"That's literally the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"I highly doubt that. You're using the word literally wrong."

"Do you like, get off on correcting grammar?"

Mr. Kaepora slammed a hand on the table. "Both of you, quiet! I gave you the simplest of simple tasks, and all you've managed to do is argue more. What were you supposed to be doing?"

"Finding something we have in common," Zelda muttered. Link only crossed his arms.

"Precisely." Mr. Kaepora returned to his desk at the front of the room, leaving the two teenagers sitting in desks that had been pushed together near the back. "Start from the beginning again, children. Introduce yourself, and say three things you like."

They were only five minutes into their detention, but Link felt that was five minutes too long with Zelda. Why couldn't Kaepora just put them in opposite corners of the room or switch one of their classes like a normal teacher?

Zelda glared at the boy across from her. When they had introduced themselves the first time, Link had said the three things he liked were girls, sleeping in, and the absence of Zelda─or, as he had put it, "A Zelda-less space." Suddenly, an idea came to her.

"I know what we have in common," she announced. "We don't like each other."

To her great surprise, Link actually snickered. "Do you think he'll count that?"

"I doubt it, but it's worth a shot." She gave a sheepish smile.

Link shook his head. "Man, if you get me out of detention after only five minutes, I might consider only strongly disliking you instead of hating you."

They approached Mr. Kaepora's desk, and Zelda cleared her throat. "Sir, we know what we have in common."

The teacher raised an eyebrow expectantly. "We both hate each other's guts," he said bluntly.

"...And?" Mr. Kaepora's tone was expectant. What else could there be?

"And what?" Link was getting annoyed now. "What else is there? Sorry, but I'm not going to go over favorite colors and best ice cream flavors."

Next to him, Zelda clapped her hands together. "I get it now!"

Link stared at her. His expression must have seemed hostile because she seemed embarrassed.

"Um, at least I think I get it." She turned to Kaepora. "You know we both don't like each other, but you also know we both don't want to be here. Your ultimate goal is us getting along. I think you're trying to force us to work together against a common enemy, in this case being you and detention. Right?"

Mr. Kaepora looked pleased. "You certainly caught on quickly. Not that I'm surprised; you really are quite bright, Miss Nohansen."

Zelda looked pleased. She tucked her hair behind her ear and was smiling slightly. Link narrowed his eyes. She's done playing teacher's pet and being a good noodle; when were they allowed to leave?

He asked, and Kaepora gave him an unreadable look. Zelda stepped on his foot discreetly. What was their problem? It was a valid question.

Finally, Mr. Kaepora said, "I don't think so, Mr. Hero. Standard detention is usually thirty minutes."

Link nodded and shoved his hands into the pocket of the hoodie he was wearing. "This isn't going to work," he muttered.

"It certainly won't if you don't put in the same effort as Miss Nohansen," said the teacher tersely. "I must say, she seems much more receptive than you. Much more willing to make an effort."

"Oh, please. She's just doing what she has to to get out of detention as fast as possible so she can go home and lie to her dad about why she was at the school so late. What was it you told Pipit you were going to say? 'Tutoring someone in math'?" chided Link.

Zelda rolled her eyes. "Sorry, who was it that asked when we could leave two seconds in?"

"It was literally your idea to say that the thing we had in common was not liking each other to get out faster!"

"You're still using that word wrong."

Mr. Kaepora stood up, his chair rolling back and hitting the wall with a thud. "Stop, both of you. Since all you two seem to do is argue, you will no longer be allowed to talk. Do I make myself understood?"

Zelda and Link nodded, both of their mouths shut tight. They wore matching indignant expressions.

"Good." The history teacher grabbed his chair and calmly sat down again. "Now, continue trying to find things you have in common. No words, written or spoken. Pictures are acceptable─so long as they're not rude, that is. Go."

They shuffled back to their seats in the back of the room. Immediately after sitting down, Zelda opened her backpack and rummaged around before producing a green notebook with the word 'Biology' neatly printed on the cover. She flipped open to the last page and pulled a pencil out from behind her ear. Link tried to make sense of what she had begun drawing, but upside down, all he could say for sure was that she was drawing stick figures.

After a moment, she turned the notebook so it was facing him. On the lined page was a clean drawing of five stick figures. Two of them, a man and a woman, were farther from the rest and had X's over them. The other three figures were a woman with lines on her face, a boy that had what Link guessed was supposed to be his bangs, and a smaller girl with short pigtails. Next to her drawing, Zelda had written a question mark.

Zelda had seemed to decide that the best place to start looking for what they had in common was family. Link knew the line-faced woman and the little girl were his grandmother and sister. The crossed out man and woman were probably his parents, who were dead. The question mark was Zelda asking if what she had drawn was correct. Link looked up at her and nodded.

He took the pencil out of her hand and began to draw his own version for her. The stick figures looked a lot worse. He was grateful real people didn't actually have arms this long compared to their bodies. When he turned the notebook around, he had drawn a man and a woman standing on both sides of a girl with a little Z drawn in her circle head. He hadn't known how to individualize the stick figure to look like her as she had done for him.

Zelda looked at the drawing for a moment before gently taking back the pencil and crossing out the woman. What? He had thought for sure he had seen Zelda's mother before. She was a tall, strong looking woman with silver hair.

However, that wasn't exactly a fact he could dispute. He instead took the pencil back and circled both of the crossed out women; one on his drawing, and one on hers. Something they had in common.

Zelda nodded. Her eyes seemed sad as she looked at the drawings, but she gave a small smile and the feeling was gone. Picking up the notebook, she turned the page so the other side of the paper they had been working on was now facing up.

They continued this way, Zelda drawing things about her life and Link drawing things about his, for the rest of their detention. Link was surprised to find that this was the least he had hated Zelda since he had had a crush on her in middle school. He could hear Ashei's voice in his head saying some other dumb thing that implied that he was in love with Zelda. She had done this since he had made the mistake of telling her he had a crush three years ago. It had never stopped annoying him, and it got especially bad when he had stopped liking her. Sure, Zelda was moderately attractive, but he really and truly didn't like her anymore. Not as a friend, and definitely not as anything more. Ashei would have to see that eventually.

"I'm impressed, you two," Mr. Kaepora said after calling them up to his desk. "You may go. I'll see both of you again tomorrow afternoon."

"But sir," Zelda said tentatively, as if she wasn't sure she was allowed to speak, "our class is in the morning."

"I'm well aware, Miss Nohansen. I meant for another detention."


Din, Nayru, and Farore. He was so hot. Karane tried not to swoon as she laughed at Pipit's joke.

She always relished this part of the day. She and Pipit lived in the same neighborhood, which was also the last stop on their bus. 45 minutes of Pipit's attention five days a week. It couldn't get any better.

Well, it could. It definitely could. He could realize his undying love for her and break up with Zelda, but Karane didn't see that as a very likely occurrence.

Their stop was coming up. Pipit glanced out the window for the first time since pulling out of the high school. Time seemed to fly on the bus when he was talking to Karane. He used to think she was kind of an airhead, but lately, it seemed as if there was more to her than he thought.

The bus rolled to a stop. A few people here and there stood up and made their way down the aisle to the front of the bus. Among them was Shad, a good friend of Pipit's. He would have sat with Shad instead, but Karane offered him the seat next to her. Who was he to refuse?

Pipit and Shad fist-bumped as he walked past. It was a practiced gesture that almost felt lazy. Pipit loved moments like that. Evidence of casual closeness between his friends always made him happier than grand gestures. He just liked the instinctual thoughtlessness of it. They weren't choosing to be his friends; they just were.

The bus started moving again, and Karane turned her phone to show him a funny picture she had found. Their laughter filled the almost-empty bus.

Karane showed him another picture, and as she did Pipit felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out. It was from Zelda.

He looked at Karane's phone and snickered. The picture reminded him of a story that he wanted to tell.

Glancing at the notification again, Pipit guiltily slipped the phone back into his pocket. Zelda could wait.


Zelda walked out of the high school feeling relieved. Link always made her anxiety levels spike. They were walking next to each other in complete silence, even though they were allowed to talk again. It reminded her of when you were in an elevator with someone whose face you knew but not their name.

Midna and Pipit had always been so close to Link, but Zelda could never understand how that was possible. Getting to know him seemed like trying to climb a barbed wire fence. She realized thinking this was sort of hypocritical considering all they had shared in detention, but that had only been basic facts. They hadn't even been talking either. It didn't count.

Sitting on a green bench in the chilly January air, Zelda watched as Link got into his crappy looking car and drove away. She desperately wanted her temporary driver's license. She was technically old enough─she had turned 15 and a half on January 8th─but her father wouldn't let her anywhere near the driver's seat until she was 16. Any attempt to change this only ended in fighting.

Her teeth were chattering by the time her ride pulled up. Heat blasted her face as she opened the door to the backseat and climbed inside. The person in the passenger seat turned to look at her.

"Brrr. Your nose and cheeks are all red, Zelda."

"Well, duh. It's cold."

Malon looked at her reproachfully. "I know that."

Malon's older sister Romani is driving. Romani, Malon, and their younger sister Cremia all look like identical copies of one another. Romani's eyes are brown and Cremia has freckles, so they aren't exactly alike, but Zelda still thought it was creepy.

In the front seat, Malon was typing away at her phone. Zelda's hands were still too numb to pull her own phone out, so she stared out the window instead.

"Did I tell you what happened last time Link and I hung out?" Malon asks, her voice suggestive. It was like she wanted everyone to want to know.

"Oooh, no you didn't. Spill," Zelda said, feigning interest. It was easier to lie.

Malon turned around to face the backseat. "He had to sneak out."

My eyebrows shoot up. Now she actually had my attention.

"We were making out in my room, like usual, but I heard something downstairs. Next thing I know, my dad is coming up the steps saying he got home early and I'm shoving Link into a closet. It was like, straight out of a movie or something." Malon says all of this with a look of glee on her face. Ever since I've known her she's loved drama. Especially her own.

I know she probably texted Romani about this right after it happened. She's in college her second year of college and Malon tells her absolutely everything.

"So, I finally get my dad back downstairs," she continues, "but Link is still upstairs. At this point, I'm thinking, 'Why not just go full cliché and have him jump out the window?' So, I open up the closet super quietly…" She continues her story, and─to my dismay─spares no details. I don't care that I'm in a relationship and this is hypocritical to say; high school couples are gross.

I think about Pipit. He isn't gross. In fact, I think he's quite the opposite. I still have no clue why he dates someone like me. I text him, saying that Malon is talking about her relationship with Link. He and I both think it's a disastrous pairing.

We ride on for a few minutes, Malon still recounting her dramatic tale. Pipit doesn't respond, even though I know he's still on the bus home. He always complains about how long the ride is.

I'm impatient. I text Midna instead, who responds immediately. She offers to video chat, and I tell her to wait until I'm home.

Malon has only just reached the part of her story where Link leaves through her window. Apparently, they had time to swap spit again before he left. It was hard for Zelda not to gag as Malon tried to describe how Link's lips tasted. Great Hylia, she thought she'd rather dissolve on the spot than keep listening to this, gross gross gross─

After far too long of a car ride, Romani finally pulled up to Zelda's driveway. She climbed out of the car with a hasty goodbye and ran up to the front door. Neither her father or Impa was home, so she pulled her key out of her backpack and unlocked the door.

Warmth hit her as she stepped inside. She sighed with relief and unzipped her light jacket. She knew getting a warmer one would be smarter, but they were all puffy and looked like a third grader's.

Sometimes, coming home made her feel guilty. Looking around her house always emphasized how privileged she was compared to most of the people she knew. Her house was huge. More than once she had been casually dubbed a "rich kid". One of her biggest fears was fitting the snobby and stuck up stereotype associated with the title.

She made popcorn in the kitchen before going upstairs to her room. She passed by Impa's room in the hallway. As usual, the door was shut. She was an old friend of her parents and had moved in with Zelda and her father after Zelda's mother had died. Before that, seeing Impa had been a special occasion as she had lived far away in Kakariko.

Zelda stepped inside her room and was filled with sweet relief. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out to see a text from Midna asking if they were still going to video chat. Zelda thought of her backpack guiltily. Homework could wait.

She sat on her bed and opened the video chat app. She turned up the volume on her phone and listened to the little calling jingle as she waited for Midna to pick up.

"Hey, girl, heyyy." Midna's voice filled the quiet space. On the screen, her short orange hair was messy and sticking out in all directions.

"What the hell happened to your hair?" Zelda exclaimed, laughing.

Midna shrugged. "You likey?"

"No, I don't 'likey'. Weird."

"So what was up with Malon? All you said was she was TMI-ing about her and Link."

Zelda perched the phone on her nightstand and crawled into her bed. Grabbing her bowl of popcorn, she said, "Yeah, that's pretty much it. I'll spare you the details like I wish she had with me."

"I appreciate it."

"It's just so strange. It's like hearing stories about a completely different person than the one I know."

"In his defense, Link hasn't really given you the chance to know him. The only side you know is his mean side."

Zelda snorted. "He really only seems to have two sides; mean and horny."

"Aw, Zel. That's not true. Every teenage boy has those sides. I promise you he's more complex than that."

There was silence. Zelda stared into her half-empty popcorn bowl with a troubled expression. "Why does he hate me so much?" she asked in a small voice.

A sigh crackled from her phone. The signal had weakened, so her friend's face on the screen was displayed in a low resolution. "Link is like a puppy that barks at every single person who enters the room. He's wary of absolutely everyone, even Pipit and me at times. Eventually, he'll grow up and realize that you're not a threat."

Zelda took this in for a moment before muttering, "He seems more like a wolf to me. Aggressive and ruthless."

Midna let out a small exhale of amusement. "He'd be a very stupid wolf."

Zelda told Midna about her detention and how Pipit still hadn't responded, and Midna talked about skipping class with Ashei. Half an hour seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.

"Oh, shoot. I need to do my homework before Impa gets home." Zelda cracked a popcorn kernel in her mouth. "I gotta go."

"No problem," Midna said, and seemed to hesitate before adding, "Can I talk to you about something really quick?"

Zelda nodded. It wasn't like Midna to ask before telling her something. This must be serious.

"I, um...I… Nevermind." Midna's usually confident voice shook with unsureness.

Zelda wanted to press her but knew better. "It's ok. You can tell me some other time?"

Midna's tiny face on the phone screen smiled. It didn't seem genuine. "Yeah. Maybe."


Shad's ankles were numb. The sidewalks in his neighborhood still weren't shoveled, even though it had snowed three days ago. His shoes were soaked through with melted snow.

The bus ride had been lonely without Pipit. He had spent the entire time doing homework with earbuds jammed in his ears. Shad had never really loved music the way other people had. He just played whatever was popular or recommended to him. As a result, he associated music with times when he had no one else to talk to. He felt pathetic.

He was worried about Pipit. They had been friends for years, and Shad knew him well enough to recognize when he was flirting. Even if he hadn't known, it didn't take a genius to see how he had been charming Karane on the bus. The guy had a girlfriend, for goodness sake. Shad didn't know Zelda well, but she had always been kind to him. He didn't want to see her get hurt.

When he got home, Shad took off his shoes and hobbled to the heating vent on the floor. He stood on the grate until he could feel his feet again. There was a mirror nearby on the wall. He glanced at his reflection and winced. Sometimes, he worried people could see through him, that they knew everything about him with a single look. The thought terrified him.

He thought about Ashei, and his lonely feeling from the bus came back. They hadn't spoken since the day before when they had argued at his locker. Less than 48 hours and he already missed her.

Maybe...maybe Ashei was right. It probably wasn't the end of the world that Midna knew he was─that Midna knew his secret. She had never given him any reason not to trust her.

He felt foolish now. He had been a dick to Ashei for a stupid reason. She had been his ally and closest friend. How could he have dismissed her so easily?

He pulled out his phone and opened her icon in the messages app. She had texted him seven separate times to apologize again over the last day and a half. He started to type out a long message but deleted it halfway through. Instead, he typed I'm sorry. and hit send.

Ashei's response came almost immediately.

i know. it's ok


I cackled when I picked the name for this chapter. Hehe. You're welcome.

I also workshopped the synopsis. The old one seemed too dramatic and didn't fit the lighter tone I try to give this story. I like the new one a lot more, and I hope you all do too.

As always, thank you so much for your support! :D