Lunch...was exhausting.

Not only did Nazz drill a hole into my brain to try and figure out my whole life, I also had to keep in just enough to keep my word to Eddward. Well, I mean, I never promised him I wouldn't say anything, but...she didn't need to know any of that, right? Me liking him has nothing to do with...no, she doesn't need to know. This isn't on her. It can't be on her, too.

Not to say I minded it, because I didn't. Really. I mean, I guess that some people would be pretty torn up about all of it; Marie is, for sure; but me? It just feels...natural. Like, I've been thinking about it, even. How things came to this. Any time I see him, it pops back into my head. Flashes of him, weak on the bed, or scowling after I grabbed his wrist. The way he smiled on the phone. I'd actually say he's on my mind more often than schoolwork lately. Probably not a good thing, but I can't help it.

When I said it feels natural, I mean, the whole thing between him and me, this, well...this "play" we're in, as far as Eddward's concerned. I kinda get it. I still get dirty looks from Johnny and Jamison, but they're even fouler when I've been talking with Eddward. We gotta play our parts or it upsets everything. Eddy would probably try and "save" me and make a big show about it if he found out. You know him, always faultless, omniscient, and a role model. Or, I guess, that's what Sarah thinks. I kinda think he's compensating for something...

Kinda funny that I think that though, never woulda thought something so bold before things started with Eddward. Nowadays, I analyse people all the time. Like how Nazz barely has a hold on her social life, and that Ed's like, some depressingly hollow shell. Me n' Nazz even went into that at lunch, guess he interrupted, and Marie let something slip. Seems that's how Nazz got calmed down.

I kinda doubt it was an accident. Marie...I mean, I barely know her, but she's pretty manipulative and I'll be damned if she's not smart. But I'll let Nazz believe she was victorious due to a slip-up. Maybe I'll ask Eddward later.

All these things filed through my head as I walked to my next class.

"Little Red."

My binder flipped in my hands and I nearly tripped on air, but I managed to get my footing back.

"Uh..." What was it he said before..."Loup?"

No response for a moment. I wanted to look back, but there were people I knew around.

"Favour me with your presence at last bell, s'il vous plaît?"

There was command in the tone, but I guess it'd be hard for him to ask without being a douchebag. Ha, kinda funny when I think about it that way.

"Yeah, sure."

"Merci beaucoup, Rouge."

I smiled, rolling my eyes as I chuckled quietly, "Still gibberish."

"You shall learn. Au revoir."

I expected him to simply disappear, and decided not to respond...when a dark presence appeared to my right. Books in his arms, he looked ahead, but there was a touch of a smile on his lips. I immediately averted my gaze, but when his elbow slide over my arm, I stumbled.

I felt my legs reel around, arms shooting forward to hit the ground as my books slid across the floor, but something held tight to my arm. My left hand hit the floor, but the impact was lessened, a strain holding my right wrist and pulling me upward. I looked back in surprise, and met his eyes.

Eddward's eyes, for once, held actual concern. His lips were turned into a worried frown, eyes scanning me over...and a moment later, they widened...and Eddward straightened himself, letting go of my arm. There were imprints from where he'd grabbed me, but I couldn't look away from him.

Condescension veiled his eyes, like a cloak to hide his true thoughts, "Be more careful, Little Red." There was a darkness in the tone, and it kept me still. I didn't understand, until...

"Ha ha, did you see that, Plank? Man, Eddward, you got him good!" The bald, olive boy marched over to Eddward, readying himself to give him a pat on the back. A growl from Eddward's throat stopped him just in time, as Jamison strolled up beside him. Unlike Johnny, he seemed unamused. He was glaring at Eddward, but it chilled me to the bone.

"Ah, it appears the cavalry has arrived. I am afraid I must get to class; do be gentle with him, his ego is likely soiled as it is, being saved by his sworn enemy. Adieu."

"Wowie, Kevin, look at alllll these papers!" Johnny had begun to pick up some loose, returned assignments while I was distracted, and I was too afraid to rip them out of his hands immediately. "An A+? How come we never thought of that, buddy?"

A dark smirk appeared on Jamison's lips, and he gestured me towards him with his finger. Like clockwork, I abided.

He leaned towards me, mumbling darkly as to hide his unmasculine voice, "You're overdue on assisting us, and this won't do. Should I remind Johnny of this? He doesn't have much wit, you know, but he has oh-so-lovely a vocabulary with his fists."

I gulped as he tipped my chin up with his forefinger, and chuckled.

"That's what I thought. Don't think your alliance has gone unnoticed. Eddward may underestimate me, but you?" He tilted his head, "You know exactly what I can do."

Those words brought a shiver to my spine as the boy backed up, purposefully leaving shoeprints on some of my papers.

"John, haste, it shall be made." He turned on a heel, and Johnny noticed a split-second later.

"Hey, wait for us! See you Dweeb!" His cackle would normally have unsettled me, but...all I could think of was the look in Jamison's eyes, his perfectly manicured nail poking into my flesh.

Oh yeah...I knew what he could do.

And just like that, the fear came back.

"What did they do?" I asked calmly, as Marie stretched her arms out.

"Oh, nothing much. Johnny was trying to understand God-knows-what, while Jimmy-boy scared the wits out of our Little Red there. It kinda pissed me off, but you know, adding wind to the fire and all, so I stayed out of it."

I nodded, and sighed, "That boy has little coordination..."

"Hah," she smirked at me, "says the kid who can only walk in a straight line because Daddy made him train like a model."

I growled. It was a sore point, as was anything to do with my Father, but it was something I didn't wholly despise him for. I used the techniques I learned on a day-to-day basis. Bittersweet describes my feels for it quite readily.

"He could have saved himself an awkward encounter, but instead, he trips up when I do nothing more than make my presence known..."

"...To a shy boy, by brushing up against him. Yeah, totally subtle, Eddward."

I sighed inwardly at her mocking, "I do hope Jamison is playing fair."

"But you know he's not."

I shook my head, "Would that boy ever?"

It was no secret what Jamison's father had put on the boy's shoulders. Few knew his older sister directly, but most were aware of her influence on him. He had been a gentle soul as a child, until his father returned home. Hopeless as his mother was, she took him back; she'd only pushed him away because her daughter threatened to run away when he was around. Little Jimmy had no such bravery.

His father did not harm him, but the expectations broke him. He's a twisted boy with so much hidden within him, even a shrink would have a fun time. For instance, I am quite aware of my many flaws. Jamison has been forced to forget them. He knows only the desire to be his father's perfect son; strong, cunning, and, most importantly of all, it seemed, a lady killer.

We were all quite aware this last bit would never come to be, because Jamison never had an eye for ladies. His only good decision was made out of fear, as he told May first, rather than his father, about his...preferences. Afterwards, the Kankers drilled it into his skull that his father could never know. His one good choice in life was to listen to them. From then on, it's been a downward spiral.

There's so much to him, and I pity him. As I pity many of us, for our inward scars that play in our eyes like a tapestry.

But those that are broken cannot fix. I can only watch. As can Marie. She's one of the few that is whole...and she wastes it on me.

I sighed as Marie and I parted our ways. I'd informed her of my plan to meet with Kevin, and she left without a hitch.

I stood around a corner, leaning and watching for my red-haired...for Kevin, to appear.

I nearly dropped my books a second time when I heard Eddward click his shoe behind me. I hadn't even heard him coming, hadn't seen him. He's like a fucking shadow and it freaks me out sometimes.

"Mon cher?"

"Yeah, it's fine, I just didn't expect it. You come out of nowhere dude!"

This elicited a chuckle from him, dark but gentle. It made me smile in turn, and I looked at him. The halls were finally emptying, and he seemed a lot less tense than earlier. The mask wasn't on all the way, and I was glad.

"A skill that is good to have. Now, a favour of you, Little Red..."

The way he looked off to the side when he said that made me a little wary, but his eyes didn't seem cold. Just...distant.

"Saturday, from 2 PM onward, might you free yourself and come to my home?"

"Uhh..." I thought for a second, as he seemed to fidget, scuffing his shoe with his hands in his pockets, "S-sure. But what for?"

The frost darkened his eyes, and his entire stance seemed to dip. His words were clear, but empty, "It is a favour I ask. Take it or leave it."

I saw it, though. The most minute of signals, the way he blinked, how his hands seemed to ball up in his pockets, I knew it wasn't just that. I wasn't sure why he'd just ask me, when I knew this was important enough to him, whatever it was, to force me to do his bidding. But there he was, waiting for an answer, with eyes like Death Row.

I couldn't do that.

"Sure, I'll be there."

The breath was audible as he let it out, eyes closing. He looked so much weaker than normal, almost like the times I'd seen him at home, and it unsettled me.

His lips parted for a moment, before a soft reply came out, "Thank you."

I smiled widely, "Hey, what are friends for?"

His eyes flicked up at me almost playfully, his lip caught between his teeth as he eyed me.

"Do friends kiss, mon cher?"

I blushed, "Uhh, I...Th-that is, uh-"

There, I saw it. A smile, a genuine, lovely smile graced his lips, and our eyes met.

"Bonne journée, Kevin."

I felt butterflies from the way he said my name, and closed my eyes for a moment to revel in it...

And he was gone again.

I ran my hand over my head, pulling my head off and running my fingers through my hair.

I sighed to myself, mumbling under my breath. "Fucking hell, man...things he does to me..."

I didn't mind.