What a day to be late, Mark thought bitterly as he dashed wildly through the halls. He dodged a group of ditchers, and nearly killed a girl coming from the bathroom. His gym teacher was very anal about people being late to his class, and, quite frankly, Mark rather didn’t want to do six extra laps and thirty-odd pushups.

He entered the locker room violently, shoving the door so it hit the wall with a thud. As satisfactory as it was, it could do nothing to bring a smile to his face, and he began dressing with a sigh. When he’d arrived to the gym to make his way for the locker room, the teacher caught him, despite his sneaking. He was told that when the day was over, Mark was to come for a detention after school. The other kids laughed, even as they were doing their daily sit-ups.

Mark threw his shirt onto the bench, sighing as it slid and fell to the floor. He stooped to retrieve it.

“Late to class?” Mark jumped at the voice, snatching his shirt and turning to find Mr. Sterling sitting on the same bench he was dressing at, right behind him. Mark jumped and yelped, trying to cover what his boxers failed to do so.

Mr. Sterling chuckled, wrapping his arms around his knees. He cocked his head to the side when Mark failed to speak, merely emitting strange noises.

“M-Mr. Sterling! What’re you doing in here!” Mark squeaked, holding his shirt to his chest. The man shrugged, examining his fingernails with disinterest.

“Why were you late for school today, Mark?” He suddenly asked, stretching his legs and dropping Mark’s schoolbag to the floor. That was when Mark noticed the man was wearing a skirt. And he shaved his shapely, long legs.

“Um… Just woke late, you know?” Mark laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck. There was no denying the man was attractive, but Mark knew nothing could come of it. A teacher and a student equals certain shunning of society. And possible mobs of angry parents on Mr. Sterling’s part.

“Well, no point going to class now, is there?” Mr. Sterling smiled, standing and stretching. Mark couldn’t help but notice the man’s shirt ride up his smooth, pale stomach.

“What d’you mean?”

“Come on, I’ll get you out of school today. Let me go talk to Ed.”

And so, here we were. Mark in the passenger seat of a red Corvette, with a shiny polish job and a new car smell. Mr. Sterling drove, glancing sideways with a smile at him every once in a while. Mark reluctantly returned the small smiles. He couldn’t help but feel nervous. He was out with a teacher - who was hot, nonetheless - and he didn’t know anything about the guy. Except that he was a nice guy, and defended him even before they knew each other. Except that he knew your name, Mark thought. That still freaked him out.

“You wanna get something to eat?” Mr. Sterling asked, jutting a thumb out towards a Wendy’s.

“Uh, I’m a vegetarian,” Mark replied, blushing slightly. Mr. Sterling looked at him, before smiling.

“They’ve got salads,” The man sang in a high-pitched voice. Mark grudgingly accepted his offer. He only refused the offer before because he didn’t want this teacher to spend money - especially for him.

“What do you want?” Mr. Sterling asked as they approached the cashier. The woman sighed at the sight of customers, but stood up straight from leaning on the counter to greet them politely.

“Hello, welcome to Wendy’s. How may I help you?” She asked. She was practically forcing the words through her teeth. And she didn’t look like she smiled to often - she was cringing.

“C’mon, Mark, whaddya want?”

“Um, well… I’m not really… hungry, Mr. Ster-…”

“Oh, call me Robin! I don’t want this to be formal, this is for fun.” Robin grinned down at him, before turning back to the woman. “We’d like one Classic Double with cheese, a large diet Coke, one Southern Style salad, and a large regular Coke.” He said this without falter, and Mark wondered how he knew what he’d wanted. That’s twice now, he thought.

“That’ll be…”

They sat and almost instantly, Robin ripped the wrapping from his burger, taking a gigantic bite out of the meaty mess. The burger was sweating with grease, and Mark felt just a bit queasy looking at the dripping of mayonnaise. Robin looked at him, raising a questioning eyebrow as to why Mark wasn’t eating. Mark’s left eye began twitching, and Robin almost choked. He set the burger down, and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

“I’m sorry for my manners!” He said once he’d swallowed the mass of food. Mark shook his head.

“Or lack, thereof,” he said with a small smile. With a sigh, Mark opened the plastic covering to his salad, and began eating. He tried not to spill, and kept to his table manners, while he watched the man across from him from beneath blonde bangs.

Robin now took his time eating, taking smaller bites and wiping with his napkin even if it wasn’t needed. He sat straighter when he noticed Mark watching him, and offered a small smile.

---

“What can we do now?” Robin asked, unlocking the car door. He sat in the driver’s seat before unlocking Mark’s, leaning over to the lock, even though it was automatic. Mark sighed, stepping into the car. He sat…

…And jumped up with a yelp.

“Oh! Sorry! I didn’t know you were sitting down yet.” Robin pulled his hand back from the seat, smiling. Mark, wide-eyed and breathing harshly, sat, pulling his seatbelt on tightly. Robin started the car, and drove from the parking lot.

“Asshole,” Mark muttered darkly, watching as Robin scratched his thigh.

They decided to stop at the movies, seeing as how neither of them had seen the new action movie. When they arrived in the theater, it was already dark inside, and Mark found Robin’s hand in his seat again.

The movie began, and Robin stretched, yawning. Mark felt something warm drape over his shoulders, and subconsciously wriggled closer to the source. The movie turned out to be long, dramatic, and overly boring. Mark couldn’t keep his eyes open as the woman proclaimed her undying love for the hero. He let his head drop back, and felt himself being pulled closer to the warmth.

The lights came on suddenly, and Mark groaned. “Not yet, mom…” He muttered, snuggling closer to what he was leaning on.

“Mom? Well, I hope you’re not against incest.” Mark’s eyes snapped open at the statement, and he looked up from the chest of Robin. He sat up instantly, jumping to his feet, blushing. He stretched, glancing at Robin, whom he noticed staring at him as he arched his back. Mark stopped, slumping and blushing more.

“What now?” He asked, trying to get Robin’s eyes off of his stomach, or anywhere lower they may wander.

Robin shook his head quickly, meeting eyes with Mark and smiling. “Anywhere you please.” Mark followed Robin out of the theater, and couldn’t shake the light feeling when Robin held the door open for him. “After you, madam,” Robin said, formally bowing. Mark kicked him in the shin, and stalked off.

---

In the end they decided on taking a rest from being outside, so Robin insisted they drove to his apartment. Mark tried to argue, but Robin didn’t listen as they stopped at a local Starbucks for some coffee.

“I’d like two frappuccinos - one caramel, one mocha. Then a double shot cappuccino and throw in one of those big cinnamon rolls.” He turned to Mark. “What would you like?”

Mark settled on a mocha frappuccino, and sipped as he watched Robin pull the lid off of his own, taking a deep gulp and sighing loudly afterwards. His eyes closed, and he was silent.

Mark leaned in carefully when the young teacher didn’t move for around twenty seconds. He reached out a hand to prod him cautiously, but pulled back quickly when Robin’s eyes snapped open, and a huge grin spread across his face.

“Ready to go? Huh? Huh? Ready? Alright let’s go!” And they zoomed off.

---

Mark's Mark: I said the 'a' word! What is wrong with you people!