"What? What happened?" you quickly asked, pouncing on this little tidbit like a starving man on a loaf of bread, feeling a sense of dread crawling its way up your spine.
"Well, just before I got into a taxi, he was like telling me how much fun he had and shit. Which was awesome to hear, cause we all know how much fucking fun I am, y'know?"
"Yeah, yeah. I know, Randall. You're totally awesome," you told him with a sigh, wishing that he would just spit it the hell out. "So then what happened?"
"Well that's when he uh, he...well he kissed me, dude."
HE DID WHAT! you inwardly screamed, feeling your throat suddenly turn dry and your brain start to go into meltdown.
Before it could though, and before any sort of sound could actually escape your lips, Randall then hurriedly added, "Just on the cheek though. Not on the mouth or anything like that." clearly aware that that was what you were of course thinking. Though this added info came as somewhat of a relief, having nearly lost it at the thought of the two of them together...making out, hearing that he'd kissed Randall on the cheek didn't really make you feel any more comfortable, and you were quite unsure how to respond to this, letting Randall continue. "But you know, it was still kind of weird....unexpected even. I never thought I'd ever have some dude kissing me, you know?"
"Why the fuck did you let him then?" you eventually manage to say, having assumed he would have put up some kind of fight.
"I didn't let him. It...well, it just sort of happened, " he told you rather defensively, before quickly changing his tune. "It's not really that big of a deal though, is it? I mean people kiss each other all the time!"
"Two guys don't. Not unless they're gay!"
"Well I'm not exactly a 'guy' anymore, am I? I'm a chick in case you haven't noticed."
"So what, that makes it okay does it?" you asked him, growing rather angry. "Did you enjoy it?"
"No! No, of course not!" Randall replied,pausing and stumbling awkwardly over his words for a moment. "...I mean, it wasn't...I don't know. It was just like a peck on the cheek, dude. It didn't mean anything."
Maybe not to you... you said to yourself, almost 100% positive that Hanson wouldn't have seen it that way and not really being all that reassured by your friend's rather flimsy response either. "Do you...you know, like him or anything?"
Thankfully his answer to this question was a lot more convincing. "Like him? No. No way! Not like that. He's a nice guy and stuff, but I'm not...no! Of course I fucking don't!"
Thank fuck for that, you sighed, this being of some comfort at least (provided he was telling you the truth), the thought of Randall having a thing with Mr. Hanson just being too bizarre for your brain to cope with. You knew of course that he was still very much into girls and hadn't shown even the slightest sort of interest in getting it on with guys before now (apart from your own weird little dalliance), but that didn't mean that it wasn't possible. After all, hadn't the doctors at the hospital mentioned something about there being a good chance his sexuality might actually change? What if that was happening now?
"Anyway, I've got to go to bed, dude," he told you, letting out an audible yawn, "I'm shattered, and I've got loads of fucking essays to mark tomorrow. All this staying up late and drinking really takes it's toll...especially when you're about to turn thirty in two fucking days!" Admittedly, you'd kind of forgotten about this, having been way too distracted by everything else to properly take this information in, but it was clear Randall hadn't. "What a mind job that is, huh?" he laughed, turning slightly wistful for a moment, "It was only a month ago I turned eighteen, and now I'm going to be thirty. You'd have thought those fucking doctors might have said something..."
"How did you find out then?" you asked, curious as to where this birthday bombshell had suddenly come from.
"George told me, during dinner. Seems Amanda and that are cooking up some big night out for me and he didn't realize it was supposed to be a surprise. Well it sure surprised the hell out of me! Anyway, I got to go," he told you, yawning again, "I'll see you in school tomorrow."
"Okay. Night then Randall," you replied, needing your own bed too and realizing you probably weren't going to get much more out of him than this.
After hanging up then, you didn't immediately head into bed, but just sat there thinking through all of what Randall had told you. Though you were glad that nothing too much happened on his date with Mr. Hanson, the fact that he had actually kissed him goodnight still stuck in your craw a little, even if it was seemingly a fairly innocent thing to do. Then there was of course his 'birthday'. The idea that Randall would soon be another year older than you being hard enough to take without the added fact that, unlike his previous birthdays, the two of you wouldn't be able to celebrate this one together. You'd be left out of the loop while he had fun with all of his new friends...Mr. Hanson (possibly) included.
This was something you put to him the following day after class, when you finally got the chance to speak with him again. Unfortunately he couldn't really talk for long, having some departmental meeting or another to go to, and also appearing slightly embarrassed about what he may or may not have drunkenly told you the night before. So instead of getting anything much out of him, he quickly shifted the focus to you and your 'burgeoning bromance' with Bryce, seemingly more concerned with poking fun at you for that before then having to rush off.
This meant that when Friday morning arrived, you were in two minds about whether to send him a jokey 'Happy Birthday' text or not, not being entirely sure if it would be appropriate or not. Seeing as the only insight you had about the whole adding another year to the eleven he'd already skipped was his drunken ramblings on Wednesday night, you had no idea how he really felt about it. Randall may put on a good show most of the time, but that didn't mean these things didn't effect him. You'd seen more than enough glimpses of that so far, to know that deep down they did. That being said, you had to text him something, not wanting him to think you didn't care either way, and also to find out whether or not the plans the two of you'd made, before all this had been sprung on him, for the weekend still stood.
Deciding on a supportive rather than funny message, you sent him the text and awaited a reply, which you received not too long after.
Randall: I know. I'm getting fucking old! But on the plus side, double the presents! Go me! ...Oh and don't worry about weekend. It's still on. I just hope I don't have too bad a hangover after tonight!
Well at least that's something, you smiled, glad that it was indeed still a go, having been looking forward to spending some quality time with the real Randall again, rather than the fleeting chances you'd so far had this week. Also, from the jokey tone of his message it seemed like he was coping okay with suddenly turning thirty (or at least seemed that way), an extra year presumably not being all that big a deal to a guy who'd, over the last month, had found himself having to get to grips with the life of an adult woman.
You: Sweet! Shall we say Saturday lunchtime then, to give you time to recover?
Randall: Sounds good to me.
This you thought would probably be best, not wanting to rouse him too early if he was going to be out partying with 'the girls', as well as giving you ample time to head over to Allison's later in the evening. The only slight snag in this plan was that you hadn't actually found out where his new house was yet, and so quickly text him back for the address.
Randall: Well d'uh! That is something you're definitely gonna need. I tell you what, I'll write it down for you after class. That way you can tell me how the bromance is coming along! ;P
You couldn't help but shake your head at this, wondering if this new joke of his was ever going to die (you hadn't even seen Bryce since your double date for Christ sake!), before then sticking your cellphone back into your pocket and heading off down the corridor to find Allison, before first period.
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