Chapter Text
Xeno POV
You might think Xeno was the type to hate his high school in Nowhere, Texas, where the young genius was forced to attend because his overprotective parents didn’t want him going off to college quite yet. He compensated by taking online university classes anyway. And honestly, he didn’t resent high school life—until one day.
The day he saw Stan kissed a girl.
But before that specific day, Xeno loved school. It didn’t hurt that his best friend was Stanley Snyder—the perfect All-American boy with natural athletic ability and unfairly good looks—but Xeno had his own circle of friends too from the robotics and astronomy clubs. He spread the knowledge of science at these clubs like he was a Jehovah’s Witness believer at your door.
He never thought he’d dread going to school—until he left robotics club and headed down the hallway to meet Stanley after track and field practice.
They always met at Xeno’s locker. He walked through the corridor, shoulders brushing the Valentine’s decorations—paper hearts, twisted red vines, cheap plastic cupids dangling from up above. It was only the first day of February, and Valentine’s decorations were up in full bloom.
Stanley was usually the one early, but not today. His coach must have kept the team longer, giving them more drills to do. Counterproductive, in Xeno’s opinion. Exhausting the entire team lowered overall efficiency. He made a mental note to explain that to Stan later.
More efficient to wait at Stanley’s locker since he wasn’t here yet. Xeno collected everything he needed from his own. It was after school, but the hallways weren’t dead. Students in clubs and athletes from other sports filtered in and out. Stan should also be out by now.
Xeno turned the corner—
—and froze.
There was the unmistakable lion mane of blond hair beside an open locker. Stanley was facing away, talking to someone. Xeno’s mouth opened automatically to call out to him.
Then he saw her.
Tiffany. Hot Topic enthusiast. Purple plaid skirts and spiked chokers. She was a contradiction, an extrovert wrapped in goth aesthetic. She strutted down hallways like they were model runways.
And now she was standing on her toes.
And now she was kissing Stan.
Xeno’s mouth fell open but no sound came out. What could he even say? Don’t. Kiss me instead. I love you.
He had years—years—to say that to his best friend since childhood. Years to grow a spine. To try. He never did.
And Stan met Tiffany halfway. Just a tilt of his chin, subtle, but enough to realize it was no accident, no mistaking the scene for anything other than what was playing out before him.
Stanley kissed a girl.
Xeno quietly stepped back around the corner. He walked fast, swallowing the tight lump in his throat. He almost felt like choking. His heart was choking.
Stanley kissed a girl.
He found the nearest bathroom, walked into the stall, pulled down his pants so no one would question what he was doing. Then he buried his head in his hands and let the tears flow.
All these years he’d never seen Stanley show interest to anyone. Everyone fawned over him like he was a Greek god, Apollo himself, and finally it happened.
Stanley liked someone.
And that someone wasn’t a boy.
Just like Xeno had suspected all along. It couldn’t be him. It could never be him. It was only in the movies that jock fell for the nerd—and it was always in the movies that the romance was between a boy and a girl.
He eventually forced himself to breathe, wiped his face, and pulled himself together. He washed his hands and blow-dried them under the weak school dryer. He pulled out his phone to call his mother for a ride home.
Then Stan texted him.
Stan: Where u at?
Stan: Sry 4 the wait
Stan: Coach pmsing...
Xeno stared at the messages, analyzing the best course of action like it was an equation and not his love life on the line. His heartbreak.
He couldn’t avoid Stanley forever and it wasn’t Stanley’s fault he was attracted to girls.
Xeno responded he was in the bathroom and he was on his way.
Stanley caught sight of him and soon as he stepped out. His amber eyes crinkled and his lips curled into a smile.
A trace of Tiffany’s indigo lipstick on his lips.
“Yo, Xeno,” Stanley said. “Sorry for the wait. Coach had it out for us today.”
Xeno lifted his head and composed what little dignity remained. He smiled back at Stan and said, with a touch of a joke to his tone: “Next time I won’t wait.”
Except, he meant it.
✦✦✦
Xeno waited for Stan to bring up his “new girlfriend,” but Stan never did. Stranger still, their routine stayed painfully identical. Stan drove them to school. They talked between classes. They ate lunch together. They met up at Xeno’s locker at the end of the day.
Xeno remembered a time a little while ago when Stanley hadn’t been there waiting. He’d brushed it off then since Stan had said he injured himself at practice. Now he wondered if that had been a girl, too.
In the evenings everything was also same old, same old. They worked on their joint project—a hydraulic hoverboard prototype. Then Xeno logged into his college night classes while Stan did homework beside him, muttering to himself when the problems were hard or cracking jokes about his professor’s elaborately-trimmed mustache.
Nothing had changed between them. How could that be when Xeno’s world shattered in an instant?
Valentine’s Day arrived, and Xeno felt nauseous the entire morning. He blamed the cheeseburger from yesterday. Or the three cups of coffee. Or the lack of REM sleep. Anything except the truth: the jealousy he felt threatening to tear him from the inside out.
Then Stanley opened up his locker and a confetti of red and pink envelopes spilled out onto the ground.
Valentines.
Xeno glared. He swore the pile was bigger than last year.
And last year, Xeno had helped Stan pick it up.
This year—
The bell rang.
“I have a Calculus test,” Xeno said, walking away.
As if he needed the full period to answer all the questions.
Stanley crouched down on the ground. “Sure,” he said. “See you at lunch.”
“Actually,” Xeno said. “I need to help Richard debug his robot. The brake works in forward mode but not in reverse. It might take time to fix it.”
Xeno had designed it this way. Richard had asked for his help at the next club session, which was only once a week, but Xeno had offered his assistance well in advance just to avoid the shameless flirts that walked up to his Stanley at the lunch table.
His Stanley.
Xeno shook his head. He had no claim to him anymore. Stanley might not be dating Tiffany but whoever, he dated it wouldn’t be Xeno.
“Alright, I’ll find you after lunch,” Stan said from the floor.
Xeno frowned. After lunch, they shared a class together.
Xeno never thought there would come a day where he’d hate spending more time with Stanley.
His heart clenched. It’s not Stan’s fault, he tried to tell himself. According to science, whether someone liked a boy or a girl wasn’t a conscious choice. If it wasn’t a conscious choice, how could he fault someone for it? Don’t punish him.
Stan was a good friend. He never rubbed his status in his face, never bragged about it. He remained humble and good-natured.
Xeno focused on heading to the robotics club room. Richard greeting him with a smile. He sat beside him while Xeno opened the robot’s guts with a screwdriver.
“Sooo...” Richard said. “Did Stanley and Tiffany break up or what’s the dealio with ‘em? He’s got a buttload of valentines. Don’t he got a girlfriend, though?”
Xeno sighed deeply. This wasn’t new. Stanley wasn’t popular by choice. He was the quieter one of the two. But in high school, popularity exactly wasn’t a choice either when you’re a star-studded athlete who also manages to maintain good grades thanks to your genius best friend.
This meant that he was the ultimate source of gossip when it came to Stan but as much as Xeno loved to talk, he wasn’t one to gossip.
All he did was tell the truth.
“He’s not dating Tiffany,” Xeno grumbled.
“For real? I heard they made it to second base in the hallway last week.”
His voice was venomous. “It was a mere peck on the lips—”
His hand slipped. The screwdriver clattered onto the table.
He hadn’t even seen the full kiss. He’d fled. For all he knew, Stan had gotten to second base.
“Stanley is not dating Tiffany,” Xeno repeated. Even if Stanley didn’t tell him about the kiss, he would tell him if they were dating.
“So he’s in the game?” Richard whined. “Dang. It’s hard to ask someone out when all the ladies are hoping to score with him.”
“Tell me about it,” Xeno muttered.
Richard perked up. “Wait! Is there someone you like, Xeno?”
Before Xeno could respond, the robot jerked to life in his hands—gears whirring, wheels spinning, LED eyes flashing.
“Thanks, bud!” Richard cooed as he controlled the robot with the remote to test it out. “I owe you big time!”
“No thanks necessary. Just be careful when you’re wiring polarity. Don’t confuse the negatives and the positives.”
Richard rummaged through his backpack and produced a tiny pink mesh bag of Hershey’s Kisses with a glittery XO card stapled on. “My mom’s a receptionist. She hand-made these for her office. She said to give some to friends. So. Here. Take one.
Xeno accepted the bag and peaked inside the small card. The note only contained a “Happy Valentine’s Day” and the company’s contact info.
Xeno put the token of gratitude carefully inside his backpack, then headed to his next period, English class, which he shared with Stanley. Someone bumped their school bag into his. Xeno bristled at the contact, calming down when he saw it was Stan at his side.
Stanley took out his lollipop and flashed a boyish smile in greeting. That smile usually had Xeno melting like chocolate in the sun but all Xeno did was face forward as he headed to his next destination, carrying on in autopilot, not thinking of what came next.
If not Tiffany, it would be someone else. Some other girl.
Someone he couldn’t compete against.
Stanley twirled the chocolate-flavored lollipop in his mouth. He didn’t have a chocolate lollipop earlier. Must be from one of his Valentine’s, Xeno thought bitterly.
“How’d it go with Richard’s robot?” Stanley asked.
“I corrected the braking problem,” Xeno said. “He should be a strong contender for the upcoming competition.”
Xeno never participated in the competitions himself. As the club’s president, he was the coach for the school’s team. He had enough of building robotics by the time he was six-years-old. By high school, he wanted to foster other’s love for the field of engineering.
“Cool. I checked the schedule with my coach today. We don’t have a track meet that weekend, so I can go support the team.”
Xeno blinked. “You’re joining us?”
“I’ll be the biggest cheerleader there.”
Xeno blushed, simultaneously confused and warmed and annoyed. Why did Stan spend so much time on him? Why?
Xeno cleared his throat. “My mom will be picking me up today. I have college homework due tomorrow and all my textbooks are at home.”
“I’ll swing by after practice,” Stanley said. He licked his lips. “I mean, if you don’t mind?”
Xeno raised his brows. Stanley always dropped by his house, often unannounced, or they arrived there together. This was the first time Xeno could remember Stanley asking him.
“I-I want to practice my oral presentation with you,” Stanley said, blushing. “The teacher deducted twenty points last time. My ma’ wasn’t happy.”
“Because you presented with a lollipop in your mouth, Stan.”
“That was only ten points!” Stan huffed. “The other ten points were the quality of my presentation. The teacher said I didn’t make enough eye contact and I spoke too low.”
Xeno had been giving conference presentations ever since he was nine-years-old with audiences at least triple that of the average high school classroom. He knew a thing or two about presenting.
“I’ll gladly help.”
“Thanks, Xe. Another thing.” Stanley took Xeno by the wrist and led them to a corner in the hall.
Xeno wondered what this was all about. They had English next, which was about three yards away. They could talk inside class. They sat next to each other.
Stanley stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Do you want to do something once we’re done with homework? There’s a couple of people who are going to the movies later tonight. I was thinking of tagging along—a-and if you want to come too, you can.”
Too.
Like he was an afterthought.
And, who knows, once Stanley found himself a girlfriend, maybe Xeno would be replaced in his life.
“I don’t know, Stan. My weekend is busy. I have college homework and our hoverboard project.”
Stanley deflated. “O-okay.”
Without another word, they made their way to English class in silence and didn’t speak for the entire period.
✦✦✦
In the afternoon, Xeno finished up his college homework for the weekend and finished his high school homework.
Xeno wasn’t expecting Stan to come over tonight, after all. Only on the drive home from school did it occur to him that tonight’s plans at the movies was a group date, and Stan must’ve invited him out of pity.
They hadn’t talked about the elephant in the room yet and that elephant had a name—Tiffany.
Weren’t they best friends? If Stan had a crush on someone, wasn’t that something you’d tell your friend?
Unless he thought Xeno was too socially inept to deal with such conversations.
Xeno was soldering wires for the hoverboard motor on the floor of his bedroom when a quiet “Hey” startled him.
He looked up. Stan stood in the doorway, varsity jacket neat, purple shirt fitted, jeans dark and crisp.
He looked handsome.
“Why are you here?” Xeno asked. He flinched at his tone. He didn’t mean to sound so harsh.
Stanley looked away. “I, uh, the English presentation, remember? Thought you said you had college work to do.”
Xeno returned his attention to the wires. “I finished earlier than expected. The English presentation isn’t until Monday. We can practice another time.”
Xeno hoped Stanley would take the hint and leave but instead the blond shrugged off his school bag and joined him on the floor.
“I still got homework to do.”
Stanley pulled out his binders from his bag and flipped to a page. “I’m gonna borrow a pen.” He rarely took notes at school. He could go the entire day without picking up a pen or pencil. Teachers and his parents thought it made Stanley lazy but Xeno understood his friend better. Stan wasn’t lazy. He was more of an auditory and kinesthetic learner.
Stanley walked over to the well-organized desk. Perched near the keyboard was a certain pink baggy.
“Hey...what’s this?” he asked slowly.
“It’s from Richard.”
“Richard, huh? When did he give to you?” Stanley returned to his place on the ground, picking up his binder, his movements mechanical. His dark yellow eyes bore deep into Xeno and, for some reason unknown, Xeno chose to ignore the unsettling feeling that he did something wrong.
Then Stan shifted—and his backpack toppled and spilling out were red and pink envelopes. Valentines. Stan scrambled to collect them and shove them back to the bag.
Xeno raised an eyebrow. Last year Stan had trashed the valentines immediately.
Not this year.
“You kept them,” Xeno observed.
Stan shrugged, stiff and awkward. “I…want to read them.”
It should’ve been predictable to the scientist. This was a sign of adolescence. Simple biology. Hormones. Mating rituals. Crushes. All known variables. It was normal that he’d go through the mating ritual of seeking out a partner, and what better way to do that then on this unholiest of holidays?
“What about the movies?” Xeno asked.
“It’s not for another two hours.”
Is that all I’m for? To kill time?
Xeno buried the thoughts. He needed to ensure the wires were properly insulated. Since this device would submerge in water, he couldn’t risk the user becoming electrocuted—and as much as the scene in the hallway had hurt him, he wasn’t that upset at Stan.
“What about Tiffany?” Xeno dared to ask.
Stanley paused. “I told you we aren’t going out. I don’t know why everyone is saying we are.”
Xeno twisted a screw that didn’t need twisting.
“You kissed.”
“I don’t know how that dumb rumor got started.”
He’s lying.
And catching his best friend in a bald-faced lie hurt worse than the image of the kiss.
All this time he had thought him and Stan were above it all, the insecurities that haunted their peers, two-faced friends, backstabbers and casual dismissals.
And Xeno was above it all. He wouldn’t hold this against his friend. He could keep his stupid little secret. Why did he care? It didn’t matter anymore. Nothing mattered anymore.
“You’re lying,” Xeno hissed. He looked up from the motor and gave Stan a hardened gaze.
“I’m not—”
“I saw you.”
Xeno’s heart couldn’t handle another lie coming from Stan’s mouth. He had to let him know he knew.
Stan’s face was crushing. How dare he act surprised that was caught in his paper-thin lie? He hadn’t kissed her behind the bleachers. He’d kissed in the middle of the damn hallway.
Stan’s surprise-Pikachu face melted into something akin to shame. His pen fidgeted in his hand.
“You saw?” he whispered.
No, no, no. That’s not your line, Stan. You’re supposed to tell me I saw wrong. That I didn’t stay around long enough to see you push her away. That she forced it on you. You didn’t really want it. Say you didn’t want it.
“I saw,” Xeno whispered.
“I—” Stan snapped his head up but the words quickly died out, then he returned to his homework like it was something he enjoyed doing and Xeno went back to the hydraulic hoverboard.
They sat in thick silence for twenty minutes before Stan finally muttered that he needed to go home to get ready for the movie.
Xeno didn’t look up. He just kept working.
Stan slipped out as quietly as a ghost.
He didn’t even apologize.