly. “We won’t make you late, we actually have class together.” Reggie’s brow furrowed. He never paid attention to who was in his class. He was usually reading.
“Uh, okay. I’m Reggie.”
“Oh, we know.” Luke grinned, “Willie told us you play bass.”
‘Willie? Oh. The boy from gym class.’ Reggie thought. He wished he knew why today was so different. He’d have to check on Julie later, make sure nothing weird was happening to her. Alex and Luke threw their arms around his shoulders, leading him toward the classroom. They were right, but Reggie never noticed them cause they sat in the back. He sat in the middle row by the window. He put his head down, pretending to take notes as he wrote new lyrics. He didn’t look up again until the bell rang, the boys that stopped him earlier asking him questions. They had to go separate ways for their next class, and Reggie let out a silent thank you. It was a lot in one day.
At the end of the day, as he was grabbing his backpack when he heard someone behind him. “So, you’re the boyfriend everyone has been congratulating me about.” Reggie was tempted to ignore it, he was sure they weren’t talking to him, but he turned anyway. Nick Carlson, the captain of the school lacrosse team, was standing there grinning at him. The one person Reggie knew at this school on his own, cause he managed to get a crush on the school star athlete in less than a month. “You do look cute in my hoodie.” Reggie whipped his head around, pulling slightly on the material, and sure enough there it was. Carlson #17. Reggie was going to kill Julie for ever suggesting he grab something from lost and found. Reggie started to pull it off, but a pair of warm hands on his stopped him. He looked up to see Nick much closer than before. “Walk with me.” Nick nodded his head toward the door, grabbing Reggie’s bag.
”Uh, I have to catch the bus.”
”I’ll take you home after. I swear.” Nick held up his fingers like he was a Boy Scout and Reggie laughed at the action.
”Okay, just, uh, let me text my sister. So she knows not to wait for me.” Nick nodded and Reggie pulled his phone out, sending Julie a text and swearing to explain later, before following Nick out the door to the bleachers.
”So, Reggie, can you tell how we started dating?” Nick was teasing. Reggie knew that. But he still felt his face flush as he stuttering his way through an explanation. Nick nodded. “So that’s where it’s been. I hadn’t been able to find it at home, but usually when I forget it here someone just brings it to me or tells me where I left it since it has my name on it.”
”Yeah, sorry, I didn’t even look at the front before I put it on.” Reggie was messing with the cuffs of the sleeves. He’s tried to take it off twice and Nick stops him every time.
”Well, Reggie, I need to ask you a favor.” Nick looked a little bummed, heaving a sigh. “People already think we’re dating, and I have an ex that won’t leave me alone. Do you think you could play pretend with me for a while?”
”You- you want me to-“
”Pretend to be my boyfriend. You up for it?” It was probably the chilly wind biting at Nick’s face, but Reggie almost thought he was blushing. And Reggie didn’t know why, maybe because he liked Nick and wanted to spend time with him, or maybe because for someone the whole school loves and has more confidence than Reggie could ever hope to, Nick was looking nervous, but Reggie found himself agreeing.
”Okay. I’ll do it.”