#superaverage

It was after school at the moment. Jacklynn was finishing up some homework as she listened to her boyfriend ramble on about Super Smash Bros. That's how these after school moments always went with them. Jacklynn would be working on something important, and Chase would be yapping away at something. Or sometimes nothing at all, just talking to fill the silence. Not like Jacklynn ever minded, there was a reason she was fine with doing school work at the other's house.

"Pikachu's only a cop-out if you use him as a cop-out." Jacklynn hummed a bit, glancing up at her work for a moment to look at the boy in front of her. "So long as you don't spam his electric ball move he's fine to fight against. Technically you could say any of the fighters are cop-outs if you only focus on their long range moves."

Chase let out a huff in response. His girlfriend always seemed to have some sort of comment to make about his ramblings. And usually, her comments were right. "You're s'posed to just sit there and do your homework, not prove how smart you are." That earned a little chuckle from the other.

"I can multitask, unlike you. I know you have homework but you're only able to blabber about whatever's in that thick head of yours." Jacklynn let out a laugh when she only got a tongue stuck out of her in response.

It was just silence for a while after that, only the hum of the box fan, before Chase spoke up again. And it wasn't even so much to fill the silence this time. "You wanna know what's weird?" He got a questioning hum in response. "We've been dating for- Like- Months. An' we've never even kissed. Like lips to lips, like all the couples at school do."

It always surprised Jacklynn how blunt her boyfriend could be. He had literally no filter. Sometimes it was funny, sometimes it got him into trouble. And sometimes it left a bit of awkwardness that everyone but him noticed. Like right now.

The girl's face was a bright red as she adjusted her glasses, just to have something to do with her hands. She always needed to do something during awkward moments. "Well, I mean, not like you ever initiated one. I haven't either, but if it's so important..."

"Yeah, guess I've just... Never wanted to?" Chase shrugged a little as he turned himself onto his stomach. He had really started to feel the blood in his head by now. "Not cuz of you or anything, just never got the urge I guess? I dunno, that probably still sounds mean."

There was a pause between them before it was broken. "No, I... Get where you're coming from." Jacklynn mumbled a bit under her breath. She had a feeling of where this conversation was going. And honestly, she would be lying if she didn't admit she wanted to have this talk with Chase. The only problem was always fear of how her boyfriend would react. "I've never gotten that urge, either. Heck, even just the simple cheek kisses felt weird."

Chase perked his head up a bit at that. "Yeah? Um... Same, honestly." He chuckled a bit, moving his hair out of his face. "I kinda just... Gave you them cuz that's what couples normally do, ya know? But like- I've wanted to give kisses to other crushes I've had, so I dunno why you're different."

"... Maybe cuz you don't actually like me like that?" Jacklynn's voice was soft as she looked up at Chase. She noticed his face change, from confusion to "Oh shit" to panic, so she cut him off before he could even open his mouth. "I've... Felt the same way. I've realized that for a week or two, actually. I just... Didn't wanna say anything because I didn't want to upset you."

There was silence after that. A thick, heavy silence that even Chase could feel as the reality sunk in. They both completely misread their feelings for each other. This wasn't a bad thing of course, considering they misread very strong platonic feelings for romantic ones. It was still just... A sudden realization that took them both by surprise.

And then the silence was broken by laughing. Chase's laughing, to be specific. The situation was so absurd to him that he just had to laugh. And after her moment of surprise from her friend's laughter, she started to join in as well. Just taking in how truly funny this was. And it went on like that for a couple more minutes before the pair eventually calmed down.

"Well, good thing we figured that out, huh?" Chase chuckled, shifting so that he was now on the floor as well. Jacklynn just gave a nod in response as she calmed herself. "Yeah, I'm glad, too. Cuz otherwise it would've gotten really awkward down the road. Glad that we're best friends again."

And instead of heavy silence, it was now comfortable. Well, somewhat. For Chase it certainly was. He'd gotten his true feelings off his chest and now just felt better. Their friendship hadn't been destroyed like he thought it would. Everything was fine now. But Jacklynn still had something on her mind, and to her it was way bigger than their relationship.

"So... Speaking of figuring things out..." Jacklynn's hands went to fidget on the buttons of her flannel, even more than she usually fidgeted, and Chase knew that this was something serious. His friend only ever fidgeted that much when it was something serious.

"Hey." He reached over to put his hands on the other's shoulders to hopefully help ground her a little. He learned that it worked most of the time. "Obviously take your time thinking your words through. I know you too well to know you always think things through. But also, whatever it is, I'm sure it's not gonna like- Ruin our friendship or whatever you're thinking might happen, 'kay?"

Jacklynn gave a nod in response, taking a couple breaths to calm herself down. Of course, why would this ruin their friendship? They've already been through a lot in their several years of friendship, why would this ruin anything? So once she was calmed down she collected her thoughts and started speaking. "Alright, so, uh... I think I'm a guy? I don't know how to, uh, explain it honestly. Like... I look in the mirror and... I don't really like seeing a girl in it, if that makes sense? Like when I think about it I wanna see a boy in the mirror, with the short hair and flat chest and everything. That- I dunno- That might sound weird? It- It probably does, I don't blame you for thinking I'm cra-"

Jacklynn got cut off when Chase pulled her into a hug, now having to take a moment. Why was she so surprised that she got a hug? Why was she ever worried about the response to her newfound discovery? When she finally processed the hug she returned it tightly. Despite not knowing why she thought the worst from her friend, she was still thankful she was seemingly getting a positive response.

The pair just sat there for a while, stuck in their silent hug, before Chase spoke up. "It is a little crazy hearing 'bout this, y'know? Not in a bad way a'course, just never heard of this kinda thing. But you're super smart and stuff, you know yourself like... Way better than me. So like- Yeah, if you think you're a guy, then I'm gonna believe you. 'kay? And 'sides, I'm sure some pretty funny jokes could come outta this." He laughed a little, earning a chuckle from Jacklynn as the pair pulled away from their hug.

"Yeah, of course you would make jokes. Just, um, keep them between us, okay?" Jacklynn requested. "I haven't told my parents about all this, and I- I uh, don't want the kids at school to have more stuff to bully me about." Chase gave a supportive nod in response, pretending to zip his lips and throw away the key, which got another chuckle. "And I've been kinda thinking of going by Jackie now. Since Jacklynn doesn't feel right, and Jackie's an easy name for everyone to adjust to. Plus I just like the name."

"Yeah, a'course, dude!" Chase grinned, and something about getting called "dude" brought a happy smile to Jackie's face. "And hey, if we're talking about figuring personal stuff out. Y'know, I don't wanna take the spotlight from you, but it's funny that we broke up and then you told me you're a guy. Cuz I think I like girls and guys. I heard about that being a thing cuz of my dad talking about a friend of his, and like it- It kinda clicked in my head, "holy shit I think that's me"! Cuz I mean have you seen the guys on our rugby team?? Holy shit!" Jackie laughed over Chase's exclamation about the guys on their school's rugby team. "Yeah, I have, and they're alright looking." That earned a look of "seriously?" from his friend, but he kept speaking. "I guess it's a good thing the breakup happened cuz now we've got all of that off our chests."

Chase chuckled a little as he nodded, leaning against his bed frame. "Yeah, yeah, honestly a good thing." He then threw his hands up in the air. A dramatic action common of the teenager. "But I'm tired of deep emotional shit! Are you done with your homework?? Cuz I wanna play Mario Kart."