Hot To Go

The gurgling water filter tried in vain to aid in extinguishing the awkward silence that lingered in the room like a plague. Just as he was about to distract himself with a frivolous task, Liam interrupted the silence by blurting some indistinguishable phrase that was met with a speculative “huh?” from Sam.

“Um, I was wondering if you liked my not so secret Santa gift?” he explained, much slower this time.

“Oh yeah,” nodded Sam, who had in fact been planning on formally thanking Liam, instead of awkwardly walking away.

“Frodo and Sam, the frogs, not this Sam because I am not a frog, and you obviously knew that. Sorry. The frogs liked the gifts,” mumbled Sam. The Styrofoam cup threatened to crumple under his death grip.

Liam laughed and gave a sympathetic smile.

“Yeah, that's great,” he said far too enthusiastically. “I saw it on amazon and thought you would also think it was cute because I thought it was cute, but I don't have frogs, and now I am rambling. Do you wanna get coffee, like out somewhere?” asked Liam who had shifted from his natural pale to a bright red in a matter of seconds.

“Not today obviously, but like later. Tomorrow maybe,” added Liam.

“Yes, Tomorrow at 7. We could meet at the A,” said Sam nodding.

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The Coffee Date (Espresso)

Sam had to stop arriving late to things, however five minutes wasn’t the end of the world. Of course, Liam already sat at a table, with an espresso cup and pastry. He wore a green argyle vest with a dress shirt that had the sleeves rolled up. After I made my order he waved me over to the small table.

“Hi, Samuel,” he grinned up at me.

“Sorry I am late,” Sam apologized.

“You're fine," he said, taking a sip of his drink.

“What did you get?” Sam asked

“A vanilla chamomile white tea latte,” he said. Sam raised an eyebrow. He laughed a little.

“So, can I call you something other than Samuel, that feels so formal,” said Liam.

He thought about this for a second.

“You can call me Sam or something,” Sam shrugged.

“Can I call you Sammy,” he asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“So, where do you work?” he asked. Sam laughed.

“At this really random school,” Sam said, playing along.

“Funny, I am a teacher too, what’s it called?” he asked

“Harper Middle school,” Sam said.

“No way, I work there as well,” he said. Sam laughed.

“You don’t say,” Sam said. The waitress handed me my drink, after a quick thanks I moved my attention back to the conversation.

“Why frogs?” he asked.

“My apartment is small, if I am being honest, I am a little neglectful so frogs seemed easy,” Sam said. He nodded.

“I had a pet duck,” he said.

“Really?” Sam said surprised.

“His name was Alfred,” Liam explained.

“What happened to him,” Sam asked, taking a sip of tea.

“He moved to my parents' farm,” he said.

“Oh, I am sorry,” Sam said

“He’s not dead!” he said

“This is one of the instances where an animal goes to a farm and actually isn’t dead, he just wants the best city pet,” he said. Sam laughed, A sort of amused twinkled in his eyes lit up.

“So are you a fan of LOTOR?” he asked, checking the time on his watch.

“This is probably stupid but what is LOTOR?” Samasked. He bit back a smile.

“Lord of the Rings,” he clarified.

“Right, yeah. No I mostly watched the movies and that one tv show,” Sam said

“Rings of Power,” he said eagerly. Sam nodded.

“I am much more of a reader but maybe we could watch the movies sometime,” Liam said.

“I have watched them like a billion times,” Sam said.

“Or we could watch something else,” he said awkwardly.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I would love to watch it a billion times more with you,” Sam said. He smiled.

“Are you an audiobook guy?” he asked

“Yes!” Sam exclaimed. “Are you?” he asked.

Liam shook his head.

“Oh come on, you're missing out. Do you listen to podcasts?” he asked.

“Yes,” he nodded.

“Ok let me guess. Are you a cult guy or more of a murder mystery type?” Sam asked.

“Neither. I really got into morning shows and tv and music reviews actually.” he said.

“So what are you listening to now?”  Sam asked

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Both teachers, having lost track of time, arrived almost ten minutes late to their respective classes, which was seen as an abnormality at Harper middle School.

“Ok, class, So sorry for being late. I hope you didn't cause too much chaos in my brief absence. Let's get started,” announced Sam. A girl raised her hand.

“Yes Anna,” he said, arms crossed.

“Where were you?” she asked, with an inquisitive look.

“Um well, that is personal,” deflected Sam, who prayed he was not blushing.

“Were you on a date?” asked another girl. Sam tried to laugh it off but it came off as a very awkward chuckle that probably communicated the opposite of what he intended.

“No,” he said, positive he was blushing now. Why did he have to get so embarrassed easily? Just as he returned to write the lesson on the chalkboard another student asked a question.

“Was it with Liam?”

“You mean Mr. Harrows?” said Sam biting his lip to stop a smile from creeping onto his face.

“Sure, was it Mr. Harrows?” corrected the student, who had her arms crossed.

“No!,” he said rather aggressively. Since when did the 7th grade student body turn into Sherlock Holmes amateurs.

Just as he was finally about to start the lesson, none other than Mr. Freaking Harrows barged into the classroom.

“Sammy, Hi,” he said brightly. Sam had told him to call him Sam or anything other than Mr. Cathrow, so Liam had settled on Sammy. But the sound of the classroom snickers, made him realize this might not have been the greatest idea.

“You left your keys after the coffee this morning, and I assumed you wanted to get back in your home at some point, so yeah,” said Liam grinning as he tossed Sam his keys.

“Did you go on a date?” asked a girl in a sing-songy voice.

Liam laughed. “I dunno, that’s up to Mr.Richards,” he said, looking at Sam almost in earnest for an answer.

“Ew please don't call me that,” said Sam quietly.

“Oh, I assumed Sammy isn't your forte due to your scandalized reaction,” teased Liam as he was ushered to the door.

“No, sorry. Sammy is fine,” siad Sam. Before he left, Liam turned around.

“Was that a date?” he asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Yes,” he nodded as he gently pushed Liam out the door.

A few short hours later, it seemed as if the entire school knew about the “coffee date” that Sam and Liam had. Instead of lunch in the teachers lounge, but mostly to avoid others, Sam found himself in Liam’s classroom. Liam was writing something on the chalkboard.

“Hi,” said Sam quietly

“Sammy, hello,” smiled Liam cheerfully as he turned around. Whenever he smiled, his slightly larger front teeth and curly brown hair sort of made him look like a bunny.

Sam sat down at a desk.

“What are you teaching today? Mr. Social Studies.” asked Sam drumming his fingers absentmindedly on the desk.

“Well, Senior biology. I don’t know,” shrugged Liam sitting on the edge of his desk so he and Sam were 5 feet apart.

“Uh, probably Marxism or something boring,” he answered, which elicited a laugh from Sam.

Liam got up from his desk and went back to the chalkboard.

“I feel like a celebrity. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the students made fan edits,” said Sam. Liam snorted.

“You're so short,” commented Sam. “How do you reach the top of the board?” asked Sam resting his head in his propped up palm.

“I am 5’’7’” "protested Liam as he stood on his tip toes.

“So, short,” retorted Sam smirking. Liam dramatically rolled his eyes before turning back to the board.

“Sometimes, I use a chair. Usually I don't use the top of the board. But if there is a really handsome, tall man that happens to stumble into my classroom. I might ask him for help,” shrugged Liam. Sam bit his lip, a sort of nervous tick he did whenever he was blushing.

“Smooth,” he said

“I may be a History Teacher but I have a way with words,” said Liam. Sam laughed.

“Thanks for coffee this morning,” said Sam getting up from the desk. He brushed off an imaginary speck of dirt from his shirt.

“Oh yeah, you're welcome,” smiled Liam as he turned away from the board. Sam loved it when he smiled.

“Dinner at my place, next week?” suggested Sam

“Yeah, ” exclaimed Laim, lighting up.

“Don’t get too excited.” smiled Sam as he headed out the door.

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Liam was late. Not like a simple 5 minutes late, but like almost a half hour late. If Sam could find his stupid phone, he would have been panic texting him. But in the absence of it Sam found himself pacing and adjusting every small detail in the room until Liam finally arrived around 7:36.

“I am so sorry for being late. I was in my car trying to write up some funny charming little speech about how funny you are and how much I like your smile and then I was gonna kiss you and then I thought about it too much and panicked since i’ve only really known you romantically for like a week but then I realized we have been friends for at least…” Sam crossed the distance between them and gently pressed his lips against Liam's, his hands on either side of Liam’s face. He lingered, there for just a moment, before he stepped back.

“Sorry,” apologized Sam, surprised at what had gotten into him.

“No, don't be,” said Liam quietly. The room was quiet for a moment, as if it even needed a moment to process what had just happened.

“Dinner,” suggested Sam.