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It ends when the fire alarm goes off around a half hour after the slow dance, the shrill electronic tone screeching and echoing through the wide room over the music until Gangnam Style ceases. Several people scream. Genny immediately passes out on the ground in shock, prompting half the kids to crowd around as the other half stampedes toward the exit. There's a collective groan of disappointment when the overhead lights flick on, stinging their eyes.
The boys' bathroom door bursts open as a dozen guys make a run for it, followed by a huge cloud of smoke; the unmistakable smell of cigarettes and pot floods the gym. Tobin spots Kliff cackling amongst the perpetrators, running so swiftly through the crowd that none of the staff even see him.
" Everybody out!" hollers Coach Valbar. " Prom's over! Go home!"
Mae and Celica each put an arm around Genny as she regains consciousness, barely able to lift her. Alm opts to scoop the poor girl up in his arms, wide-eyed and panicked as the four follow the crowd to the double doors.
"Holy shit , " laughs Tobin as Gray takes his hand and books it to the coat check before a line can form, dragging him along. "Can you believe this?"
"'Course I can— it's public school!"
Gray slaps his ticket down on the counter, and an overwhelmed freshman quickly brings his dress shoes out of a labeled paper bag. He snatches them up in one hand and continues to drag Tobin toward the only way out, stuck in a trafficked crowd of students squished together and chattering.
Python spooks him when he slaps a hand onto his shoulder, leaning in close. "Tobinnn," he hums. "Toby Toby Toby. You got a clean record, huh?" He says frantically, red-eyed and hushed close to his ear.
"Huh?"
"Never been suspended?"
" What? "
"Don't do this, Python!" warns Forsyth. "Don't you dare drag him into this!"
"If they get me one more time, I won't graduate," Python tells him, ignoring Forsyth as he violently shoves something into the right pocket of Tobin's slacks. "Have fun." He gives his shoulder another pat, then grabs a clearly enraged Forsyth by the forearm and disappears into the sweaty crowd around them.
When he feels around in his pocket, he finds— aw, fuck, of course.
"What? What'd he give you?" Gray asks.
"It's Python ," Tobin hisses, ears ringing from the still-blaring fire alarm and from the fear sinking into him. "Take a wild guess."
"No fucking way!" he marvels, prompting Tobin to shush him harshly. " No fucking waaaay ," he then whispers all excited.
Up ahead at the exit Tobin sees men in security vests shining flashlights into the eyes of the masses of students as they leave. He freaks the fuck out looking around for any other staff; no one seems to have noticed the transfer, but there's no way to get to a trash can, and there's a chance someone'll see if he just tries to drop it or put it someplace else.
"We gotta get outta here," he hisses. "Now . "
"Alright, alright," says Gray. "Where're we going?"
"Home, your place, I don't give a fuck— any trash can off campus!"
"Loosen up! It's not like they're gonna suspect you or anything. You're Tobin, remember? "
He wants to snap back with something clever, but when he looks ahead his blood goes icy. A security guard has pulled a weeping Tatianna aside, searching her fur coat; in a pocket hidden in the lining he finds a kids' applesauce pouch. He uncaps and sniffs it and turns to another with a walkie-talkie. "Yeah, that's vodka."
"It's applesauce," wails Tatianna, "I was hungry…!"
"She was hungry !" Zeke emphasizes, attempting to snatch the pouch and the coat out of his hands. Another guard runs over to restrain him, pulling him aside with his beloved and patting him down as well as he protests.
Tobin looks at Gray with wide, pleading eyes: in an echo of the Homecoming 2016 incident where several freshmen passed out drunk in the moshpit, the security is conducting a second search on the way out. Now just as panicked, all Gray can offer is a sharp shrug and his arm around his shoulders. Tobin grabs his dangling hand and squeezes it tight.
At the exit, at the moment of truth, a guard simply shines his flashlight straight into their eyes and, seeing that they appear sober, ushers them out into the cool heaven of the crisp clean night air.
Thank fuck. Tobin lets out a huge, extremely conspicuous " haaaah" of relief before they're out of earshot, prompting Gray to jab him too hard in the ribs with his elbow.
Turning the corner behind the gym, they finally make it far enough away from the dispersing crowd to pause and crack the hell up, Tobin with his hands on his knees, Gray leaning his weight against the back wall of the gym to keep from doubling over. "Aw, man…" Gray snickers, rubbing his sweaty temple. "Summer Solstice! A forty-five minute night to remember!"
Tobin guffaws, shaking his head. "You paid fifty bucks for that…"
"Fifty each! You still owe me!"
Tobin hadn't realized how overheated he was until now, straightening up to pull his suit jacket off, throwing it over his shoulder and running a hand through his now-sticky hair. He loosens his tie a bit for more relief. "Where'd you park again?" Tobin asks, dizzy and giddy. The regular lot was full by the time they got there.
"By the tennis courts." Gray hands him his shoes for a second so that he can follow suit as they hurry away from the crowd across the blacktop, removing his tuxedo jacket. Hilariously, the frilled shirt underneath is sleeveless , obviously cut rough with scissors. The stupidity of it should make Tobin laugh, but honestly all he wants to do is stare at Gray's arms. "Jesus, that was awesome. "
"Yeah," Tobin airily laughs, still staring. "It really was." He opts to link arms with Gray, still in just his socks as they make their way toward the field where they have P.E. behind the school.
The sprinklers are on, blasting water in big rotating arcs across the grass, so they can't cut across like they had on the way here. Instead they chat pleasantly in the dark and recap the night as they walk along the paved perimeter, eventually passing the floodlit tennis courts shared with the neighboring public park.
When they're out there, they turn back and take a long glance at the silhouette of One Kingdom Prep. Gray mock-whistles at the sight. "Beautiful, ain't she? Best years of our lives."
"I'm so filled with school pride right now," goes Tobin, feigning a sniffle. "The fucked-up pavement, the musty portable classrooms, the busted Chromebooks…"
"You think they'll get funding for drinking fountains where the water comes out clear?"
"Ehh… Maybe once billionaires and corporations start paying their taxes," he offers, which actually makes Gray laugh. "When the government decides to put that money into education."
"Never, then?"
"Not in our lifetime, no. 'Cause where's the profit in that?" Tobin goes off all sarcastic. "What's the point of doing anythin g if there's no profit, right? I mean, who gives a fuck if a few million kids don't have working AC or textbooks without dicks on every single page? Of course we should favor the shareholders over the actual students— ahhh, hell. I shouldn't rant," Tobin concedes. "I shouldn't kill the mood."
"No, that's hot. Hating billionaires and corporations is hot."
"You think so? I could go on for days if you want." As they pass the gate to the tennis courts, Gray unlinks their arms and fiddles with the latch for some reason; it's unlocked. He looks to Tobin expectantly. "... What?"
"Karla's home for the weekend— she'll probably be hangin' with Ma if we go back to mine."
"So?"
"So…" The tall gate squeaks as Gray pushes it open. "Let's spend a little time alone together."
"We're still on campus, dipshit. We gotta get outta here."
"I think we're on the park property, technically C'mon," Gray beckons. "C' maawwwn." He starts to look all around them, at the starry night sky, at the floodlights above the secluded court, at the faraway gym. The scent of grass and asphalt is pleasant and nostalgic; now that the fire alarm's stopped, the repetitive spritzes of the sprinklers cut through pure silence. "It's romantic," Gray offers. "And we'll never be here again in a couple weeks… can't we just hang out a little bit?"
Once again, Tobin surveys the area. They're far enough away from the gym that they can't hear or see a soul. And it is romantic. He turns to Gray's sweet, reassuring smile. "... Yeah," breathes Tobin. "Sure. Fuck it."
Gray grins as he ushers Tobin in and follows him onto the court, walking across and stepping over wide cracks in the blue acrylic to sit against the fence by the corner. He's sore from dancing so much, he realizes. Even cut short, prom really lived up to the hype.
They lean against each other, each checking their phones quickly to reach out to Alm and Celica and make sure Genny's doing alright. "Look, Jesse's throwing an after-party," Gray practically yawns, stretching his legs out in front of him. "Five dollar cover charge."
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
"He's raising funds for a new vape."
"Unbelievable."
"Incredibly believable. Certified nic fiend. Y'know, he was the first person I ever saw with a Juul. He was hitting it in English— he'd take a hit, lean down and blow the smoke into his backpack."
"That worked?"
" Fuck no. Mr. Slayde nearly expelled him."
"Why didn't he?"
"'Cause he's captain of the lacrosse team. They needed him if they wanted to get to the state tournament."
"No shit," Tobin muses. "Did they win?"
"They most certainly didn't. He was wheezing — he coughed his lungs out so hard during the last match that they benched him the last three quarters."
"Ouch. Don't do drugs, kids."
"Ehhh…." Gray makes a tipping motion with his hand. "Everything in moderation." Then he makes a smoking motion with two fingers, blowing out through pursed lips, making Tobin snort.
"Oh, you burn? Do you burn, bro? You've been burning in secret this whole time?"
"No, no, no," Gray laughs, shaking his head. "I… on a single occasion, I may have taken a sip of Python's pen in the Q-wing bathroom."
Tobin's jaw drops. "At school?"
"Just a tiiiny sip," he says, folding his arms behind his head. His biceps are ridiculous. "It rocked. I could hear songs in my head all day. Fucking Python, man…" He snickers. "Remember when he worked with us summer after sophomore year? At that pizza delivery place?"
"The Deliverance ," Tobin unfondly recalls. "He did nothing. Wasn't he supposed to graduate last year?"
"Yeah, they held him back. Super-senior. Hey, you ever think him and Forsyth—"
"Hold on, don't change the subject— you could've gotten suspended for that shit! You're insane."
"You're uptight. I think you'd like it. It'd make you chill." At that, he unfolds his arms and pokes Tobin's pants pocket, making him flinch so hard that his leg buckles.
"Y— are you serious ?" laughs Tobin. "We're on school property!"
"We're on park property. Kids smoke out here all the time." He nudges him with his elbow. "C' maaaawwwn! At least let me see."
Tobin looks around them, blinking back at the faraway school. No one else is coming back this way. There's a second exit across from them leading to the park, offering them a quick getaway if they're spotted. Gray really wants to, and Tobin's always been slightly intrigued. It's an awful idea, but Tobin's never really done anything bad like this. Tonight's a special night, he decides. And honestly, despite what a hopeless endeavor it's always been, he wants Gray to think he's cool.
The hot chill of adrenaline pumps into him. "... Fine."
Gray does a victorious fist pump as Tobin finally takes out and gets a good look at what Python'd planted on him: a slightly crumpled joint and a scratched-up blue Bic lighter. He realizes his fingers are trembling beneath. There are drugs in his hand. They're on the tennis courts where they used to have P.E. and there are drugs in his hand.
"Could be mids," Gray offers. "Python said he loves mids. It won't make you freak out— it'll be like a fun buzz at best."
"How would you know?"
"Um, /r/trees, of course."
"The weed subreddit."
"Yeah, the weed subreddit."
"... Right."
Often Tobin has to remind himself that, in many ways, Gray's every bit as uncool as him.
Still, when it comes to rebellious guts, Gray'll always have him beat. He's staring at the joint like it's candy. "You go first," Tobin murmurs, handing him the joint, and he giggles childishly as he accepts it. "I'll light it for you."
"Sweet!" Gray pops it in his mouth and leans in close to the lighter; now sweating bullets through his dress shirt, Tobin cups his hand around the end to shield it from the pleasant breeze. He flicks the lighter. Nothing. He flicks it twice more, then again and again. There's a slight spark, but no flame.
"The hell?" asks Gray, plucking it out of his mouth and taking the lighter from him. No magic touch. It must be out of fuel. "Aww, fuck me—"
A far-off familiar noise startles them. Gray lowers the lighter and joint as they perk up in unison like meerkats, staring at the black silhouette of the school way back behind the field.
Out of the darkness, way out in the distance, two dingy headlights flash on in their direction.
Words can't describe the pure terror that sets in as the familiar electric motor of Mr. Saber's golf cart grows undeniably louder, the sharp drop in his stomach, the pure dread in Tobin's voice as he lets out a sinking, "Oh, fuuuck —"
Gray wastes absolutely no time collecting his jacket and shoes and launching himself upright, dropping the joint and lighter when he holds his hand out to help Tobin up. "Shit!" he hisses as Tobin scrambles to pick them up, his hands shaking and disobeying. "Gimme that! You can't get caught with that!"
"You neither," he argues breathlessly as he grabs Gray's hand with the drugs clenched in his other fist— they book it so fast to the parkside exit that he can't feel anything below his knees.
Thinking quick, Tobin throws the lighter hard to the park sidewalk hard enough to break the plastic, crushing it beneath his dress shoe in his stride. And then he balls up the joint till the paper splits and throws it in his mouth, chewing once and swallowing it whole.
They book it hand in hand through the tanbark of the playground, Gray still in his socks as they book it through sprinkler-wet overgrown grass. They run as fast as they can till their lungs burn and their eyes water, till they loop around the block and see Gray's BMW parked safely behind the overgrown ivy of the fence behind the school field.
At the end Gray's practically pulling him, leading him and encouraging him, giving him the strength to keep throwing one foot in front of the other. It's terrifying. It's thrilling.
It's hard to stop the momentum once they finally make it, Gray wincing in pain as he slows to a halt and slaps a hand on the trunk of his car, pushing himself up to sit on it and nurse his feet as he pants for air. "Holy shit…" he starts to laugh breathlessly as he takes his socks off, giving Tobin a dumbfounded look. "You think he knew it was us, Tobe? … Tobe?"
Tobin's fighting for his life, bent over with his hands on the trunk at Gray's side. His spit's thick in his mouth from fatigue, and the disgusting earthy taste is fresh on his tongue, a lump still in his throat. "I ate it… I ate it," he wheezes between phrases. "Can you get… high from that…?"
Gray lets a high-pitched laugh that he can hardly even manage, gasping even harder for air as he cracks up. "You ate the joint?"
"Destroyed… the evidence…"
"Christ! " Gray cackles, slapping him too hard on the back. "You're so fucking stupid!"
"He could've… found it otherwise…"
"He literally couldn't've! If you'd just thrown it somewhere—"
"Didn't want you to… get in trouble…" Tobin coughs. "I'm dying…"
"You did it for me ?" Gray laughs. "Dying for my sins, as per usual… You're the best, you're—"
The cutoff and the pause after that genuinely startles Tobin; he has to look up at Gray to make sure they hadn't been caught, but Gray's just staring at him like he's found religion.
"... Whuh?"
"You're the— you're the messiah!" Gray suddenly starts laughing even harder, kicking his feet down and clutching his stomach as Tobin finally remembers how breathing works again. "Tobin of Nazareth! Oh, holy shit— Jewish socialist, parents named Joseph and Mary, going to school for fucking carpentry— your sandals! "
After a second, Tobin remembers how laughing works too, his already-splitting sides aching some more as he starts to chuckle. "No way…"
"This is huge! Tobin, if you don't grow your hair out, grow a beard when we move— I swear, I fucking swear!”
Slowly Tobin finds the strength to stand upright; when he does, he holds his arms straight out to his sides with his palms up.
“ O come let us adore him, ” sings Gray as he hugs him, pressing a quick kiss into his neck as he erupts into breathless laughter, “ O come let us adooore him!”
They spend a little longer just giggling and reeling from the adrenaline rush. Gray makes more New Testament references that Tobin doesn’t get as they throw their jackets in the backseat. The boutonnieres stayed on the entire time.
“Whattaya say we go say hi to Karla and Val? We gotta show them the pictures,” says Tobin as he clambers into the passenger seat. Gray’d cleaned it for the occasion, the floor of the car missing its signature mountains of McFlurry cups and protein bar wrappers.
“Don’t call her Val. Now that you're dating, you can't call my mom Val. But you’re right– they’ll flip their shit. We clean up nice. ” Gray takes a second to slip his shoes on before taking the driver’s seat, setting his phone up to the speaker as is always his first priority as the driver.
He blasts one of those cheesy Carly Rae songs he likes so much on the way home, nearly as loud as the dance floor or the fire alarm, but it makes him so happy to sing along, to imitate the repeating melody of the sax synth that Tobin can’t bring it in him to turn it down. Such is the forgiving nature of Christ, he presumes.
With the windows down, the sweet night air whips past again like it had when they were running. The drive back to Gray’s house from school, past the church and under the streetlamps and sycamores… this might very well be one of the last times they ever make it. Soon it’ll just be “Gray’s Childhood Home.” Tobin wonders briefly about what it’ll be like living on their own.
“Hey, you filled out a dorm application yet?”
“Nah,” goes Gray. “I’m looking to lock down a place off campus.”
“Wait, seriously? You totally told me you were gonna live in the dorms.”
“That was back when my college aspirations were having as many sexual partners as humanly possible. Now, what’s the point?” He barks a laugh. “Do I wanna bunk with some rando that I’d have to kick out every time I wanna have you over? Hell no. Gimme my own place, if it’s the same price. Then we can kick it whenever.”
“... Dude,” goes Tobin.
“What?”
“I haven’t filled out the application yet either. What if…”
“No,” goes Gray with glee. “Nooo, you’re not– you’re serious ?”
“What if we find a place smack dab in the middle? Like, in that neighborhood between…?”
“I fucking love that you said ‘smack dab,’ bro– yes! Fuck yes! Ooh-hoo, I’m gonna crash the car!” Gray’s grinning all crazed, five miles per hour above the speed limit.
“We’re talking shag carpets ,” Tobin lists emphatically on his fingers, “we’re talking lava lamps , we’re talking bead curtains–”
“Is fucking Austin Powers living with us or something? I love you!”
And just like that their future together is laid out in front of them, plain and simple. By the time they turn onto Gray’s street Tobin’s buzzing so much that he caves and once again asks if /r/trees says eating weed can get you high. Gray nearly rear-ends a parked car laughing as he pulls into his usual spot across from–
The driveway’s empty.
They both stop laughing when they see it, the big empty space in the asphalt where Val’s Kia is supposed to go. They look at each other in wide-eyed silence as the engine clicks off and the overhead light comes on. Then they scurry out of the car, barely remembering to lock it behind them.
Tobin’s heart starts to skip and hammer nearly as hard as it did when they’d been caught earlier; he catches Gray’s hands shaking as he pulls out his keys and fiddles with the lock as loud as possible.
“Hello?” He calls when they walk into the dark living room, not a single lit bulb in sight. For good measure, Gray calls again, “Ma? Karla?” He checks his phone, stares at it for a while. "They're at the movies," he says with reverence. "They just left."
It takes a second to really sink in. Then they turn to each other with stunned, immeasurable elation.
“Let’s go!” yells Gray with a victorious stomp, kicking his shoes off in the blink of an eye. “Let’s fucking goooo!”
“I get to be with you, I get to live with you, I-I– we get to lose our virginities on prom night , are you fucking kidding me?”
“There really is a God!”
“And I’m his son!”
Gray and Tobin launch themselves at each other for the most satisfying, palm-stinging mid-air high-five they’ve ever shared. They meet with an equal passion, a comradery that won’t waver. They know it never will.