While waiting for his first period class to begin, Thorne pulled out a small leather-bound notebook from his backpack and began to sketch a new model ship design he had be working on. After seeing the Rampion displayed in the window of the bookstore, he had come up with some modifications that he thought would make the ship look even sleeker and possibly make it glide even better in the water.

As people began to file into the room, he quickly stuffed his notebook back into his bag. Even though many people continued to be friendly towards him, he was pretty sure they would still think he was a complete dork if they saw him sketching out ship designs and doing calculations in a notebook designated specifically for those kinds of things. A couple of people said hi to him as they made their way to their own seats and he returned their greetings, still baffled by the novelty of being popular.

A chime dinged in the overhead speakers and Thorne slumped into his chair as the morning announcements began. The student council officers took turns rattling off reminders for school play auditions and club meetings. Then it was Kai's turn, as student body president, to remind everyone about Homecoming tickets and the dance. As Thorne listened, his thoughts wandered back to his sketches and he wondered how difficult it would be to implement them into the Rampion's current design. He'd hate to have to rebuild the hull.

"…And finally, Homecoming court nominations are in. For Homecoming princess, the nominees are Blakely Shannon and Elia Conner. For Homecoming prince, the nominees are Jules Keller and Ryan Doughty. The nominees for Homecoming queen are Luisa Smith and—" Thorne could almost hear the smile on Kai's lips. "—Crescent Darnel, and lastly, the nominees for Homecoming king are Liam Kinney and Carswell Thorne."

There was a rustle in the room as people shifted in their seats to look at Thorne. He would have thought he had misheard Kai if it had not been for the twenty-four pairs of eyes on him right at that moment. He sat up in his seat and rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding everyone's gaze. He hoped he could rub away the redness that he could feel creeping up.

"Students can cast their votes during their lunch periods all this week. Good luck nominees." Kai finished his announcement, but Thorne did not hear a single word after his name had been called. He was too busy wondering who in the world would have nominated him for Homecoming king.


Thorne thought he was finally getting used to people greeting him in the hallway or in the school's parking lot, but if he had thought that was unsettling in the beginning, nothing could have prepared him for the attention he got after that morning's announcement. Now it seemed like people were going out of their way to come and say hi to him and he found that on a couple of occasions, it was hard to get to class on time. By lunchtime, word had also gotten out that it was Thorne's ship displayed in the bookstore's window and the people who had seen it over the weekend made a point to compliment him about it to his surprise and amusement.

When the lunch bell rang, Thorne waited for Kate by his locker so that they could walk to the soccer field and spend their lunch period together. They usually ate in silence as they read their respective books or worked on homework, but Thorne had found comfort in the routine.

"Is that the Homecoming king? Your majesty." Kate curtsied as she stopped in front of Thorne.

"Don't tease." He watched as Kate righted herself. "Besides, I'm not king yet and I won't be."

Kate shrugged. "You never know."

Thorne was just about to say that he did know he wasn't going to end up being king, but Kai walked by and interrupted their conversation.

"Hi Kate. Hey Thorne. Congrats on the Homecoming nomination."

"Thanks." Thorne blushed. It was one thing to have Kate tease him, but another thing entirely to have Kai acknowledge that this was something that was actually happening.

"Sure. I'm on my way to the cafeteria. Do you wanna have lunch with us?" His smile was warm and encouraging.

"Uhhh…" Thorne's eyes shifted to Kate. Just yesterday, they had had a conversation about Thorne's friendship with Kai and the others and how Thorne had truly begun to miss them. Knowing Kate, she would think this was a great opportunity for them to reconnect.

"That sounds great," Kate answered and practically pulled Thorne away from his locker by his elbow to follow Kai.

When they made it to the Rampion crew's usual lunch table, everyone was already gathered around including Kinney, who had taken a seat next to Cress. Thorne swallowed as he and Kate took the two open chairs across from them.

"Look who I found," Kai said as he sat down in the seat that Cinder was saving for him.

Everyone was happy to see Thorne and he made introductions between Kate and the rest of the group. When he got to Kinney, he stumbled, but Kinney didn't seem to have noticed.

"Congrats on the Homecoming nomination. May the best man win?" His voice was smooth and good-natured and he grinned as he held a hand out to Thorne.

Thorne's eyes flickered to Cress for a millisecond and thought to himself that Kinney had already won. Still, he took Kinney's hand and shook, making sure to give Kinney's hand a firm squeeze. "Thanks. To be honest, I don't even know who would even nominate me."

Kai shrugged as if people were looking at him for answers. "It's all anonymous. I couldn't even tell you if I wanted to, but you have to have at least two student nominations and a faculty nomination to be eligible."

"Who wouldn't want to nominate you?" Cress asked, flashing her dimpled grin. "You did beat up Julian in front of the whole school. How's your hand by the way?"

"It's—it's okay."

Cress nodded and turned back to her sandwich.

The table broke out in small conversations and Kate and Cress even had a quick discussion about their calculus class. Cress was expressing her frustration with anti-derivatives and Thorne remembered the day at the park when he had helped her with her homework.

"I can help you if you want," Thorne offered.

"Really?" Cress's eyes lit up.

Thorne rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I mean…me and Kate do our homework together after school anyway. You could come by." Thorne turned to Kate to make sure it was okay.

"Yes, of course. You're more than welcome to come," Kate confirmed.

Cress twisted her fingers in her hair and bit her lip. "Thanks. But maybe…I should try and figure it out for myself first."

Thorne nodded. After the suggestion had come out of his mouth, he almost regretted it. Not that he didn't want to help Cress, but the thought of him being alone with both Kate and Cress made his cheeks feel warm. Even though he was relieved when Cress declined the offer, he couldn't help but feel a flicker of disappointment as well.

Thorne fiddled with the crust on his sandwich and listened as the conversation at the table then drifted towards the upcoming Homecoming game against East Commons's rival, Blackburn High. Wolf and Kinney talked strategy and Kai made so many comments and suggestions about plays that Thorne found it surprising he wasn't on the team himself. They brought up Blackburn High's ruthless linebacker, Jerrico Solis, and Cress made the boys promise to be careful.

Thorne smiled to himself when Wolf laid one of his gigantic hands on her head reassuringly and she huffed.

As the lunch hour dwindled down, Cress glanced at her watch and stood up.

Kinney reached for her hand. "Where are you going? The bell hasn't rung yet."

"I'm gonna go vote for Homecoming court." She winked.

Kinney smiled as if the rest of them weren't there and brought Cress's hand to his lips, pressing a kiss onto her knuckles. He stood up. "I'll come with you."

Cress blushed and hurriedly waved bye to the rest of the group. Thorne involuntarily clenched his fist under the table and then felt Kate lay a gentle hand onto his.


"Come on, Thorne, just check a box already." Kate's voice was impatient and she began to tap her foot as she hitched up her backpack.

Thorne knit his eyebrows and chewed on his bottom lip as the tip of his ballpoint pen hovered above the box next to his name. They must have already been standing there for five minutes and yet Thorne still couldn't make a decision.

It had taken all week, but Kate finally managed to talk Thorne into voting for Homecoming court. It was a no brainer that he was going to vote for Cress, but he felt torn when he had to vote for king. He felt awkward voting for himself, but when he tried to vote for Kinney, he found that his hand just wouldn't let him check Kinney's box. Kate told him to leave both boxes blank, but that didn't feel right either.

Kate gave his shoulder another poke. "I gotta go meet Mr. Deshel about my English paper."

Thorne nodded without taking his eyes off the ballot in his hand. "Go on, I'll catch up with you after school."

A pause. "You sure?"

Thorne finally looked up to meet Kate's eyes. "Yeah."

She raised her eyebrow at him for a second, but her shoulders eased when he smiled. Thorne knew Kate was being protective of him. After Kinney had kissed Cress's hand that Monday at the lunch table, she had pulled her hand away embarrassed, but it had made Thorne regret being there to witness it. The rest of the week, Thorne had made excuses on why he couldn't join the Rampion crew at their lunch table and Kate had kept her mouth shut and followed along.

Thorne eyed her now and shooed her away. Kate shrugged and turned to make her way down the corridor, but not before calling out, "Meet you at your locker after school."

Not one to raise his voice indoors, Thorne just waved at her again and turned his attention back to the ballot in his hands. He knew he was being silly for taking so long to deliberate. He sucked in a quick breath and squeezed his eyes shut before marking a big X in the box next to his name. He hurriedly stuffed the slip of paper in the ballot box, thanked the girl manning the table, and shuffled away.

He glanced down at his watch to see how much time he had left and wondered if he should make his way out onto the soccer field for lunch. Off in the distance, he heard his name being called over the chatter of the cafeteria.

Thorne turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw that Kai had been calling his name and waving him over. Thorne hesitated, but a quick scan of the lunch table showed that both Kinney and Wolf were missing. He tentatively made his way over to Kai and the girls.

"I'm so glad I saw you. I was beginning to feel outnumbered here," Kai said with a grin as he clapped a hand onto Thorne's shoulder. He raised his eyebrows at the girls and they all rolled their eyes at him.

"Where's Wolf and…Kinney?" Thorne asked, taking the empty seat next to Kai.

"They had an emergency team meeting," Scarlet answered, twirling a bright red curl around her finger.

Thorne nodded, not knowing what to add to that.

"You're still coming right? To the game with us?" Cress asked. She was sitting right across from him, her calculus textbook and a notebook with too many scratched out equations open in front of her.

Thorne nodded.

Cress's smile was so warm that it made butterflies flutter in Thorne's stomach and he had to clear his throat to shoo them away.

"Are you still having trouble with anti-derivatives?" he asked.

Cress nodded sheepishly and pulled her notebook towards her, as if she were almost embarrassed to have him see it.

Thorne got up from his seat and came round the table to sit next to her, tugging the textbook towards him. He held out his hand for her notebook. "May I?"

Cress hesitated for a second before handing it over and when he flipped to a brand new page without giving her previous work a second look, she smiled and leaned towards him. "Thanks."

Thorne nodded and they spent the rest of the lunch period with their heads bent over Cress's calculus homework.


"This place is so cute!" Kate exclaimed as they stepped inside Maha's. She followed Thorne as he led her towards the reserved table at the back of the restaurant.

Maha stepped out from the back just as Thorne and Kate made it to the table and upon seeing him, her face broke out into a big smile. She did not hesitate to throw her tiny arms around him.

"Thorne! I'm so happy to see you. We've missed you."

Used to Maha's disregard for personal space, Thorne returned her hug, although his grip paled in comparison to hers. She finally let him go and he was able to step back to introduce Kate.

"Maha, this is my friend Kate. Kate, this is Wolf's mom, Maha Kesley."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Kesley," Kate said with her hand out, but Maha brushed it away and gave Kate a hug of her own.

"It's Maha, honey, and I'm happy to meet any friend of Thorne's." Even though Maha's voice was warm and genuine, Thorne couldn't help but notice the peculiar look on Maha's face after she let go of Kate. When her eyes passed back to Thorne, it was as if she wanted to ask something important, but couldn't find the right words.

Just then, the bell on the front door jingled and Maha's face returned to its usual grin. She pulled Kai, Cinder, and Cress into their own hugs and whispered a welcome back into Cress's ear. Thorne's attention snapped towards them and Cress diverted her eyes.

"Come, you and Thorne go get drinks." Maha nudged Cress towards the back of the counter and Thorne followed.

He glanced back at Kate and found that she was already sitting down with Cinder and Kai. He turned back towards Cress and saw her watching him. He blushed.

Cress pretended she hadn't noticed and started filling cups with ice and each Rampion crew member's preferred drink, then passed them over to Thorne from behind the counter.

"Can you ask Kate what she wants to drink?" Cress asked him.

"Oh. She'll want a diet Coke." Thorne answered without hesitation. They had been hanging out so much lately that he hadn't even realized he knew that fact until it came tumbling out of his mouth.

Cress paused a moment and filled up the last cup before placing it on the tray between them. "Wait a second."

Thorne was just about to pick up the tray when he froze.

Cress rummaged behind the bar and produced a lemon slice. She wedged it onto the lip of Kate's diet Coke and smiled. "They taste better with a twist!"

Thorne laughed and picked up the tray to deliver the sodas with Cress close behind.

When Thorne passed Kate her diet Coke, she was impressed. "Lemon? Fancy!"

Cress winked at Thorne and his ears went pink.

Just then, Wolf and Scarlet showed up with Kinney in tow. Thorne wasn't sure what he had been expecting. He hadn't thought about it much, but when he saw Kinney, he hated that he was there. Then he hated that he was jealous of Cress's boyfriend. Was Kinney Cress's boyfriend? It seemed as though they were spending a lot of time together, but so had he and Cress before. Had he been Cress's boyfriend without realizing it? He did feel like he had been dumped.

An elbow nudged him out of his thoughts and he looked down to see Cress staring up at him with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile.

"You okay?"

Thorne realized he had been gnawing on his lip. "Oh yeah, fine."

"Come on, drink orders, round two." Cress turned to Kinney and asked him what he wanted and she and Thorne headed back to the counter.

Cress then left Thorne to deliver the rest of the drinks so that she could check on Maha and let her know Wolf had arrived.

When Thorne made it back to the table, he was dismayed to find that Kate had saved him a seat between her and Kinney. She gave him an apologetic look as if it were not her doing and Thorne resigned himself to the fact that he'd have to sit next to Cress's boyfriend or at the very least, the boy she was dating. He gulped.

"So listen, guys." Kinney leaned into the table as if he were trying to keep a secret. "I'm trying to do something special for Cress tomorrow, for Homecoming. Got any ideas?"

Thorne could feel five pairs of eyes flicker towards him and away again. He was glad Kinney hadn't noticed. The group pondered Kinney's question, but remained silent until Thorne, with his eyes fixed on his ginger ale answered.

"She likes roses."

He jumped, startled, when Kinney's hand clapped down onto his shoulder. "Thanks, man." His grin was bright and carefree.

Thorne nodded and caught Wolf's stare. He couldn't read what was going on behind those vivid green eyes, but then Wolf stood up, telling the group he was going to say hi to his mom and then disappeared into the kitchen.

Cress and Wolf stayed in the kitchen and didn't emerge until they were bringing out two piping hot pizzas with Maha in tow with a third one.

Thorne couldn't help but smile when the Rampion crew launched themselves into their pizza routine and performed their designated tasks. He even found himself falling in line with them. He had missed this.

As they all began digging in, the conversation turned towards Homecoming again.

"The limo is going to be at my house at 7 o'clock, sharp," Kai informed the group.

"You're taking a limo to Homecoming?" Kate asked, amused.

Kai shrugged. "My dad thinks stuff like this is important."

Thorne smiled. He was surprised that Kai hadn't been nominated for Homecoming king himself. He already seemed like royalty half of the time, but Thorne liked how he wasn't stuck up about it.

"Do you guys want to come? I'm sure we can make room."

"Um…" Kate looked over to Thorne.

"No, it's okay. We'll catch up with you."

"Are you sure?" Wolf asked.

Thorne rubbed the back of his neck, and looked at Kate. "Yeah, we're sure."

"That's okay. We'll see you there," Cress insisted with an encouraging smile and Thorne nodded his appreciation.

"You're right. Our Homecoming queen is so wise." Scarlet smirked.

Cress blushed. "You don't know that, not yet."

"Of course we do; you're definitely going to be Homecoming queen," Scarlet assured her and raised her soda. "To Cress, the Homecoming queen." With a second thought, she waved a hand towards Thorne and Kinney. "And you two."

The whole table laughed and clinked their cups together, but Thorne could tell that Cress seemed nervous.

The guys spent the rest of the evening polishing off the pizzas while the girls talked about their dresses and hair, although Cress refused to reveal what her dress looked like. Thorne smiled when Kate and Cinder started bonding over their love of building things and Cinder grilled Kate about the power tools she used. Scarlet and Wolf had their heads bent towards each other in a hushed conversation and Kai and Kinney went through the plays from the game earlier that evening.

Every now and then Thorne's eyes would drift towards Cress, but she never seemed to be paying attention to any of the conversations in front of her. Instead, she seemed absorbed in her own thoughts and he wondered what she was thinking about. He hoped she wasn't nervous about not winning Homecoming queen because there was no reality that he could think of where she wasn't.

When the evening dwindled down and they all said their goodbyes to Maha, Thorne stepped outside to wait while Kate used the ladies' room. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and shivered as a breeze passed by. Someone stepped up next to him and he nearly jumped in surprise, but was glad he didn't when he realized it was Kinney.

"Hey, man. Thanks again for the tip about the flowers," Kinney said, stuffing his own hands into his letterman jacket.

Thorne nodded. "Of—of course."

"Listen, I know you and Cress had a thing—"

Thorne knew he shouldn't have been surprised about this, but having Kinney say it out loud was almost like a punch in the chest.

"—and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy with the way things turned out…but Kate's pretty awesome and you guys seem really great together."

Thorne was at a loss for words. Did Kinney think he and Kate were dating? Did the Rampion crew? Thorne gulped. Did Cress?

"I think it's great that you and Cress can still be friends after everything. I guess it just goes to show that things just work themselves out in the end." Kinney smiled a bright, genuine smile.

Thorne opened his mouth to tell Kinney that he had it wrong, that Thorne and Kate were just friends, but then Cress walked up.

"You ready?" Cress asked Kinney before turning to Thorne and giving him one of her dimpled smiles.

"Yep," Kinney replied, drawing his hand out of his pocket and taking hold of Cress's.

A blush bloomed on Cress's cheeks and when she bid Thorne a goodnight, her voice was soft and almost shy. It made his pulse race and he realized it was out of jealousy. He watched as Kinney and Cress walked hand-in-hand to Kinney's car.

As Thorne watched them drive away, he turned the conversation he had just had with Kinney over and over in his head. Did everyone assume that Thorne and Kate were a couple? Sure, they had been spending a lot of time together, but he didn't think that would be of note to anyone. Besides, they certainly weren't acting like they were a couple, were they? Unlike Kinney, Thorne wasn't taking Kate's hand and kissing it every chance he got, but come to think of it, he didn't do that with Cress either even though he had wanted to. He had wanted to kiss her all the time. But did he want to kiss Kate?

The thought had never occurred to him until that moment. Kate was smart and funny. She was patient and kind. She had made the past two weeks bearable for him and when she smiled at him, he always found himself smiling back. The thought of it now made his lip curl up on instinct.

"What are you grinning about?" Kate asked as she walked up to him.

Thorne jumped. "Aces, Kate!" His hand was now splayed out onto his chest to calm his racing heart. "How do you keep sneaking up on me like that?"

Kate laughed. "Natural talent?" She watched him as he raked a hand through his hair. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he replied, his hand still on his chest.

Kate let out a soft chuckle, but shook her head. "I mean are you okay after…" She tilted her head towards the restaurant and Thorne assumed she meant to ask if he was okay after sitting at the same table as Cress and Kinney.

Thorne sighed. "I'm going to have to be."

Kate reached out and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. He found the gesture comforting and reached up to give her hand a squeeze as a sign of appreciation. She squeezed back and Thorne had to look away when he felt a heat crawl up his neck.

"Come on, lets go home," Kate said as she headed towards the Jeep.

Thorne took a moment to shake his head clear of his jumbled thoughts and had to jog to catch up with her.


AN: Thanks as always to my amazing beta, lettered.