Cola and Cigarettes

Looking out over the courtyard, he could not help but wonder how so many people project their feelings, but he has to keep his bottle up to the point of being shattered. The damp chill of a storm was approaching. Harry is sitting on a bench trying to work up the nerve to go bum a cigarette from his crush. He does not smoke, but he is not sure what else to do to get Seth’s attention. 

Seth is in the grade above his, popular with all the girls, and openly flirted with all of them. He does not have a girlfriend that Harry knows about, but then again who the hell could tell?

 In Harry's freshman year, Seth was in his swimming class and that is when that Harry when first started wondering if he liked guys. Maybe it was the swimsuits? But he wasn't out to anyone then and isn't now. It is his biggest secret. On top of it all, Seth is obviously not gay. He is just a crush. 

Seth is the kind of kid that gets into trouble all the time but was popular with everyone. His light brown hair and blue eyes were striking, he had the face of a model. He always had a way of charming his way out of anything, even smoking illegally in the courtyard. After all, he is just seventeen, how does he even get his cigarettes?  

Harry is sixteen, lanky, and has red hair and green eyes. Even if Seth did like guys, Harry probably wasn’t his type. 

The security guard was approaching from behind Harry, he could hear the keys jingling on her belt clip. The hallway that goes out into the courtyard of their school has an L shape, so once she rounds the corner, she will be able to catch Seth. Harry can’t let that happen. 

He got up and went across the courtyard toward the group. Seth is with a few different girls in his grade, his usual posse, all of them latching on to his every word. Mentholated smoke is in the air. Harry only has a few seconds. 

Seth looks up at him puzzled as he approaches. He goes around the giggling girls and bends over next to Seth. 

"Henrietta is coming," he says. 

Seth's eyes got big.

"Shit, thanks dude". 

He quickly snuffs out his cigarette, throws the butt into a bush, and gets up. The posse follows like a gaggle of geese. Maybe that is what Harry will start calling them now? It is just him in the courtyard now.

“You," Henrietta was standing behind him. 

“It smells like smoke in here, were you smoking?”.

 Harry can’t believe it, is this seriously happening right now?

“No ma’am, I was just walking through," he replied. 

Henrietta was a stern woman, obviously not making enough money at this job, with ash blonde hair and cold blue eyes on her small frame. "I don't believe you— principal, now!". Harry looked at her coldly and started to open his mouth to protest, obviously it wasn't worth it, but he said it anyway." I told you I was just walking through and you automatically don't believe me, what is this kind of prejudice, it's not fair?!".

 Henrietta just stared at him, he knew he lost and began walking toward the hallway and down to the principal’s office. When they went around the L bend, Seth is standing against a wall with the gaggle, his eyes wide in shock. He grinned and nodded as a thank you for taking the fall and Harry went to the office. 

He immediately went in to see the principal. He did not even know who Harry was since he was one of the few good students at this school, although his grades were average. Henrietta pleaded her case, but luckily the principal was on his side, and with no evidence, Harry just got off with a warning to stay out of trouble. He was obviously on Henrietta’s shit list from now on.

Harry went to his last class of the day, Calculus—honestly the worst subject ever. He could barely pay attention, he couldn’t get Seth out of his mind, more than usual. Especially that cute nod and grin Seth did when he realized he was safe. At least Seth now kinda knows who he is? 

The bell rang finally, and Harry went to his locker a few doors down. He grabbed his car keys and books that he needed for homework over the weekend. “At least it is Friday," he muttered to himself He closed the locker and went down the hall toward the door leading into the student lot. It is always full of kids gossiping about the day. He wanted to avoid his two best friends at this point. He is sure that the gaggle spread the news and the whole school knows about Harry getting sent to the principal’s office.

As Harry went out the door and it was still damp, the clouds dark and cold. No one else was around like usual, most likely due to the rain. He went down the steps and noticed his shoe was untied and leaned up against the concrete railing of the steps to tie it. When he looked up he almost fell over. Seth was standing next to him, without the gaggle. Where the hell did he come from? 

"Hey," he said. 

“Hey” Harry replied, his face must have looked puzzled.

 “I wanted to thank you for what you did, we had swim class together last year, right? 

“Yeah, we did, I’m Harry”.

 Seth smiled. “I remember”

Harry felt his heart flutter a bit, he remembered him? 

“Oh..” He couldn’t think of what to say next, his face was probably turning as red as his hair. 

“So why did you do it?” Seth broke the awkwardness.

“I just didn’t want you to get into trouble I guess," Harry replied softly. Seth smiled like he does with the gaggle. It is probably making Harry turn redder.

 "That was sweet of you Harry, here" He grinned as he grabbed his wrist, took out a pen, and wrote his number on his hand.

 “Text me sometime”

 Harry was a little shocked. He laughed and pulled out his phone, sending him a text with a smiley face. He could hear Seth's phone buzz. 

“There ya go”.

Seth was still beaming the way he did with the gaggle, and it was almost too much for Harry. His heart was feeling heavy. He was afraid he might say something he might regret. There was still no one else around, it was just the two of them.

 He felt a raindrop hit his head and it started to downpour in seconds. "Shit— this rain is going to mess with my hair, I'll see you around Harry," Seth said. He took his hand and rustled Harry's red hair, then ran toward the parking lot. Harry just stood there for a second, not really sure how to react to what has just happened. His clothes were getting soaked through. His hair was still registering Seth's soft hand. He turned and walked slowly to his car, still in a daze.

As Harry drove home, he could not believe what happened. What a crazy day. He dried off and sat cross-legged on his bed.

His phone buzzed. He grabbed it from his nightstand.

Seth: Hey.

It was Seth?!

Harry: Hey

Seth: Still think it was awesome what you did today.

Harry: I am pretty sure I am on security’s shit list.

Seth: Not that many people would have done the same thing for me, I am used to being just caught then shat on.

That last text kinda surprised Harry, Seth is so popular and the gaggle is always swooning over him.

Harry: What about the friends you were with? Surely they would.

Seth: Nah, they just want in my pants, to be honest, they would bail.

Harry could not help but laugh at this analogy, he thinks Seth is being adorable. He is getting that same heart-fluttering feeling. Not fair.

Seth: What are you doing tomorrow?

Harry: Just watching soccer most likely, some good games on, you?

 Harry loves soccer. Just watching it, not playing it since he isn’t athletic, but he is an avid supporter of several teams.

He did not hear from Seth for a little while, he found himself looking at his phone every few minutes. The anticipation could kill.

Seth: There is a game tomorrow downtown, want to go?

Harry’s heart is fluttering again. Why is Seth being so nice to him? He does not want to think much into it, just to be disappointed in the end.

Harry: Sure, that would be nice if you are free.

They texted until later in the night making plans for the next day, meeting at the stadium downtown by the ticket counter. He falls asleep mid-text about jerseys to wear.

Waking up early the next day, it was a little sunnier but still cold as they were approaching the beginning of summer. Their school was about to end and break would be starting soon. 

Harry slowly ate his grapefruit and watched some soccer on TV. He was beginning to feel nervous about seeing Seth later in the evening. He hopes the gaggle won’t be there. He assumed they wouldn’t be.

Close to mid-afternoon, Harry grabbed his hoodie and put it over his soccer jersey. He yelled to his parents he was going out then drove downtown and pulled into a space near the stadium. The local team is basically in the lower tiers of the league, but it is still fun to go to a game. There was a good crowd forming near the stadium a block away, he checked his phone and did not see a text from Seth since earlier. Hopefully, he won't bail…

Harry decided to walk to the stadium and get his ticket, the stadium had general seating where he could usually afford to sit so didn’t have an assigned seat. As he crossed the street at the crosswalk, he saw Seth leaning into a fence smoking alone, the gaggle wasn’t there. He saw Harry and waved him over.

He walked over slowly, listening for the sound of giggling or some other frightful thing that will cause him to spiral into a pit of despair. He made it to Seth as he lit another cigarette. 

“Hey Harry,” he said beaming once again.

Harry felt his heart feel heavy again, why is he turning to mush over a simple hello?

“Hey Seth”

"Glad you made it," Seth sounded sincere as he took another drag, the smoke filling up his lungs before he exhaled it. The air smelled like menthol, but also sweet, like a flower, it must be his cologne.

“No other people coming?” Harry asked.

"Nope, why would there be?" Seth peered over to Harry and sounded a little annoyed. Smoke billowing from his nose. Did he make a mistake by asking this?

"Just asking," he replied quietly. 

Maybe this was a mistake, he can’t talk normally with someone he dreams about every day. Maybe he will be disappointed, Maybe he doesn’t feel the same way? Hell, he probably doesn’t, this is probably just a thank you for saving his ass. God, what a mess.

“Hey, you okay?” Seth snapped him back to reality. 

“Yeah, sorry I was just thinking about finals next week”.

“Fuck, I am not going to do well," Seth replied as he took a final drag of his cigarette.  

“Why not?”

“I am not the best student in the world, I suck at History and English for example, I am only good at Calculus”

“I am the opposite, I am good at those two and suck at Calculus”. 

Seth looked a little surprised, but grabbed his backpack and stood up. 

“Ah, I will have to remember that, come on let’s go in”

“I still need to go buy my ticket,” Harry started to say.

"Oh, it's okay. I got you covered"

He got him a ticket? 

“Oh thanks, you didn’t have to do that” Harry replied softly. Seth didn’t reply and just walked to the gate, the crowd was starting to shift from the box office. 

“Hey Seth, been a while, just you?” the guard at the gate said. 

“Nah, I have a friend tonight,” he replied. “

Okay, go on through".

He didn’t even show his ticket? 

The energy inside was amazing, the team must have been doing well this year. It hasn’t been this crowded in a while. Harry thought they were going to the general section where he usually sits, but they went past that and up the stairs to the clubhouse where the boxes are. 

Another guard nodded at them as they went through the doors. There was a full bar, waiters walking around with food, and people wearing clothes way fancier than Harry could afford. There were five boxes with about six seats each, and they went to the middle one, with the best view. Seth took a card from his pocket and it beeped to open the doors. The box had nicer seats than the other ones and a perfect view of the field. It was private.

“Eh…how could you afford this?” Harry blurted out. “Oh I am sorry, that is rude”.

“Nah you’re fine, my dad owns the team so I can come whenever I want. We have the box to ourselves tonight; my old man is traveling”.  

He was doing his cute beaming smile again. Not fair. But, this is awesome. How did Harry not know this? Seth was a wild card.

 Harry went down to the middle of the box and sat down on the plush seat. Seth followed him and sat down right next to him. Their legs were close to touching, and Harry was probably shaking since he is so nervous. 

The game started and their team was dominating the field. They finally scored a goal with a penalty kick at the end of the first half. Harry was loving every second of this, spending time with his crush, even though he obviously did not know that. Plus this is a great game. At halftime, he realizes that he has barely said anything to Seth, he seemed to get a little closer to Harry. 

“Want to grab a drink?” He asked Seth. 

“I can get us one”.

Seth went up to a little fridge near the door and grabbed some sodas. He came back down and put handed it to him. 

“Will this work? They have some beers but my dad will know if we take some so I don’t want to encounter his wrath, he is already on me for smoking”.

Harry laughed, he has never had alcohol, much less a beer.

 "Yeah, this is fine, thanks".

 He opened the bottle and took a sip of its sugary goodness. Seth took out a cigarette, and lit it, inhaling the smoke— but then put his arm around Harry. 

Harry almost dropped the bottle.

 "You like me right?" Seth said softly. 

Harry froze. Where is this coming from? 

“I uh…what do you mean?”

 Seth said this all casually like he was so sure of himself. "After you helped me yesterday, I remembered that you were always looking at me in swimming class and you are usually glancing at me in the hall, I mean it makes sense, why else would you sacrifice your good standing to help me out". He said all this as he took another drag.

“I…” He was stuttering. 

Was this so obvious? Was he not as good at hiding his feelings as he thought? 

“I..”

"By your stuttering, it seems like I am right," Seth said quietly. He was still smoking with his arm around Harry.

Harry decided that this was it. He obviously can’t hide it anymore. His heart was ready to burst.

“How would you feel if that were true?”.

Seth took a final drag of his cigarette. He turned and looked at Harry, his eyes were bold like they were piercing into his soul.  

"What I want to know is why me? I am nothing special".

Harry gasped, still looking into Seth’s eyes, still feeling his arm gripped tight around him. He felt pissed.

“Nothing special? How can you say that? You act like you aren’t smart, but you totally are, you are kind, you are popular, you are athletic, you are…”

Harry was stopped mid-sentence, not by him getting scolded or shrugged off, not by the piercing blue eyes of Seth. But by his soft lips… against his. It was just them at this moment. He could taste the menthol of Seth's cigarettes and cola. Harry's heart was lighter. Open. He never felt this way before.

Seth pulled back almost as quickly as he started, even if it was a few seconds. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that”.

 He was looking down, not at Harry. His face turned crimson red. "It is just… no one has ever said they liked me for me before" 

 Harry was still speechless, he needed to say something.

“You..kissed me” Harry spurted out. 

Seth looked up at him, his eyes were glistening with tears. "Well, I am glad you finally made it to the party Harry". 

They both burst out laughing. They put their arms around each other. 

“What I really want to say, is I love you for you”. 

"You sure about that?" Seth replied, dabbing his eyes with a tissue. It was so adorable.

“I have never been more sure of anything,” Harry replied.

Seth smiled and moved Harry closer. He is still not certain what they have and may not for a while. But as the second half started and the stadium roared with cheers, all seemed right in his small universe; his feelings are out in the open. Maybe his crush will become his love?