Chapter Fifty One

Read on, oh faithful ones...

(I'm going to stop writing the disclaimer; it's been six years and fifty chapters, I think we all know that I don't own Sky High by now.)

...

"Good morning, Ms. Powers. Is now a good time?"

Principal Powers looked to the woman at her doorway, her eyes widening when she realised just who she was and why she was there. "Oh, I am so sorry, I completely forgot you would be coming today! There was an incident this morning, you see, and I had to make sure the children would be all right. Everything else just went to the back burner, I'm afraid."

"It's quite all right, I understand completely. I just hope I'm not too presumptuous in still coming today? I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to postpone."

Principal Powers considered the offer: hiring the jet-powered taxi again would mean another exorbitant fee and it was enough to make her shake her head. "No, I think today will be fine. I doubt the children are focused on their work anyway," she admitted.

Pressing the button for Sky High's PA system, Principal Powers waited a second for the feedback and crackling to stop. "Good morning, students. Today we have a special guest speaker here to talk to you about what it's like to be a superhero in Maxville. Please make your way to the gymnasium in an orderly fashion and remember that you are representatives of Sky High and everything the school stands for."

It was as close to a threat as Principal Powers could manage while their guest - and one of Sky High's main benefactors - was still standing right there, but she hoped it conveyed her meaning clearly: don't embarrass me.

Smiling at her guest, Principal Powers stood and indicated out of her office and towards the hallway. "Would you like a tour while the students get settled?"

"I think I remember enough from my days as a student here, thank you. I might be persuaded afterwards," she said as they followed the crowd of students to the gym.

"You're more than welcome to wander the grounds, of course. I'd just prefer that the students weren't disrupted any more than they have been today. You understand, I'm sure," Principal Powers said.

"Of course. Thank you, Ms. Powers. Oh, the gift I mentioned on the phone," she said, rummaging in her bag and pulling out what looked to be a thick white bracelet.

"That's very kind of you. After this morning's incident, well... I appreciate it, thank you," Principal Powers said, slipping the bracelet on over her wrist.

"It's still in the testing stage, so don't rely on it heavily. Some of the tests have only lasted a few hours. Otherwise, it still looks lovely as a bracelet."

"Well, I'm hoping I won't need it that long," Principal Powers admitted.

They both fell silent as they walked into the gym. The arena for Save the Citizen had been transformed to a small stage at the flip of a switch, the city landscape sliding down into the floor, the bleachers folding back against the walls as rows of assembly chairs replaced them instead. As they walked down the path between the two rows of chairs, students whispered to each other, trying to recall the superhero on sight, some falling silent when Principal Powers raised an eyebrow at them.

Reaching the stage, the teachers greeted Principal Powers, some looking just as curious as the students as to who their visitor was.

If they didn't know, it was their own fault for not reading the daily staff emails she sent them.

"Please, take a seat. I just have a few things to announce to the students, and then you can get started," Principal Powers said to their guest with a smile, indicating to a seat near the podium. Once she was sure everyone was seated, Principal Powers stood at the podium and waited a moment for the noise to die down. "Good morning, students. I'm sure you're all wondering what happened this morning with one of our buses."

A low murmur went through the students. Principal Powers noticed that some still seemed a little pale after their adventure and made a mental note to get Nurse Spex to check on them after the assembly. A loud trumpeting noise sounded suddenly, a few people laughing at the sudden interruption; was that an elephant?!

"Please turn off your phones during assembly," Principal Powers said with a tight smile; it felt like she'd reminded the students of this rule every single time they held an assembly.

She waited for the usual scramble of students checking their pockets and phones to die down before continuing.

"I want to assure you that it was simply a malfunction that caused the fuel to leak, and there's nothing to worry about. The rest of the bus fleet have been thoroughly checked over to ensure they don't have the same malfunction and I am pleased to say that they are in complete working order. This will not happen again," Principal Powers said firmly.

A lot of the students looked relieved at her firm words and reassurance, and Principal Powers softened her expression, smiling briefly.

"Due to the heroic efforts of several students, the bus itself suffered too much damage to be repaired, so you will all have to walk home." Principal Powers waved off the students' laughter with a small laugh of her own. "The bus is, of course, being repaired by our very own Ron Wilson, bus driver, with the help of Mr. Medulla. The bus will be in working order by the time you all leave for the day. If you have already organised alternative transportation, you are still welcome to use it."

Looking across the crowd again, Principal Powers saw that now that the students were complacent about the bus situation, they were looking curiously to their guest once more.

"Thank you for your patience, and I am very glad that you all made it to school safely this morning. Now, please allow me to introduce our guest speaker for today. She is a highly-regarded journalist for a local magazine right here in Maxville, and is a very successful business owner. Please welcome, Hourglass," Principal Powers said, clapping as she moved to the side of the podium.

Honey stood and walked to the podium, adjusting the microphone slightly, feedback crackling loudly in the gym speakers. "I knew that was going to happen," she said, wincing.

Laughter came from some of the older students who actually knew who Hourglass was from the news reports or the Labyrinth magazine itself.

"Thank you, Principal Powers. Hi everyone. As Principal Powers said, I'm Hourglass. For those who don't know me, I'm an alumni of Sky High and I am a seer. Yes, I can see the future; please don't do what you're thinking of doing; and sorry, she's not going to say yes but he will," Honey said, her gaze landing on a few people here and there for a fraction longer than the rest of the student population.

There was a moment of stunned silence, even the whispers fading to nothing. For a brief moment, there was complete peace and quiet. Behind her, Honey could practically feel the relief permeating from the teachers.

"Now, after this morning's incident, there's probably a few of you who've had your lives flashing before your eyes. Anyone see a past life? Hopefully it was interesting," she added with a grin. "Talking about myself isn't really one of my strengths, but I promised I'd give it a go. Unless you just want to ask me questions about the future for the next five minutes? No, I'm not giving you the winning lotto numbers."

A disappointed groan went through several students, but for the most part, everyone stayed silent.

"Hmm, all right, looks like you all get to hear about my life then. By the end of this, you'll probably wish you'd asked your questions instead," Honey said. "So, I was born right here in Maxville. I had an extremely normal childhood up until the time my parents could no longer deny the fact that I could see the future. Of course, telling several people how they were going to die when I was four years old probably wasn't the best way to do it. No one came to my fifth birthday party, that's for sure. I went through the usual thing with citizen parents around that time: threats, scolding, fear, being sent to my room for hours on end, therapy."

There were a few students who shifted uncomfortably on their chairs, others looking to their classmates who had citizen parents, some more who were reminded far too forcibly of their own childhoods and how they had changed in ways that were completely unexpected by both their parents and themselves.

"I did the usual thing in response to these things. Well, there was mainly a lot of crying on my part," Honey said with an indifferent shrug. "When I was six years old - during one of the timeouts in my room - I had a vision. It was of a place that floated in the air, and there were other supers, others like me. I knew then that I wasn't alone, that I wasn't a freak, and I knew there was somewhere I belonged. I spent hours trying to control my vision, trying to go back or forward, trying desperately to find the name of the place. Eventually, I found the name: Sky High. I remember coming out of the vision, my room was pitch black, I'd missed dinner, and I thought to myself: what a stupid name for a school."

Honey had to pause for a moment, students roaring with laughter at the unexpected punchline.

"So, the next morning, I told my parents about this school that I'd seen. Then I told them how much the tuition was going to cost," she said, some students laughing again. "Once my father had recovered from that shock, he spent a few hours trying to find out about the school - remember, this is pre-Internet - and how much the tuition really cost.

"Sky High is, of course, a high school, so there was a bit of a wait between my vision and actual attendance, but I was eventually on my way here. I was so excited, you probably know the feeling yourselves - the anticipation, the nerves, the churning in your stomach - and I had had so many visions of my first day at Sky High that not even I knew what was going to happen. That's the thing with being a seer: there isn't one definite future, there are hundreds, millions of futures that could happen. Of course, some things are set and can't be changed no matter what you do, but some people like to try anyway," Honey said, shrugging.

"So, I arrive at Sky High with my classmates and we're ushered into Power Placement. I had five ways it could go: I could awe them all with my power; disappoint them with my power; my power would suddenly stop working; I'd be moved ahead a year due to my pure brilliance and, of course, modesty - " a few people laughed, and Honey grinned as she continued, " - or I'd fall flat on my face and everyone would laugh. Guess which one happened to me?"

"That's right: I fell flat on my face and everyone laughed. I was mortified at the time, but now I can laugh about it. I was so sure that it would be any future but that one," she said with a lamenting sigh. "So, as a result of me being cocky and falling on my face in front of everyone, I was put into Hero Support. I'm pretty sure everyone thought I'd accidentally knock into something and destroy everything if I was a Hero," Honey said, laughing.

"I hadn't planned on working in the super field, and knew I wouldn't be able to take orders from some muscle-bound Hero with no brain cells to speak of - no offence, Coach Boomer," she said, Boomer frowning in confusion bas a few people snickered. Honey continued before Boomer realised that she'd insulted him, "So I worked my butt off, studied every book I could get my hands on, and made myself into an academic success instead. Now, you might be thinking, why would I do that? I could see the future, right? Why not just cheat on every test instead? Well, two reasons: one, I wanted to learn and understand things for myself, not just know the answers, and two, I was required to take all of my tests in the detention room so my powers wouldn't work anyway."

Honey paused for a moment, looking out to the sea of students, her gaze landing on one of the students towards the back. "You can ask your question. I promise no one will laugh."

"When will I die?" a student blurted out.

"Come to me in two years; you'll be ready for the answer then," Honey said quietly, her words a promise.

A few people seemed curious about her response and looked like they would ask the same question as well.

"I'm happy to see you all after assembly and give you a proper timeframe. As long as Principal Powers doesn't mind the disruption?" Honey asked, glancing to the principal behind her.

Principal Powers clenched her jaw briefly at the obvious disregard for her instruction not to disrupt the students, but couldn't say no in front of them. Besides, she was kind of curious herself. "I can allow you all an extra hour of Hourglass' time, but it will cut into your lunch break," she announced.

She wondered which would win: food or death?

"Thank you, Principal Powers. Now, continuing down memory lane: I graduated Sky High at seventeen. I was at the top of my class, but more importantly, I refused my Hero's offer during graduation."

A gasp was heard throughout the crowd. A sidekick rejected a Hero?! The students hadn't even known that was an option available to them and some of them started to think.

"I know, it was an absolute scandal at the time. But I left Sky High that day with the future clear in my mind: I was going on to bigger and better things, and - luckily for everyone - it didn't involve spandex," Honey said, getting a few laughs in return, the students settling down from their shock.

"I started working for a local real estate company and within two years, I owned the business. From there, I worked in four different companies over the next eight years, some of which I own and some of which have gone out of business. I started working at Labyrinth three years ago and have no plans on leaving so far.

"A word of advice: if you have to work for anyone, make sure you get a good boss," she said with a grin. "On that note, if anyone's looking for a job for their alter-ego in the future, Labyrinth is a super-friendly workplace."

"Remember that if you do have a job as an alter-ego, you will still be required to do that job as well as your super's alter-ego's work. Try to stick to super-friendly workplaces as they're more understanding when you have to leave at one in the afternoon, and you come back the next day with a broken arm, or even if you have to take the rest of the week off to recover in hospital.

"You could work for yourself, of course, but that has it's own issues: who's going to pay for your rent because you haven't done your own job that week? Or how are you going to pay your hospital bills because the government grant for self-employed Heroes and Hero Support was abolished last year?"

A few people - teachers and students alike - shifted uncomfortably at the reminder.

"Don't forget that there's more to being a super than fighting - or doing - crime. You might be able to use your powers in certain fields like medicine, teaching, cleaning, or even gardening. There are always other choices and options beyond what you see on TV or in movies. Discover what you're passionate about early and see how you can work it into your life. Of course, you can be passionate about hundreds of things and do them in your spare time, and treat your job as a job instead. Just try not to lock yourself into a job you can't get yourself out of. You might find you hate your job in a year's time and want to move on, but you might not have the necessary skills to do so.

"People might tell you that you're good at a particular job, but that doesn't mean you have to do it. You might be a great leader, but that doesn't mean you'll like being someone's boss. It's hard work; it's not just delegating tasks, it's managing people and dealing with their emotions and - unless you're a CEO - you'll have to deal with people higher up the chain than you as well. There will be pressure from people above, pressure from people below, and you'll be there stuck in the middle. Some of you might work well with that kind of pressure, others might not.

"You need to think about everything when considering the future, but most of all, you need to think about yourself and the future you want. Some people might call this selfish, but they're usually the people stuck in jobs they hate because they let other people dictate their lives when they were your age."

The lunch bell sounded loudly, startling a few staff and students.

"I think that's my cue to stop talking. You were an excellent audience; thanks for listening!" Honey said, stepping back from the podium so Principal Powers could take the stage once more.

Students clapped a little uncertainly. Usually when they had superheroes as guest speakers during assembly, it was all about the villains they'd fought and the places they'd been, it wasn't about studying and bills. The usual superheroes made their lives sound fantastic and wonderful with fame and adoration and - sometimes, but rarely - fortune. Hourglass had made it sound like real life and work.

Despite the uncertainty about her talk, a lot of the students stayed back to ask her questions, lining up in an orderly fashion while others left for the cafeteria as fast as their feet could carry them.

Layla lined up with the rest of the students, curious to know what Honey was doing here - besides the impromptu assembly and riveting speech, of course - and also curious to know what her answer would be to whichever question she asked.

Scrolling through her phone, Layla read the messages from their group chat. It had started as soon as Honey had entered the gym, Donny messaging everyone to turn their phones to silent. Ethan had nudged Zach so he'd actually check his phone, while Adam asked Donny what the hell was going on.

Donny: no idea. Honey's being vague about the whole thing

Warren: Principal Powers wasn't wearing that bracelet this morning, was she?

Layla: I don't remember seeing it

Ethan: Why would she have a new bracelet between this morning and now?

Donny: Honey gave it to her. It's similar to the cuffs people wear in Maxville Super Penitentiary

Craig: Meaning what?

Donny: it's a prototype; supposed to stop other people's powers from working on the person wearing it

Zach: so... is it working?

There was a long wait between messages until Wendy snapped.

Wendy: seriously, how long does it take to read someone's mind?!

Craig: bet that's a question you never thought you'd ask

Wendy: shut up Craig. Is it working or not, Donny?

Donny: it's difficult to tell in here. Everyone shut up and stop thinking so loudly!

Ethan: elephants

Donny: it won't help if only you guys are thinking about it, I need everyone to shut up!

Adam: I'm on it

The speakers on all of their phones had sounded a second later, a loud elephant trumpeting that drew laughter from some of the students and confusion from others, everyone thinking about elephants a moment later. Principal Powers had simply seemed annoyed that someone hadn't turned their phone off during assembly yet again.

Donny: thanks, got her. The bracelet works, but Honey said it doesn't work for very long. Maybe an hour or two

Donny: Honey says to stay back after assembly

Zach: all of us?

Ethan: how are we going to manage that without looking suspicious?

Donny: yes, all of us. You'll find out soon

Almost ten minutes passed as they listened to Honey's anecdotes and speech, then Adam sent another message.

Adam: why would Principal Powers need a bracelet like that anyway?

Ethan: do you think something's wrong? Maybe she knows who sabotaged the bus?

Zach: she would tell us that though, right?

Wendy: telling the student population could end up in mass hysteria. If it was a student, then they'd be ostracised. She's probably waiting until she finds out what happened from the Super Bureau's report

Layla: you think they're bringing the Super Bureau in for this?

Warren: probably; students could have died today and parents will want answers.

Ethan: the bus shouldn't be repaired if they are. Mr. Medulla and Ron Wilson, bus driver, could be destroying vital evidence.

Adam: what if she did it?

Craig: who?

Adam: Principal Powers. She's repairing the bus before anyone from the Super Bureau gets here, destroying any evidence, she's not exactly fond of Warren or Layla, and the buses are locked up on Sky High overnight - not many people have access to the bus depot.

Donny: she wouldn't risk all of the students on bus 18, would she?

Ethan: it is the lower SES.

Craig: repeat that in English?

Ethan: lower socioeconomic status.

Ethan: basically, all the people with lower influence, money, income, etc.

Warren: meaning all of the poor and scholarship students.

Layla: we're on that bus; Frieda's certainly not poor and I'm not on a scholarship?

Warren: my mother's paying an arm and a leg for my education, believe me.

Ethan: you two are the few on that route who can actually afford the tuition. If the students were injured, hurt, or killed, then it would make room for students who would pay their fees upfront rather than on a payment plan.

Wendy: do you really think Principal Powers would try to kill thirty-odd students just to get more money into the school?

No one had hesitated answering 'yes' to that question. Everyone knew that Principal Powers had to answer to the Mayor, and Sky High had to be showing at a profit rather than a loss or else the school would lose their various grants and funding, despite support from the Commander and Jetstream.

Layla grinned at the message and slipped her phone in her pocket once more.

"What are you going to ask Hourglass?" Warren asked behind her, sneaking in between Ethan and Layla.

"No idea. I thought I'd decide when I was closer. You?"

"Hmm, asking about my death seems a little much after this morning. I want to know, but at the same time, I can honestly live without knowing that information. I've got a couple of things on my mind," Warren said with a slight shrug.

"We could just ask about the bus," Ethan piped up behind him.

"Seriously, Eth? You've got a chance to ask Hourglass anything and you're going to ask about a bus?" Zach groaned.

"It's practical and it'll help solve things sooner, I don't see the problem," Ethan replied. "Besides, we can probably ask Hourglass whatever we wanted later," he added, his voice quiet.

Zach rested his chin on Ethan's shoulder as he contemplated his boyfriend's response. "What if she doesn't answer us then?"

"She doesn't have to answer us now either," Ethan said, pushing Zach's face off his shoulder.

At the front of the line, someone started sobbing. He was led away by his friends, pale and hiccupping in distress.

"That was brutal," Donny said, wincing.

"What was it?" Wendy asked, her gaze following the sobbing student before returning back to Donny.

"He's going to be sent to boarding school if he doesn't get better grades," Donny said. "Could lead to the end of his parents' marriage as well. Wait... it's changing. Ohh," he said, his eyes widening.

"What? What's ohh?" Wendy asked, thoroughly confused.

"Hourglass is changing people's futures. Not everyone, not a lot, but enough that her power's affected by it. She's... feeding off the changes."

Wendy shuddered at the wording. "I don't think I want an answer from her now."

Donny shook his head and took her hand, squeezing. "We'll be fine, don't worry."

As they neared the front of the line - some students walking away looking relieved, others terrified, a few crying - Layla noticed that a few staff had joined the queue as well.

"What do you think Hourglass will say to the teachers?" she asked Warren, grinning.

"No idea. Think someone will quit?" he asked with a grin of his own.

Almost on cue, Ms. Littera - the English teacher for Heroes - let out a cry of delight and practically ran out of the gymnasium. Everyone in their group looked from the teacher to Donny.

"Winning lotto numbers," he said, shrugging.

"Did you get them?" Wendy asked.

Donny shook his head. "No, Hourglass wrote them down for her. It's the major division prize. I doubt she'll be here for long."

"End of the day long, or end of the week long?" Zach asked.

"Ms. Littera has almost a month of long service leave built up; I reckon she'd go on holiday to cover the next two weeks of required notice," Adam said, flicking through his phone and fixing a bug in his code.

"How do you know how much leave she has?" Craig asked.

Adam just rolled his eyes and didn't reply.

Donny stood on his toes to look over a few people and that's when Layla noticed that both Will and Magenta were at the front of the line and talking to Honey. Settling back on his feet once more, Donny tried to hold back his laughter at what Honey was saying to the couple.

"What's funny?" Wendy asked, craning to see over people as well. "Oh. What's she saying?"

"They need to stick with each other," Donny replied.

"All right, and?"

"That's it," he said, shrugging.

Layla smiled. "It's perfect."

"You need to tell me what the hell you're planning with her because none of this makes sense," Wendy said, rolling her eyes.

"Later," Layla promised, nodding ahead to where the line was moving.

They reached Honey in a few minutes with no more tears from the other students - or teachers - and Donny tried not to grin too much when he heard Honey's thoughts.

"Nice to meet you," Honey said, shaking his hand.

"You too," Donny replied. "You already know what I'm going to ask?"

"You already know the answer," Honey replied.

Donny laughed. "Thanks, Hourglass."

"What the hell was that?" Wendy asked, exasperated.

"Is that really the question you want to ask?" Honey asked.

Wendy let out a huff of annoyance but relented, her expression giving way to nerves. "I'll pass my exams, won't I?"

"Keep up with the study groups, you'll be fine. You might even surprise yourself," Honey added.

Wendy felt such a rush of relief that the wind picked up outside, accidentally blowing out one of the broken windows on the bus that Mr. Medulla and Ron Wilson, bus driver, were repairing.

"Donny and I will go get our table; see you in the cafeteria."

"Thanks, Wendy. See you there," Layla said, moving forward with a smile, shaking Honey's offered hand. "Nice to meet you, Hourglass."

"Likewise. What's your question?" she asked with a smile in return.

Layla had a few she could ask - will our plans succeed? Will anyone or anything get in our way? How should she go about dealing with any future threats? - but eventually decided on another question all together, since Coach Boomer was hanging nearby. "Who will be at the top of the student ranking this year?"

"You're all tied at the moment. Work for it and you might win," Honey replied.

'Might' didn't appease Layla very much, but she figured if she was that close to Adam and Craig, it was all she could expect until they had their final exams.

"Thank you."

"Not a problem," Honey replied, then offered her hand to Warren.

"If I buy my mother a new GPS, will she get over me melting the old one?" he asked with a slight grin.

"Eventually, yes. But give it a couple of months; she enjoys teasing you when she can," Honey said, trying not to laugh.

"Thanks, I noticed," Warren said, shaking his head.

Ethan was next, shaking Honey's offered hand. "Why are you making everyone shake your hand?" he asked curiously.

"You're totally wasting your question, Eth," Zach groaned behind him.

Ethan shrugged. "I want to know."

"Because it gives everyone the illusion that I need touch to use my power," Honey said quietly, winking. "People underestimating my power is never a bad thing."

"Huh," Ethan said, making a noise of understanding and surprise. Then he nodded, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Thanks, Hourglass."

"All right, my turn!" Zach said, shaking Honey's hand eagerly. "Will I always be this awesome?"

A few people laughed at his loud question, Zach grinning widely at his audience before turning his attention back to Honey.

Thinking about it seriously for a long moment, Honey eventually nodded. "You'll always be this awesome," she said, grinning.

"Cool. Thanks."

"Dude, go get me a tray of tater tots," Craig said to Zach. "Make sure they're the fresh ones!"

"Same for me; don't forget the pudding," Adam added as he moved to shake Honey's hand.

"And you said I wasted my question," Ethan said, rolling his eyes at Zach as they left the gym with Layla and Warren.

"I didn't waste anything. I met people's expectations," Zach said, grinning.

"Huh?"

"People think they know what to expect from me, so I'm not gonna disappoint them. Besides, like you said, we can probably ask Hourglass our questions another time."

Ethan grinned and kissed Zach's cheek. "I love it when you listen to me."

"I always listen to you. Even if I don't understand what you're saying," Zach said with a bright smile.

...

Principal Powers reminded herself that Hourglass was one of the school's biggest benefactors, then she inhaled deeply and looked over the rim of her glasses, trying hard not to glower at the woman. "One of my teachers resigned this afternoon. Says she's going to win the lottery," she added with a pointed look, definitely not a glare or glower.

"Ms. Littera is very deserving of the win and she will spend it well."

School's biggest benefactor, school's biggest benefactor, school's biggest benefactor...

"I can recommend a good English teacher, if you don't mind?" Honey interrupted Principal Powers' mantra. "I could recommend three, in fact, so there's no bias."

Principal Powers considered the offer for a moment. "I don't care about bias right now. Who can start the soonest?"

Honey smiled.

...

"So, Ms. Littera won the lotto and booked the first flight out of town," Adam said, snickering as he pulled out the trundle bed from beneath Craig's bed.

"Dude, how do you know this shit?" Craig asked incredulously.

Adam flopped down onto the mattress and held up his phone pointedly. "I've been looking at passenger manifests for all of the flights out of Maxville and I recognised her name. She's going to the Maldives. One-way ticket, and her house is up for sale on the Stronghold's Real Estate website."

"Do I want to know how you know where she lives?"

"Sky High staff records. They were really easy to get into; I kind of want to tell Principal Powers just on principle," Adam said, shaking his head.

"She'd have you in the Detention Room faster than you could spit."

Adam laughed. "Don't need my powers to hack 'n crack, do I?"

"Huh. Good point. Maybe I should look into up-skilling," Craig mused.

"You've gotta have a skill to up-skill in the first place."

"Screw you."

"Nah, not interested."

Craig frowned. "Like, not interested at all or not interested in me?"

Adam blinked. "Seriously, that's how you're asking me out?"

"I'm not asking you out, idiot. I'm just, y'know, curious. You haven't said shit about dating since Lisa screwed around with Ben, so I wanted to know if you're all right," Craig said.

"You're asking an actual question about my feelings? Dude, are you sick?" Adam asked, reaching up to put a hand on Craig's forehead.

Craig pushed Adam away, making his friend fall back onto the mattress. "Ugh, I hate you. Leave it."

"Dude, I'm just screwing with you. What's up? You never ask personal shit."

"Yeah I do!"

"What's my favourite colour?" Adam asked, folding his arms across his chest.

Craig frowned. "Uh... Green?"

"Nope, yellow. All right, spill. Why're you asking me this stuff?"

Craig shifted uncomfortably on his chair. "Layla gave me all this stuff to read about toxic masculinity. I thought some of it made sense, and I was... I just was trying to be a better friend, is all."

Adam thought about his response. "All right. Let me read that stuff Layla gave you. As for everything else... I'm still a little screwed up about Lisa and Ben, but I'm getting over it. I didn't, like, love her or anything, but it was still a shitty thing for them to do and I'm not going to forgive them for it. As for sex, I dunno. I just don't care about it," he said, shrugging.

"Like, at all?"

"Nope. The idea grosses me out. Touching people in general is gross," Adam said, scrunching up his nose, then shrugging again.

"Okay... So, you're asexual?"

Adam nodded. "Yeah, I'm ace. What about you?"

"What about me?" Craig asked, a little too quickly.

"Dude, I can hack into your PornHub account faster than you can shift," Adam said, rolling his eyes.

"You don't want to know my favourite colour?"

"I already know it's red. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine, just say that. But don't lie to me, okay?"

Craig spun around on his chair a couple of times, then kicked at Adam's mattress with his foot. "I like the idea of sex, and dating, and stuff... I just kinda don't care who it's with?"

"Are you asking me or telling me?"

"Oh, shut up. I just... I'm attracted to a person for who they are, not what's in their pants. I'm pansexual," Craig said, the first time he'd admitted it out loud.

They were both silent for a long moment, Adam staring up at the ceiling, both lost in their own thoughts.

"My phone's in my pants," Adam said suddenly, hoping to make Craig laugh.

Craig laughed and kicked at his mattress again. "Idiot."

"Love you too, dude."

...

End of the fifty-first chapter.

Thanks for reading; I hope you liked it!