The next morning, Chun Yan drove them to school, making sure to stop by her own home to pick up Leon at the end of the driveway. She made sure to follow through with her duty of transporting her brother to and from school, not wanting to give her father any more reason to be angry with her. Yet when she and Ivan reached the high school parking lot and parked, she clutched the steering wheel tightly in her hands as tears poured down her cheeks.

"Why, Ivan?" she softly asked, voice shaking with her quiet sobs. "Why does everything have to be so hard for me? Why can't I live an easy life? Does God have it out for me or something? I just don't understand. What did I ever do wrong? Was I really that shitty of a person in a past life? I just don't understand."

"Chun, look at me," her best friend softly commanded. And only once her eyes were on him, did he speak again. "You didn't do anything wrong. None of this is your fault. I know that there's a saying that things happen for a reason, and I know you're not going through all of this for nothing. Once you graduate high school, you'll never have to answer to anyone again. We will get the apartment we've been planning to get since middle school, and everything will be so much better, you'll see."

She took a deep breath to collect herself before wiping her face on her sleeve. "You're right, Ivan. What am I doing right now? Instead of hating myself, maybe I should work on forgiving myself. It really wasn't my fault, and I need to remember that." Chun Yan leaned her head on Ivan's shoulder and breathed a sigh of relief. "Where would I be without you, Ivan? God, I'm so glad that I have you."

Ivan smiled to himself. "I'm sure you'd be just fine, but thank you," he assured. He could never bring himself to openly acknowledge how great her words of praise toward him really felt. Instead, he always opted to play it off as if she were just giving him meaningless compliments. But deep down, he knew that she knew how much those words meant to him. "Classes will start soon. We should go inside."

She took one more shaky breath before opening the door on her side. "Yeah," she agreed with a rough nod. "We should. I don't need Headmaster Beilschmidt telling my dad anything else." She glanced nervously into the rearview mirror and adjusted the thin scarf she had around her neck, making sure it was hiding the bruises. "Let's go, Ivan."

.

Ivan spent the first half of his school day worrying about Chun Yan. He knew that she was the queen of putting on facades, and he wouldn't see her until lunch and the last class of the day, which they shared. It made him nervous to be leaving her alone with anyone else until lunch. After all, he was the only friend she had who knew what went on behind closed doors at her house. Everyone else just assumed her father was strict, like that stereotypical Asian parents they saw on TV. Ivan was the only one who knew the truth.

As he was passing the girls' restroom on his way to meet up with Chun Yan in the cafeteria, he felt a hand reach out and grab him, pulling him in. Forcing himself to remain silent, he looked toward his assailant to see that it was none other than Chun Yan herself. She looked tired and panic-stricken as she clutched his jacket.

"Some girl saw a part of the bruises," she weakly told him, tears forming in her eyes. "Since she only saw the top of the bruises, I was able to pass it off a hickey. But then she started 'guessing' who it was, and your name was mentioned. Everyone already thinks we're secretly dating anyway, so they started saying you did it, and it makes me sick. I don't want your name coming up in hallway gossip. You don't deserve that sort of thing. But they wouldn't believe me when I told them that it wasn't you." Her tears finally spilled over. "I'm sorry, Ivan! I'm so sorry! I tried to stop it, and I understand if you're upset since you're the type to keep a low profile. God, I hope it doesn't get back to my dad!"

Ivan wrapped his arms around her in a warm hug. "I'm not mad, Chun. You did what you could. Let people at school think what they want. It's not true, so what harm will it really do in the long run? I'm sorry that people think they need something to talk about all the time. It's like they don't even understand what friends are or something. I'm not worried about it, Chun. After all, we both know what's true."

Chun Yan buried her face in his chest as she calmed down. She could smell his cologne, the scent relaxing her. This scent meant that she was safe. Nothing bad would ever happen to her when Ivan was around. He was her safehouse. To her, he was the only person she could ever truly be herself with, and she loved him for it. She truly did love Ivan and the way he made her feel, yet those feelings needed to stay tucked deep inside of her heart. After all, if she were to acknowledge her love for her best friend, then she would no longer have her safehouse. And she would rather feel safe than fall in love.

"I'll fix this," she softly told him. "Before lunch break is over, I'll have it all taken care of. Trust me on it."

"It's not really that big of a deal," he began, but she pinched his lips shut.

"No one is going to be spreading shit about you, got it? I don't like that." Once she was sure he understood, she headed toward the bathroom door. "Let me check if the coast is clear for you to come out." Chun Yan stepped out into the hallways to see it was empty. "Come on out, Ivan." She turned and looked up at him once he was out and smiled. "I'm going to go and take care of this. Make sure you eat well, okay?" And with that, she was gone.

.

Alfred Jones sat on the wall in the courtyard, texting on his phone, as Gilbert Beilschmidt walked up to him. He turned the phone screen off and smiled up at his friend. "Hey man, what's good?" he asked, moving over to make room for the albino. "We still on for that co-op tonight? Wanna make sure so I can do my homework before then."

"Duh," Gilbert laughed, hopping up onto the wall. He pulled a cigarette out of the pack in his backpack, carefully lighting it. "Does seven work for you?" He took a puff and passed it toward the jock. "It'll be a couple hours, you know."

The blond accepted the cigarette, taking a puff and handing it back. "Yeah, that works for me."

"Are you two really out here doing this in broad daylight?" an accented voice asked them from behind. Alfred knew that British accent anywhere. Arthur Kirkland, the composition teacher stood beside Alfred on the other side of the wall, leaning over it as he lit his own cigarette. "You're lucky I don't write you up for this."

"Oh yeah?" Gilbert taunted as the boy between them turned a deep shade of scarlet. "You snitch, then I snitch, Kirkland." A smirk played on his lips as the teacher rolled his eyes in agreement.

"Neither of us saw anything, understood?" Arthur asked, leveling a stare toward Gilbert.

"You got it."

Alfred hated how easily he blushed around this teacher. Though he would never dare tell anyone in his friend group about his interest in men, he couldn't help but feel weak around Mr. Kirkland. After all, he had been crushing on him since his first day of freshman year. There was only one other person who knew about this crush, and that was Chun Yan Wang. She had stumbled upon a very flustered Alfred one day after being called into Arthur's classroom for some lecturing on his grades, but she swore to keep it a secret, telling him about her unrequited love in exchange.

The moment he thought of her, she appeared before him, smiling up toward him. "Can you come down from there, Alfie?" she sweetly asked, batting her eyes at him. "There's something I'd like to talk to you about." It was almost as if she were completely unfazed by a teacher allowing two students to smoke with him on school grounds, as if it were a common thing to happen there.

Ignoring Gilbert's instant razzing upon being approached by one of the cutest girls in school, Alfred hopped down, grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. He was grateful to get away from Arthur so he could stop blushing. "Sure thing," he said, leading Chun Yan away. "Was I that obvious?" he asked once they were alone in a corner of the courtyard.

"I mean kinda," she replied with a shrug. "But that's not what this is about. Look, long story short, I may or may not have a hickey on my neck, and everyone may or may not be suspecting Ivan for it. So I want to ask a favor of you."

"You want me to go along with you and say I did it?" he flatly asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He scoffed when she nodded. "And people say my one-sided love is bad," he teased, laughing when she averted her gaze while turning a deep scarlet. "I swear it's not that noticeable in your case, Chun. I only notice because I know." After a moment or two of silence between the two, he sighed. "I'll say I did it if anyone brings it up to me. After all, aren't we technically doing each other a favor with this? I mean, you're one of the most popular girls in school. It'll definitely help people keep believing that I'm straight."

She smiled up at him. "It's a deal then!" she giggled before standing on her tip-toes and kissing his cheek in gratitude. "You're the best, Alfie!" With a quick wave, she was gone once again, leaving him alone with his fingertips pressed to where she had kissed him.

"That girl," he sighed, smiling to himself. "She's definitely one of a kind."

.

By the time his final class had come around, word had spread around the school about Alfred Jones giving Chun Yan a hickey, leaving Ivan feeling relieved for her. She had definitely followed through with what she had told him and greeted him with a happy smile as she sat down next to him at the table they shared for their study hall.

"Didn't I say I'd take care of it?" she confidently told him, setting her bag on the table. "When I say I'll get something done, it'll get done." She held her hand up for a high-five, grinning when Ivan slapped his palm against hers. "This girl knows what she's doing."

"Yet you still texted me for help on your math homework?" he teased, smirking at her. "I thought you knew what you were doing."

"Shut up!" she huffed at him, causing the teacher in charge to shush her. She giggled quietly as she got out her math homework. "But will you please help me? I mean, you seem to know what you're doing in math, right, Ivan?" Chun Yan cast him her most charming smile. "I just really don't want to fail this class and have to drop out of cheerleading."

"So the truth finally comes out," he taunted, pulling the homework closer to him. "Yeah, I'll help you, Chun. But only since you're humbling yourself and asking nicely."

Just as Chun Yan scooted closer to Ivan, one of the other girls from the cheer squad sat down across from her, a wide smile plastered to her face. "So, word gets around quickly," she began, tapping her perfectly manicured nails on the table. "When were you planning on telling me that you're sleeping with Al Jones?"

"I'm not, Frankie," Chun Yan groaned, rolling her eyes. "Who cares if he and I made out and things got a little frisky? It doesn't mean anything. Come on, even you know that much about make-out etiquette."

Francine Bonnfoy rolled her blue eyes and began twirling her dirty-blonde hair around her finger. "So, spill it," she said. "Is Al a good kisser?"

"Could we not?" the other girl groaned, gesturing emphatically to the math homework in front of Ivan. "I'm trying to get some homework done. Ivan's kind enough to lend me his time to help. We'll talk later."

"I don't get you," Francine replied, standing up. "Why would you blow off your best friend for a nobody like him? I get that he's your childhood friend and all, but all he's going to end up doing is dragging you down." Her eyes glared icy daggers toward Ivan. "After all, you know what everyone says about him." With a huff, she turned on her hell and sashayed away.

Chun Yan clenched her fists, staring down at the table before her. "Ignore her, Ivan," she ground out. "Frankie doesn't understand, and she refuses to. There's no way I'd ever call her my best friend. We only went shopping together, like, twice." Her body began to tremble. "Why can't everyone just get off your case? What happened two years ago wasn't your fault, and we all know it. So why won't they just stop?"

"It's fine, Chun," he assured. "I know what people say. Most of them will say it directly to my face, you know? It doesn't mean that they're right about it. I wouldn't worry so much about what people like them have to say. Their words mean nothing to me." He picked up his pencil and looked down at her homework sheet. "Now, about this math homework…"

.

"So you've got the hots for Chun Yan now?" Francine asked Alfred, leaning against his locker after school. "When did that start happening?" She inspected her nails as she waited for him to reply, a bored expression on her face.

"What's it to you?" he replied. "I can like whoever I want. I don't have to answer to you, Frankie. You don't own me. I don't owe you an explanation for the girls I decide to mess around with." Alfred rolled his eyes and shut his locker. "Stop acting like I'm your property or whatever. It's annoying." He pushed past her. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to track down Lilli Zwingli. I'm supposed to be giving her a ride home today."

"Are you going to fuck her, too?" the cheerleader bitterly asked, glaring at him.

"Whether I did or not would be my business, wouldn't it?" he replied. "I don't see how or why it would ever concern you." He began to walk away and stopped, refusing to turn around to address her. "By the way, I don't appreciate you talking to me out of jealousy. In fact, I don't appreciate you talking to me at all. Leave me alone."

Francine clenched her fists as she watched him walk away, seething with anger and jealousy. Just who did he think he was? He was going to regret those words!