“Xena, Warrior Princess!”, Tanner exclaimed, holding his arm forward, as if he held a sword, “I think you two would be an awesome couple. Both strong and beautiful!”. The blond teen kept smiling until he realized that he had boldly called Keith beautiful to his face. What had gotten into him? Tanner was a straight A student and very well spoken. What was causing him to stammer and say all of these things out loud? The best think he could do is to act cool, keep talking like nothing happened.
Tanner looked on Keith with compassion and patted his arm, “I’m sorry you had such bad experiences with your dating, Keith. You deserve only good things”. He knit his blond brows in a frown, “I don’t know from experience, but I agree with you about a relationship. If you are going to have one, you should be honest with each other and everyone else. There should be no shame or secrecy involved”.
“Thank you, Keith for thinking I’m a special person”, Tanner blushed and looked down at his hands, “You’re sweet”. One of the blond teen’s slender fingers traced a pattern in the tablecloth, “I don’t know why you say that you are not the easiest person to be with. I’ve never enjoyed anyone’s company more”, he glanced up quickly from beneath bangs that caught a golden glow from the candle on the table.
After swallowing a bite of steak, Tanner frowned, “Living in secrecy is a no-brainer, but the second guy, Keith…I’m kinda stunned. If I loved someone, I would want them to do the very best they could. If they received a higher grade than I did, that would be my fault, not his”, he shrugged, “I would be happy for my boyfriend if he scored high on a quiz, no matter what I scored”.