Since school had just finished and both our mums wouldn't be home for another hour, we agreed to go to John's house to chill and catch up.

We walked towards the parking lot together, making idle conversation until we stopped at his motorcycle. I froze at the sight of it, and he tossed a helmet at me which bounced off my shoulder.

"Ouch, watch it!" I grumbled, rubbing my left shoulder. John shot me a small smirk.

"I know you're not the most athletic, but you could have easily caught that." He shrugged and I glared at him.

"As a matter of fact, I bet I could beat you at a race." I said smugly, puffing up my chest.

He slowly looked me over, from the top of my head to my cutesy toes. I didn't change my proud stance, watching him watch me. When he was done examining me, he looked back at my face and shook his head.

"Nah." John simply said, then prepared to put his helmet on. I tried a different approach.

"Since you're so sure you can beat me in a race, what's the harm in trying?" I said, walking closer to him. Then I leaned in and whispered:

"Unless you're to chicken to race me."

He laughed loudly, moving closer to his motorcycle. "That's not going to work on me-"

"Bwah-bwah! Cluck cluck!" I started making chicken noises, even flapping my arms and walking in a circle around him. He just started at me blankly.

I sighed, looking around and spotted three people walking out of the exit. I quickly ran over to them.

"Did you know that his surname," I pointed at John. "Is Kentucky!"

One of them shot me a confused look. "Kentucky, as in-"

"Kentucky fried chicken!" I exclaimed, loud enough for John to hear me. It was quiet for a moment before all four of us burst into laughter.

"So logically he's a chicken." I laughed, clutching my stomach. My laughter ceased when I saw John storming towards me.

"Has the chicken come to join us- oh bye guys?" I said confusedly when the three guys started walking away warily.

John came to stand I front of me, fists clenched and cheeks pink. I feigned a confused face.

"I didn't know chickens could blush!" Then that set me off again. Yeah, I knew my jokes were lame but I was just trying to rile him up.

"Fine! I'll race you." He huffed, and started dragging me back towards his motorcycle. I squealed in excitement.

"Awesome! I think we should race from here to your house." I proposed smoothly. John turned to look at me, like really look at me for a couple of seconds. I felt the smile on my face waver.

"So you went through all this, because you don't want to go on my motorcycle?" He deadpanned. I sighed, holding my hands up.

Drat, he caught my plan.

"Alright, you caught me. I don't mean to be so cliché but I'm seriously terrified of going on it." I admitted. John sighed and shot me a small smile.

"You know I wouldn't ever put you in danger, Clo." He said softly. "It's completely safe, trust me."

"Plus, it gives you an excuse to feel up my abs-"

"Oh, get over yourself! Come on, let's go." I snatched the helmet off the seat of his motorcycle and smoothly climbed on.

John chuckled and helped me put on my helmet, climbed on then started driving before I had a chance to hold onto him.

I quickly held onto his shoulders then when we were driving at a steady rate I moved to wrap my arms around his torso. He was right about his abs.

Surprisingly it was pretty pleasant, despite the various leaves and bugs that hit me as we drove. He went pretty slowly so I was able to savour the wind on my helmet, messing up my hair!

I just spent the ride with my nose squished on his back. After what felt like an hour, he finally drove into his driveway and parked.

"You good?" John asked, glancing back at me. I just stared at him through my helmet.

He got off, and then grabbed both of my arms to help me. I dramatically tumbled into him as I got off the motorcycle, and he laughed.

I straightened up and took off my helmet, shaking out my hair that I knew looked horrible from the look on his face.

"Let's just go." I mumbled, walking ahead of him with his laughter following me.

He let us into his house, which looked the same as the last time I went there. Dark and void of happiness.

All the walls and furniture were the same mahogany colour, there weren't any pictures on the walls, and the curtains in the living room were pure black. It was pretty to look at, at least.

He lead me up to his room, which hadn't changed much either, except the wall that was covered in cool superhero posters that I'd bought him was bare. I made a mental note to ask him about that later.

John watched me examine his room quietly, and when I was done I turned to him with my hands clasped and a polite smile on my face.

"So, what's the verdict?" He asked playfully, taking off his leather jacket.

I shrugged. "Didn't change much." I said, and he was quiet because he knew I wasn't done.

"Still looks like a dump." I snickered, and he shoved me playfully.

"What happened to all the posters I got you by the way?" I asked, causally sitting on his bean bag. John's expression darkened.

"After you left I tore them all down."

Oh. Yikes.

I nodded awkwardly, trying to think of something to change the subject. It was like we had a silent agreement to not acknowledge the elephant in the room, the reason why I didn't tell him I left and what happened when I did.

"I guess you can always replace them." I shrugged, then saw his PS4 and perked up. "Do you have Call of Duty?"

John gave me an incredulous look. "Of course! Do you want to play?"

I cracked my knuckles with a smirk. "Get ready to get beaten badly."

We spent the next hour playing, as it was my first time using PS4 because I just played on my phone most of the time. After John helped teach me how to use the controls, I got the hang on it and we started winning matches.

We decided to test who was the best player, so played the mode Free for All. I was winning with sixteen kills and John 15, when he whipped out his war machine!

"John!" I all but screamed when he shot a missile at me. He just laughed manically in response.

He ended up winning the game with one more kill than me. I angrily threw away my headset and controller, crossing my arms. John laughed at my reaction, moving closer to me to we were sitting shoulder to shoulder.

"Aw, is Chloe being a sore loser?" He said teasingly when I turned my face away. The truth was, I was angry but hiding a smile.

I couldn't stay angry for long and John knew that.

John moved even closer until I could feel his hair on the back of my turned neck. "Hm, what can I do to get her to smile?" He asked rhetorically.

My eyes widened in horror when his fingers lightly brushed my sides. I immediately jumped up, pointing a shaking finger at him.

"Don't. You. Dare." I said menacingly. He simply shot me a wide smile in response.

John slowly stood up, and approached me like I was his prey. I realized how tall he was when he towered over me threatingly.

"Here comes the tickle monster!" John suddenly shouted, and pounced. I screamed when he tackled me onto his bean bag and started tickling me ferociously.

I laughed and squirmed, trying my hardest to avoid his fingers. Tears streamed down my face and incoherent sounds left my mouth. It was torture.

"Say you won't be angry with me anymore!" He shouted. I shook my head frantically.

"NEVER!" I screamed in his face. The tickling finally subsided and I let out a breath of relief, opening my eyes. That's when I noticed how close our faces were.

Up close I could appreciate his face. A strong jaw line, perfectly tousled brown hair, pretty blue eyes and pink, plump lips...

The spell that seemed to be on both of us was broken by my phone ringing.

Well, that's what I wish it was.

The intense moment was broken, by me farting.

Not a cutesy fart, but the deep brrrrrr type.

Not to be dramatic, but I felt my soul whisper a final goodbye to my body and leave due to the humiliation.

John started at me in astonishment. I just closed my eyes and pretended I'd evaporated or something.

"Did you just fart?" John asked mischievously. "Because you blew me away!"

With that I silently collected my things and took my leave, leaving him cackling at my expense.

*****

The next day I knew I couldn't face John unless I had at least a week to recover. So I decided I needed to be as inconspicuous as possible, which meant dressing in camouflage.

After doing my hygiene routine, I brought out a pair of dark green army jeans and a matching cropped jean jacket with a plain white shirt to wear under. Then I styled my hair into a low ponytail with my baby hairs framing my face.

To top it off, I put on a pair of big black sunglasses. I checked myself out in the mirror and smiled in satisfaction.

No one would recognize me now.

*****

"Miss Woods, take those sunglasses off!" A teacher shouted as I strutted down the hallway. I sighed.

"Alright sir." I mumbled, approaching Benji and Brock who were standing outside our tutor class watching with amusement.

"Hey guys." I greeted. They both glanced over my outfit.

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" They said in unison, saluting me then burst out laughing at my unamused face.

"Instead of making fun of me you should ask why I'm dressed like this." I pointed out.

When Brock sobered up he asked, "why are you dressed like that Chloe?"

I relayed the mortifying experience from yesterday to them. The only reason I told them was because I had to get if off y chest, and out of all the guys Benji and Brock were the most understanding and nice.

Well, that's what I thought before they were laughing their asses of.

Angrily, I shoved past them and walked into the classroom, where I bumped into someone at the front.

Just my luck, it was John.

He had stumbled back a few steps so I took that opportunity to quickly put on my sunglasses. I grinned in triumph, there was no way he'd know it was me now.

John rubbed his shoulder and smiled. "We need to stop meeting like this, Clo." He said.

I groaned and stomped my foot, then tossed him my glasses and stormed out of the classroom.

"Um, did I do something?" I heard John ask Brock or Benji in a confused voice as I walked away.

"She's just embarrassed about the whole farting thing." Brock assured him. This was the last time I was telling them anything.

"Chloe, don't be angry. Happiness comes from inside, that's why it feels so good to fart!" Benji's shouted after me.

I spent the rest of the day avoiding the three of them, which was hard since I sat next to Brock in English. But I managed by just staying with Maya, Teresa, Elijah and Cory. I guess my bullies had some sympathy in their hearts because they didn't tell anyone else about the farting incident.

I was walking to the cafeteria when I was pulled into an empty classroom. I immediately started panicking, thinking of the worst case scenarios. Maybe it was Dustin here for a part 2?

I sighed in relief when John's concerned face came into view.

"You alright?" He asked and I slapped his chest lightly.

"What do you think? Pulling me into an empty classroom like this!" I exclaimed and he shot me an apologetic look.

"Sorry, I just wanted to say you don't need to be embarrassed about farting in front of me. It's a natural thing," he shrugged. "Plus, I've literally pissed myself in front of you."

I started laughing at the memory. "Omg, yes! When we were watching that horror movie!"

John crossed his arms. "Yeah, yeah. Wanna come over for pizza and watch it now we're all grown up?" He proposed.

"Sounds like a date!" I replied eagerly. His expression softened.

"Yeah, I guess it is."

*****

❤️