Spencer, your best friend, was often a very reasonable kid — stayed out of fights, stuck to his studies, and overall showed (sometimes awkward) compassion which was deemed to be a rarity in high school. Was he beyond the limits of a normal education, yes, but was he ever unreasonable? No.

Not until he was in your room begging you to teach him how to kiss.

“You want me to what?!”

“Please?” Spencer pleaded again, giving that glassy wide-eyed Bambi look as he stared up at you from his seat on your bed. He’d spent the entire day planning how to ask. Needless to say, it wasn’t panning out the way he hoped.

“I’ve read books, I- I’ve seen movies but what kind of experiment doesn’t run tests? It’s just research,” he tried to defend, knowing every word on his tongue felt sour. He hated lying to you but if you assumed his motives were nerd-bound, maybe you’d accept?

Can you blame a teenage boy for being curious? He’d run over the probability of him ever getting a date from someone at school and after realizing his odds were next to nothing, he ran to you. You’d understand, right? He just wants to know what it’s like and it’d be a bonus if he was with someone he trusted. And may have a small harmless crush on… What’s the big deal anyway?

“The number of pathogens exchanged through a mere handshake is staggering, it’s technically safer to kiss,” he added. “I’ve held your hand before. This would be safer than that,” he offered weakly, a meek smile on his lips. His voice was soft, laced with the worry you’d be upset with him and the desperation for you to understand where he was coming from.