Victor got ready for school as normal the next day. He noticed that his dad had slept through the entire process. He found it odd since he was pretty sure that his dad had work that day. He usually woke up when Bram did, but he was already at work. Victor contemplated waking him, but Bram told him not to since he was feeling under the weather.
There was then a knock on the door, and Victor opened the door. Felix Weston was standing on the other side of the door. Felix always took an early bus to his building so they could ride to school together. Felix's apartment was about thirty minutes away, but Felix always insisted on riding the bus with him. Victor found it weird that Felix never let him to him over to his apartment.
"Ready to leave?" Felix asked.
"Yeah," Victor said. He grabbed his bookbag and they began to talk. Felix went on about the last weekend of his summer. He spent most of the weekend playing videogames. He stopped talking once they arrived at the bus stop. "Bram asked if he could adopt me last night."
"Really?" Felix exclaimed. Victor nodded as they sat down on a bench. "That's awesome! Wait, is this supposed to be awesome? Are you happy about this, or did you say no and have a big emotional argument with them."
"It's a very good thing," Victor said. "I accepted his offer."
"That's great," Felix said. The bus then pulled up, and they climbed aboard. Their other friends, Mia and Lake, were already sitting together. Victor and Mia made eye contact for a brief moment, and they smiled at each other. They sat down near the back of the bus. "So, when are you going to ask Mia out?"
"I think I'm going to when we arrive at the school," Victor said. It was obvious that Mia and Victor had feelings for each other. Their texts had become a lot more flirtatious, even in the group chat. Felix and Lake had definitely picked up on it by this point. "When are you going to ask Lake out?"
"I've been trying since seventh grade," Felix said. "She's ok with people knowing we're friends, but she thinks it would be social suicide if we became an official couple."
"What do you mean official couple?" Victor asked.
"We may have shared a few kisses this summer," Felix confessed. "We actually hung out a few times without you and Mia. We played board games and watched films on Netflix. She literally said, 'If you weren't so you, I could totally see us being a couple.'"
"If she's going to say stuff like that, then she doesn't deserve you," Victor said.
"But I don't want to give up on her just yet," Felix said. "This summer we really connected. I'm taking it one day at a time.
The bus then arrived at school. They climbed off the bus and met up with the girls. After they greeted each other, Victor pulled Mia aside. "So I was wondering if you wanted to go to this art gallery with me Friday," Victor offered. "My dad recently wrote a review on it, and he said it was good. I was thinking we could grab dinner beforehand."
"I would love to do that," Mia said.
"Great, pick you up at seven?" Felix asked.
"It's a date," Mia said.
The next time the entire group was together was during lunch. Victor was looking through Facebook when he got a mysterious DM from a lady named Veronica Salazar. He opened it.
Veronica: Dear Victor. I'm reaching out because I think we might be related.
Victor: Who are you and why do you think we're related?
Veronica: I'm Veronica Salazar, and I live in Creekwood, Georgia. Also, I think you might be my nephew. I recognize your father as my dead sister's old boyfriend. Next time you're in Creekwood I would love to meet up. I know I've been absent for the first fifteen years of your life, but I would love to meet you now since you're the last thing I might have to remind me of her.