"Why did you break up with Cody?"

Nate paused for a moment, "That's none of your business, Squib."

"Nate, come on," the other boy sounded exhausted, "would you please just tell me?"

"Squib, it's not any of your business," he repeated. There was no way Nate was admitting that Cody liked Squib better- not to anyone, and especially not to Squib. He'd never hear the end of it.

"Yeah, it kind of is. Cody's my friend, and you're," Squib paused, "…a guy I know. So it is my business!"

"Squib-,"

"Look, I'm not trying to use this against you, if that's what you think," Squib cut him off. "Like, I'm not going to turn around and use it to…get with Cody. We're…done. She doesn't want me. Which is why I want to know what happened." He looked at Nate expectantly, "You guys were solid. Then you…exploded."

"Squib," Nate said dryly, "when you and Cody broke up, you challenged me to a tennis match in front of the whole school and then fell out a window, like, two days later. We did not explode."

Squib nodded, "Fair enough. But still!"

"Look," Nate sighed, knowing this was going to hurt, "Cody…doesn't want me."

"What…?"

"She's still…whatever for you, okay? You win, Squib. The jock gets the girl."

"…Did she tell you that?" Squib looked at Nate as if he were stupid.

"No, but-,"

"Then it's not true! Trust me, Cody would tell you."

"You didn't see her," Nate sighed, "she wouldn't go near me when you were around. She was all No, I need to think about Squib's feelings! So, there, you win. Run off and gloat. Rub it in. Revel in it."

"…Okay, one: Tanis is right, you are emo," Squib said after a pause, "and two: that's just Cody. You should know that. She'd stop breathing if she thought that was hurting someone's feelings."

Nate sighed, "I do know that, but…okay, let's say she doesn't want to get back together with you- we're just supposed to tiptoe around you forever?"

"No, you shouldn't have to!" Squib insisted, "I'm over Cody. I'm a big boy!" Nate raised an eyebrow. "Seriously! I am!"

"Whatever," Nate shrugged, turning back to his book, "it'll sort itself out." The two sat in silence for a few moments when he spoke again, not looking up, a small smirk on his face, "Hey, Squib?"

"Yeah?"

"We just had a heart to heart…" He declared in a mocking, sing-song voice.

"Shut it, Emo Boy."

"We had a moment…"

"Quiet."

"It was touching…"

"I hate you."

"Adena," Tanis spoke tentatively as she lay on her bed, reading a magazine.

"Mmm hmm?" Adena replied, doing the same.

"Have you…I mean, are you…"

Adena looked up, laughing lightly, "Yes?"

"Are you still, like…in like with Cameron?"

"What?" Adena was full-out laughing now, "No!" She paused, a look of realization on her face, "Are you?"

"Me? I was never in like with Cameron!"

"Tanis…" Adena chuckled.

"Okay, fine," she rolled her eyes, "but not anymore!"

"Okay," Adena smiled, wondering what the purpose of the conversation was, and was about to turn back to her magazine when Tanis spoke again.

"I asked him out," she said quickly.

"You just said you didn't like him anymore!" Adena looked confused.

"Not now! But when I did. After you went on your date and he was unofficially-but-technically-not-at-all your boyfriend."

"So…you went out?"

"No, he turned me down."

"What? That jerk!" Adena leapt up from her bed.

"Adena…" Tanis spoke slowly, "you liked him, too."

"But still! He turned down my best friend!"

"He said I was breaking the girl code."

"Oh, whatever," Adena scoffed, "he knows nothing about the girl code."

"But you don't care, right?" Tanis looked apprehensive. "Because, I mean, I figured you guys were over, so-,"

"No, Tanis, I don't care," Adena smiled. "I mean, at the time, I totally would've killed you. But…now?" She shrugged, "It doesn't really seem that important. We had a crush on the same boy. Big deal."

"Why are you being so mature?" Tanis asked, still looking nervous.

"Maybe I'm just growing up," Adena said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Tanis laughed, "So, we're, like, good, right? I mean, still friends…"

"Of course, Tans," Adena smiled, taking a seat beside her friend and grabbing the magazine from her hands. "No boy could ever accessorize with me the way you do."

"Come in," Cody called from her darkroom as she heard a knocking on the door.

"Hey," Squib smiled. "Busy?"

Cody looked down at the tubs before her, filled with solutions and photos. "Not really," she said sarcastically.

"Good," Squib continued. "Because we," he gestured between them, "need to talk."

"Okay…" she said slowly. "Why are you being weird?"

"Because this is going to be awkward."

"Erm…Squib-,"

"I don't care if you kiss Nate."

"…Excuse me?" Cody looked at him oddly, "We broke up Squib-,"

"Yeah," he nodded, "and I know why."

She sighed angrily, "I can't believe he told you!"

"I asked him! I practically dragged it out of him! But the point is I don't care, Cody! I mean, I don't want to watch you two sucking face during meals or anything," he clarified, "but…you can be with him and I won't kill myself."

"Gee glad to hear that," she rolled her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she paused before speaking, "Look, Squib…you're my best friend. Like, ever. And I don't like the thought of hurting you-,"

"But you're not," he said in a pleading voice, "Cody, you mean a lot to me, but I'm not going to let you screw this up because you're worried about hurting my feelings."

"Well, maybe it's weird for me, too!" She exclaimed suddenly. "Squib," her voice was instantly soft, "you're the first boyfriend I've ever had. Every other guy was, like, going to eighth grade dances and getting our parents to drive us somewhere. Or just sitting on some guy's lap at a party and letting him show me off because he had a car.

"I don't know if it's because our parents aren't around here or what, but you and I were in, like, a relationship. And sometimes kissing someone else in front of you just feels weird…Not because I don't want to be with Nate," she clarified, "because I do. But, I just get this feeling like Cody isn't kissing Squib. Something is wrong in the universe."

Squib gave a small half-smile as he let out a quick laugh, looking down, "Well, no one's ever said that about me before," he attempted a smile. "Cody," he took a deep breath, "nothing is wrong in the universe if you're kissing another guy. We were…are…I dunno. Childhood sweethearts?" He shrugged, chuckling with her. "You're going to date lots and lots of boys in the future. Lots and lots and lots and lots and-,"

"Hey!" She smacked him, smiling, "Easy!"

"…And lots of boys," he finished, laughing. "And I will try and date lots of girls but ultimately end up getting shot down."

She smiled sweetly at him, "…Yeah, you probably will."

"You are a very big person, Gary Furlong," Tanis said as the door to the darkroom opened.

"Were you eavesdropping?" He said incredulously.

"A little birdie told me you'd gone in there. And by that, I mean I threatened to beat Rick until he squealed."

"Well, that's just great," Squib rolled his eyes as he began walking down the hall.

"No," she called, following, "I'm all alone! Nate's being emo, Adena's freaking out because acceptance letters are coming soon, and Cameron's practicing like the machine he's become. And I'm serious, that was one of the sweetest things I've ever heard."

"Yeah, well…"

She smiled, "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah," he sighed, "I mean, I don't think I actually want to be with her anymore; I know that we shouldn't be. But it's still weird…"

"You just need to get over her," Tanis offered, "Like, fully."

"Like she's gotten over me?"

"Well…yeah," she said, not unkindly. "Don't worry, Squib," she said upon seeing his sad expression, looping one arm through his and pulling him out towards the courts, "you'll find your Nate."

"Tanis, that's gross."

"Hi, Nate," Cody said softly, poking her head into Bates' office.

"Uh, hi," he glanced up.

"…What are you filing?"

"Order forms for bed springs."

"…Oh," she raised an eyebrow.

"I know," he nodded, chuckling, "it's pretty ridiculous."

"Look, Nate," Cody slowly took a seat on the floor beside him. "I'm sorry about…all the Squib stuff."

Nate sighed, "He talked to you, didn't he?"

"Yeah, but don't be mad," she said quickly. "You were right; I was treating you pretty badly. But not because I wanted to be with Squib! I was…just being stupid."

He shook his head, "It's fine, Cody."

"No, Nate, look, I…don't know what to say," she laughed lightly. "I'm sorry?"

He couldn't help but chuckle, "Well, I'm sorry for dumping you on Valentine's Day," he looked down, "I've been informed by Tanis that it was a very bad move."

"Yeah, that was pretty low," she admitted, laughing.

"So…" he looked around, gesturing at the papers strewn about the floor, "wanna help me…file stuff?"

Cody smiled, "I have a better idea."

"Oh my God, I am so sorry!" Adena exclaimed, slamming the door of Bates' office as she ran out, "I was just wondering if you wanted to play cards!" She called to the other side, "But you're obviously busy, so…sorry again! Did I mention that?" She turned to walk away, red-faced, but ran back, "But yay! About you two!" She clapped, jumping up and down. "'Kay, I'm done now. I swear. I'm sorry. Go back to what you were doing. Unless you already have. Which means I've been talking this whole time while you've got your tongues down each other's throats and-,"

"Adena!" Cody called.

"Right! Sorry! Going!"

I swear, I have an explanation as to why this is so randomly sappy and feel-good and just weird. I'm listening to one of those songs that's so good you just want to CRY from goodness. And it influenced me. But I can't say what song, because it has inspired the fate of one of the characters, so…

Cody DID cheat on Squib! She kissed Emo Boy! But points for guessing Justin, because they were in their weird, ambiguous we're-not-dating-because-we-hate-each-other-but-we're-really-in-love-so-we'll-kiss-other-people phase.

Does anyone else love how C/N were apart for, like, 2 chapters?

And I love how after everyone becomes okay with my C/N-ness, I spring Adena/Rick on you! Relax, their purity shall remain untouched in this fic. Although I ought to hook them up for your comments- shut up, they are totally cute!

This'll be the last for a while. Exams, ya'll.

Review, and maybe I'll pass!