I got into his car the next day, my fingers thrumming against my backpack.

"Hey." He said, leaning over and kissing me on the cheek.

"We okay?" I asked and he nodded.

"So, I uh… I heard about this movie that's coming out this weekend, do you want to go see it?" I asked and he hunched his shoulders.

"I can't." He said softly.

"Oh, uh… maybe we can just hang out at my place." I said and he shook his head.

"I can't hang out with you this weekend." He said and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Oh… okay." I whispered.

It wasn't, he couldn't hang out this weekend, it was, He can't hang out with Me.

Well that felt a lot worse than I thought it would.

"I'll see you next class." He said and I nodded as I walked into my classroom. I sighed and played with my phone before asking my teacher could I leave class.

He waved me off and I made my way into the bathroom before calling Kim.

"Hey, what's up Loser?" She answered the phone cheekily and I took a deep breath.

"If a guy says 'I can't hang out with you this weekend' should I be worried?" I asked and she sighed.

"What happened. You didn't have another mini freakout and ask him about his sexual history did you?" She asked.

"No… Lily saw us kissing." I said and she tsked.

"Well, shit." Kim said and I took a deep breath to stabilize my fast beating heart.

"Maybe he's grounded." She said and I shook my head.

"I don't think so; he normally prefaces it with 'I'm grounded'. What should I do?" I asked and she sighed.

"Just, don't freak out. It could be a family thing. Just let him talk to you about it." She said and I nodded.

"And whatever you do, do not make a scene about it. Please." She said and I nodded.

"Alright, okay, thanks for the advice." I said.

"No problem. Now, get to class." She said and I hung up before heading back to class.

"Milton…" Jerry grabbed my arm and pulled me into an alcove.

"Yeah?" I asked, looking around.

"I can't hang out with you this weekend." He said and I nodded.

"I know." I said and he sighed.

"I can't because I have a date." He said and my heart thumped unevenly.

"Oh… is she pretty?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant about it and he pushed my shoulder.

"It's not like that." He said and I shrugged.

"Well, you normally only date pretty girls, I just wanted to know." I said softly.

"I didn't ask her out. My mom did. My parents have noticed that I haven't had any girlfriends in a while. So my dad thought it would be a great idea to hook me up with the girl from church." He said and I clenched my jaw.

"Why didn't you tell them you were seeing someone?" I asked and he glared at me.

"Because you're the person I'm seeing. They've noticed how much time we've been spending together." He said and I shrugged.

"Well great." I said.

"It's not like it is with your family. I don't have these great white parents that'll support me like that. I have my parents, and my parents don't play with this kinda stuff." He said and I nodded.

"Oh, I thought this was about our relationship. Sorry, I forgot." I said and he rolled his eyes.
"Don't be like that." He said and I sighed.

"Whatever, I hope you and church girl have a good, sanctified time. I've got class." I said and he sighed.

"Milton, please don't be like that." He said and I smiled at him.

"Be like what?" I asked and he sighed but followed me to class.

I looked up from my book to see Sydney sitting alone. I got up and went over to him.

"Hey Sidney." I said and he looked up at me before looking around.

"What are you doing?" He asked and I furrowed my brow.

"I'm saying hey to my friend. Why didn't you answer my call yesterday?" I asked and he looked down.

"Look Milt-"

"What's going on Sidney? You haven't talked to me since I broke my hand." I said, looking down at the cast. I noticed a bruise on his arm.

"What happened to your arm Sidney?" I asked softly.

"Milton, I really don't think this is a good idea. I've gotta go." He said, picking up his stuff.

"Wait, where are you going?" I asked and he shook his head and kept walking.

"Hey, Why are you sitting over here?" He asked and I stood up.

"No reason." I said softly before going to the table.

"What's wrong?" Jerry asked as he sat beside of me and I shook my head.

I tapped my fingers against my book as I tried to put together an answer key for Jerry's study guide.

"I just don't get it." I said and he looked over at me.

"You don't get World War Two?" He asked and I rolled my eyes.

Our study dates have been strictly study dates since Lily walked in on us. Not to mention he had a second date with church girl.

"No. I don't get why Sidney won't talk to me. What did I do?" I asked and he snorted.

"Sidney's a loser." He said and I rolled my eyes again.

"Yeah, but so am I. It's just weird. Ever since flint beat me up, it's like he won't look at me." I said, tapping my pencil against the textbook.

"Well, he has no right to look at you, the way he left you there to get beat up by those culeros." He said.

"Yeah, but why isn't he talking to me. We're nerds, we get beat up and we run." I said.

"Because, I told him not to." He said before highlighting something.

"What?" I asked.

"I told him to stay away from you. He just let you get beat up like that. He should be the one with the broken hand, not you." He said simply.

"Why would you do that?" I asked.

"Because he bailed on you." He said and I slammed my book closed.

"So because Sidney ran, he's not worthy to be my friend. Why are you dictating who I get to be friends with?" I asked and he rolled his eyes.

"Please Milton, don't start." He said and I scoffed.

"What? Me don't start? So you can go out with anyone you want, and you can take girls out but I have to stay inside like a dirty little secret. I can't hang out with anyone else huh? Maybe I'd like to go out with someone who actually wants to be seen with me in public." I said and he scrubbed his hands over his face.

"You're blowing this way out of proportion alright? He left you. He's nothing." He said.

"God, you sound like Flint. You're the one who gave Sidney that bruise on his arm didn't you. Of course you did." I said and he rolled his eyes.

"He fell into a locker. It wasn't my fault."

"Just like I slammed my hand in a locker, over and over and fucking over again?" I asked and he shook his head.

"It's nothing like that." I said

"I'm nothing, right Jerry? I don't matter, and I can't make my own decisions. I can't be seen in public with you because you're afraid of your father and your stupid religion. I'm not important. I'm just a secret. A shameful secret." I said and he rolled his eyes.

"Well if that's the case, why don't you just go hang out with him? And when Flint tries to kick your ass again, we'll see where he'll be."

"Maybe I will." I said, taking the necklace Jerry gave me off and throwing it at him.

"If you want him, you can have him. Have fucking fun." He said, grabbing his stuff and cramming it in his backpack.

He slammed my door and I groaned before pressing the heel of my palms into my eyelids.

"Kim?" I whispered into my receiver.

"Hello?" She whispered, her voice groggy.

"I think me and Jerry just broke up." I whimpered, trying to keep myself from crying.