one ;
b r o o k s

"ISN'T HE SO HOT?"

Brooks really needed to do well in his upcoming chemistry test, and Calla's relentless chatter in his ear was as impossible to ignore as it was distracting. He loved Calla, he really did, but the girl sure knew how to fill a silence. She was so chatty he probably could have been replaced with a brick wall, and she'd be just as satisfied with the conversation. In all fairness, Brooks was about as charming and interesting as a brick wall, so no shocker there.

Brooks made a noncommittal sound of agreement, not looking up from his textbook, but that wasn't enough to satisfy Calla. "Brooks," Calla said, poking him in the arm with a pencil with merciless vigour. She probably would have worn a bloody hole into his arm if it wasn't blunt. "Brooks, look, isn't he hot?"

"Uh, why are you even asking me?" It was difficult to stomach the irrational flutter of nerves at such an innocent question. He knew Calla didn't mean anything by that, that he was just paranoid, but it didn't ease his discomfort. "How should I know? I don't know if guys are attractive or not. It doesn't mean anything to me. I can't make a judgement."

He had to bite his lip to cut off his stupid rambling. Jesus, how much more obvious could he get? She might not have suspected anything before but she would definitely think something was up now. Why did he never have the words when he needed them, yet he couldn't shut up at the wrong times? When the accusations didn't come flowing in from Calla, he snuck a glance up at her. She was too busy making googly eyes and drooling at her newest crush.

Curiosity won over his need to study and he followed her gaze across the library. Seeing as it was their free period, the school library was mostly filled with sixth formers, either revising over laptops and books or chatting with friends in low voices. The loudest contributors, unconcerned by the rules and regulations of the library, were Hale Ryves and his posse. Unsurprisingly, Calla's infatuation was directed at the ringleader.

Okay, Brooks could silently agree with that one. He was hot. However, that was the extent of his agreement on Calla's judgement. Yes, Hale had high cheekbones and perfect bone structure and hair that looked so silky he could have threaded his fingers through it for hours, but his achievements didn't extend beyond a pretty exterior. He was a troublemaker, a class clown, the kind of guy who would mock a teacher or bully someone just to make his friends laugh.

He was also "popular", and therefore wouldn't reduce himself to associate with anyone who didn't fit in his clique. He was clearly too cool for that. Brooks watched as he scrunched up yet another piece of paper (did he even care about the environment? obviously not, it was stupid of him to even consider it) and lobbed it at the back of the librarian's head. When she turned to scold the offender, Hale feigned a look of innocence betrayed by the sniggers and snickers of his friends.

His response to her admonishment was dismissive enough to be rude, and the poor librarian turned bright red, stammering an attempt at regaining her dignity. Whatever he replied was lost to Brooks, but it was definitely rude.

"What an idiot," Brooks murmured, so only Calla would hear. "Why would you like him? You can do way better, Cal."

Calla wasn't the only girl after his heart, and Brooks knew he wouldn't hesitate to toss his best friend aside with the others. The entire female population fawned over him and his dumb friends, as if making crude jokes and kicking a football around in the mud was so attractive. Hale was brutal when it came to his numerous love interests; he hooked up with the girl and ditched her the same night. Brooks didn't want to see Calla among the heartbroken.

"It's more than just his looks," Calla whispered. "He's actually really funny, and nice, too. He is," she insisted, seeing the disbelieving expression on his face.

Brooks shrugged. "I didn't say he wasn't."

"No, but you were thinking it," Calla pointed out. Brooks shrugged again - he couldn't argue with that logic. "He's not like the rest of them, I swear. We're in the same peer mentoring group and I think...I don't know, maybe I have a chance?"

Her wide brown eyes were hopeful as she looked at Brooks, as if his opinion on the matter would be helpful. Brooks had enough on his plate with closeted sexuality and dodging suspicion to give advice. "Of course you have a chance, Cal," Brooks said, entirely sincere. She was pretty and sweet and any guy would be lucky to be with her. "Go for it, and make sure to invite me to the wedding."

"Obviously," Calla grinned. "You'd be the vicar."

"Vicar?" Brooks touched his chest in mock hurt. "Uh, no, Hassan would be the vicar. I'd be the ring boy."

Calla snorted a laugh. "Don't you mean ring bearer?"

"Shhhh," the librarian hissed, in an ironically loud voice as she swivelled to glare at the two of them. Brooks suddenly didn't feel as sympathetic towards her. "Keep your voice down!"

Brooks felt his face turning warm as all heads in the library turned to look at the source of the commotion. "Sorry," Brooks mumbled, ducking his head, but not before he happened to glance in Hale's direction. Hale was already looking at him, and his gaze lingered a few seconds longer than everyone else's.

Brooks, a deer caught in headlights, didn't know what else to do but stare back into his dark eyes. Then Will nudged Hale's arm to get his attention and the moment passed. Hale turned away to his friend and Brooks ducked his head over his textbook, cheeks on fire and heart pounding an erratic rhythm against his chest. What was that about? He'd just been encouraging Calla to make a move, and then he'd been stupid enough to be caught ogling Hale himself.

What if Hale suspected him now? The thought of one of the most popular guys in school knowing his secret made his palms sweat, and it would be a million times worse than Calla or Hassan finding out. Hale seemed like the kind of guy who'd either laugh and tell the whole school, or take the piss out of him and then tell the whole school. Maybe both. Either way, Brooks would be coming out way before he was ready.

Chill out, he told himself, staring blankly at the same page he'd been on for the past ten minutes. No one suspects anything. He was just being excessively paranoid now. Hale was already laughing at something new, Brooks out of mind and forgotten. Now he needed to stop having irrelevant thoughts and focus on his damn test. His father would have his head served on a silver platter if he got less than full marks.

He'd barely gotten through the first passage on hydrogen bonding when Calla nudged him again. "Hey, Broooooks," she began, dragging his name out using a tone he recognised well. It was the one where she was going to ask something she knew he wouldn't like.

"Uh oh," he said. "What did you do this time?"

"What? No, nothing," she assured him with a grin. "Have a little faith. I was just going to ask...you know Will Chen's having a party this Friday, right?"

Brooks had already figured out where this was going. William Chen was renowned for great parties, because his parents were always away on business trips and he knew all the right people to get a good supply of alcohol, which was really the only reason the majority of people turned up. That, and he had a swimming pool.

So yeah. A pool, copious amount of alcohol, and horny drunken teenagers. What could go wrong?

"I didn't know that, but okay," Brooks said distractedly, scrubbing something out on his page. "What about it?"

"I know you're not that big a fan of parties, and you don't usually go to them," Calla said, and Brooks tried to hide his grimace, "but how are you feeling about this one?"

"I don't know, Calla..."

"Pretty please, Brooks?" Calla clutched his arm and the honey brown puppy dog eyes were back. Brooks averted his gaze, knowing it would be impossible to resist her otherwise. "Hassan will be going, and it'll be so much fun, I promise! You don't have to drink, of course, and pretty much everyone from the year will be there."

Brooks chewed his thumbnail absently as he considered it. It wasn't that he minded parties so much, but just that he'd much rather be at home, hiding in his room with food and a new TV show or book to capture his interest. He knew it was lame, holing up in his bedroom when other teenagers his age would be out partying and getting drunk, but the comforting aspect to his idea of fun just seemed so much more appealing.

"Why do you want me to come? Hassan's already going," Brooks pointed out. "I won't do much more than stand in the corner and sip coke." And check out all the cute guys I'll never have a chance with, he added silently.

"That's not true, and you know it," Calla argued, bobbing her head with so much conviction that her wild corkscrew curls bounced around her face. "You always enjoy yourself way more than you expect when you actually come. And it'll be so much more fun if you're there."

Brooks caved a little, but he was unwilling to make any commitments he couldn't keep. There was still his parents to consider, who'd be less than pleased if he compromised his grades for a social life. "I'll think about it," he finally said.

She grinned and ruffled his hair enthusiastically. "You're the best!"

"Yeah, yeah," Brooks grumbled, but he couldn't help returning her smile. It would be worth making an effort for one evening if it meant Calla would be happy. He caught her less-than-subtle stare in Hale's direction. "Let me guess, you're doing this to win him over?"

"He'll definitely be there," Calla smiled, without even having to ask who he was talking about. "I mean, it's his best friend throwing the party."

Brooks gave her the thumbs up. "And I'll be there to act as the wingman."

Long after Calla had finally turned her attention to her Spanish essay, and Brooks was finally working through the passage on bonding, he found himself occasionally sneaking glances at Hale. Nothing obvious, nothing anyone would notice, but still glances. He couldn't begin to explain why. Hale had always been there, so unattainable and out of reach Brooks had never wasted his time dwelling on him. But now Calla had brought him up, Brooks was getting dangerously distracted.

He gave himself a shake and forced his eyes downwards. Focus. That was not a path he was letting himself wander down, definitely not, because crushing on anyone here who didn't know about him was a bad idea. Even though he knew nothing would come of it he didn't need to be plagued by unhelpful thoughts such as those. Hale was all Calla's territory, anyway.

Oh, and Hale was straight. Case closed.

Brooks finally managed to hone in on his concentration and was absorbed in chemistry formulae and equations for the rest of the free. He stayed in the library a little longer to finish his last question, so by the time the last bell rung Calla and pretty much everyone else had already vacated the place. Brooks hastily shoved his books into his bag and rushed out of the library, needing to get to his locker before his next lesson.

He turned into the hallway and his footsteps faltered at what he saw. Pressed up against his locker was Anjali Singh, her lips attached to none other than Hale's as she tangled her fingers through his hair. The very hair Brooks had been wondering about not so long ago. They seemed far too interested in their tonsil tennis match to notice him, awkwardly hovering a few feet away as he wondered how he was supposed to get to his locker.

He took another few steps to confirm it really was his locker they'd chosen as a snogging site. Yep, that was the very one. He tapped his shoe against the floor, and when that didn't get their attention, he cleared his throat. Nope, still going at it. He tried catching their attention with an awkward little, "Um," and flushed when a passing group of year sevens snickered at his failed attempts.

Jesus Christ, enough was enough.

"Excuse me," Brooks said loudly, far louder than he'd intended.

Hale pulled away with envious ease and ran his tongue over his lower lip, scanning Brooks with a careless look. There wasn't an ounce of embarrassment at being caught rather passionately making out, but Brooks' face was hot all over again. All he could think about was Hale's tongue brushing his pink lips and he settled for looking at Anjali, the safer option of the two. At least she had the grace to look sheepish.

"Can I help you?" Hale drawled.

"Um, no," Brooks said. "Not really. Just...you're in front of my locker. Like, right in front of it. There," he added stupidly, pointing to the one Anjali was still leaning against.

"Oh, sorry!" Anjali laughed awkwardly and quickly stepped aside, tugging Hale along with her.

"Thanks," Brooks muttered, but they'd already turned their attention back to each other.

"What do you have now?" Anjali asked, not bothering to move any further to continue the conversation. If you could call what they'd been doing a conversation. They were literally standing right next to Brooks as he opened his locker and pretended he couldn't hear what they were saying. "God, maths sucks, I wish I'd never taken it. No cute guys in it either."

"Don't have a clue," Hale shrugged insouciantly, in response to her questions. Brooks would have rolled his eyes if they couldn't see him. They were halfway through the year and of course he didn't know what he had.

"I really can't be bothered with maths today," Anjali said, with a mischievous smile. "Maybe you could entertain me instead?"

"As much as I'd love to, I can't. Got some stuff to do."

Anjali smile faded away. "Oh. Okay. What about after school?"

"No can do," Hale said, suddenly seeming very uninterested in the conversation. Brooks risked a glance from the corner of his eye and saw he'd stepped back, putting some distance between the two of them. "Lacrosse practise. But maybe I'll see you at Will's this Friday."

He didn't sound particularly invested in the commitment, but Anjali perked up immediately. "I'll be there," Anjali promised him. "Definitely."

Brooks wondered how to tell Calla she already had competition.

"Yeah, cool," Hale said vaguely.

Anjali gave him a quick kiss on the lips and disappeared down the hallway. For a moment, Hale's unconcerned facade slipped slightly and he gave the lockers a light kick, a frown tugging at his lips. Then he saw Brooks watching him, subtlety abandoned for a careless moment, and the frown shifted to his trademark lazy smirk. "You sure there isn't something I can help you with?"

Brooks' eyes widened and he hastily averted his gaze. "Yeah," he muttered, hoping desperately his cheeks weren't as red as they felt. He was playing a dangerous game here, one he was seriously going to regret if he didn't mind his own business. "I'm sure."

He could still sense Hale's gaze on him, scrutinising and searching, but he studiously ignored it as he hurriedly stuffed his books into his locker and slammed it shut a little harder than he intended. Brooks knew he looked too edgy and jumpy as he practically fled to his maths lesson, and it didn't help that he could still feel Hale's eyes following him all the way down the hall.

He was so preoccupied getting out of there that he walked straight into someone as he rounded the corner. "Sorry, I didn't see you..." he trailed off when he looked up to a familiar pair of green eyes. "Oh. Bellamy. Uh, hi."

Bellamy Moore was probably the biggest mistake Brooks had ever made. At the start of year twelve, Calla and Hassan weren't the only ones beginning to have their suspicions at the fact he'd never dated or shown interest in any girls. His parents took a break from ignoring his imperfect existence to demand why he'd never had a girlfriend, and why he never invited this nonexistent girlfriend around. He had to do something before his parents started suspecting.

Desperation meant he took up Bellamy's interest in him, even though he had every reason to question why a popular, pretty girl was interested in him. He suffered through four months of awkward kisses and dodging anything past second base that took them to bed, because he knew his acting skills wouldn't be able to carry him that far. Brook's opportunity to break up with her had come a month ago when he found out she'd only dated him in the first place so he'd do her chemistry homework.

Brooks couldn't have been more relieved. He didn't care that she'd used him; he'd used her too, after all, as his beard. That didn't mean things weren't still awkward between them.

"Brooks," Bellamy said with a wide smile. It was a little disconcerting, considering he'd dumped her not so long ago. "I've been meaning to talk to you, actually."

"You have?"

She took his hand and Brooks stared at their interlinked hands when she squeezed his. "Look, I know you must think I'm a bitch," Bellamy said, with a sigh. "I was failing chemistry and I didn't really think much of using you to get my grades up. I didn't care about you back then, Brooks, but things have changed. I know you now."

Oh, shit. Brooks thought he could see where this was going, and he did not like it. He was content with avoiding Bellamy for the rest of his high school career until both of them forget it happened. "Sorry," he said, yanking his hand away from her. "Sorry, but I can't be late to class."

Bellamy blinked. "But..."

"I have to go now," he blurted out, before she could continue her speech. "Bye."

He fled from someone for the second time that day.

*

first chapter is up (obviously)! just an introduction, gonna take things nice and sloooow but also keep it spicy ;) first impressions on any characters mentioned so far? brooks, calla, hale? pls vote + comment your thoughts, it would mean a lot!

also - any ideas of casting? i have an idea for brooks but clueless for hale, suggestions are much appreciated

p.s. dedication to laurelation bc she is my #1 fan n i luv her cat :)

thanks for reading,
xox