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little-bit-of-cinnamon · 4 years

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The Difference Between Talking and Doing - Sprace

Race was at a student government conference when his hotel room phone rang. He wasn’t expecting Spot on the other line.

Sprace modern high school AU

Fluff, getting together

4.1k words

Race has always prided himself on being a leader, being the one that a lost underclassman could ask for directions to class, the one that teachers trust to watch their classroom as they leave the room. He went to all the school events, joined all the committees, and was an active member of student government. And a passionate one at that.

Student government made him feel like he had an impact on the school, like he could listen to his peers and bring new ideas to the table. He felt like he meant something, made a difference. So, he attended all the meetings, volunteered at all the fundraisers. He was at every school event, and everyone knew him because of it.

Race liked being known, it made him feel like he had a real high school experience. He wasn’t just sitting in class, taking notes, and going home.

So, when the annual statewide student government conference rolled around in March, he was the first to apply.

And, unsurprisingly, the first to be accepted.

And, two weeks later, the first on the bus.

Race was an outgoing person, always eager to meet new people and make new friends, yet his favorite part of these events always remained the same. Bonding with his own council. He loved dinners with his friends and underclassmen who he doesn’t know and his advisors. Making jokes and making memories. He loved the SnapChat group Romeo made, sending videos they sneak of their unsuspecting peers as they eat. He loves the teasing, the strengthening of relationships, the level of comfort and acceptance that isn't regularly found in school.

But the very best part wasn’t even a part of the conference itself, it was at night in the hotel. They all piled into Medda’s room, ignoring the teasing they get from other schools’ councils when they find out that they all hang out with their advisor. They play games, truth or dare or never have I ever and other lame party games, they tell embarrassing stories and eat way too many M&Ms. Race loves for it.

Nobody gets enough, or any, sleep and coffee is hard to come by in the morning, with the hundreds of overtired teenagers all with the same need, but nobody gets grumpy, nobody cares that they have to be up at 7. They’re all just happy to be with each other and, honestly, it’s magical.

Race was looking forward to their first night of council bonding all day. He ate dinner, watched the annual conference lip sync battle and then went straight upstairs. He stopped in his room to brush his teeth (he hates the feeling of unbrushed teeth) and went to secure a spot on the extra bed in Medda’s room. Soon, everyone began piling in, squeezing on the bed or sitting on the floor. Talking about who was auditioning for the upcoming play (Race was) and who was surprised that Jack and Davey started dating (Race wasn’t), he felt the familiar comfort and contentedness fill him up and he sunk back into the pillows, grateful to be experiencing this once more.

It was hardly past midnight when there was a knock at the door.

“Who could that be?” Medda asked as she stood from the desk chair, walking to the door.

“I dunno,” said Finch, “I think everyone’s here.”

The man at the door was tall and intimidating, stern eyes and a gray beard.

“I assume you didn’t hear about the curfew.” He looked unamused.

“Oh, I’m sorry. These are all my kids, we’re just doing some bonding and debriefing. I know where everyone is.” Medda explained.

“I’m glad you’ve done the bare minimum but I’m afraid that there is a 12:15 curfew that your students are breaking.” The man smiled but it was obviously fake, condescending.

“Oh, I’m sure it’s alright, everybody is accounted for. We do this every year.”

“Not this year you don’t. Everyone must be back in their assigned rooms immediately. I will be back in five minutes. I am not afraid to bring security.” The man turned on his heel and continued down the hall.

“Well,” Medda shut the door and entered the room, looking shocked, “you heard the man, I guess. Everyone off to bed.”

Everyone began gathering their things and filing out of the room. “I can’t believe that guy would talk to Medda like that, she’s an adult show some respect,” Race said.

“I know, it’s such a bummer. Hanging in here is always my favorite part,” agreed Spot.

Spot Conlon. Senior class president. Intimidating guy. Race has known him for as long as he can remember but he still finds it difficult to talk to him. Spot oozes a sense of too cool for you that Race couldn’t overcome. And it didn’t help that he was literally gorgeous. Race thinks that everyone probably has a crush on Spot but everyone’s too intimidated to say anything.

“Yeah, the whole point of this conference is to strengthen the council. That dude’s bullshit.” Race pulled his key card out of his lanyard and opened the door to his room. “Good night, I guess.” Race stepped into his room and flopped straight to his bed, Crutchie and Jack following.

Race and his roommates were talking and mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, nobody tired because they weren’t expecting to be in bed so soon when the room’s phone rang. Race, his bed being next to the phone on the nightstand, answered.

“Hello?” Race asked, confused.

“Hey, this Racer?” the voice on the other end asked.

“Yeah, Spot?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Why are you calling my room? Nobody uses these phones.” Race sat up against the headboard, answering Jack and Crutchie’s confused faces with a shrug.

“That dude can’t stop me from talking to people,” Spot said. “So you’re using the shitty hotel phones as your way of sticking it to the man?” Race asked, smiling.

“Honestly, it was the first thing I thought of. What are you guys up to? You with Crutch and Cowboy?”

“Yeah, we were just hanging around. Weren’t expecting to be in bed this early.” Race got comfortable, falling into the conversation.

“Yeah, this totally blows. No offense to my roommates but I wasn’t exactly looking forward to spending the entire night with them.” Race heard a muffled “Dude we’re right here,” from the other line.

And so, they kept talking. About the day, the plans they had for tomorrow, the crazy English teacher they shared. It was hard to believe that they’d hardly talked before tonight.

Race hadn’t noticed the time passing until Jack and Crutchie were both ready to sleep.

“Racer, I don’t wanna put an end to your endless flirting but Crutch and I are gonna go to bed. Wanna do us a favor and shut the fuck up? Ain't this what texting was invented for?” Jack plugged his phone in and set it on the nightstand before taking his socks off and getting into bed. Race checked the clock on the dresser. 3:42.

“Shit, Spot. We should probably get some sleep.” Race said, giving an apologetic smile to Jack. Jack rolled his eyes in response.

“Yeah, I guess. Talk to ya soon Racer.”

Race set down the phone and got up to take his contacts out.

“You two talked for a while,” Crutchie called from his bed to Race in the bathroom.

“He’s just easy to talk to I guess. I don’t know, it’s weird. I’ve never really talked to him much before.” Race washed his hands and stared at his tired eyes in the mirror.

“Yeah and so are we,” Jack called. “You just ignored us for like four hours. I didn’t realize you were trying to get a man this weekend.”

“Shut up, I’m not,” Race walked out of the bathroom wearing his glasses. “He called here, I just had a conversation. Besides, he could have been calling for any of us.”

“Whatever you say but neither of us would have talked to Spot Conlon for more than a minute before hanging up. Right, Crutch?” Jack turned the light off as Race got into bed.

“Honestly I’m surprised you answered the phone,” answered Crutchie.

“So what? I’m personable and you’re jealous. Good night fellas.” Race set his glasses on the nightstand and resisted the urge to text Spot. His number sat unused in Race’s phone. It would be weird if Race texted him, he’s sure Spot only talked to Race to have something to do. No big deal.

The next morning was business as usual. Jack, Race, and Crutchie woke up and groaned about being tired for only a minute before getting ready for the day. The days at the conference were long and busy with little downtime outside of meals so they packed their bags with snacks and their notebooks and phone chargers before meeting up with some of the others to go to breakfast. The three boys along with Davey, Katherine and Finch all met in the hallway and we’re about to leave when another door opened and out stepped Spot.

“Hey, guys. You heading to breakfast?” Spot asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Yeah, you wanna join us?” Asked Davey.

“Thanks. I didn’t get a ton of sleep and my roommates were out early.” The group started walking toward the elevators.

“I wonder why.” Jack elbowed Race in the side as soon as Spot was out of earshot.

Race wasn’t sure how to act. It’s not like he and Spot are best friends. They’ve hardly spent any time together. Sure, now Race knows that Spot wants to be a lawyer and he loves meatball subs and his guilty pleasure is The Bachelorette but still, he hardly actually knows him.

“Shut up, Jack. I don’t wanna hear it.” Race replied quietly yet seriously.

Spot, Katherine, and Finch walked ahead, having some conversation the others couldn’t hear. “What’s going on with Spot and Race?” Davey asked.

“Nothing,” Race insisted but at the same time Crutchie replied, “They spent all night flirting on the hotel phone.”

“Really? Race and Spot Conlon? Not exactly a pair I would put together.”

“Dave, I’m literally standing right here.” Race rolled his eyes.

“Sorry, buddy. Maybe next time if you wanna flirt discreetly do it over text.”

“That’s what I said!” Jack said excitedly, bouncing as he walked.

Race took his phone from his pocket and checked his notifications, ignoring the conversation between the others.

The days at the conference are long and busy. After breakfast they broke into leadership workshops with students from other schools and Race didn’t see his friends for any longer than a passing by in the hallway. He didn’t mind, though. He loves reconnecting with old friends who he hasn’t seen in months or even since the last conference the year before. He plays games and light-hearted get-to-know-you’s while having serious discussions about inclusion and fundraising and school politics. It’s all of Race’s favorite things wrapped into one.

He didn’t think about Spot or Jack or Crutchie, he just had fun, took notes and made friends. After the workshops, they met in the main hall for a keynote speaker. There’s no losing with these. Either they’re very motivational and moving or they're terrible and the council can make jokes about them in the group chat. Race ignored the sadness he felt when Spot sat at a different table. They’re not even really friends, why should he care that he didn’t sit with Race and his friends? He shook off his emotions and took a SnapChat video of Jack under Davey’s arm to caption with a disgusted emoji. There’s no reason he should be bothered by Spot so he’ll just carry on.

That night was the fancy night. There was a banquet where everyone had to dress up and they gave out awards and recognized the best advisors and people gave speeches. But most importantly, it’s boring. The speeches were long and Race never knew who any of the people are anyway. The only benefits are the good food and being able to mess around with his friends with the added thrill of needing to be quiet. Everything’s funnier when you’re not supposed to laugh.

Because the banquet was formal, there was extra time for everyone to get ready than there would usually be for an evening program. Race isn’t finicky about his look. He doesn’t usually try to manage his curls more than wetting and brushing them and that’s the extent of his cosmetic routine. Jack, on the other hand, is surprisingly precise about getting his hair just right and looking his best. Maybe it’s an artist thing, like his hair is a canvas and his too-strong smelling pomade is the paint. Race is sure it also doesn’t help his time management that Davey is sitting on the counter in the bathroom while Jack gets ready in the mirror, but that’s none of his business.

So, Race was lying in bed, already in his dress shirt and bowtie waiting for the rest of his peers to be ready to leave. Eventually, as he waited, people joined him and his room became the hangout for the boys who were already ready to go.

There were probably about eight guys in the room already when Spot walked in. He was wearing a dark navy shirt with a grey tie and he looked incredible. Race fell from second place to seventh on the game of Mario Kart they were playing on Elmer’s Switch when Spot walked in.

“Hey, fellas. I heard some fun in here so I thought I’d stop by.” Spot took a seat on Race’s bed and began watching the game.

“Yeah, man, no problem. We got time to kill and snacks and Mario Kart, I dunno why you’d be anywhere else.” Jack said without taking his eyes off the screen. He was in tenth place but still determined to win. From his spot on the bed, Jack elbowed Race, looking over at him with a small grin. Race glared back.

Spot took a seat on the office chair in the room. “Who’s who?” Spot said, leaning over to see the screen.

“I’m top right,” said Race.

“Damn, Higgins. Seventh place? You gotta step up.” Spot began spinning in the chair.

“Yeah, I was almost in the lead but I got distracted.” Race concentrated on the screen.

“Oh yeah? By what?” Spot stopped the chair’s movement to look at Race.

Race froze. “Uh, nothing. Never mind.”

“Real smooth, Racer.” Jack grinned.

“Shut up, Jack. I don’t wanna hear it.”

Race looked up from the screen to steal a glance at Spot. Race swears he could see Spot look away before they could make eye contact; as if Spot was looking at Race and didn’t want to get caught. Race grinned and focused his attention back to the game, shooting into third place.

Race ended in third and gave up his spot for the next game, allowing someone else to play. He moved onto Jack’s bed, closer to the desk Spot was sitting in.

“You’re not gonna play?” Race asked Spot.

“Nah, you guys seem to be having fun.” Spot shook his head.

“Doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with us.”

“I don’t wanna intrude.”

“It’s not intruding.” Race said, “we’re all here for the same reason. We’re all hanging out.”

“Thanks, Race. Maybe later.” Spot took his phone out of his pocket and looked away from Race. It might be his imagination but Race thinks he can see Spot smile. It feels good to know that he is the one who caused it.

“Is anyone naked in here?” A voice came from outside the door.

“Yeah, Kat. We all are, come on in.” Jack called back.

The door opened. “Shut up, I wanted to make sure it was safe to enter. You guys ready?”

Katherine looked beautiful with her makeup done and her dress complimenting her body.

“We good fellas?” asked Jack. The guys began gathering their things and heading toward the door.

“You look beautiful, Katherine.” Race said, “That dress is bangin’”

“Aw, thanks, Racetrack. You’re not too bad yourself.”

Everyone met in the hallway and Medda led them down to the banquet hall. They took some group pictures and Race became a designated photographer for some of the girls having photoshoots for Instagram before he got dragged into some photos himself.

He loved this environment, where everyone was friends even if they don’t talk much at school. Maybe that’s why Spot’s been talking to him. Not because he wants to talk to Race, in particular, he just has been in the mood to be social, to meet people, to bond. That was probably it. There was no reason for Spot to call Race’s room, he probably didn’t even know who was in each room. And he could have wanted to talk to Jack or Crutchie. There was nothing there.

Race was determined to not let this realization ruin his mood. The dinner on banquet night is always the best and the way the council sneaks videos of each other failing to stay awake during the speeches is one of his favorite parts of the night. He still has that and he has his friends with him and that’s all he needs.

In the banquet hall Race sat next to Davey and Katherine, which means Jack, Crutchie, and Sarah were coming in tow. The rest of the council filled into the tables nearby, and the chatter and excitement for dinner and the dance later that night filled the room.

Race’s mood didn’t fall for the rest of the night. The dinner ended and people were clearing the hall to prepare for the dance. They were serving ice cream in the hotel lobby to keep the students busy while they put the tables away. The excitement of the dance that night echoed through the lobby as people lined up to get back into the hall.

The dance was crowded and hot and sweaty and shouldn’t be enjoyable but Race was in his element. His throat hurt from screaming the lyrics to random pop songs as well as student government favorites but he wouldn’t have it any other way. A slow song came on and Race left the dance floor. He could see his coupled friends move toward each other and some of his other friends dance together as a half-joke half-platonic loving gesture. Race headed to the refreshments to get some water.

He was filling his cup when someone came up behind him.

“Hey, Racer.”

Race turned around to see Spot Conlon behind him holding an empty cup.

“Spot, hey. Slow songs not your thing?” Race took a sip.

“Not when I have nobody to dance with.” Spot filled his own cup.

“Yeah, I feel that.”

“Is there something weird between us?” Spot asked suddenly. “We talked so much last night but today it’s like we don’t even know each other.”

“Oh, thank God.” Race let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in. The lights changed and Race’s favorite song started playing. “I gotta go, but let’s just say if you called again tonight, I’d answer.” Race threw away his cup and ran toward the dancefloor. He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.

The dance ended and Race and his friends were walking back to their rooms. When they turned the corner down the hall they saw the same man from the night before waiting by their rooms.

“There someone you’re looking for?” Asked Jack.

“No, I’m just here to make sure this council stays in their assigned rooms tonight, it seems you can’t be trusted.” The man stood with his arms crossed, looking down the hallway.

“Alright then, good night I guess.” Jack took his keycard out and opened their room and Race and Crutchie followed him in.

“That seems unnecessary,” said Crutchie.

“Yeah, totally,” Race said but he was too focused on the phone. He hadn’t talked to Spot since he saw him at the dance.

Race took a shower, hoping the whole time that the phone wouldn’t ring while he was bathing. Because it seemed that this year there would be no council bonding this year Race brushed his teeth and took his contacts out before changing into pajamas. He was sitting on his bed texting his mom when the phone rang.

“Hey.” Race tried to not sound too excited.

“What’s up, Racer?”

“Not much, apparently. I can’t believe that guy won’t let us hang out in Medda’s room”

“Don’t worry. I figured out a way. Come through the sliding door.”

Race looked across the room to the door leading to a courtyard. The hotel was shaped like a rectangle with a garden in the center. Race can’t believe he hadn’t thought of this. If the people on this side of the hall go through the courtyard they could get into each other’s rooms.

“Spot, you’re a genius.” Race hung up the phone and headed toward the door, ignoring Crutchie asking where he’s going.

When Race got outside he saw Spot waiting with a smug grin on his face.

“Nice glasses, Racetrack.”

Spot was still wearing his formalwear from the dance and Spot was suddenly very aware of his flannel pajama pants and glasses.

“Yeah, I guess I wasn’t expecting to see anyone but Jack and Crutch tonight.”

Spot’s grin grew. “So if you knew you were gonna see me you would’ve gotten all dolled up?”

Race could feel his cheeks grow red. “I can neither confirm nor deny that.”

“Race?” Spot asked quietly.

“Yeah?”

“Do you wanna kiss me as badly as I wanna kiss you?”

“Yeah,” Race repeated with a smile.

“Get over here, then.”

Race stepped forward, closing the space between them. Spot’s arms wrapped around Race’s waist and he pulled him closer. Race didn’t know how badly he wanted this until it started happening but now he can’t imagine a world without Spot. Two days ago Race and Spot hardly spoke. They had different friends, different classes, different lives and Race had no clue what he was missing out on.

They separated when they heard the door to Race’s room open.

“Racetrack Higgins, you mean to tell me that you found a way to hang out with other rooms and you didn’t tell us so that you could stand out in the cold and make out with Spot?” Jack looked offended as he walked outside, Crutchie following.

“It was Spot’s idea.” Race said, defensively.

“Hey, don’t bring me into this.” Spot whacked Race on the chest.

“It doesn’t matter.” Crutchie shut the door behind him. “We’re gonna be in Finch and Dave’s room. We’ll text when we’re heading back.” Crutchie’s smile implied that he knew exactly what they were doing as they left the room empty.

It was well past midnight when Jack and Crutchie were crossing back through the courtyard back to their room. Race hadn’t answered their texts and they feared they were going to see more than they ever wanted to see when they opened the door.

Crutchie walked inside and was surprised to see Spot and Race cuddled under the blankets on Race’s bed, Race’s glasses smashed against his face.

“Aw, they’re sweet.” Crutchie looked to Jack, smiling. Jack still had a hand over his eyes. “Jack, you’re ridiculous you can open your eyes.”

“You can never be too safe, Crutch. I didn’t need any new mental scars tonight.”

They decided to let the boys sleep, nobody got enough sleep at these conferences anyway. They were leaving the next morning and it’s always difficult to get up and pack when they haven’t slept all weekend. So, they were quiet as they got themselves ready for bed before they shut the light off and went to sleep.

The next morning Spot woke up confused as to where he was. It wasn’t until he saw Race standing across the room that his confusion melted away into a smile.

“Mornin’, sleepyhead,” Race said, his words muffled into his toothbrush. “You should probably head back to your room to pack and get ready for breakfast.”

Spot pried himself from the bed, groaning at the discomfort as he stood. “I can’t believe you guys let me sleep in my dress clothes.”

“Sorry, man, but I think there would have been bloodshed if we woke you up,” Crutchie responded as he packed his suitcase.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Spot walked to Race and pressed a kiss to his temple before leaving the room. Race was giddy as he went back into the bathroom to spit his toothpaste.

“So, things seem pretty good with you guys, what happened last night?” Jack asked.

“We did what we’re best at. We talked.”

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