Violet noticed quite a few things.
She didn't look intuitive, not with her wispy voice and docile green eyes. Her innocent, timid appearance let her blend in with her surroundings, made her just another eight-grader absently roaming the halls of their middle school. When she wasn't entrancing people with her alluring, spell-like whisper or artistic talents, people tended not to acknowledge her presence - which led to secrets falling into her palms from straight off the grapevine.
She'd heard about Victoria's parents divorcing from a gaggle of girls gossiping about it while she was stopping by her locker. Eileen's frequent absences were a heated topic of discourse, too, but only Violet was aware that her lack of attendance was attributed to her chronic illness. Once, she'd even had the uncomfortable privilege of accidentally listening in on a scandalous phone call between her math teacher and the postman. Whether it was by fate or chance, most of the school's confidential sewage seemed to pass through her first.
So when two of her friends started growing chummy, she was the first to know.
Well, chummy was more of an umbrella term that encompassed a collection of behaviors that could almost be described as affection, if one observed Tobey and Becky long enough. And Violet had been a spectator of their hourly spats since their bizarre friendship began. Still, she hadn't thought it was be nearly as obvious when things began veering towards the isle of romantics.
"Oh, look!" Becky exclaimed one morning, pulling something from her locker. In her hands was an eerily realistic heart-shaped chocolate wrapped in a little bag and tied with frilly red lace. "It must be from Tobey."
Violet stared quizzically at the gift as her friend casually unwrapped it and began nibbling on bite-size chunks. "That's very nice of him."
She'd expected Becky to snort and quip about Tobey's lack of kindness, but instead she said, "I should do something, too. I can't cook, though. Maybe he'd like a gift card for that new hardware store?"
Violet hadn't been able to say much other than, "Yeah, that sounds like a thoughtful idea." She was confused, but had written it off as them paying each other back for favors. And that day, during lunch, the both of them had spent half the thirty-minute duration arguing over the proper use of the word 'effect' so she shrugged, bit into her sandwich, and figured that nothing had changed between them.
It was a little harder to ignore the passing notes, locker letters, and ice-cream dates that followed.
"Let me get this straight," Scoops began with a sigh.
"There is nothing to get straight ," Becky snapped, scribbling voraciously on her homework assignment. "What did you get for question seven?"
"Changing the subject won't work on a senior reporter," he tutted. "It's not like I'm going to publish this in the Rag. You can trust me."
She gave him a stinging, skeptical glance from beneath her bangs.
Scoops shrugged. He probably didn't have the most dependable track record when it came to discretion, but he couldn't help divulging information. Some people took whispers and devoured them, kept them safe within their grasp. Others, like him, couldn't lock them up properly. Every lick of a rumor buzzed beneath his fingertips, and those secrets bled into ink and pressed into pages that flew through the school like clumsy paper airplanes. He supposed it was his bane – unable to keep quiet.
"Seriously, Becky," he leaned against the edge of her desk, making a meaningless gesture with his hands that definitely did not convince her of how trustworthy he was, "You're telling me that you and Tobey weren't on a date?"
"Mhm," she hummed confidently.
"You two were at an ice cream parlor."
"I don't see what's inherently romantic about that."
Everything. Ice cream shops were a known cliché. He could practically imagine the scene unfolding in his imagination – a freshly wiped checkered table winking in the late afternoon sun, two faceless figures leaning over a mountain of velvety soft-serve flanked by bananas, two silver spoons catching the light as they perched over the swirling peaks of whipped cream, quietly talking and devouring the final sweet remains of their shared dessert.
He could imagine it very well, since that was exactly what he had seen last Saturday through the parlor window while walking through town.
Well, if Scoops was being frank, he'd left out a few key details. For one, it had been early morning, not afternoon. There were cherries on the ice cream in addition to whipped cream, and a shaving of rainbow sprinkles. Even so, he knew for a fact that he'd seen them sharing that banana split, bent over, their elbows perched on the table as they conversed. He wasn't sure if it was a combination of the warm lighting or the half-eaten dessert in front of them or their sparkling expressions, but the whole scene definitely certified as romantic in his book.
"You sure?" he asked, looming over her shoulder.
"Oh, yes," she confirmed. "I'm sure."
He examined her face. Purposefully being ignorant was a hard feat for someone whose intelligence shone through on all occasions, but it was even harder for Becky, who couldn't lie to save her life. He expected a combination of tight smiles and twitching eyelids, but was instead greeted with an indifferent expression that held no major emotions except for slight irritation.
"You two were sharing ice cream," he clarified.
"Friends can't share ice cream?"
"You guys are friends ?"
"Acquaintances."
"Acquaintances?"
"A person someone knows slightly, but who isn't a close friend," she defined. "For example, Tobey and I are acquaintances."
"Acquaintances who take very valuable time out of their weekends to have ice cream."
"There's always time for ice cream," she pointed out, jutting her pencil eraser in his face. "Besides, how did you even know I was there?"
"I passed by on my way to the local barbershop and happened to see you guys there," he clarified.
"'Passed by.' And why didn't you just continue passing by?"
"I was curious! A reporter can't just see something and then walk away without the full story! That's why I'm asking you."
"First of all," Becky argued, "That's called being nosy. Second of all, there is no full story . We went out to eat ice cream, like anyone else would do."
"Yeah, but it's Tobey," he pointed out. "Tobey, the Boy Genius? Tobey 'I'm-Too-Smart-To-Hang-Around-All-These-Nincompoops' McCallister? How did you get him to have ice cream with you?"
"I didn't. He asked me."
He grinned, savoring the exact moment where Becky realized she should've kept quiet. "That changes everything -"
"That changes nothing!"
Scoops brought out his notepad and pen, enthusiasm brimming in his movements as he brought the nib down. "I can see the headlines already – "McCallister McSoftening? The illusive Tobey finally learns to accept that he is, indeed, the same species as everyone else..."
Becky batted the pen away from his hand, a smile brimming on her lips. "Scoops, quit it!"
"Here's the ice cream scoop of the day, folks," he continued, "Botsford and McCallister spotted at the parlor – get this – not fighting ."
She huffed, standing up abruptly and brushing off her skirt. "Bye, Scoops."
"This incredible discovery has led people to speculate what else this duo could be capable of, such as-"
" Bye , Scoops!"
He burst into laughter as she sauntered away, her brown waves bouncing with each defiant step. Oh, he could tease about this for weeks. In all honesty, he could see them eating ice cream in a non-romantic context, though it was difficult considering how many times he'd been there with Violet on anniversary dates. He could almost excuse Tobey's unbelievably soft smiles, or the light dusting of rouge on Becky's cheeks that brightened as they talked, or their locked gazes that rarely strayed while the ice cream melted beneath them.
What he couldn't excuse was what happened after they'd exited the shop. He'd finished getting a haircut just in time to see them walking side by side, gushing on about something or other, hands dancing around the other, thumbs brushing hopefully, pinkies loosely locked.
Acquaintances , she'd said.
Yeah, Scoops thought to himself. I don't think so.
"Scoops is an idiot," Rose muttered under her breath.
Tobey peered over at her from the rim of his book. "Frankie, dear, I thought we already established that?"
She smiled half-heartedly and brought out another slip of paper from her bag, the previous one ripped from trial and error. "We're re-establishing it," she said, clicking her pen and bringing it to the page, "He's a great boss, but sometimes he makes horrible decisions."
Tobey flipped a page of his novel and sighed, barely smothering a smirk. "What did he do this time?"
"We've been looking for a photographer," she explained, "since Scoops couldn't interview and take photos at the same time, so we hosted interviews for the post. A ton of people applied, but Scoops chose... Eileen ."
Tobey rose one judgmental eyebrow. "The least competent person in this blasted school? Why?"
"He figured her gigantification powers could come in use for taking photos from a bird's-eye perspective."
The blonde pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "What use would grainy images like those be for a black and white newspaper?"
"Yeah, I think he realized that after he sent her away." She shook her head. "Anyways, it was a mistake."
"I believe the mistakes started when the school put him in a leadership position."
"The student body decided that, not the school."
"That's even worse," Tobey grumbled. He glanced at the paper she was writing on. "And in response you are... drafting a manifesto about how much you despise his idiocy?"
"As fun as that sounds, that would probably get me fired."
"Your esteemed boss doesn't have the backbone to fire anyone," Tobey retorted. "The worst he would do is spell-check your manifesto."
Rose snorted, laughter bubbling out of her like water from a brook, before her hilarity was ultimately shushed by both Tobey and the nearby librarian. She huffed and knelt back into her essay, tapping her pen against the table, trying to drum up ideas from the shantytowns of her headspace. She didn't frequent the library much, preferring the cacophony of sounds that croaked from downtown to spur her cogs into action. The concept of noise inspiring ideas was a bit contradictory, but as loud and distracting as the city could be, it was still a hearth of where innovation thrived.
If not for Tobey, Rose might have been strolling through East 45, a warm, buttery pretzel from her dad's factory wrapped in a napkin, her boots slapping on the murky puddles as she observed the traffic of pedestrians, pencil scratching away.
She didn't necessarily mind the library, but she was so used to clashes and clangs and whizzes that the jarring lack of it was distracting on its own. Her mind felt empty, just like the place around her, only filled with the whisper of pages flipping and echoes of breathing.
"I could really go for a hot pretzel right now," she mumbled, sketching out the twisted bread roll in the margins of her rough draft. "Honey-butter dip if it's raining outside, mustard if it isn't. You should come."
"Self-promoting your father's factory?"
She winked. "You know it. But really, you should. I think the cinnamon ones would be your favorite."
"I prefer the plain ones myself. The cinnamon gets all over my fingers and it's all too inconvenient."
"You've been there before?"
"Twice," he replied, not looking up from his book. "The first time, I went alone to see if the pretzels were as good as they say-"
"Of course they are, my dad makes them! They're superior!"
"-The second time, I took Becky to get some."
"As you – wait, what?"
"Have you gone deaf?" he scowled.
"Clearly, because I did not just hear that," she said, baffled. "You're telling me you took Becky Botsford out for pretzels?"
He frowned. "Is that not what I said?"
"Tobey," she wiped an imaginary tear from her eye. "I'm so proud of you."
"You should be."
"I mean, before, I was only slightly embarrassed of you-"
"What-?"
" Shh !" the librarian hissed. He quieted and turned back to her, face boiling with rage.
"Only because you were a social pariah," she reassured. "Not that you didn't completely bring that onto yourself, but still. I can't believe you've got a girlfriend now!"
" What ?"
"Shh!" came the librarian's piqued voice.
Tobey whisper-yelled, "What?"
"Have you gone deaf?" she echoed in a poor British accent.
"Shut up," he groused. "What on earth gave you the idea that me and Becky are in a romantic relationship?"
"Uh, the fact that you took her out on a date?"
"That was not a date. That was an outing."
"An... outing."
He firmly nodded, prepared to dive back into his book, but she wouldn't dare let him escape her questioning. Besides, she was sure this was more entertaining than whatever physics gibberish he was reading this week.
"You can't just tell me you took Becky out on a date and say nothing!"
"I can and I will. I shall now proceed to ignore your squealing voice."
"I'm a respectable mezzo," she shot back, fuming. Her anger just as quickly dissipated, and she switched to a curious tone. "So, how did you ask her out for pretzels?"
"I asked her to come, and she said yes. We went and had pretzels, and then we went back to our homes," he droned.
"Tobey, you're a horrible narrator."
"You're welcome," he said smugly.
"Maybe I should backtrack – when did you ask her to be your girlfriend? How? Please tell me it wasn't something boring, like a note on her desk-"
"I did not ask her to be my girlfriend," he coughed into his fist, body aflame. "Though if I did, the affair wouldn't be as dull and uninventive as that." At her knowing expression, he quickly tacked on, "hypothetically speaking."
"Hypothetically," Rose hummed. "It's good to see you've put a lot of thought into this."
"I haven't." He buried his face into the confines of his book.
"You can't tell me there isn't a single thing romantic thing about taking her out to get food."
"Can't friends do that?"
She cocked her head. "Oh, so you guys are friends now? I thought Botsford was just ' that infuriating, intelligent girl' who sits a desk away in English."
"Acquaintances!" he stammered. "We're acquaintances."
"I'll believe that when you stop with your romantic gestures."
"Need I remind you that we get food every day, in the cafeteria, together ?"
"This is different!" Rose insisted. "You're in the city, alone-"
"Surrounded by passersby."
"Ordering food together-"
"Yes, as we humans tend to do."
"That's a date!" she cried.
"That's an outing between fri-" he caught himself. "Acquaintances."
"It's a date between intelligent infuriating girl and stubborn unaware boy. "
Tobey made a face. "Unaware? Boy -?"
Rose jabbed his chest. "So, you admit it was a date!"
"No, I don't. Now would you please step aside? You're infringing on my personal space, and I don't want to see a close-up of your face."
"Doesn't Becky infringe on your personal space on a daily basis?"
"That's...irrelevant."
"Or," she said, grinning, "she's your girlfriend, and you don't mind at all when she does."
"For tarnation's sake, Becky Botsford is not my girlfriend!"
"You two!" They both jolted out of their seats to see the librarian, her shadow swallowing the table. "Outside. Now ."
A moment later, they found themselves next to the library doors, with a one-week ban on their backs.
"Well," Rose murmured, fidgeting with her trench coat. "I'd say that went well."
Tobey's head snapped towards her, his blue eyes glinting with spite. She'd never truly been afraid of him – even years ago when they had first become friends and he was still a lovesick villain – and found him to be comical at times, but just then, she felt an inkling of regret. Either for pushing him or not getting any results, she wasn't sure. She usually gained her information through investigatory means. Interrogation was more Scoops' thing, since he was good at coaxing words out of people with his casual and easygoing demeanor.
"Went well?" he seethed.
"Sorry?"
"What a difference that would have made," he shoved his book in his bag, "if only you had said that earlier."
"Look, Tobey, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed so much on your relationship with Becky-"
"That's just it! There is no relationship! None! Nowhere to be found!"
Rose sighed. "I get that now. I'll make up the library ban thing – er, somehow."
"I expect a box of chocolates in my locker tomorrow."
She gave him a playful nudge. "Deal."
Tobey grinned at the prospect of chocolate, before turning around and walking in the opposite direction.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"I'm meeting up with Becky."
She blinked owlishly. "Again?"
"Yes, she asked if I wanted to come to the hillside – the one just above the little bakery on Matilda's Avenue – for a picnic."
Rose nearly tripped over herself. "A picnic?"
Tobey nodded thoughtfully. "It's a lovely place to watch the sunset."
Her mind buffered. "Sunset."
"I know you're intelligent enough to create compound sentences, Frankie."
"Right," she said. "But, uh, Tobey-"
"I have no time to waste!" he declared, jutting a finger in the air. "I must to get ready. A gentleman doesn't leave a lady waiting, you know. Perhaps Becky would like it if I brought those frosted danishes like last time..."
" Last time? "
He didn't respond, turning around the corner, his mumblings of crumpets and cupcakes and cookies tapering away into silence.
"Sorry, I'm late," Rose said breathlessly, speeding into the editorial office. Scoops peered up at her from underneath the brim of his hat, scrutinizing her mussed clothes.
"You know the rules, Frankie," he told her, one palm outstretched. "That'll be thirty dollars."
"That's a rule?" Violet asked quizzically.
"It is now, Vi," he replied in a faux accent, tilting his lip upwards. "Where's them bucks, Franklin?"
She snorted, peeling off her bag and trench coat to drape on a nearby chair. "In the cash register at the candy shop."
"Let me rephrase – where's the candy?"
"In Tobey's locker," she responded, taking a seat. "I owed him."
Violet doodled something on her sketchbook, reaching into her bag for a red colored pencil. "What did you owe him for?"
"Oh, you know," she said nonchalantly, "I pestered him about his girlfriend and maybe asked too many questions. We ended up getting kicked out of the library."
" What ?"
"I know, right? Who knew the librarian took things so seriously..."
"No, that's not what I mean," Scoops narrowed his eyes. "Tobey has a girlfriend?"
"I thought you guys would be the first to know," she said confusedly. "It's Becky."
Violet peeled her attention from her notebook, a bewildered expression marring her tranquil features. "Huh?"
"No way!" Scoops yelled, gripping his reporter's hat. "I asked her about it today, and she said they were just friends. Not even friends, acquaintances."
"Tobey said the exact same thing," Rose noted. "It makes sense that they would, since they're trying to cover this up."
Violet's eyelids sunk. "Why would she hide it from us?"
"Maybe she's just embarrassed." Scoops suggested. "After years of talking about how much she hates Tobey, poof !" He mimed an explosion with his hands. "Now they're doing the impossible."
"I doubt that she doesn't still hate him," Rose joked.
Violet tucked a blonde strand of hair behind her ear. "They did spend lunch arguing about fantasy characters again, so that hasn't changed. I guess I thought...if they were dating, they'd be more..."
"Affectionate?"
"Yeah, affectionate. They bicker all the time, but still do lovey-dovey things."
Rose and Scoops leaned in simultaneously. It was almost eerie. "What things , exactly?"
Violet bit her lip. "Well, they share everything. Tobey borrows her books, she borrows his. He puts candy in her locker a lot. Usually chocolate, but sometimes caramel, and always in the shape of a heart. Once, I found them in the library, reading a book together, and they were really close, but didn't look too bothered by it...they also pass notes. In class. All the time."
"Vi!" Scoops shrieked, latching onto her shoulders. "Why didn't you say anything!?"
"I thought you guys noticed that stuff too," she said calmly, despite her boyfriend's crocodile tears. "I even have one of the notes that they dropped." She plucked it out the edge of her sketchbooks and held it up. "I was going to give it back to Becky-"
"Let me see!" Rose snatched it from her grasp and flipped it open. The paper was stationary, which most likely belonged to Becky, and it was a pale pink color. She instantly recognized Tobey's curt, geometrical handwriting that looked like someone had stamped typewriter keys on the page, and Becky's neat scrawl underneath. On the crimped edges were some crudely drawn images of plants and robots, the latter courtesy of Tobey.
"They're...discussing possible dining options?" Scoops read aloud from where he stood over her shoulder.
"Oh!" Rose snapped her fingers, "Tobey said he and Becky were going somewhere today. The hill on Matilda? Behind the bakery."
"That place is known for having a romantic sunset," Violet gushed. "And they're going there?"
"For a picnic."
"A picnic !" Violet squealed. "That's so cute!"
"Can't believe he has it in him to be romantic," Scoops muttered.
Rose rolled her eyes. "If you haven't forgotten, he chased after Wordgirl for a good chunk of upper primary school."
"And how is that romantic?"
She shrugged. "I just think he's willing to go to great lengths to communicate his feelings, that's all. He'd definitely go all out with Becky. Though it is strange..."
"Hmm?" Violet hummed in her everlastingly sleepy tone. "What's strange?"
"I thought that if Tobey were dating anyone, he'd parade around with them. You know, do all the dramatic public displays of affection. He hasn't done that with Becky, though."
"You don't think he's ashamed, do you?" Violet's face took on a stormy appearance.
"Of course not," Rose quickly amended. "I just think it's weird that he hasn't bragged to us about a million times about dating her."
"That is weird," Scoops commented, nestling his chin in the crook of his palm. "And earlier, when I asked Becky about Tobey, she just looked confused."
"Same with him."
"Now I'm confused," Violet moaned. "Are they together or not?"
"They do everything a normal couple would...," said Rose.
"They just don't believe they are an actual couple." Scoops finished.
Violet let out a little gasp. "Maybe they're dating and don't even know it?"
Her boyfriend guffawed, running a hand through his newly trimmed hair. "Is that even possible?"
"They're both too smart for that," Rose refuted. "Although...neither of them does have any real relationship experience. Maybe they think it's normal?"
"Becky has relationship experience!" Violet interjected.
Scoops blinked. "She does?"
"Okay, no, she doesn't," she admitted, pink in her cheeks. "But she reads a lot of romance novels. That has to count for something, right? And maybe Tobey's been-"
"Nope," both Rose and Scoops said at once. "He hasn't."
"Oh."
"They might not have established anything and could be playing it cool until one of them does," Scoops offered.
Violet smiled sheepishly. "I don't think either Tobey nor Becky knows how to 'play it cool', Scoops."
"Tobey is the opposite of cool," Rose added.
"Isn't that a little mean?"
"His girlfriend belittles him all the time, Vi, and her insults are much worse."
"We don't actually know if Becky is his girlfriend, though-"
" I'm back !" a voice bellowed, slamming the door to the editorial office open with one hard swing. A familiar bushel of voluminous red hair busted their way to the main desk, pressing something down onto the lacquered wood. "And I got the pwictures!"
"Pictures," Scoops corrected, but he was nearly toppled over by the weight of Eileen's steps. At her entrance, Violet buried her head back into her art, and Rose hid her face behind her investigator's cap.
"Right! Pwictures!"
He sighed. "Close enough. Alright, Eileen. What do you have for me?"
"Birdies!"
He smiled tightly. "...Birdies?"
"Lots of cwolorful birdies!" Eileen beamed as she shoved the photos into his face. Indeed, lots of blurry blobs that, if she hadn't introduced them first, would have been up to artistic interpretation.
He held one photo up and inspected it. "What bird is this?"
"Yellow birdie!" she piped enthusiastically.
Scoops' eyes drooped. "Not exactly what I meant. Um, how about this?"
"Greenie birdie!"
"Green, Eileen," he said with a long, exhausted sigh, despite having done nothing but sit in his chair for the duration of the last few minutes. "It's just green."
"Okay, boss."
He sat up straighter at that, and picked up the last photo. "Blue birdie?"
Violet giggled, and he blushed furiously. "I mean- blue bird?"
"No," Eileen said solemnly. Her pouty lips dipped into a frown. "People blocking the camera's way."
"People? What – oh my god. "
"What? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, no you didn't," his voice wavered with barely restrained glee. "You can go now. You've been promoted to – um, senior photographer."
"Yay!" said the girl as she skipped out, her hair bouncing with each step. "Swenio photographer!"
"What do I have to do to get that type of promotion?" Rose asked, bemused as she watched the door close on Eileen.
"Bring me stuff as good as this," Scoops replied. "Check it out."
Both girls scurried in to get a closer look. The images were blurry, but one could make out the shapes of two very familiar people blocking the path of a blue jay in flight. Tobey, in his typical attire, and Becky sitting next to him, the remains of a dessert feast laying in front of them. The grass danced beside them, and the sky was endlessly blue and stained with white, tree leaves skittering underneath their crumb-littered plates like lace doilies. Their lower bodies were a little hazy, the emerald green of Becky's skirt meshed with his light turquoise sweater.
One thing that was very clear, however, was Becky's lips on his cheek.
"Oh my god indeed," Rose whispered. "There's no way they can deny anything now."
"I don't get it," Becky said flatly, "what am I looking at?"
"You!" Scoops cried.
She bit into her sandwich, chewing at a painstakingly slow speed. After a moment, she swallowed, and dabbed at her lips with a napkin Tobey offered her. "Yeah, no, I don't see it."
Violet rose an eyebrow. "It's you two. Eileen even confirmed it. She took the photo, you know."
"Can't trust anything she says," Tobey scoffed. Becky nodded.
"That's a little hypocritical," Scoops retorted. "And how are you guys not seeing it?"
Tobey adjusted his glasses and stared right at the waxy photo, directly at himself and his counterpart's flustered face. "I don't know who this is."
Scoops threw his hands up in the air. "I give up."
Violet twisted her lips. "Becky, you know I would support you in any relationship, right?"
She nodded. "Of course, Violet."
A silence descended at the table. Violet had expected her to add on, but Becky continued eating her peanut butter and jelly sandwich, obviously finished with the topic.
Rose sipped her milk, judging eyes passing between Tobey and Becky, who sat side by side, unusually quiet. Most days they would be prattling on about various subjects, completing the other's sentences and starting new strings of verbatim that stretched for hours. She was certain that the two combined talked enough for the whole group, even if a vast majority of their words were weapons born from the deepest abyss of the English lexicon. The silence might have been comforting another day, since the entire group preferred when they weren't fighting about grammatical rules or miscellaneous plot devices, but now it was only suspicious.
The bell rang and the quartet filed out of the cafeteria, setting their trays in their designated areas, before making their way to the central hall so they could file to their individual classes.
The group stopped in front of the art room, and Violet and Becky waved as they entered. Becky paused near the doorway, flashed a smile at her friends, and then swiftly pecked Tobey's cheek before disappearing into the classroom.
Rose choked on air. Scoops – well, he didn't look much better.
"What was that?" he asked, baffled.
"A kiss," Tobey drawled, a faint blush dusting his face. "Don't you know what that is?"
"Yes, but – but she kissed you ."
"Who else would she be kissing? Certainly not you ."
"But-" Rose stammered. "But you guys-?"
"Might want to reboot your brains," he said jovially, knocking on their heads as though checking for hollowness. You're spouting nonsense again."
"But you said that-!"
"I say a lot of things."
"Yes, but-"
"You may want to hurry."
Rose swept her hat back. "Hurry where?"
He checked his watch. "You both have gym, which is on the other side of the school, and there's only one minute left in passing period."
"He's right!" Scoops grabbed her hand. "We need to go!"
The duo ran off, holding onto their respective hats as they did. Tobey nearly burst into laughter watching them go.
When they left his line of sight, he adjusted his glasses and turned around, leisurely strolling through the halls. After all, there was a full three minutes left, and science class wasn't too far away. He whistled a cheerful tune, thinking about the graphing assignment in math he had yet to start, the half-finished history report on Cleopatra that was due tomorrow, and the new robot that had promptly broken down in his lab the other day, which he would have to fix straight after exiting science. All of this he had to do just as school ended.
But not without slipping a heart-shaped chocolate into Becky's locker first, of course.
