A/N: Just a shorty. :)

Chapter 10

I spent the rest of the weekend alone, confined to my house. I took no calls, no one came to see me. However, with Monday came school and I couldn't avoid people so easily there. And of course with my luck, the exact people I wanted to avoid were the ones I'd run into. This I predicted. But then, I told myself, it's better to get things over with than to dwell on them. And dwell on them I most definitely would if not forced to confront the issues at hand.

First, there was Louis. He located me quite quickly, taking the simplest tact—hovering by my locker. He tried to kiss me, got the cheek. I told him we needed to talk, somewhat disappointed that Steve hadn't informed him of my confession, a little surprised as well.

"What is there to talk about?" he asked. "We just got together, I can't have already screwed it up."

"No, no… it's not you, it has nothing to do with you, Louis."

"Then what?"

"I just…" Should I tell him the whole truth? It could be fine, but it could be horrible. "I don't want to get back together with you."

"What?" He almost snapped, but checked himself. "What do you… why'd you say yes then?"

"Because you asked me in front of everyone… I didn't want to humiliate you."

He sighed angrily, planting his hands on his hips. "Why not?"

"Why not what?"

"Why won't you give me another chance?"

"Louis,"

"What? I deserve another chance, don't I? I've made some mistakes, I know that…" Was he even going to let me explain?

"I'm not interested in you, Louis." I said, growing a little impatient with him. "Not as anything more than a friend."

"You're not?" He sounded truly shocked at this. How could anyone not be interested in him? I mean, he's immature, obnoxious, a little self-centered, gets very jealous... yes, a regular Prince Charming.

"No, I'm not." I stated firmly.

"Is there someone else?" He asked.

I hesitated and, as if on cue, Ren came round the corner at the end of the hall.

My hesitation proved enough of an answer for him. "Well? Who is it? Is it Zach? Because…"

"Zach? Louis I've never been into him, ever… how many times do I have to explain that to you?"

"Well, who then?"

"I didn't even say there was someone else."

"There is."

"How would you know?"

"There is," he persisted. "You wouldn't be beating around the bush otherwise."

I could tell him the same thing I told Steve. It didn't incriminate—and I use that word in its loosest context—Ren, and it lifted a weight from my shoulders. "I can explain if we go somewhere more private."

He raised his eyebrow. "Ok. There's an empty classroom right here." He gestured across the hall. We went, peered in to make sure it was empty, and shut the door behind us.

"Ok, who is it?"

I sighed deeply. "It's… Ren."

"Ren? Wait, you mean like Ren? My sister? Are you joking? 'Cause it's really not funny."

"I'm serious."

There was an awkward silence, as I suppose is appropriate given the situation, though it seemed to last far too long. But the bells didn't ring, so it must've only been several seconds, a minute or two at most.

"So you… you're like…a lesbian."

I hated that word, I hated having a name for it at all really. People are never like ' So you're a straight person'. The label 'straight' is usually irrelevant unless on the topic of those of us who aren't.

"What about Ren?" He asked next.

Startled, I wasn't quite sure how to answer this one.

"Does she know?"

Oh, not is she…a lesbian…also, but does she know that I'm in love with her? Well, when I told her she threw it back in my face and she probably doesn't believe that I still do now…

"Tawny?"

"Yeah, no I haven't told her."

He nodded. "You wouldn't want me to mention it then."

"No," I replied, again caught off guard by his reaction. "Are you…I mean, you don't seem… are you upset?"

"Upset? A little. I mean, you know you always think the two worst things would be if your girlfriend fell in love with either another girl, or your brother or best friend. Here I just got both in one fell swoop. But, if that's how you feel… what can I do?"

I smiled. "Really?" I hadn't expected this mature a reaction from the King of Immaturity himself.

He smiled back. "Yeah, I mean, if Ren suddenly hops out of the closet and you guys started dating, I'll be a little weirded out but that'll never happen," he laughed. "I mean, not to disappoint you or anything…"

"No, no, I know," He was probably right, I thought. But if she did, would he really have a problem with it then?

"Ok, well… since we're done here…I'm going to meet Twitty—we're going to the beach this afternoon." He said, seemingly unaffected. Yeah, he was really head-over-heels in love with me… Probably just lonely, wanted a girlfriend. Or he's just too lazy to fight. He knows Ren's the one who's good at everything, she's the one that always wins.

"Cutting again?" I asked, knowing the answer.

He shrugged. I rolled my eyes. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and headed out the door.

I paused a few moments, reflecting on what had come to pass, and imbued with a new confidence. I turned and left the room, and managed to walk straight into Ren, knocking all of her books to the ground and dropping a couple of my own.

"Sorry," I said under my breath.

She didn't look at me. "No problem," she knelt and began picking up the books and a few pieces of paper that had been pressed between them.

I knelt to help. "We need to talk."

She didn't say anything, only sorted her materials.

"Ren," I pressed.

"Maybe later," she said, rising to her feet and quickly walking away. She never looked at me during the whole exchange, not once.

Shortly after she'd departed, the bell for class rang. I headed down the hall contemplating what exactly I wanted to talk with Ren about… breaking up with Louis, the odd of getting another shot with her, telling her dad and Louis about me… or the other night?

Suddenly, someone grabbed my arm and yanked me behind the stairwell.