It was fifth period at Northern Alternia Public High and the day was dragging on ridiculously slowly. Not only had he just come from History with Mr. Vantas, which was an awful class in itself, but his current class, Sex Education, was downright brain numbing. Ms. Serket, the teacher, loved to go into explicit detail of how everything worked. Everything. So it was no surprise that even a hardworking student like Tavros Nitram starting zoning out. And when he zoned out, his thoughts drifted in the same place. Gamzee Makara.

Gamzee transferred into NAPH during freshman year, which was unusual. What made it unusual was that Makara was a well to do kid, very well to do. Most kids in town would opt for private schooling or homeschooling if they could afford it. And yet here was Gamzee Makara, blood so deeply blue it might as well have been purple, going to Northern Alternia. Many kids suspected that he had transferred because of a drug problem at his private school, but instead of making a big fuss by expelling him and having him go to a Juvenile Detention Center, his parents paid off the Board of Education and just let him transfer peacefully. Gamzee Makara was a now sophomore, like Tavros, even though he should technically have been a junior.

Gamzee was an unusual kid. And not in the normal "unusual kid" way. He was unusual in the way that he liked to wear clown makeup. All of the time. Originally the teachers and principal were against it, but eventually let it go. Some people whispered in the halls that it was because his parents called the school and threatened to sue because Gamzee wore his makeup because of "religious reasons." And whenever people asked him about it, he would just smile and spout some tale about the "mirthful messiahs." He was well known in school for laughing at the oddest times and carrying nothing in his bag but cheap soda from gas stations. Nobody ever saw him eat anything at lunch, just a bottle of faygo and a nap.

Gamzee sat right next to Tavros, in the back of the class. Tavros turned his head to his left, to see what he was up to. His bag sat under his desk, and his legs were practically underneath the chair in front of him, so long were his legs. His eyes seemed to be glazed over, almost vacant, and a dopey smile sat on his lips. And then he turned to look at Tavros and winked. Tavros felt his cheeks heat up, so he quickly turned back to the front of the class, where Ms. Serket had pulled up a diagram of the female anatomy. He tried to pay attention to her lecture about the uterus and fallopian tubes and ovum, but he was distracted by a rustling sound. Through his peripheral vision, he could tell that Gamzee had bent over to search through his bag. Then there was a ripping sound, a scratching sound, and Gamzee leaned over to place something on his desk.

Tavros didn't even bother resisting the urge to look at it. It was a note on wide-ruled paper. Tavros frowned. Wide-ruled? A peek at the front showed Ms. Serket was still explaining the menstrual cycle, so he opened up the paper to read. In a deep purple color, Gamzee had written him a message.

WhAt iS Up mY BrOtHeR? i nOtIcEd yOu wErE AlL Up aNd sTaRiNg, AnD YoU SeEmEd lIkE OnE MoThErFuCkInG ChIlL BrO. :0)

Tavros felt his face pinch together in confusion, so he turned to look at Gamzee. He was leaning his head on his arm, which balanced on his desk, the same smile still plastered on his face. Unsure, he picked up his pencil to write, but as soon as he touched the pencil down, the point broke off. Grimacing in embarrassment, he stretched to reach his bag which sat next to him. The only writing implement he could find was a pen that wrote in brown.

uH, i DON'T BELIEVE THAT ANYTHING IS "UP?" aND UM THANKS, i GUESS, wAIT, tHAT WAS A COMPLIMENT RIGHT? aND YOU SEEM PRETTY "CHILL" AS WELL,

Tavros slapped his forehead in embarrassment at what he had written. He wrestled with whether he should scratch out the offending message or just get a new piece of paper to respond on. Maybe he should hide it and pretend he never got the paper. However, before he could decide, Gamzee reached one long arm over and snatched up the paper. He smiled down at it, and then quickly scrawled a response.

Of cOuRsE ThAt wAs a cOmPlImEnT. iTs aLl uP AnD MoThErFuCkInG RuDe tO Go aNd dIsS SoMeOnE WiThOuT AnY ReAsOn tO. aNd aInT NoThInG Up wItH Me, ExCePt fOr gEtTiNg tO MeEt mY NeW BrO.

The paper was passed back and forth.

Okay yeah its cool that we are bros now. Its cool to make new friends. I mean, I've only got a couple friends, but I thought it was cool to become friends with them.

I ReMeMbEr wHeN KaRbRo aNd i bEcAmE BrOs.

wAIT, kARBRO? aS IN kARKAT vANTAS? iSN'T HE THAT LITTLE ANGRY GUY WHO YOU SOMETIMES HANG OUT WITH? aRE YOU SURE HE LIKES YOU? i MEAN, iT'S NOT THAT i DON'T THINK THAT HE LIKES YOU, yOU KNOW, sPECIFICALLY, iT'S JUST THAT HE DOESN'T SEEM TO LIKE ANYBODY,

No, ThAtS JuSt kArBrO'S WaY. aNd hE DoEs lIkE PeOpLe. He aLl uP AnD MoThErFuCkInG LoOkS Up tO ThAt sEnIoR, kAnAyA MaRyAm. AnD He's gOt a cRuSh oN ThAt jUnIoR, tErEzI PyRoPe.

oH, oK, wOW, aRE YOU SURE IT'S OKAY THAT i KNOW THAT? aND i THINK i WHO kANAYA IS, i SEE WHY HE LOOKS UP TO HER, sHE'S REALLY NICE, bUT i KNOW tEREZI, dON'T LET HER BEING BLIND FOOL YOU, sHE IS REALLY KIND OF TERRIFYING AND MAYBE A LITTLE INSANE,

ThAt aLl uP AnD SoUnDs eXaCtLy lIkE ThE KiNd oF PeOpLe kArBrO LiKeS. iNsAnE AnD TeRrIfYiNg.

yOU DON'T SEEM INSANE OR TERRIFYING TO ME, oKAY, wELL, mAYBE A LITTLE SCARY BECAUSE YOU WEAR THAT CLOWN MAKEUP ALL THE TIME,

hONK, :0)

hAHA, yEAH,

YoU KnOw wHaT I AlL Up aNd mOtHeRfUcKiNg dIsCoVeReD JuSt nOw, TaVbRo?

wHAT WOULD THAT BE gAMZEE,,, uH, gAMBRO?

OuR PeN CoLoRs aLl uP AnD LoOk lIkE SoMe mOtHeRfUcKiNg dElIcIoUs pEaNuT BuTtEr aNd jElLy sAnDwIcH.

Before he could respond, however, the clack of heels headed his way started to cause Tavros to panic. He tried to think of a place to hide the paper, but before he could even move to place it somewhere safe, she was upon him.

"Excuse me, Mr. Nitram, Mr. Makara. As titillating as this conversation may be, I'd appreciate it if you could control your urges to speak to each other until you are out of my classroom." She peeked at the paper to scan some of the writing. "Peanut butter and jelly, huh?" The class started giggling, and one of the girls up front, the one wearing a blue cat hat, gasped, and flipped open a book with a bunch of drawings in it to write something down. Tavros suppressed a groan, but a glance at Gamzee showed he was completely unembarrassed. "I expect better of you, Mr. Nitram." She turned to Gamzee. "Mr. Makara . . ." And then she turned around. However, as she turned around and walked away, Gamzee slipped another piece of paper silently onto his desk.

413-426-9336 :0) hOnK

A phone number. Tavros didn't bother trying to hide his smile as he peeked over to the carefree boy next to him.