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Riiiiinnng!!! Riiiinnng!! Riiinngg!!!
The bell signaled it was time for lunch. Jesper sighed as he got up and began to walk to the cafeteria with his students. He made sure that all of his kids had their lunches with them as they excitedly walked as fast as their tiny legs could take them. This wasn’t what Jesper initially thought life was going to bring him, but here he was. His students weren’t the first to arrive, so they sat down like the floor was lava and their feet were burning and began talking to everyone else. Jesper scanned the room to see which other teachers were on lunch duty with him, as he forgot to check the schedule due to grading yesterday’s spelling test, and a certain pale, red-haired, and beautiful blue-eyed music teacher came into sight.
Jesper shuffled over to the oblivious teacher, who was leaning down and listening to what a little boy was telling him, and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Oh my gosh, what the hell was that?!” he jumped. Jesper bent over laughing, hands on his knees. The kids were snickering as well, no doubt because they just heard a “potty word” as they still called them.
“Mr. Wylan, you just said a bad word,” the student who was talking to him said through his giggles.
“U-um well,” stammered Wylan, red in the face, “you seem, Mr. Fahey here gave me a good scare, and sometimes they slip out.”
“My mommy says that if you say potty words then the tooth fairy won’t take your tooth and give you money!” another student commented.
“Yes, your mommy is right,” Jesper leaned down to talk to her in a whispered voice, “so you shouldn’t say them. Mr. Wylan is going to be very sad when the tooth fairy doesn’t visit him.”
“Of course, I’ll be turning in my grave,” deadpanned Wylan.
“Mr. Wylan, you’re going to die?” Kayla, the same girl, asked.
“How about we eat our lunch and think about our next tooth fairy visit, hmm?” Jesper said as he turned the girl around. He turned to Wylan and grinned. “Guess you're gonna be down a buck after the tooth fairy skips over you on their next visit.”
“And I will know exactly who to blame,” Wylan retorted.
“Hey, I’m not the one who said a potty word in front of all the second graders.”
“You made me!” Wylan exclaimed.
“I didn’t make your pretty mouth say one single word,” Jesper smiled, “though, I bet there’s other words I could make you say.”
“Jesper !” Wylan whisper-yelled, grabbed his arm, and pulled the two of them a bit farther away. “You can’t say that in front of the kids.”
“Oh so I can say it when we’re alone?”
“You know what I mean,” glared Wylan.
“Relax, they don’t know what I might be insinuating… neither might you,” teased Jesper.
“You know, it’s time like these when I want to ask Kaz to rethink his lunch duty schedule.”
“Wylan.” Jesper deadpanned. “You wouldn’t.”
“No, Kaz would never listen,” said Wylan, “but now it’s my turn to laugh at you.”
“Ha ha,” guffawed Jesper, “how’s your day been?”
“Fine, normal, y’know? Little children aren’t the best at keeping the beat or understanding time signatures, but they love learning the notes.” Wylan looked around as he talked, making sure that no kids got into trouble.
“Yeah, makes sense…” Jesper trailed off. “But they have fun, right? And you do too?
“Oh, yeah. The kids love to hit whatever instrument when we do so or blow their spit into recorders and such. They keep me on my toes, but I love ‘em.”
“I get that feeling,” Jesper nodded. “Hey, would you mind if I walked you to your room? I know it’s just past my classroom so it wouldn’t be any trouble.”
“I’d like that very much, yes,” smiled Wylan as he turned his face away. Jesper spent the rest of the lunch period making small talk, watching his kids, and he silently thanked Kaz for putting him on lunch duty today.
🏫
Students clamored as they got up from their seats and started to head for their classes. Jesper got in front of his class and led them to their his classroom. “Alright, we’re headed back for a bit before you all go to gym class! Follow me and stay in a line.” Wylan stood next to Jesper and talked about his classes and all the different things the kids did today and yesterday, but Jesper was too focused on the sparkle in his eye, his light smile, and tousled hair to hear any of what he was saying.
Jesper spotted the open door to his classroom and stopped in front of it. “Alright guys, go in and just do some silent reading for a bit. I’ll be right back.” He waited until the last kid entered the door to close it and shift back to Wylan, who stood awkwardly as he watched Jesper interact with his kids.
“Please, lead the way,” gestured Jesper. Wylan began walking and continued to talk, though this time Jesper tried to make an effort to listen.
“... And I just feel like it’s too difficult to choose, right?” Wylan asked.
“Oh right, yeah, decisions, decisions,” Jesper said.
“I mean, do you have any input?” Wylan looked up at Jesper. For a moment, Jesper didn’t have any input on anything because he was busy staring into Wylan’s eyes.
“Um, I think the latter,” guessed Jesper. He just hoped that there actually were two options to choose from.
“Really? I would’ve pegged you as more of a dog person, but I mean, cats are less work to take care of. And for me, that’s probably a good thing,” Wylan considered. “Thanks Jesper, you’re a good listener.” They approached Wylan’s room and stopped in front of the door. “Thanks again for walking me, even if it messes up your lesson plan.”
“Wy, a three minute walk a couple days a week is not going to mess up my lesson plan for the entire school year,” insisted Jesper.
“Well then,” said Wylan, “best three minutes of my days.” With that, he walked back into his room humming a little tune. Jesper couldn’t erase the smile off of his face as he walked back to his classroom, despite knowing that his kids were for sure not doing their silent reading. As he entered his classroom, and saw the kids all whispering in hushed voices, he decided he was too happy to do anything about it. “Alright class, let’s get to work before you get all stinky and sweaty during gym class!”
🏫
The teachers' lounge was filled with a quiet buzzing of a light, the coffee machine running, as it always was, and the soft chatter of teachers. It was all interrupted when the door swings open, revealing Jesper, grin on his face and coat in the other. His eyes were quick to find his co-worker and best friend. “Inej! You won’t believe what happened yesterday!” Jesper boomed.
“What happened yesterday, Jesper?” Inej asked with caution. She knew that he was either being super dramatic about an interaction he had, usually negative, that he found or saw some lucky thing, and/or had something to tell her about Wylan.
“I walked Wylan to his classroom yesterday!” Jesper beamed.
“Jesper, you do that like every other day,” she answered.
“Yes, but this time, he said that me walking him to class was his favorite part of his days,” said Jesper as he sat at their table and pulled out his protein he always ate before the school day started. “He’s never really responded to my flirting before other than blushing or yelling at me!”
“Wow Jesper, I am just thrilled to hear about the coming HR meeting I might have to schedule,” a sarcastic voice said as they entered the room.
“Shut it, Kaz,” retorted Jesper, “you know better than to get involved with my love life.”
“Yeah, well, if your love life includes Wylan in it, then it coincides with your work life.”
“Oh Kaz, let him have his fun,” another voice said from a table away. “I think it’s cute.”
“Thank you, Nina,” answered Jesper. “See, Kaz, that is how you be a supportive friend.” Nina nodded back at him
“I’m also your boss.”
“I think you love to abuse that fact.”
“It’s the truth.”
“You’re a principal.”
“A principal at a school that you work at,” Kaz pointed out.
“He’s got a point there,” called a different voice from Nina’s table.
“Actually, don’t say anything Jesper,” Inej said before he could open his mouth, “I actually want to hear from Matthias. He’s taught the longest so he should understand our dilemma.” Jesper, Nina, Kaz, and Inej all turned their eyes to the man.
“Well, because I’ve been here the longest and also teach the kindergarteners, our youngest kids, I get to see them grow up and deal with relationships,” Matthias started.
“Are you saying you’re comparing my troubles to those of elementary students?!” Jesper interrupted.
All the others shushed him, with a loud “SHH!”. Jesper held up his hands in a noncommittal way.
“Anyways, that’s not what I was about to say, Jesper. I was going to say that relationships can be fragile and difficult to maintain with certain people. I’m not saying Wylan is fragile, I’m just saying he hasn’t been in many, so keep that in mind. And, with us all being coworkers, you have to think if it would affect the dynamics here. As well as the kids; how they would react if they found it. Worse, if they found out that you guys broke up if you ever did. However, if you truly like him, and believe that he likes you back… and believe that it would all work out and be worth it then shoot, go for it!”
They all sat there in silence after Matthias’ speech. Jesper’s jaw was on the floor, Inej’s eyes were wide as saucers, Nina was looking up at her fiancée with a bright look in her eyes, and Kaz was staring at him with his head tilted at an angle.
Jesper was the first to recover and break the silence. “You really believe that, Matthias?”
“I do,” Matthias ensured, “however, you know that Wylan is like a little brother to me, so if you hurt him or make him upset in any sort of way, then you’ll pay the price.”
“Matthias!” Nina scolded. “Don’t listen to him, Jesper. He’s just joking.”
“No, no, it’s okay Nina,” Jesper insisted and looked at Matthias. “I just want him to know that Wylan isn’t just some random fling, I really like him and would want to be serious with him if he liked me back. And that I’d rather lose all of my limbs before anyone, including myself, hurt him in any kind of way.”
“Hmm… okay, I like that answer,” said Matthias. The door flew open, and in came Wylan.
Everyone turned to look at him. He stopped when all eyes came in, a bag slung across his chest, as he looked back at everyone else.
“Soo…,” Wylan said in an awkward tone, “what are we answering?”
“Oh, nothing!” Jesper rushed out. “Come sit,” he patted the seat next to him.
“Okaayy,” Wylan was still confused and awkward as he sat down, “so then why was it silent when I got in here? It’s never silent. We’ve always got something to talk or argue about.”
“Yes, we were just discussing some of our past relationships,” Nina nodded with enthusiasm. “Y’know, successes, failures, and everything in between.”
“Oh,” said Wylan, “how interesting.”
“Yeah, do you mind sharing any funny stories or people you’re interested in right now?” Nina prodded. Inej looked at her incredulously. Nina made a face back.
“I mean, to be completely honest,” Wylan started, everyone perked up from whatever they were doing; Kaz just looked up through his eyes, but did not move his head, “there is someone I’ve been interested in for a little while. But, I don’t think he likes me back. Plus, for unsaid reasons, it could be bad.”
“How could it be bad?” Inej asked.
“Well, we have a good friendship and dynamic going on right now, and on top of that just the environment we see each other in. If we did begin to date, there could be repercussions.”
“Like, bad repercussions? Or like, repercussions that people say are bad but aren’t actually that bad?” Jesper asked. He was hoping he knew who Wylan was talking about, but he didn’t want to get ahead of himself.
“Um, I’ll say semi-bad repercussions,” answered Wylan. “Like, not so bad that we’d have to hide it, but there’d be issues to deal with that would be outside of our control.”
“Wha-” The bell rang, and the teachers groaned, except for Wylan, who was saved from having to answer another question about his love life. They got up to leave and said their goodbyes. Just as Jesper got up, he felt a tug on his sleeve that pulled him back into the room.
“Jesper!” Nina whisper-yelled. “You know that Wylan was talking about you, right?”
“No, Nina,” Jesper stage-whispered back, “I don’t know, I hope.”
“Well, I know, and I think you should ask him out.”
“Nina, there’s so many things that could go wrong,” said Jesper, “and he’s right. I like what we have going on. Sure, I wish it was more, but I can be patient.”
“You can be patient?”
“Yes, Nina, I can, especially when it comes to Wylan.”
“Fine whatever, keep walking with him to class, and sitting with him during your breaks, and talking to him in the hall,” Nina pointed her finger at him, “but just know that you could be doing all this and be calling him your boyfriend.” She exited the lounge and went upstairs to the middle school hall.
🏫
Jesper did as he said he would. He flirted with Wylan, teased him, gave him compliments, and walked with him everywhere during the school day. In the mornings on the days that Jesper got to work before Wylan, which he figured out were usually Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, Jesper would have coffee ready for him from the machine, and during their lunch break when neither of them had duty, they would eat lunch in the lounge together and joke around and laugh. Usually at a stupid story Jesper told. It was nice and routine, like having a reliable snack they could always go back to eat.
Nina always insisted that Jesper do more, and Jesper said that he would, but it would take time. About three weeks into their routine, Jesper was sitting at his desk while his kids were somewhere else. He was working on grading their homework from the other night, which, grading seemed to be the only thing he did with his life, when he reached for another sticker, only, he seemed to have run out. He searched through his desk and huffed when he couldn’t find any. Since Jesper was such a good teacher, and not the fact that he would forget to grade some of the homework because he’d spend all day searching for stickers, he got up from his desk to ask someone for stickers.
Nina was upstairs and taught middle school science, and Jesper didn’t feel like walking upstairs. He knew that this was about the time of day Matthias had the kindergarteners in naptime, so he didn't want to disturb them. Kaz would just say no, and Inej was subbing as the gym teacher for the week, on top of teaching her fifth graders. Jesper suddenly remembered where his kids were; they were in music class, with Wylan. Well, would Jesper rather have crying kids because only some got stickers or would he rather talk to Wylan and ask for stickers? The choice was obvious to him, so he began the short walk to Wylan’s class.
Jesper could hear noise coming from Wylan’s classroom as he got closer. The door was closed so he knocked twice. He heard a faint, “Gimme one second guys, keep playing though!” As the door opened Jesper saw Wylan’s face light up.
“Oh hi, Jes! Is our time already up? I must’ve missed the bell,” Wylan said as he took a step aside to let Jesper in.
“Oh no, you’ve still got plenty of time,” Jesper said as he looked at his watch, “I just wanted to know if you had stickers?”
A chorus of kids shouted “Mr. Fahey!” and Jesper waved to them. “Stickers?” Wylan asked. Jesper nodded in return. “Hmm, let me check,” he said as he went over to his desk.
“Mr. Fahey,” a student whispered to him as he raised his hand.
“Yes, Bruno?”
“Is Mr. Wylan your boyfriend?” Jesper stared at him in shock. Wylan was blissfully unaware as he continued to rummage for stickers.
“Um, no,” chuckled Jesper, “what makes you say that?”
“Well, you say and do everything that my sister says with her boyfriend.”
“Oh yeah? And what is it that she says and does?”
“Well, she says nice things to him and calls him names,” Bruno began listing, “and she also gives him a bunch of gifts and loves to be around him.”
“Sounds like your sister really likes her boyfriend,” Jesper smiled.
“Found some!” Wylan called as he held up stickers and walked over. “I hope they’re okay, they’re mostly music related, but I tried to find some that weren’t.”
“No, it’s fine, thank you, Wy,” Jesper took the bag of stickers from Wylan and their fingers brushed. He liked that feeling, like they should always be doing that.
“Of course,” Wylan blushed. “What are you two up to?”
“Oh nothing, just talking about how to tell if someone likes someone else.”
Bruno gestured to Jesper to lean down, “I think Mr. Wylan really likes you,” Bruno whispered into Jesper’s ear. Except it wasn’t really a whisper, and more like a stage conversation. Wylan whipped his head around to Jesper and opened his mouth to say something.
“Wanna know something?” Jesper asked. Bruno nodded. He continued their stage conversation into his ear, “I really like him too!” Bruno giggled and Jesper held his finger up to his lips. Jesper got back up and turned to Wylan, whose mouth was still open and cheeks were flushed. “We’ll continue this conversation later Wy,” Jesper laid his hand on Wylan’s shoulder and kissed him on his cheek. The class erupted into giggles and “Ooh’s”.
“Okay, okay guys, listen to Mr. Wylan until I come back to pick you all up!” Jesper walked out of the door with a matching blush.
🏫
At the end of the day, when all the kids were gone and it was just the staff left, Jesper, Nina, Inej, and Kaz were all talking right outside of the school building, just in front of the parking lot. The talk of the town was Jesper and Wylan’s interaction that day.
“So, you just decided to kiss him on the cheek out of the blue?!” Nina shrieked.
“Well, the cat was kinda out of the bag once Bruno practically yelled it to the rooftops!” Jesper insisted. “Plus, weren’t you the one telling me to just ‘ask him out’?”
“Yes, but with your words, and not in front of your class!”
“What Nina means,” Inej interjected, “is that we’re happy you did this, and we hope you guys figure this out and it all goes well.”
“I’m just happy you guys aren’t trying to hide it, because I know you both would be awful at that,” added Kaz.
“I’d have no reason to hide it.” The doors open and Matthias and Wylan walk out. Wylan looks right at Jesper and blushes.
“Hi Jes,” he said in a soft voice and light smile, like a kid asking someone else to be their friend for the first time.
“How ‘bout you two go off and figure yourselves out,” Matthias insisted and pushed them farther into the parking lot.” The two looked at each other and began walking to their cars, which were parked next to each other.
“So, did you put the stickers to good use?” Wylan began.
“Yes, I did,” Jesper answered, “thanks again for them. And… I’m sorry if I overstepped today with the uh, the kiss on the cheek and all.”
“Jes, no,” Wylan insisted, “I’ve been hoping you’d do something like that for a while.”
“Oh, thank the Lord, because I’ve also been wanting to ask you out for a while.”
“So why didn’t you?” Wylan asked. They got to their cars, but neither unlocked them yet.
“Well, I was afraid you didn’t feel the same way, or that I’d mess something up, or, to be honest, that Kaz would call in HR and smite us or somethin’.” Jesper said.
“Well, now that we both know, how about we actually make plans?”
“For a date?”
“Yes, for a date,” Wylan said. Jesper couldn’t keep the grin off of his face and had to stop himself from jumping for joy.
“This time, I’ll tell you I like you before I tell a student that,” Jesper joked.
“Oh gosh, the students are going to go crazy. It’s bad enough that they saw you kiss me on the cheek,” Wylan blushed at the memory and feeling of Jesper’s lips on his skin,
“They will, but it’s alright, they’d be happy for us.”
“Yeah, I don’t doubt that,” Wylan said, “but I want our relationship to be for us, y’know, not for our kids or our friends.”
“Of course,” Jepser kissed his cheek again, “Mr. Wylan.”