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Trini was already waiting for Billy at their lunch table in the corner of the cafeteria when he came over with his tray.
She gave him two seconds to sit down before she said, “I found a boy.”
“Oh, really?” asked Billy, carefully ripping open a packet of ketchup to empty out next to his fries. “Who is it?”
“Jason Scott.”
Billy blanched. “You thought it would be a good idea to go after Jason Scott?”
“I mean, why not.” Trini shrugged and took a bite out of her sandwich. “Star quarterback, good looks, nice muscles. I assume you know who he is.”
“Of course I know who he is,” Billy said, his eyes wide. “And I also know that this is a terrible idea.”
“No it isn’t,” said Trini. “He’s in my English class. I see him every day.”
Billy shook his head furiously. “There is no way Jason Scott would want anything to do with us. You should pick someone else.”
“Not doing it,” said Trini, grinning cheekily at Billy. “I’m gonna do it and you can’t stop me.”
“Fine.” Billy turned so that he was facing Trini and crossed his arms, pouting a little. “If you’re going to do this then I pick Kimberly Hart.”
The grin dropped right off Trini’s face. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Billy stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry at her. “Take Jason Scott back or else I’m talking to Kimberly Hart.”
“Kimberly Hart is the head cheerleader,” Trini protested. “She’s so popular. And like surrounded by fifty people from the cheerleading and football teams all the time.”
“I’ve seen the way you look at her in the hallways,” Billy said, smug.
“Well likewise I’ve seen you stop by the field every time Jason has been out practicing with the boys,” Trini countered.
Billy sighed. “He’s probably straight.”
“She probably is too.”
“Why are we so pathetic?”
“I don’t know, Billy. I don’t know.”
Billy ate a few French fries before he looked up and spoke again. “We should make a pact.”
“A what?” asked Trini.
“A pact,” he said, a tiny little smile forming on his face. “Like, Kimberly’s in my biology class. If we do the pact I promise to talk to her.”
“And I’m promising to talk to Jason?” said Trini.
“Exactly.” Billy nodded resolutely. “And then—”
“We introduce each other.”
“Yes,” said Billy. “If we must go down, we go down together.” He held out his hand.
“Fair enough. I’m in.” Trini high-fived him forward once, then backward once, and then they fist bumped.
Billy always made her do their special hand shake right before they were about to do something incredibly stupid.
The next day Trini showed up to English and everything seemed normal for the first fifteen minutes of class.
She sat in the back of the room and Jason Scott was somewhere in the middle, somehow surrounded on all sides by girls.
“Alright, we have a partner project coming up,” the teacher announced, moving to the front of each row to hand out a few papers. “I’m tempted to assign them myself after the fiasco last time, but since you guys did so well with the fundraising…You have one last chance to pick your partner.”
Instantly every girl sitting around Jason turned to look at him with a hopeful expression. Trini resisted the urge to throw up.
One brave girl stood and made her way to Jason’s desk. “Will you be my partner?” she asked.
He had already brought his hand sheepishly up to his forehead and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could respond, all the other girls converged towards him too.
Trini rolled her eyes and pushed right through all of them.
They were so shocked that they let her grab the nearest desk and push it right up next to his, staring straight ahead at nothing in particular.
“Hello,” said Jason slowly.
The girls all stared at her, half in awe, half incredulous. Trini suspected that some of them had forgotten she existed.
“Hey,” she said back.
“Are we partners now?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, cool.” Jason rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, shooting the rest of the girls an apologetic expression. They all went off to find other partners among each other, leaving Trini and Jason alone in the center of the classroom.
The weirdest combination of two students Angel Grove High School had ever seen.
“So, you’re Trini, right?” Jason began. “I don’t think we’ve ever talked before…What changed—?”
“Please don’t start assuming I’m into you,” said Trini, her nose wrinkling up in distaste.
“O-oh. I’m sorry.” Jason’s mouth hung open, at a loss for words. “I’m just used to—I thought—”
“The Great Gatsby,” said Trini, pretending to take an interest in the project laying on the table in front of her. “Oh, I love this book. So much.”
Jason stifled a laugh. “Me too. It just brings out so many emotions in me, you know? …Want to meet up after school to get started on this baby?”
“Your house or mine?”
“I think mine’ll be good.”
“Alright. I’ll be waiting at the back entrance.”
“Okay.”
So maybe Jason Scott wasn’t as bad as he had first seemed.
Billy was shaking so hard when he walked into biology. He didn’t know why he was so nervous—he didn’t even like girls! Maybe it was because everything Trini felt he felt too. They’d been friends for a long time, outcasts who had stuck together through thick and thin.
As he expected Kimberly was already seated at her spot in the front, surrounded by several girls from the cheerleading team as well as a good few football players.
He took his seat to the side and tried to look for an opening to talk to her. But the crowd around her never shifted and he was starting to get a bunch of weird looks for staring so long.
Finally, roughly one minute and twelve seconds before class began, one of the cheerleaders found something exciting on her phone and left with a good portion of the crowd to go freak out about near her seat. The remaining two girls left as well, leaving Kimberly to sit peacefully by herself.
Billy spent seven seconds steeling up his nerves before abruptly standing up and moving to stop right in front of Kimberly’s desk.
Kimberly looked up at him in surprise. “Um, hello.”
“Hi,” said Billy, wringing his hands together repeatedly.
A bunch of football guys and cheerleaders had already looked up to stare at him.
Billy Cranston talking to Kimberly Hart?
What was the world coming to?
“Um, Kim, why are you—”
“It’s cool,” said Kimberly, waving the girl off. “If someone wants to talk to me, then I’ll talk to them. So, what’s up?”
“I’m gay,” said Billy.
Kimberly blinked. “Um, that’s fine and all…but why are you telling me this?”
“Do you wanna maybe be friends?” Billy asked, already cringing internally as he stuck out his hand for her to shake. “My name is Billy Cranston. People used to call me Billy Crams-ton, like Billy-crams-tons-of-crayons-into-his-butt, which I didn’t, but—”
“What a joke,” some football player said from the other side of the room.
Kimberly looked over and scoffed. “Rick, dude. Shut up.” She turned back to Billy with a smile and shook his hand. “Well, I’m Kimberly Hart. It’s nice to meet you, Billy.” Then she motioned for Billy to get closer so she could whisper in her ear. “And for the record, I’m bisexual, so everything’s cool with me, okay?”
“Oh, awesome,” Billy squeaked.
Then the bell rang and class started.
People kept looking at him funny during the entire period but he ignored them in favor of learning more about the electron transport chain.
When class ended Kimberly met his eyes and smiled and Billy almost cried.
“You did what?” Billy nearly screamed at lunch that day.
“I’m his partner for the English project,” Trini said again. “Heading over to his house today.”
Billy jumped in his seat, looking around wildly for a few seconds before leaning in and whispering (loudly) to Trini. “How?!”
Trini just grinned, looking smug. Fair enough, she earned the right to do that. “I’m just that awesome. And you’re welcome.”
“Well,” Billy said, once he had recovered from his shock, “wait till I tell you what I found out about Kimberly.”
“What?” said Trini.
“She’s bisexual.”
Trini choked on her water.
“Not so jubilant now, are you?” Billy said triumphantly.
“Shut up, shut up,” Trini said through her coughing. “No. Stop. I’m being overwhelmed.”
“Will you be alright?” Billy asked, concerned.
“Yes. Sure.” Trini took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. “It won’t matter anyways. She wouldn’t want to go out with someone like me.”
“That’s not true,” Billy argued. “You’re like, super cool.”
“Thanks, Billy,” said Trini. “I’ll text you after I leave Jason’s house, okay?”
“You better!!”
Billy Cranston
TRINI KIMBERLY JUST INVITED ME TO COME WITH HER TO HER CHEERLEADING PRACTICE ?!?!? ?????????????????????? ?? ?!???!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????
Trini
wwWWT j
Trini
Sorry I dropped my phone
Trini
What I meant to say was what the FUCK?!?
Billy Cranston
OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“So, listen,” said Jason. “I’m really sorry for assuming you liked me earlier. I just—a lot of girls confess, and the whole football star thing kind of got to my head…”
They were sitting across from each other at Jason’s dining table, a textbook and two copies of The Great Gatsby lying open in between them. Jason was twitching his mechanical pencil around in between his thumb and index finger, leaving little scratch marks on the notebook he was trying to write in.
“It’s cool,” said Trini, glancing up from her laptop. “Honest mistake.”
“I mean, like…” Jason trailed off uneasily, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Listen, I never told anyone this, and I know we don’t know each other, but like…I’m always a little uneasy because…well, I think I like boys more than I do girls.”
“Oh.” Trini didn’t know what to say. “Well you’ll be happy to know that you’re not the only one in this room who feels that way.”
“Oh. Oh.” Jason seemed to brighten a little at that. “That’s—wow, that’s pretty awesome. I mean, I never really had someone to talk to about this kind of stuff with. I don’t know—I don’t know how my teammates would react if this got out.”
He sounded so relieved and Trini actually felt her heart break a little at his words. “That’s understandable. But.”
“But what?” asked Jason.
“My friend,” said Trini. How was she supposed to approach this? “His name’s Billy. You should… talk to him sometime.”
Jason looked at her thoughtfully for a few seconds. “You think he’ll like me?”
“Oh yeah, he’s a great kid. Here’s his number.” She ripped out a piece of paper from Jason’s notebook, stole his pencil, and scribbled Billy’s phone number onto it.
Jason took it from her hands, looking wary. “Wow. I’ve never…actually done this kind of thing before.”
“Well do it now,” said Trini. “Actually, later. Mr. Gatsby is waiting for us.”
Jason laughed. “Right. And…thanks.”
“No problem, golden boy.”
Unknown Number
Hey…um, is this Billy?
Unknown Number
My name is Jason. Your friend gave me your number and told me to talk to you?
Billy Cranston
TRINI HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME
Trini
TEXT HIM BACK YOU IDIOT
Trini was minding her own business in the library the next day before school started when Kimberly Hart popped in and decided to give her a heart attack.
“JESUS!” she nearly yelled, scooting back like an entire foot in her seat when she saw Kimberly just plop down across the table, all alone, to see her.
“Not me, but I’m flattered,” said Kimberly, grinning. “Wow. You look…even prettier in person than he described.”
Trini stared suspiciously at her. “Is this some kind of prank?”
“No?” Kimberly frowned a little. “I met your friend Billy Cranston yesterday. He seemed like an honest kid and told me all about you after school. Kept going on about how amazing you were…I just wanted to see for myself.” She trailed off at the end, looking a little nervous, like maybe she was worried she was overstepping.
Trini’s face was on fire.
“You’re Kimberly Hart,” she managed to say. “You’re like, the most popular girl in school. And you’re talking to the one person at the bottom of the high school hierarchy.”
Kimberly sighed and propped her head up in her hands on the table. “That’s all anyone ever sees me as. The popular girl. Sometimes I just want to be Kimberly, you know? Sometimes I just want to talk to a beautiful girl without that label hanging above my head.”
“Oh,” said Trini, so in awe that she could hardly breathe. “I can—I think I can do that.”
“I’m not coming on too strong, am I?” Kimberly asked. “I’m sorry, I tend to do that.”
“N-no, it’s okay,” Trini managed to say. “It’s cool. Want to hang out sometime?”
“Yeah, sure,” Kimberly answered, a bright smile appearing on her face. “I’ve got cheerleading practice after school today, but you’re free to come watch from the bleachers.”
“Cool. Awesome! Oh, looks like the bell’s ringing! Gotta go, haha!”
The English teacher gave them the class period to work on their projects. Jason and Trini sat in the corner of the room together, looking like they were immersed deep in their notebooks but really they were just doodling stupid things to each other.
“I talked to Billy all last night,” Jason said, and it was obvious that he couldn’t stop that happy little grin from appearing on his face. “He’s a really nice guy. I hope we can meet in person soon.”
“You could talk to him at lunch,” Trini suggested. “I won’t mind.”
“No—I’d love to,” said Jason, “but…my football buddies will assume…”
“Right,” said Trini. “Damn, that sucks.”
Jason sighed. “I wish I could just screw up the courage to say ‘fuck them’, you know…but I don’t think I’m ready.”
“That’s totally fine. You do you at your own pace,” Trini told him.
Jason smiled gratefully and turned back to the project.
Billy dragged Trini outside at lunch that day behind a couple cars in the parking lot just so he could hug her and scream for a full ten seconds.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” he cried, jumping around in circles and flapping his hands in the air. “I can’t believe Jason thinks I’m funny and sweet!”
“I can’t believe you told Kimberly that I’m pretty,” said Trini.
“Don’t tell me she doesn’t think so too,” Billy said, fixing her with a stern look. “She told me in biology that she asked you to go with her to cheerleading practice and you said yes.”
“How was I supposed to say no?” Trini groaned, burying her face in her hands. “Not to that face.”
“Oh my god!!” Billy screamed again.
A couple weeks passed.
Jason Scott
Listen Billy I’m so sorry for being an idiot and not asking you sooner…but if you want to come to football practice on Tuesdays on Thursdays to watch me get beaten up by guys half a foot taller than me, I’ll be waiting for you there :)
Billy Cranston
I would love to!! Is there one after school today?
Jason Scott
Yes, just head on over to the front field as soon as the bell rings!
Billy Cranston
I’ll be there!
“You showed up!” Jason said, reaching forward and hugging Billy tightly. Billy sank into his hug, savoring the warmth he usually disliked. But something about Jason’s arms just made him feel so safe.
“Of course I showed up,” said Billy, smiling. “I want to support you!”
“That means a lot Billy, thank you,” said Jason. He began to grin as well. “You could probably head on up to the bleachers, I need to get changed now.”
“Okay!”
Billy got out his textbooks and laptop and did his homework while he waited. But as soon as Jason showed up on the field, he put everything away to watch him play. And wow, was Jason good. He was dedicated, he was commanding, even when he started to become visibly exhausted he refused to give up.
Wow, Billy was falling hard.
When practice ended several guys came up to Jason and clapped him on his back. Billy couldn’t hear what they were saying from where he was but it sounded like they were asking him to head into the locker room and then go out to grab some food with them.
To Billy’s surprise, Jason shrugged them off, shaking his head sheepishly. The guys all looked at each other but left without him. Jason waited until they were out of sight before turning to look up at Billy and waving.
Billy waved back.
Jason pulled off his football jersey, leaving him with a sweaty red T-shirt on underneath, and jogged up the stairs to the row Billy was sitting in.
“Hello,” said Billy. “You did amazing out there! You’re so good!”
“Thanks, Billy,” Jason said, his face flushed from both the exertion and the praise. “I’m so glad you came, honestly. I feel like I did a million times better than I usually do with you here.”
“Oh.” Billy looked down at his laptop keyboard, fighting back a blush. “Well, I guess that means I’ll have to show up to practice more often.”
Jason smiled wide. “I would love it if you did.”
Billy smiled back too.
His heartbeat was pumping so fast inside his chest.
Kimberly
I can’t believe you didn’t show up to practice today!!! I was so lonelyyyy :(
Trini
Dude, I’m so sorry…I had to help my dad with a thing
Trini
You know I would have rather gone with you!
Kimberly
Well I just finished up with the girls…do you want to go grab ice cream? I’m all sweaty and disgusting and I need to cool down.
Trini
Why, because you’re so hot? ;) ;)
Kimberly
Get your ass over here before I block you
A few days later in biology Kimberly plopped into the seat next to Billy’s.
“Um,” said Billy. “Isn’t your seat, like, twelve desks away?”
“I know, I know.” Kimberly was grinning from ear to ear and it didn’t look like she was going to stop anytime soon. “Sorry. I just wanted to have some alone time from the cheerleaders, you know? I’m just…so happy. I’ve never felt this way with anyone before.”
“That’s awesome,” said Billy, and now he was grinning too. “So I take it things are going well?”
“Things are going great,” said Kimberly, sighing dreamily. “Oh man, I’m head over heels, aren’t I?”
“Don’t worry,” said Billy, thinking of everything he and Trini had gone through the past few weeks. “I’m pretty sure you’re not the only one.”
Kimberly just gave him a knowing smile.
The week after that Angel Grove had an away football game and Billy and Trini showed up to support Jason and Kimberly.
Neither of them really understood how the sport worked but they cheered whenever the Tigers scored a touchdown. The announcer screamed into his microphone when Jason single-handedly carried the team to a crushing victory, and Trini couldn’t take her eyes off Kimberly during the cheerleaders’ halftime performance.
“I really want to stay and tell Jason how well he did,” said Billy, looking mournfully down at the field, where Jason’s teammates were carrying him off the grass on their shoulders. “But I don’t think his friends are going to let him be alone for the rest of the night…and I have a huge essay I need to finish writing.”
“Me too.” Trini watched as Kimberly’s cheerleader friends wrapped their arms around each other and moved off towards the locker rooms in one big mob. “Let’s go home, buddy. It’s been a wild night.”
Billy nodded and the two of them stood up and began to follow the crowd out of the stadium.
Jason was chilling outside in the hallway right next to the boys’ locker room, leaning against the wall, waiting for his friends to finish changing so they could go to the celebration party together.
“Hey.”
He jumped and saw Kimberly heading towards him, smirking.
“Kimberly Hart,” he greeted her.
Kimberly settled down next to him. “Jason Scott,” she said back.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Jason asked.
“I heard you’ve been hanging out with Billy Cranston a lot,” said Kimberly, but there was no malice in her voice, only a teasing quality.
“I’ve seen you around campus with Trini more often than your cheerleaders,” Jason retorted with a smile.
Kimberly sighed. “I know. I’ve got it bad.”
“You tell me.”
“I can’t believe I got to fall for such a wonderful person,” said Kimberly. “Trini is everything. She doesn’t take shit from anyone, she’s forward, she’s funny, and beautiful…”
Jason stared off into the distance, basking in happy memories of the past few weeks that made him warm and fuzzy inside. “I feel you,” he said. “Billy’s perfect. He’s so smart and genuine… Frankly, I can’t believe he likes me.”
Kimberly paused for a second, waiting as a couple guys tumbled out of the locker room. Jason waved them off when they looked back on him questioningly. When they had walked off into the distance, bouncing and slapping each other on the back, she turned back to Jason.
“We should make our move.”
“What?” asked Jason.
“Both of us,” said Kimberly. “Tell them how we really feel. Tomorrow.”
Jason laughed nervously. “Are you serious about this?”
“Dead serious. I know you won’t have the nerve to do it unless someone pushes you, Scott. And I’m going to be honest, I need a push too. So, how about it? You confess to Billy, and I’ll confess to Trini, by midnight tomorrow.”
“You’ve got yourself a deal,” Jason decided.
Kimberly stuck out her pinky. “Pinky promise on it.”
Jason stared at her like she was crazy.
Kimberly stared back.
Jason sighed and wrapped his pinky around Kimberly’s.
“Tomorrow by midnight. We got this,” he said.
Kimberly smiled. “Hell yeah we do,” she replied.
Jason Scott
Hey, Billy?
Jason Scott
Do me a favor and come with me after school today?
Jason Scott
I have something I need to tell you
Jason Scott
It’s a good thing, I promise :)
Kimberly
You. Me. At the park. Tonight at 9. Please show up or I’ll cry.
Trini
???
Kimberly
Pleaseeee <3
Jason was waiting for him in the school parking lot as soon as school was out, as promised. Billy’s heart began to flutter when he saw him leaning casually up against a shiny red pickup truck.
“I didn’t know you had a car!” Billy exclaimed as he approached.
Jason laughed. “It’s not mine. I had to beg my dad to let me use it for one evening. But I wanted to take you somewhere special…”
“Oh.” Billy fumbled with his backpack straps, suddenly unable to tear his gaze away from Jason. “Well we shouldn’t waste any time then, should we?”
Jason grinned and opened the passenger seat door for Billy, and waited until Billy was safely buckled in before closing the door and heading to the driver’s side.
The drive was fifteen minutes long and filled with tension. Billy could barely sit still in his seat, occasionally shooting glances at Jason, who was concentrated on the road.
He recognized where Jason was taking him about five minutes before arriving at the destination. It was the shipyard, but when they reached the bustling docks Jason drove right past them in favor of a more empty area.
“I’m sorry the wood’s kind of rotten down here,” said Jason as he took Billy’s hand to help him off the car. “But no one else ever comes near. It’s become my favorite spot to just take a break and rest.”
They headed toward the end of the dock, hand-in-hand. Billy stared down into the water, seeing his own reflection smiling back at him.
“The view is beautiful,” he said in awe.
“I think you’re even more beautiful,” Jason said quietly.
Billy turned to face Jason, his eyes wide, but before he could say anything, Jason brought his hand up to cup Billy’s cheek.
“Jason—” Billy said, trailing off when Jason leaned in closer.
“I really like you, Billy,” Jason confessed. “I like you so much and I don’t know what I’d do without you. I just wanted to tell you that.”
“Oh,” said Billy. “I—I really like you too, Jason Scott. You’re…you’ve made me so happy since I met you…”
Jason smiled.
“Can I kiss you?” he asked.
“Y-yeah, sure,” Billy stammered.
So Jason leaned in and Billy’s eyes had automatically closed by the time Jason’s lips touched his.
They stood on the abandoned docks and kissed.
When they broke apart Jason kept holding Billy close to him and pressed his forehead to his, feeling so unabashedly happy.
“Wow,” said Billy, a little breathlessly.
Jason laughed. “I take it that’s a good ‘wow’?”
“Definitely,” said Billy. “Can we do that again?”
“Anything for you, Billy Cranston.”
It was a miracle that no one spotted them kissing on the dock, the water rippling in tiny waves below them.
Later that night Trini showed up at her and Kimberly’s spot in the park, feeling a little bit apprehensive, but she didn’t know why. She sat down on the bench and waited a little more than five minutes before Kimberly showed up.
She looked extremely nervous and that only made Trini nervous as well.
“Hey,” said Kimberly.
“Hi,” said Trini.
Kimberly shuffled her feet. “I uh, I just wanted to tell you something.”
Trini raised her eyebrows and stood up. “Is that so?”
“Yeah.” Kimberly looked down at her feet and then back up into Trini’s eyes. “I um, I don’t know how to dance around things, so I’m just going to come out with it now. I have feelings for you.”
Trini’s expression morphed into one of surprise. Clearly she wasn’t expecting something like this.
“I’ve got crazy intense feelings for you and they’re driving me nuts,” Kimberly continued, after taking a deep breath. “You’re the most wonderful girl I’ve ever met and I’ve been thinking about kissing you for weeks.”
For a long moment, Trini didn’t say anything.
“Then you should do it.”
Kimberly stepped towards Trini, and almost died right then and there when Trini pulled her in even closer.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while too,” Trini admitted with a sly grin.
“Awesome. Cool.” Kimberly smiled so wide and she didn’t know how to stop. She didn’t want to stop. “So you would be totally cool if I kissed you now, right? If you’ve been thinking about it for a while then it would be fine with you—?”
“Oh, shut up.” Trini moved her hands up to either side of Kimberly’s face and pulled her down, kissing her smile away.
Kimberly’s brain nearly fried itself.
She found her hands on Trini’s waist, pulling her towards her, even when there was no space left between them. Trini kept kissing her and Kimberly kept kissing her back.
And wow.
She didn’t even know what to say when they finally broke apart.
“You’re the best,” said Kimberly in a daze.
Trini kissed her one more time, just for good measure. “I think you win that award,” she murmured.
“Aww, you flatter me,” said Kimberly, her heart full.
“I can’t help it.” Trini took Kimberly’s hand and intertwined their fingers together. “You’re just too damn amazing.”
No one knew why Jason Scott and Kimberly Hart one day just decided to sit at the same lunch table as Billy Cranston and Trini.
Well, no one except them.
Their little corner was always filled with giggles and laughter and quite a bit of dragging off to secret places for impromptu makeout sessions.
Every time Billy saw Trini in the hallway making heart-eyes at Kimberly talking her ear off about something she was passionate about, he gave her a thumbs up. And every time Trini caught Billy and Jason huddled close together, both smiling like idiots over whatever they were disccusing, she would catch his eye and give him a proud grin.
“Mission success,” Billy told Trini at lunchtime, and he held out his hand.
Trini laughed and obliged. Forward slap, backward slap, fist bump.
They were on top of the world.