“Hey Holly! Congratulations!”

            Pausing, I turned away from my locker to look at a grinning James, my hand still on the combination dial. “Congratulations…?” I tilted my head to the side in a confused manner. “For what?”

            He laughed loudly, patting me none too gently on the shoulder with a rough hand. “Oh, you know what I mean.”

            “I don’t…?”

            “About you and Aaron,” he pressed, the corners of his pale lips falling down the tiniest bit. “The whole school basically knows about it… There’s no use lying to me.” His green eyes shone with a smidge of hurt.

            Narrowing my eyes, I let my hand drop from the dial. “What exactly about Aaron and I does the school know?”

            “That you’ve been dating since Wednesday—”

            “What?”

            He blinked at me. “Why are you surprised? Was it supposed to be a secret?”

            “Where is that little brat?” I demanded, clenching my hands into tight fists. “Have you seen him today?”

            “Yeah, he was headed to Mr. Heywood’s room—”

            “Thanks,” I said, cutting him off curtly. Instead of throwing my books into my locker like I wanted to, I twisted on my heel, heading toward the biology wing. “I’ll talk to you later, okay James?”

            “Sure!” he called back. “In bio!”

            The hallways were quiet and clear as I marched down them in angry strides, ready to bite Aaron’s head off. What was he doing going around and spreading rumors about us? Hadn’t he had his fun with the whole Jeremy thing? Whose side was he on now? What was Chris thinking? Maybe he didn’t know. He hadn’t sounded irritated on the phone last night…

            “Aaron!” I exclaimed, throwing open the door to Chris’s empty classroom. After a quick scour of it, I scowled, realizing no one was in it. “Mr. Heywood?” I tried, entering the cold room and closing the door behind me. “Chris?”

            “Holly!”

            I paused upon hearing the muffle voice, my eyebrows drawing together in confusion as I tried to place its whereabouts. It came again, this time a little bit louder. Slowly, I began to creep toward the supply closet. As far as I could tell, this was the location the voice was coming from. “Chris?”

            “Holly!”

            “Chris?” I said again dumbly, staring at the wooden door. “What are you doing in there?”

            “Playing hide-and-go seek,” a different voice snapped at me, just as smothered as the first.

            I placed my hands on my hips, frowning. “Aaron, why are you in there too? Come out.”

            A hand suddenly slammed on the other side of the door, causing a noisy bang to fill the room. “If you think we could get out, don’t you think we would be out already?” Aaron demanded brusquely.

            My eyes dropped down to the door handle of the closet, widening slightly when I realized there was a cheap lock from Walmart on it. “You were locked in there? By who?”

            “Who do you think?” Chris responded irately.

            I only knew of one person who would think of locking Chris in his own supply closet. “Jeremy?”

            “Yes.”

            Trying to keep my face straight and failing miserably, I did my best not to laugh. “Why did, um, why did he lock up you and Aaron?”

            “We were fighting and he suddenly slammed the door shut and locked it,” Aaron explained snippily. “Now go find him and get us out.”

            “You wouldn’t happen to have been fighting about the reason why James came up to me and congratulated me on dating you, Aaron, would it?”

            There was silence on the other side of the door. Finally Chris spoke up. “Yes, I was scolding him for it.”

            “I did it for you guys!”

            It was really weird hearing them talking and not being able to see their faces. It was almost like I was talking to myself. “What do you mean by that—”

            “We can talk later. Holly, get us out of here,” Chris ordered, cutting me off. “The key should be on my desk.”

            “How do you know?” I heard Aaron ask him as I trudged over to his desk, searching its messy top for a metal key.

            “I heard him put it there.”

            “How do you know it was the key?”

            “I just do.”

            “But how do you know?”

            “Aaron, shut up.”

            “That’s not a very nice thing to say to a student, Mr. Heywood.”

            “Go die.”

            Grimacing, I finally located the key, snatching it up, and holding it tightly in my hand. The sooner I got those two out of that room, the better. If I didn’t release them, I was afraid one might kill the other. “Be free!” I said dramatically, throwing up my arms as I pulled open the door. “Free little birdies—”

            Aaron pushed me aside in his haste to leave the cramped closet. “Finally. I can breathe fresh air instead old man.”

            Chris’s grey eyes narrowed at the younger man. “I’m not old.”

            “Yes you are.”

            “Children,” I interjected, rolling my eyes. “Can we please not fight? I have something I want to discuss.” Turning to Aaron, I crossed my arms. “Tell me why you told the whole school we’re dating.”

            He gave me an arrogant smirk, shrugging as he placed himself on one of the wooden desktops. “Could you ask me more nicely?”

            “Please tell me.”

            “While your recoding did wonders to prove Mikey guilty— sorry about that, by the way. It seems you won’t be getting your phone back for awhile.”

            I waved his apology off, using my other hand to pat my pocket. “I have a back up.”

            He nodded. “Anyway, in the recording Mikey said something about your boyfriend and the police wanted to know who that was. So I told him it was me, thereby saving your butt. Wouldn’t want the coppers to find out you’re dating your teacher, would you Holly?”

            The angry retort I had to rebut any of his excuses died in my throat. He’d protected us? That was unexpected. But if I’d recorded Mikey saying Chris’s name, that meant they had Chris coming in… I gasped. “W-what about when Chris entered? What did they say about that? Wasn’t it on my recording? Oh my god!” My eyes snapped to my boyfriend. “Chris! They know!”

            “Ah, ah,” Aaron interjected before Chris could respond.. “Chris just so happens to be a friend who owes me a favor.”

            “What…?”

            “I have a friend who happens to have the name Chris. I told the police that was the man who came in. Oh, Chris knows what happened, by the way. He won’t say anything though,” Aaron added after a second, smiling proudly. “Smart, right?”

            My eyes were as round as saucers. “But you lied to the police!”

            “Would you rather drag Chris into this?”

            “Aaron’s plan was best,” Chris agreed, looking reluctant to admit it. “You know what would happen if I was caught, Holly.”

            Realization set in and I nodded, cupping my elbow. It was some quick thinking on Aaron’s part. “Okay, you’re right. Thank you then, Aaron.”

            Aaron smirked. “I thought you’d rather thank me than yell at me.”

            “You—”

            “So what else happened?” Chris questioned, crossing his arms. “Did the police say anything about Shawn or Mikey?”

            Aaron shrugged. “Not really. Since Mikey confessed to everything on that recording, he has his one-way ticket to jail. We still have a hearing or whatever, but Mikey’s still locked up until then. He’s freedom is done with.”

            “That’s good,” I sighed, letting my shoulders sag. “I don’t think I could deal with anymore gang members in my life. With Mikey gone, this is the end of it, right?”

            Chris thought about it for a moment. “Most of the members are in jail. The few that are still out never really had anything to do with us in the first place, so we won’t have to worry about them. Which means, yes, this is the end of it.”

            “Though I’d like to hear what happened with you guys and Shawn,” Aaron interjected curiously. “Care to tell me?”

            “It’s a long story,” I told him.

            “Very long,” Chris agreed. “Very tragic.”

            I rolled my eyes. “Except not really.”

            “I want to hear it,” Aaron pressed.

“I’ll tell you it as soon as you tell everyone at school that we’re not dating,” I said, pursing my lips at him. “Everyone.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re not dating!”

            He shrugged casually. “Just having some fun with it…”

            “But you know I’m dating Chris!”

            “I know.”

            Glowering at him, I stomped forward until I was about a foot away from his body. “You know what Aaron? I think I owe you something.”

            He arched an eyebrow, his eyes becoming curious. “What’s that?”

            Instead of replying verbally, I lifted my foot up, and stomped it as hard as I could onto his. “That!”

            Chris burst out laughing from behind me, not even bothering to cover it up. A groan of pain escaped Aaron’s lips as he quickly pulled his foot back away from mine. “What the heck?” he demanded.

            “Stop spreading rumors!” I raised my foot again threateningly. “And say you made up the lie that we’re dating.”

            “Alright, alright!” he responded immediately, holding up his hands in defense. “Geez! You should be thanking me a million times right now. Not threatening me.”

            Part of me agreed with him, but the other part was pissed that he’d told the whole school we were dating. It wasn’t that he was ugly or anything, but I didn’t even like the idea of having another boyfriend other than Chris. But still… If it wasn’t for Aaron, it could’ve been the end of us. Sighing, I placed my foot back upon the ground. “Right. You’re right. I’ll get you a thank you present.”

            His eyes lit up mischievously. “No need for a present.”

            “What do you— hey!” I cried as his hand went to the back of my head, pulling it closer to his. “Aaron, don’t—”

            It was too late. Our lips met before I could finish my protest. The kiss only lasted about three split seconds before he let go of me as I whipped my head away, stumbling backwards a few steps, straight into Chris. My left hand shot up to my mouth, wiping away any of the germs Aaron might have left on it. “What the heck?” I cried angrily.

            Aaron smiled innocently at me. “My thank you gift!”

            “But!” I turned my head to look at Chris, who was staring at Aaron with narrowed eyes. “Chris?”

            “How many times have you kissed my girlfriend without her consent?” he asked in an oddly calm voice. “Hm?”

            Aaron pretended to think about it. “Maybe three…”

            “Then three punches will do then,” he responded, bringing back his arm.

            “No wait!” I ordered, flinging myself forward and grabbing onto Chris’s upper arm. “Don’t! You’ll get in trouble! Remember?” It felt like lately I was reminding him every five seconds!

            Aaron stepped bravely toward Chris. “Don’t worry, Mr. Heywood. I’ll make it up to you.”

            “What do you mean?” Chris grumbled, relaxing his offensive stance. I still clung to his arm, not trusting him.

            “I bought you a gift! For both of you!”

            “You did?” we chorused together, staring at the pecan-haired by in surprise. A gift was very unexpected.

            Aaron nodded excitedly, pointing back into the supply closet. “I was afraid Mr. Heywood might notice while we were trapped in there. Come on, I’ll show you.”

            In a rather dimwitted move, Chris and I followed the evil young man back into the storage room. As soon as we reached the furthest part, he moved toward Chris. At first I thought he was going to hit him, but before either of us could have a reaction, Aaron was on his tiptoes, giving Chris a quick kiss. My jaw nearly hit the floor.

            “Hey!” Chris shouted, pushing Aaron away immediately. Mimicking my earlier actions, his hand shot up to his mouth.

            Aaron snickered before shooting me a sly smile and making a speedy exit to the door. “Now it’s time for you two to have some alone time!”

            “Wait!” I called, jolting myself out of my state of shock and hurling toward the door. “Aaron!”

            By the time I reached the door, it was already too late. Aaron had shut the door and locked it again with the key. No matter how hard I shook or pressed on it, the door wouldn’t open. “Chris,” I started, turning back toward him, “he locked us in… Are you okay?” I inquired, taking note of his pale face.

            “That brat kissed me,” he muttered, his eyes open in disbelief. “I was kissed by an underage brat. An underage brat who’s male.”

            Cautiously, I advanced on him, caught between worry and amusement. While it didn’t matter to me whether Aaron kissed him or not because I knew he wasn’t gay, I figured it was taking a toll on him. If a girl kissed me I’d be a little shocked. “Chris…?”

            “Holly,” he said, his eyes snapping to mine. “Quickly.” His hand grabbed mine, yanking me to his body in one swift tug.

            “What—” I started, but was cut off by his lips. It only took me a few seconds to respond to the kiss, bringing myself to my tiptoes so I could reach him more easily. His kiss was a little more frantic than usual— probably due to the fact a guy had just kissed him. The thought made me smile.

            Chris realized I was smiling and pulled away the slightest bit. “Why are you smiling?” he questioned, frowning.

            “You have guy cooties,” I giggled childishly.

            He rolled his eyes. “Guy cooties? Really, Holly?”

            “That’s why you kissed me, isn’t it? To try and rid yourself of the germs?” I challenged. “He kissed me too. I guess that’s like indirectly kissing him again.”

            Scrunching up his face in disgust, Chris brought his sleeve to my mouth, wiping it roughly before doing the same to his mouth with his other clean sleeve. “There,” he stated, dropping his arms. “Now we’re both clean.”

            “That was surprising though,” I commented, unable to stop myself from grinning at the memory. “Maybe Aaron still does like guys…”

            Chris scowled at me. “Shouldn’t you be a little more upset with him?”

            “For kissing me forcefully?”

            “Yes!”

            “Doesn’t he remind you of a person that’s done the same thing…? A few times, if I remember correctly.”

            His face blanked for a moment as he realized my words were true. “It’s different,” he snapped.

            I smirked at him. “No it’s not, Chris.”

            “Yes it is!”

            “Nope. You’re just like Aaron.”

            Chris’s hands were abruptly at my waist, holding onto me tightly. I didn’t have the chance to ask him what he was doing before he threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Hey!” I cried, clinging to the back of his dress shirt. “Put me down!”           

            “As you wish.”

            My rear end met rough marble as he sat me down on the counter where the sink was. With an evil glint to his eye he put his hands on either side of me, trapping me to where I sat. “You know what time it is?”

            “Time to call Jeremy and see if he can get us out of here?” I asked hesitantly.

            Chris shook his head, a smug smile slipping onto his face. “Nope. I think it’s punishment time.”

            “Punishment?” I echoed.

            “Yep.”

            “B-but we’re at school!”

            “It’s still early.”

            “Student’s will be arriving soon!”

            “I don’t have a homeroom. Or first period,” he added before I could say classes would begin.

            I swallowed nervously, trying to think of some other excuse. “I thought we were being careful now…”

            “We are. We’re behind a locked door, are we not?” he inquired, dipping his head down so he could gently brush his lips against mine. “This will be your punishment.”

            “But I— ah,” I sighed, feeling his lips brush against my throat. “Wait, Chris…”

            “Nope,” he murmured, trailing his lips back up my neck and up my jaw line to my ear. He nipped it, causing me to jerk. “I thought we might share the same reaction.”

            My body was rooted to the spot. I didn’t like the idea of messing around in here and having the chance of being caught, but my brain was telling me to stay. It seemed so was my body. Maybe a little time alone in here wouldn’t hurt anyone…

            A startled gasp left my lips as Chris’s chilly hands went up the back of my shirt, messaging the warm skin of my lumbar region and then following my spine up to my neck. “C-Chris, don’t do that here…”

            “It’s all part of your punishment,” he chuckled, letting his hands slide back down, snapping my bra strap along the way.

            “Hey!”

            “Hay is for horses.”

            I squirmed under his touch, trying to free myself. “Stop it!”

            “No can do. I know you don’t like doing risqué things, so I figured this would be a good punishment,” he commented, his lips going back to my throat. “Careful though, if you’re too loud someone might hear.”

            Blushing madly, I stopped trying to push him away and held my breath. As long as he didn’t try anything too bold, it was fine with me. I wasn’t going to let him get to me with this. Not that I actually thought he would do anything. Graduation still wasn’t for a little over a month. I knew he would stick to his promise.

            After a few more moments of placing kisses on my throat and collarbone, he finally returned his lips to mine and kissed me deeply. To keep myself from falling backward, I scooted forward so I could wrap my legs around his waist in order to keep my balance. His cologne filled my nose as I inhaled to take a breath. Surprised, I pulled back for a second. “Did you change your cologne?”

            He gave me an impressed look. “You can tell?”

            “You usually where the good smelling one.”

            “This one smells bad?”

            Shaking my head, I smiled sheepishly. “No! It smells fine. I was just surprised is all…”

            “Ah,” he replied simply before kissing me again.

            After about five minutes of making out, he pulled away again. My lips were probably bright red, as his were. They were starting to feel a little sore, so I turned my head away when he tried to kiss me again. From way outside on the other side of the classroom door I could hear students in the halls. “Can I go now?” I asked.

            “Nope.”

            “Please?”

            “Nope.”

            I pouted at him. “Chris. I’ll be late for homeroom.”

            He grinned evilly. “Like I said, punishment—”

            “Will Chris Heywood please come to the main office? I repeat, Chris Heywood to the main office.”

            All expression was wiped off the devil’s face. “Damn.”

            I breathed a sigh of relief.

            “Don’t think your punishment is over,” he warned me, kissing my neck again.

            “Huh? But don’t you have to go?” I questioned, squirming once again under his touch. It felt like he was sucking at my neck. “Hey, stop that! It feels weird!”

            He didn’t reply. Cringing, I tried to get him to remove his lips. It was starting to tickle a little bit now and I giggled. “Chris, really, stop it.”

            No response.

            “Chris— ow!” I hissed, feeling his teeth pull against my skin. “Why do you always bite me?”

            Finally he pulled away, looking satisfied with himself. “Just leaving my mark on you.”

            I stared at him. “Huh?”

            “A love mark,” he said with a wink.

            Once again I found my eyes growing wide in disbelief. “You gave me a hickey?” I cried in a choked whisper.

            Grinning, he patted my head. “Be a good girl until I get back.”

            I aimed a kick at his back as he turned around, but he easily managed to avoid it. Chuckling, he headed for the door. With one hand over the new hickey on my neck, I used the other to push myself down from the counter. “How are you going to get out with the door locked, idiot?”

            “Please,” he responded, turning to face me as he rolled his eyes. “You and Aaron both. Are young people deaf these days? Didn’t you hear him drop the key? It’s right under the door.” Proving his words to be true, he squatted down and picked up the shiny metal. “Ta-da.”

            I stared at him flatly. “Yeah? And isn’t that key to the outside lock… where the lock itself is?”

            He froze, his expression dropping.

            I smirked. “Now who’s the idiot?”

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Hello! Sorry for the boring chapters :s I just wanted to close the whole Aaron thing and all it really needed was a few words so I didn't know what to do with the rest of the chapter. So I decided to make Aaron kiss Chris lol. I'm also sick, so yeah. Kind of out of it while writing this.

If you haven't read yet, I started a contest! Go check it out! :) Link in external link!