By Chance

"Milo, why don't you work with Diesel? He doesn't have a partner."

Milo swallowed thickly as he eyed the tall, slim greaser-type in the back of his English classroom. He was assigned a project to work on the day before, but he was taking a "break day," that day, which was really just a day to curl up in his bed and contemplate whether he should be alive or not for hours on end. Today he felt a bit better, but the feeling didn't last, not with this new realization of who he had to work with. 

"Sure." Milo mumbled, trying to sound amiable but failing. Milo winced at how he sounded as he turned from his teacher's desk and went to sit at Diesel's table. Milo knew he was considered to be one of the "bad kids," and frankly, he detested the type, being a "good kid" himself, but it was only for a day. That's what he kept telling himself as the boy stared him down when Milo took his seat.

"Hey," Milo greeted in a demure tone. "The teacher said that I could work with you." 

Diesel shrugged in return. "A'ight." he replied. 

This wasn't so bad, Milo thought. He's not going to try and pester him, it seemed. Hastily, Milo put the worksheet he was tasked with on the table and scratched in his name. He could feel Diesel's eyes on him as he said, "Well, this looks like sentence structure...predicate clauses and stuff. How far have you gotten?"

Diesel held up the same worksheet, though it was blank. Not even his name had been entered. 

"Oh..." Milo said shyly. "W-well, I can let you copy my answers."

Milo read the sentences printed on the worksheet, circling and underlining and writing as the instructions commanded. He blazed through his work with relative ease and after just a few minutes set his pencil down with a sigh.

"Alright, done." Milo said to himself. Milo pushed his sheet across the table to Diesel, who took it gratefully and looked over it. Milo swore he saw a flush in Diesel's cheeks as he said, "I like your hair."

"T-thank you..." Milo stuttered, smiling shyly. Milo had redyed his hair on his day off, and though the streaks of purple were spotty, they still overpowered the natural brown he sported. 

"How...how did you manage to do your work so fast?" Diesel asked, looking up at Milo. Milo blushed at the sight of him; past the intimidating outer shell, Milo saw how handsome Diesel appeared, with sharp features, a clean face and deep brown eyes. Milo still didn't trust Diesel enough to feel much attraction, but it wasn't like Milo hated what he was looking at.

"Oh, well, actually..." Milo began, "I'm here on special permission. Because I transferred here I missed the opportunity to get into the English class I need to be in. I'm actually supposed to be in English IV Honors, or AP Language. So this stuff is easy for me."

"That's cool, actually." Diesel replied, chuckling. "Why'd you transfer to this dumphole, anyway?"

Milo was taken aback, but answered nonetheless, "My old school was overrun by bullies. Like, they were everywhere you turned. I was one of their victims, so I just kinda...yeeted outta that bitch, I guess, ha ha..." Milo already hated himself for making that comment. But just as he was mentally scolding himself, he saw Diesel laughing. It was such a sweet and pure sound to Milo.

"So you're one of those smart and gifted kids, huh?" Diesel asked after he regained his composure. 

"Oh, no, no. Nothing like that!" Milo said, flapping his hand dismissively. "I just read a lot of books as a kid, is all."

"That's nice." Diesel replied. "I never really liked books."

"You'll hate 'em after this class!" Milo jested. 

As Diesel finished copying Milo's work, he gave the sheet back to him. Milo took it as Diesel said "Thanks," with a somewhat tired smile. Milo smiled back. This bad kid wasn't so bad after all. What a surprise!

"Hey, uh," Diesel said, "I hang out in the courtyard at lunch. Wanna come with?"

"Oh...sure!" Milo agreed. "I'd love to!" It seemed odd to Milo to be hanging out with someone so different from himself, but he had taken a liking to this one. For the first time in a while, Milo was glad he was at school.

~O~

"What are we doing back here?"

Milo and Diesel had retreated to a far corner of the school courtyard, one where no prying eyes could spy on them. A swell of anxiety seemed to be contracting around Milo's heart as he stood alone with Diesel, who he had developed a hard and fast crush on. It only grew and grew the more time Milo spent with Diesel until he was at his limit. That limit had led the two to the courtyard.

"I...I need to tell you something important." Milo said sheepishly.

"And you needed to tell me back here because...?" Diesel asked, but before Milo could answer, Diesel interjected, "Is it with your parents? What are they doing to you?"

"No, no, it's not like that--" Milo squeaked.

"Is someone bullying you? Do I have to beat someone's ass?"

"No, it's not--"

"Well, what is it? You know I can help you out of a jam if you--"

"I like you!" Milo finally interjected. "I do! I like you a lot! I've liked you ever since I've known you! And I dragged you back here so people wouldn't see us! I have a massive-ass crush on you! But I wasn't sure if you liked me back, but I decided I had to take a chance, and that's why we're here."

A moment of silence fell over the two before Milo added, "So there."

To Milo's surprise, Diesel blushed and began grinning like a heathen. "No way, seriously?" he asked rhetorically. "That's uh...great! And I, um...I like you too..."

Milo's heart swelled with joy. "That's great! That...that makes me really happy!" 

Milo dissolved into a giggling fit, and Diesel responded with a shy rub of the back of his head. 

"So, does that mean we can be a couple now?" Milo asked.

"Can guys be couples?" Diesel asked, an air of uneasiness in his voice.

"Yeah, of course!" Milo replied. "You know I'm pan!"

"Right, right, ha ha..." Diesel replied. After a brief silence Diesel said, "Hey Milo?"

"Yeah?" Milo replied.

"Thanks for staying with an idiot like me for as long as you have been."