It was the first day of school. Joel sat on a bench and stared across the quad, looking at nothing in particular. He’d finished his lunch, trying to forget what was bothering him.

His gaze was diverted as someone walked past. It was a boy. Joel had never seen him before. He must be a new student at Hillcrest High. He was cute! Why couldn’t he meet a guy like him? Suddenly the guy turned and looked at Joel, and smiled. Joel smiled back, he couldn’t help himself. But then the guy turned away and looked down at the ground. Maybe he was shy. Or maybe it was because he was new.

Joel didn’t stare at him because he didn’t want to get busted. Instead, he looked around the quad and made sure he glanced at the guy. Glanced at him a lot. Damn, he was cute! And very sexy.

Joel realized that he was... excited... because of this guy. ‘Oh, my God,’ he thought, ‘if the bell rang now I wouldn’t be able to stand up without totally embarrassing myself.’ He realized that he was as randy as a goat! He loved that expression. He’d overheard his uncle say that about his older cousin who had a reputation as a real girl chaser. He hadn’t been sure what it meant, so he Googled it, and found out that it meant “ready to get it on”.

The guy looked up and smiled at Joel. He had reddish-blond hair, and for Joel that was something that absolutely turned him on. The guy continued to smile and walked over. Joel’s mind went into overdrive. ‘Oh, please, no! Here I am, randy as a goat, and this super hot guy is coming over to me. What the hell am I gonna do?’ He squeezed his thighs together to avoid having the new guy discover that he was... excited.

The guy sat next to Joel. “Uh, hi. Um, I’m new here, it’s my first day, and I have a question. Maybe you could help me out?”

Joel smiled and replied. “Sure. What d’ya need?” But he was thinking, ‘I know exactly how I’d like to help you out!’

The guy held out a card. “How does this bus ticket thing work? My mom drove me to school this morning. I’ve never had to take a bus from school before. How do I find my bus?”

“Lemme see.” Joel held out his hand, and the guy gave him the bus ticket, and brushed Joel’s palm with the back of his index finger. Joel realized that it had to be purposeful. ‘Oh, my God! I’m never going to be able to stand up again as long as I live!’

He looked at the guy’s bus ticket. It was for bus 15, the same bus he rode to and from school.

“Hey, this is my bus. Why don’t we meet at the front entrance after school and I’ll show you where we catch the bus.” He returned the guy’s bus ticket.

“Hey, that would be great! Thanks.”

Joel smiled at the guy’s enthusiasm. “My name’s Joel. Joel Carpenter.”

“Nice to meet ya, Joel. My name’s Randy Scott.”

Joel grinned, and tried to avoid thinking about the guy’s name. ‘RANDY? The guy’s name is RANDY?’ He started to chuckle, but choked it off.

“Hi, Ra... Randy.”

Joel couldn’t believe it. Here he was, randy as a goat, and this guy’s name was Randy. If he’d tried to write that as a story no one would believe it. It was way too far-fetched.

Randy started to say something to Joel, but the bell for fifth period began to ring. Saved by the bell!

Randy looked at Joel. “You going to class?”

“Uh, yeah, but I gotta wait for someone.”

Randy looked a little disappointed, but then he grinned and waved. “OK, Joel, I’ll see you later. At the front entrance. We’ll ride home together. Cool!” He turned and walked away, to his next class.

Joel closed his eyes, and willed himself to deflate. It finally worked, and he stood and hurried to his creative writing class. As he walked he thought about Randy. He started to laugh to himself. For some reason, he thought of Randy being randy as a goat. He laughed out loud, and other students rushing to their classes turned to see what was so funny.

Joel realized what it was. Suddenly, nothing was bothering him. Not any longer. That was very cool. And very funny!