O'Connor Liam

Liam O'Connor - Third Place Winner - Teens: Fiction
Cornwall Public Library 2015 Annual Writing Contest

J

J. Their name was J. Their code name, at least. That was who Lane had a crush on.
Oh wait, you don't know who Lane is, do you? Well, you're in for a ride. Lane was a
fifteen year old boy with pretty good genetics. He was fairly tall for his age, 5'10", had
white-blonde hair that he kept nice and clean in an ice cream swirl, and he had piercing
hazel eyes. He had a small piercing on his tongue that he usually kept in, but took it out
when eating. Literally every single girl at Mala High School would swoon as he walked
by. The thing that was on everyone's mind: Who does he like? The only bit of info he
would give out was that their name started with J. Of course, everyone assumed it was
his best friend, Janet. Janet and Lane were always hugging and hanging out, and
occasionally, if Lane did something, he'd say "Aw, come on. You love me." And then
Janet would mumble "Yeah, yeah .. I love you .. " They never confirmed it Janet was J,
but they never denied it either.

Lane's school was holding another cheesy and cliche dance. This was that crappy
dance that was held every year in a gym and it always had those dollar-store
decorations and a small table in the corner selling second-hand products. At the other
end of the gym, there was usually a pair of teenagers that probably didn't even go to
Mala. And finally, there was the old and sweaty teacher who never really taught
anything. You know, the one who looks like he wants to shoot himself just to get out of
here and the one who thinks he has more power than the principal. Lane usually
showed up to these dances ... Only for a laugh, of course. Not because J always
showed up. Not because J looked amazing, not because J's smile made Lane feel
warm and happy. It was ... Uh ... Because he ... Liked... The songs! Yeah ... The songs.

After school, Lane took a walk back to his home, listening to his mix of songs with
the vibe of nearly killing someone, or the one that made you feel golden and amazing.
When he got home and finished his lame homework, he threw off his boring clothes and
grabbed a pair of blue jeans, a normal grey sweater he usually wore, and a bright
orange and green beanie, letting small tufts of his nearly-white hair flow out, covering
his right eye. He walked back to the school at five thirty, arriving at the school at six. His
friend, Mika, was "guarding" the entrance to the school. He stopped Lane and said
"Stop right there! If you want to defeat the Mika Monster, you need to pay me five bucks
to go to our school's fundraiser for building a new track!" Lane chuckled and pulled out
his wallet, giving Mika the five dollar requirement and mumbling "Nerd." to him as he
walked into the school.

Loud blaring music poured out of a room at the end of the hall, and Lane trotted over
to the packed gymnasium. As he walked in, his eyes darted around for any signs of J.
As he immediately spotted J, he made sure to avoid them. The group of girls that
usually squeal if they get within a mile radius of Lane saw him and let their blood-
curdling shriek loose. Their squeal was louder than the music, and everyone, even
those who weren't paying attention, guessed that meant that Lane had arrived. One of
the leaders of the squealers had her head down and silent, clearly upset. She was
devastated that her name hadn't started with J, and she was even sadder that tonight
was the night Lane was going to reveal who J was.

He looked around for his friends but found the opposite: Aaron, James, and Jeffrey.
They were Mala's Uguy clique." The trio had multiple nicknames, all given by Lane. The
Three Musketeers, The Three Headed Hydra, and even Aarffremes, a combination of
the three names. James was nicknamed "The Leader," Jeffrey was nicknamed "The
Henchboy," and Aaron ... He was just Aaron. James was a guy Lane had known for a
long, long time. They were good friends but James drifted away and became a jerk,
getting two guys to be his armrests and Mala as his throne. Of course, Lane spotted the
two teenagers making out at the back of the gym who for sure didn't go to Mala.

The dance was boring. Even more than usual. They played about five slow songs, all
cheesy ones played by artists who were most likely in rehab at the moment, they played
a stupid song about snakes and bread, and that damned country song no one except
for the sweaty teacher likes. Lane spent most of his time watching J, clocking their
every move, and when people tried to see who he was staring at, he darted his eyes at
someone else, then someone else, again and again until the spectators gave up. One of
the squealers had asked Lane to dance with him, and he politely said no. Of course,
upon hearing his voice, she screamed as loud as she could, Lane covering his ears for
worrying he might go deaf. Boring songs played, weird kids twerked, and the trio
laughed their dumb jock-like laugh.

Once the last slow song started to play, all eyes turned to Lane. He chuckled,
thinking in his head "ls this really what they want the most?" He approached Janet. This
was it. He grabbed her by the waist, she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck,
and they danced. At the end, Janet smiled. She knew that she wasn't J. She wasn't at
all.

It was James.

Janet had smiled, pulling Lane in for a hug and whispering in his ear: "Go do it,
Lane. Go be with him. He is J. J is yours for the taking." Lane smiled warmly, hugging
Janet almost as tight as he could. He whirled around on his heels and faced James. He
pointed at him. and chuckled. "You are J." Every single jaw dropped. Millions of
questions flew throughout the air, questions like: " "Lane is gay? James is gay? J is a
dude? Soda costs three bucks? Janet knew she wasn't J?" The questions kept on
coming and coming. no one approaching Lane to ask him. He was too busy slowly
stepping towards James. Lane began to sing the song he had danced to with Janet. '' My
heart's beating trying to catch up to you ... " He started. James continued. "The light that
you lit off is gold'' Lane smiled, intertwining his fingers with James' '' can't shake this
feeling, it fills the room." James finished the chorus: "these chills didn't come from the
cold ... They came from you." Lane let go of James' hands, placing them on his face,
pulling him closer, and pulling him into a kiss. Lane smiled. taking hold of James' hand
and leaving the school together. They sat down on the rocks outside, watching the sun
slowly descend. "So ... Lane started. "Got the answers for the history test next week?"