Fernando had gotten bored with Barik's lesson on exponential functions a while ago. Not being able to talk to Khan that much didn't help, either. He had tried to make casual conversation with him when Barik finally gave them time to work on some homework, but he simply nodded and stared at his worksheet. Strangely enough, when Fernando glanced over to his desk, there was barely anything written on his sheet. Fernando looked up to Khan to see that he had his hand on his forehead and was drumming his fingers on the desk rapidly. That's not like him at all, Fernando thought. This usually comes easy to him.

"You good?" he asked Khan. He didn't respond.

"Khan?" he asked again. "Hello?" Khan's hand froze.

"Yes?" he asked.
"Just checking up on you." Khan moved his hand over his face.
"I'm fine. Just having a hard time with these problems."

"Really? Who are you and what have you done with the real Khan?" Fernando joked, hoping to lighten the mood. Khan moved his hand to reveal his tired eyes glaring at him. It sent a shiver down Fernando's spine. He'd never seen Khan in this mood before. He let out a nervous chuckle and turned back to his paper, his fears that he had ruined his friendship with Khan already starting to creep back into his head. Fernando took a deep breath. He needed to talk to someone. He pulled out his phone and started typing a text message.

"Hey Cassie, want to hang out after school?" He put his phone back in his pocket, reading over some problems on his sheet to stave off the boredom while he awaited a response. He took another peek at Khan, and to his surprise, he was absent-mindedly staring right back at him. Fernando furrowed his brow, prompting the other boy to snap out of his daze and turn away, leaning back in his chair and stretching his arms above his head to cover his face. Probably just lost in thought, as usual. His phone vibrated in his pocket. A response from Cassie.

"Yes. Did you want to go somewhere in particular?" He hesitated for a second, remembering that he and Cassie were supposed to be broken up. He figured on the off chance that someone from school did spot them, they wouldn't care.

"Anywhere you want is fine."

"Okay, meet me after school in our usual spot." Fernando sent a thumbs up emoji in response, then put away his phone. He decided he would spend the rest of class actually working on math problems. He told himself that trying to do well in class would impress Khan.

After class ended, he said goodbye to Khan and headed to the quad where he would normally meet Cassie. She was sitting on a bench listening to music when he arrived. When she saw him approach, she took out her earbuds.

"Hi Fernando," she greeted.

"Hey Cassie, how are you?" She got up and started walking next to him.

"I'm good. You?" Fernando sighed, looking away.

"I'm doing fine." She stopped in her tracks, turned to him, and scanned him from head to toe.

"Nope, you're not fine. You wouldn't have asked to hang out on such short notice if something dramatic didn't happen," she said.
"You got me," Fernando answered sheepishly.

"Let's talk about it over some coffee, come on," she said, resuming walking. He caught up to her, and they proceeded to chat as she led him to a coffee shop and bakery near the school. They walked in and ordered their drinks, then sat down at a table in a cozy corner of the shop. Fernando decided to ask about Cassie's crush, both out of curiosity and wanting to avoid the subject of Khan for the time being.

"So, how are things going with Sha Lin?" he asked. Cassie grinned.

"I would say very well. We had a good time at Khan's party and I think he wants to hang out more often, at least that's what he said to me at the end of the night," she said. Fernando nodded with approval.

"That's good," he said. They chatted for a moment longer, then their names were called. Fernando got up to retrieve their orders from the counter. As he thanked the barista, he noticed a familiar white haired girl walk into the coffee shop. She wore large sunglasses, a plum colored skirt, and a white bralette. Fuck, why is Lian here? She took off her sunglasses and ordered, shooting a glance at Fernando in the process. He quickly made his way back to his table, hoping that she couldn't see him with Cassie.

"Guess who I just saw," Fernando whispered as he sat down.
"Who?" she asked in a hushed tone, grabbing her coffee.

"The megabitch." Her eyes widened, and she bent her neck to look towards the counter.

"No way, where is she? Did she see me?" she asked frantically.

"I don't know." Fernando turned to see she was sitting at a table by the window on her phone, facing away from them.

"Hopefully not." Cassie took a sip of her coffee.

"Anyways, how was the party for you?" Fernando pursed his lips
"What happened?" she asked, moving closer in.

"I told Khan about how I feel." She almost spit out her coffee.

"You what?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Yes. I got super hammered and I barely remember it but I told him I have a crush on him and everything." Cassie sighed.
"Geez, that wasn't very smart."
"I know. He went into denial about it and he's been acting weird to me today."
"Good weird or bad weird?"
"I'm not sure. He hasn't really talked to me. I think he and Lian are in another fight but he won't tell me anything. I'm scared he doesn't trust me." Cassie paused, pondering over another sip of coffee.

"You could be right. I would just give him space. He probably still doesn't fully believe you or doesn't know how to feel about it. Prying would put extra pressure on him that could make him snap at you, especially if he is already on the side of denial." Fernando sighed. He wanted to look out for Khan, but he also didn't want to ruin their friendship. He figured he would have to keep his distance, for now. But he still hoped Khan would come around, that he was just confused about his own feelings.

"Do you think he likes me back?"

"I want to say yes, Fernando, but I honestly don't know him well enough to say anything," she started, "I think it might be a good idea to try to talk to someone who knows him better than I do." The thought of telling anyone else about his feelings made his stomach turn. At the same time, he realized that Cassie was right. There was only so much advice she could give.

"I'll think about it," Fernando said, finishing his coffee. He had finished it quickly, hoping to leave and get away from Lian. He turned around and he was relieved to find she was already gone. He returned to chatting with Cassie about less serious topics, thanked her for spending time with him, said goodbye, and walked out of the coffee shop, ready to relax at home after a difficult day at school. He was relieved that his day didn't go as poorly as he worried. Hopefully things won't get worse from here.

/

Things didn't get worse, but they certainly didn't get better either. Fernando felt like class time was passing at a snail's pace, especially now that he didn't have hanging out with Khan to look forward to. Even art class was mundane. Khan and Lian barely spoke throughout the whole class, leaving Fernando to sketch silently. Now he was at his lunch table, tuning out chatter as he stared at Khan sitting at his table. He looked dejected, facing down and resting his face on his fist, not talking to anyone. Fernando wished he could help, or at least have him sit at his table. He sighed.

"Whatcha looking at?" Koga asked, trying to follow Fernando's gaze. Fernando whipped his head to face him, startled.
"Nothing. Just spaced out," Fernando said.

"I believe you," Koga said, sarcasm in his tone. He turned away to talk to other people at the table. Fernando turned back over to face Khan, only to see Buck and Jenos walking to the table together. Fernando waved, pretending as if it was intentional. The two sat down next to Fernando and started chatting. Koga shifted his focus to Buck.

"Look who finally decided to show up," Koga teased. Buck rolled his eyes.
"Not this again," he said, exasperated.

"Where were you guys today? The courtyard?" Fernando noticed Jenos's cheeks turn red.
"I just picked him up from class so we could walk here together, cut it out already," Buck said. Koga chuckled.

"How cute." Buck ignored him and continued his conversation with Jenos. Fernando spent the rest of his lunch period picking at his food and occasionally talking to Koga and Buck, being careful not to look towards Khan too often so that Koga would not take notice. Eventually, the bell rang and the three started to make their way to gym class, Buck lagging behind to say goodbye to Jenos. They were the first ones to arrive in the locker room and start changing. There was a peaceful silence among the three that Koga just had to go ahead and break.

"So, Buck, you were with Jenos again, huh?" Buck rolled his eyes.

"Yes, why?" he responded.
"You've been blowing us off to hang out with him, what gives?"

"He's my friend, I like hanging out with him. Besides, I came to your table today."
"What's so special about him anyways?" Fernando could see where this was going. He knew that Koga had no filter, but he didn't understand why he was so excessive with the teasing.

"He's less annoying than you, for starters." Koga scoffed, moving towards him.

"At least I'm not a little twink." Buck's face turned red with anger.

"You little shit, take it back." He stood up, his large, muscular form looming over the shorter boy.
"Woah, woah, woah," Fernando cut in. "Calm down, no need to get so defensive, Buck, he's not being serious," he continued, moving himself between the two. Buck gritted his teeth.

"Yeah, what is he, your girlfriend or something?" Fernando whacked Koga in the stomach.
"Cállate, Koga, you're not helping." At this moment, Khan walked in. Fernando pretended not to notice him.

"What's going on here?" Khan asked.

"See there's Khan. You weren't at his party, let me guess, you were with Jenos, huh?" Koga continued. Khan turned away. Buck closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Yes, I was. Jenos really wanted to hang out. Is that a problem?" Koga smirked. Fernando shot a glare at Koga, signalling to him that the joking had gone too far. He sighed.
"No, it's just strange that you keep ditching us for him, we're your friends too, right?"

"Yes, of course. But we go back a while and we've gotten closer lately." Koga raised an eyebrow, but then Fernando shot another glare.
"Alright then." He and Buck finished changing and left along with some classmates, leaving Fernando with Khan.

"What was that all about?" Khan asked.

"Just bickering as usual. Koga being provocative. You know the gist," Fernando answered matter-of-factly. There was a pause while Fernando finished putting on his gym clothes.
"Well, thank you for breaking it up."
"Thanks?" Fernando didn't know what to say. Clearly Khan didn't either, if he was thanking him for something so inconsequential. He hated how difficult it was to talk to him, so he decided to make his way to gym class along with everyone else. After class, he changed out of his gym clothes and went to his last class for the day, math. He opted to pay attention to the lesson, as boring as it was, as a way to distract himself from Khan. Khan, in turn, did not try to speak to him either. He was starting to get uncomfortable with how distant they were becoming, but he tried not to think about it and repeated Cassie's advice in his head as he focused on completing the school day. Class was over before he knew it, surprisingly, and soon enough, he was out in the hallway, walking towards the front of the school. He passed by Khan, who was on his phone. He was tempted to ask him to hang out but decided against it, instead going to get lunch by himself and heading home to relax before practice.

He had tried to focus on homework when he got back to his family's apartment, but as was normal with him, he got distracted. He just couldn't keep Khan off his mind. He was anxious about what he thought of him, even more so now that he had revealed his true feelings. Fernando knew by Khan's behavior that he was trying his hardest to avoid him while acting like nothing had happened at all. At this point, there was no denying what had happened, at least in Fernando's mind. What bothered him was that he couldn't tell if Khan was avoiding him because he was disgusted by Fernando's feelings for him or for some other reason, such as fear or confusion regarding his own feelings. He secretly hoped that it was the second reason, that Khan was just scared to confront some inner part of himself that had the same feelings for Fernando that he had for Khan, and that manifested in avoiding Fernando altogether. He remembered Cassie's suggestion to speak to someone closer to Khan, as he felt it could help him figure out how Khan was really feeling. He tried to clear his mind of its racing thoughts as he gathered his equipment and walked to school for football practice. When he arrived to the locker room, he was startled to find just Khan there. He dreaded starting a conversation, which he felt would be the only way to keep the inevitable awkwardness of the situation down.

"Hey Khan," he said.
"Hi Fernando," Khan responded, taking off his shirt. It was always difficult for Fernando not to stare. He averted his eyes. I swear to God I'm being tested.

"How are you?"
"I'm doing just fine, you?"

"Yeah. I'm good."

"You excited for practice?"
"As always." Fernando couldn't think of anything else worth saying that wouldn't make things even more tense than they already were, so he dropped the conversation and started to change into his practice clothes. The awkward, lonely silence took over once again. Luckily, Viktor walked into the locker room and greeted them both, lightening the mood slightly. He had started changing when he turned to Khan.

"So, how are things with Lian?" Khan sighed, closing his locker but not facing Viktor.

"Not good. She's still pretty pissed off about what happened at the party." Fernando perked up, curious as to what Khan would open up about.

"Oh, you mean with Skye?" He wanted to ask what happened, but didn't want to seem nosy, so he kept silent and pretended not to listen as he changed.

"Yeah." Viktor winced.
"Sorry about that, man. If I knew it would have been such an issue I wouldn't have invited her."
"It's fine, there's no predicting what will piss off Lian, really," Khan said exasperated. Viktor chuckled.

"You got that right."
"I really tried to spend time with her but I got… sidetracked." Blood rushed to Fernando's cheeks as he realized he was referring to him. He held his breath, knowing inside that Khan wouldn't tell a soul, but still nervous that he would expose him.

"It happens."
"Yeah, but I have to try to make it up to her." Fernando, who had finished putting on his clothes, got up to leave. More team members were in the locker room by now, so he couldn't hear what Khan and Viktor were saying. As he left the room, he noticed Khan watching him. Is he waiting for me to leave? Fernando walked to the field alone, confusion about Khan's behavior sinking in. Why would he talk to Viktor and not me? What happened at the party? Am I missing something? He couldn't see why Khan would open up about Lian in front of him when he avoided the topic earlier. He figured that he was putting up a facade of normalcy in front of Viktor, but still feared that he had lost Khan's trust. Nevertheless, he had to keep these subjects off his mind to switch gears into football mode. After all, he didn't want to get distracted and have to sit out of practice again. Or did he?