A/N- Sorry it's kind of been a while. I'll try to be better about updating. Hope you guys like this chapter- let me know what you think.

I stand outside my house early that morning, heart pounding. I'm practically panicking here, waiting for my friend to come pick me up for school. My friend. I guess. who I haven't seen in two weeks, who acted like nothing was wrong, who I fucking kissed. I'm going to have to agonize about this by myself while he calmly skips around, pretending he was never gone.

I watch his car turn around the corner and my heart pounds even harder. I pull out my phone quickly and pretend to be texting. I can't explain why, I guess I just want to pretend like I didn't see him. Maybe I don't want to see him at all. I'm scared to face him. I don't know if I can act as normal and nonchalant as he can. In fact, I know I can't.

I am painfully aware as his car pulls up but all I can do is continue staring at my phone. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to look him in the eyes anymore.

"Hey, Ky!" he chirps, closing the door to the car.

I almost jump, because I was so focused on pretending like I didn't see him. Calm down. Deep breaths. I try to smile. I don't know if it works. "Hey, Ken," I say, trying to sound cheerful. My voice cracks and I just hope he doesn't notice. I also hope he doesn't notice my shaking hands or the fact that my face is heating up and probably turning pink.

He throws his arm over my shoulders and I nearly fall over, either because he's suddenly half leaning on me or because I'm short of breath, I'm not sure. "Well, don't just stand there avoid eye contact, love. We're going to be late!"

Then he slides his fingers into mine and half drags me to the car. I have no idea what to do or how to react, so I just go with it.

He reminds me of characters in books and movies. He reminds me of the smiling, smirking character who no one can really wrap their heads around. I never really thought that people like that existed in real life, and maybe they don't. Maybe this is some sort of act he puts on and that why he disappears for weeks at a time. Because he needs to recharge his energy, and he can't do it in front of others or he'd ruin the illusion.

Then it hits me that Kenny is holding my hand and he called me love and I remember what Stan said the other day and I start feeling really, really dizzy. I stumble forward and he catches me before I fall.

He chuckles and grins at me. "Don't hurt yourself, Ky."

Suddenly, I can't handle it. I get mad and my skin begins to crawl. I straighten up, pull myself away from him, and I can feel myself getting cold. "I'm fine," I say sharply. I brush my arms off even though there's nothing there and walk quickly to the car. I slam the door after me, just barely missing my fingers. Which could have been bad.

Kenny just scampers over and bounces into the driver's seat. He starts the car and heads toward school, driving carefully, almost as slowly as I drive. "So I've been thinking, right? If Lucy had a healing potion, then their side in the war has no casualties, you know? Lucy can just go around and heal everyone at the end and then the other side is completely devastated, but the good guys are fine. So why was anyone worried in the first place? Didn't they realize that they weren't risking anything?"

The anger is gone, and I simply stare at him. I don't say anything for a few moments as I try to process what he said. I'm sure I heard it all right, but I really have no idea how any of those words make sense together. "What are you talking about?" I finally say.

He frowns and glances over at me. "Chronicles of Narnia. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?"

I blink and continue to stare at him. "Right. How could I not have realized that?" I reply dryly.

"Well, I'm just saying, I can't get past the plot holes, you know? It's like how in Harry Potter, they have the time turner thing, right? Couldn't that just solve all the problems they had?"

I roll my eyes. "Hermione says that bad things happen to wizards who meddle with time. Time travel in general can mess up the present."

He turns to me and grins. "What would I do without you?" he says. Affection makes its way into his voice and I can feel my ears getting hot. Then he turns back to the road. "See, I never actually saw the Harry Potter movies. Or read the books."

"How could you be annoyed with plot holes for something you didn't even see or read?" I say, raising an eyebrow at him.

He shrugs. "I never read or saw the Chronicles of Narnia either." He glances at me and grins again. "I guess I'm just always looking for something to be angry about to feed my wrath."

I scoff at him, but don't say anything.

"What?" he says, his voice creeping to a whine.

"I just wouldn't call you wrathful." I chuckle a little and he frowns at me.

"Hey, I'm an extremely angry person. Maybe you've just never noticed."

"You?" I laugh again and smile at him. "You're more like an overgrown puppy."

He shakes his head vigorously. "No. Not a puppy."

"You run around smiling and jumping on people. Yeah, you're a puppy."

"I don't jump on people!"

"Right, you practically climb on people. Maybe you're more like a squirrel."

"I don't-" he starts. Then he pauses and tilts his head to one side. It makes him look more like a puppy than ever, which is kind of adorable. He rubs the back of his neck and lets out an uneasy chuckle. "Okay, maybe I sometimes jump on people. Or climb them, whatever. But that doesn't mean I'm not full of fury and anger."

I just shake me head. "Puppies don't get angry. Excited, yes. Confused, yes. Angry, no."

He stares straight ahead with a small smile. "I just haven't been mad at you, Ky."

I catch myself staring at the corner of his mouth and the beginning of a dimple in his cheek. I look away quickly and shake my head again. "I can't picture you mad."

I find myself forgetting how mad I was at him. It seems like this is what happens with Kenny. He makes it so hard to hold on to anger. He's just so animated and talkative. He distracts people. Maybe that's how he always gets away with disappearing. I wonder how Craig dealt with it when they were dating.

I don't really want to just let it go and act like this is normal though. I turn to look at him and his eyes look a little glazed over, like he's lost in thought. "So where have you been for the past two weeks?" I say suddenly, and he almost jumps.

He laughs a little and smiles. I notice that he doesn't look at me. "On the subject of plot holes," he jokes.

I glare, but it doesn't matter because he's staring straight ahead. "I waited for you, you know. That Monday morning. You could've told me that you weren't coming."

"Announcing that you're going to disappear kind of defeats the purpose, don't you think?" There's an edge in his voice, and I'm about to respond when he pulls into a parking place and leaps from the car. I didn't even notice we'd gotten to school.

I get out, and he's already walking up the steps, his fist clenched around the strap of his backpack. I grab my stuff and head to class. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. Maybe this is why no one ever questions it. Because he runs away in a huff, all prickly. He's good at running away.