A/N: I am so, so sorry that I ghosted this story for like two months. If it helps (I know it doesn't actually), it's because I've been writing later chapters in this story while writing a book and editing another book. I kept saying to myself "I'll edit chapter 2 soon." Soon didn't come until this morning, so I am truly, truly sorry, but hopefully I'll be able to be way more consistent with updates now.

~ Chapter 2 ~

Felix was waiting in my living room when I came out and was dressed from head to foot in yellow. I stared at him with slight incredulity for a moment because I'd been worried that I was going to stand out, but there was no chance of that if I was next to Felix. "You wore yellow," he said excitedly.

"Yeah, I did. And like you said, why wouldn't I?" I thought I sounded a little bitter. I didn't mean to. It really wasn't Felix's fault that I couldn't figure out my shit. I'd given him no reason to think I didn't like Mia. In his own way, I thought he was trying to be supportive. "You… are yellow as well."

"I want to make it super clear that I'm into Lake."

"Yeah, I think it's clear," I confirmed. I didn't think there was any way it could be more obvious, but then he pulled a matching sweatband out of his pocket and put it around his head. I couldn't help my smile. It was so ridiculous; everything about this was ridiculous.

"You two look like a couple of bananas getting ready to split," my dad said. He looked so pleased with himself.

"We're dressed like this for a party," I explained.

"Uh, you didn't tell me anything about a party. Whose party?" he asked.

"Oh, this girl Mia. She likes Victor," Felix explained.

I turned to him and gave him the best warning look I could muster and prayed he got the message.

"Oh! All right!" my dad said excitedly. "Who is this girl? Is she cute?"

"Dad, don't be weird," I begged.

"Oh, she's gorgeous," Felix interjected. I guess the look I gave him before meant absolutely nothing to him. "Kind of like a young my mom."

Well, Felix fixed it. He made it weirder than my dad ever could, so even my dad was at a loss for words. "All right, macho. Well, uh, you go to your party, and, uh, show this Mia girl a good time, okay?" He reached out to shake my hand and I swear, I half expected him to pass me a condom. He didn't (thank God!), and Felix and I finally got to leave.

There were an overwhelming number of people when we walked in, and the energy was amazing. I took Felix's sweatband off as I looked around. I barely recognized anyone. Did all of these kids really go to school with me? I didn't see Benji which I was grateful for. Either he wasn't here or there were too many people to see him; I wasn't going to complain. The last thing I needed was to figure out how to not be awkward around him after my disastrous interview had led to me leaving a note filled with my deepest secret right out in the open. Yeah, it was definitely better not to have to deal with that.

Andrew spotted me while I was scanning the crowd and waved me over. I was taken aback; we hadn't exactly gotten along the past two days, but I guess things were different now that we were going to be playing together… assuming I actually found a job.

"I'll be right back," I told Felix. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I forgot about them.

"So, you're not actually friends with that loser, are you?" I was instantly self-conscious.

"Uh, no, no. we're just neighbors." Even as I said it, it felt like a lie and, I realized, Felix might actually be my friend.

I followed Andrew out and felt myself seamlessly slipping into Basketball Victor. Even back in Texas, it was my safety net in social situations. I knew exactly who Basketball Victor was and how he was supposed to act; his life was easy and uncomplicated. I was eager for the escape that he offered me, even if it was only for a few hours.

I was pleasantly surprised by some of the guys on the basketball team. In Graham, everyone on the basketball team had been the same kind of shitty, and even if they were definitely some kind of shitty here, they were different. We talked about things other than just basketball and even if some of it went over my head because it seemed like they'd all known each other their whole lives, it was nice to be a part of that.

When they joked about Mia, I joined in and acted as cocky as I could. When Andrew told me I was coming on too strong, I accepted his jacket without question. When they acted like immature assholes, I laughed along with them.

I nursed the same cup of beer the whole night, but the rest of the team didn't hold back. I felt like I experienced some of their secondhand drunk as they got a little more boisterous. I was surprised they were drinking.

Back in Texas, there had been a strictly enforced no-drinking-during-the-season rule. Our coach had been quick to point out there was a no–drinking–ever–under–21 law that we were supposed to be following, but it was especially important that we didn't do it during the season. He insisted that we may not notice the impact of alcohol, but it could affect our playing, and we weren't getting in the way of his championship. He really did have a sixth sense for it. I wasn't sure how he knew. I never noticed a difference in my teammate's playing, but it took a handful of times of someone being benched for us to take it seriously. We always listened and not just because we were afraid of having to sit out a game. We didn't want to get in the way of our championship either. We were good. Really good. Some of the seniors I'd played with last year were playing ball in college. Nothing was worth screwing up a future like that.

Once upon a time, I thought that might be what I wanted. I wasn't sure. I loved basketball, but I didn't always love the people I played with. As comfortable and predictable as it could be, I didn't want to spend more time pretending to be basketball Victor before I even knew who Victor really was.

I guess they didn't take the drinking rule as seriously here. The more they drank, the harder it became to follow everything that was happening because they kept interrupting each other to add their own details to something.

It didn't help that was still a little fuzzy on names, so half the time I was just trying to figure out who was talking instead of listening to what they were talking about. Some stood out to me.

I knew Andrew because of the shitshow our first day had been. He was being perfectly pleasant to me now. I hoped that this would keep up and wouldn't wear off when he wasn't drinking.

I knew Kieran because he kept throwing in the most confusing and nonsensical jokes and anecdotes. Everyone seemed to simultaneously groan, "Kieran" every time he opened his mouth. It never got to him. He seemed to find it funny. No one else really seemed to mind it either. Their groans were definitely friendly.

I knew Jacob, a junior on the team, because he kept trying to fill me in on the backstory I was missing. It helped a little, but there was too much to cram into the few seconds of silence we had.

I kind of knew that someone's name was William or Walter or something like that. I wasn't sure. He didn't talk much; he mostly made sure no one's cup was ever empty. It was interesting because I never saw him drink anything himself.

Even if I didn't understand much of anything and mostly fell into a listener role, I enjoyed being with them. I felt the slightest bit of nostalgia for the team I'd left behind in Texas. My teammates, while sucky, had almost as many shared memories with me as the Creekwood team had. I didn't love the idea of having to start over and figure out where I fit in with a group of kids that had already established themselves.

I almost forgot that I came here with Felix until he stumbled over to me. "Where have you been?" he slurred.

"Oh, hey. Um, I've been with the guys. Are you okay?" I asked uncertainly. He wavered on his feet until he sat down on the arm of the chair I was in.

"Ah, well, you were gone a while," he explained. He poked my nose, and I couldn't help but wonder exactly how much he had to drink. "So, in order to calm my crippling social anxiety, I made a new friend."

He laughed, but it was like a punch to my gut. This was my fault. I agreed to come here with him and immediately abandoned him. I'd forgotten about that part of basketball Victor because it hadn't mattered when all of my friends were on the team, but Felix wasn't. Basketball Victor could be a real jerk. "How much did you drink?"

He squinted at me like he didn't understand my question. "Can you believe Lake has a boyfriend? Ugh. Bruno. Even his name is cool."

"All right. Let's take it easy, all right? I'm gonna get you some water." I took his cup. It was half full, so he was either a tremendous lightweight or this wasn't his first drink. I didn't want to leave him again, but I didn't totally trust him to move around right now. I thought being stationary would probably be the best thing for him. "Just don't drink anymore, okay?"

Felix muttered something about Bruno as I walked away. It was surprisingly difficult to find water in the house. I ended up rinsing out his cup and filling it with water from the sink since I couldn't find a single unused cup.

I rested my elbows on the counter for a minute and let my head fall into my hands. "You alright?" someone asked. "If you're gonna be sick, find a trash can. The line for the bathroom is really long."

I looked over to see a girl in a muted red shirt and jeans. She was sitting on the floor next to someone who was actively sobbing and was wearing nearly as much yellow as Felix. "I'm not going to be sick," I said. "I just needed to get some water." I held up the cup that I'd filled.

"Would you mind?" she asked. She held up her cup.

"Of course not," I agreed. I grabbed it and rinsed it out before I started to fill it with water.

"Breathe. In and out," the girl in red said. "In and out."

"I'm not hyperventilating. I don't need to breathe," the girl in yellow snapped.

The girl in red rolled her eyes. "Try it anyway."

Her friend listened and took deep breaths. I wasn't sure if it was helping because every breath was audible over the water coming from the faucet. I passed her the cup. "Drink this," she ordered.

"I'm not thirsty," the other girl complained.

"Drink it anyway," she suggested.

The yellow girl took the cup and put it on the other side of her. "No."

The girl in red looked pissed. "You need to drink. Otherwise, you'll be hungover."

"I'll be fine," the one in yellow grumbled.

The girl in red apparently decided to pick her battles because she let it go. Instead, she held up her own cup. "Think you'd be up for one more refill?"

I grabbed the second cup. When I passed it back to her, I said, "I'm Victor. I don't think we've met."

"No, but I've read about you," the girl in red told me. I groaned and she grinned. "I'm Jackie. I'm a senior at Creekwood. This hot mess next to me is my best friend and cousin, Shauna. She doesn't go to Creekwood; she's just here for the ride."

Just as she said that, Shauna started to sob. A disgruntled look crossed Jackie's face as she looped her arm around her back. "Boy trouble. Can you believe it?" She rolled her eyes at me. To Shauna, she said, "he's not worth this. He's a dick."

"He's not a dick." Shauna's words were so slurred it kind of sounded like she said he wasn't a stick and I found that way funnier than I should have.

"Come on. He was way meaner than he needed to be. Back me up, new kid."

"Uh." I glanced at the exit from the kitchen before I looked back at the girls. I figured, what the hell? What's the worst that could happen? "What happened?"

"Okay, so this asshole has been stringing her along for weeks. He's been flirting with her and sending her all the right signals. Shauna hyped herself up to finally tell him. Tonight was supposed to be a huge night. Then he laughed at her when she told him she liked him as if he hadn't been leading her on. Like, fine, you don't have to like her, but don't pretend you're into her. Nuh uh. When I see Kyle…" She punched her fist into her other hand. I'd never actually seen someone do that before in real life.

It took me a second to figure out what to say because this hit a little too close to home. Was I unintentionally doing this to Mia? "Maybe he didn't realize what he was doing."

It took less than a second for me to realize that defending him WAS NOT the right decision. "You're such a guy. Seriously. You all treat us like we're on this planet for your personal enjoyment. We're not."

I held up my hands as a gesture of peace. "That wasn't what I was trying to say," I said slowly. "I know I don't always pick up on someone flirting, so maybe he didn't notice."

"Oh, he did. He was using her to make his ex jealous. Because he's a dick," Jackie insisted. "He laughed at her." She glared at me as if that last part was the absolute worst thing that had ever happened on this planet.

I bit my lip because Jackie didn't look particularly menacing, but I didn't want her to see me laughing. "It wasn't nice of him to laugh," I agreed. I felt a little relieved because I wasn't intentionally using Mia. Hopefully that meant this was a totally different situation.

"Exactly! You can do way better than him. Come on. Come hang out with me and Mike. It'll be fun."

"You're just saying that because Mike goes back to school next week, so you don't have much time left with him," Shauna said grumpily.

"That is part of it," Jackie agreed. "The other part is that I want you to get your mind off of what's-his-name."

"I want to keep my mind on him." She played with the edge of her dress. "I just don't know what he's looking for. I could be whatever he wants."

"No, you couldn't. You can't change yourself to make him like you. That wouldn't be fair to either of you," Jackie argued. "Building a relationship on a lie will only hurt both of you in the long run."

Ouch. I nearly winced. I was suddenly wishing I'd grabbed the water and left when I had the chance. There were really too many parallels between this conversation and my life for me to be remotely comfortable with what was happening.

"I know, I know. But what if –"

"No."

"He just said I'm not his type. That doesn't mean there's no hope. When you introduced me to him, you said he was perfect for me."

"I thought he was, but he turned out to be a shitty guy. He turned you down. That means there's no hope; don't waste your time. Besides, if you're not his type then he's definitely gay." I felt my heart start to pound. Yeah, I definitely should have fled. I wondered if I could leave without facing any more of Jackie's wrath.

"He's not gay. Have you seen him?"

"All the cute ones are gay," Jackie pointed out. "Back me up." She gestured to me.

I felt distinctly uncomfortable with the turn in the conversation. There was a 0% chance I was contributing anything to this. I felt like I had a target on my back as it was. "I, uh, have to get water back to my friend. It was nice to meet you both." I took a step before I turned back. "You should be with someone who makes you happy. I don't think this guy does that, and maybe that means something. Don't worry about who anyone else thinks is perfect for you. Let yourself figure it out."

I almost wished I hadn't said anything because I heard my words as soon as I said them, and there was little I hated more than giving myself advice because now I either had to listen to myself or ignore myself. It was hard to tell which would be worse.

By the time I got back to Felix, he had writing all over his face. Andrew was in the process of drawing a mustache under his nose. I hit away his hand. "What the hell are you doing?" I asked.

"We're just having a bit of fun," Andrew told me. I felt like Basketball Victor disappeared when I stepped into the kitchen and even though I knew he would have laughed this off while repressing his inner guilt, I couldn't make myself do that.

"This is what you think is fun? This?" I pointed at Felix's head. I really hoped the sharpie would come off.

"What do you care? He's a loser," Andrew pointed out.

"He's my friend, okay," I snapped. "Come on, Felix." I helped him to his feet, and he almost immediately swayed. I tried to help him steady himself. "And it says 'looser' you idiots."

They seemed to find that as funny as what they'd done to Felix.

The line for the bathroom was atrociously long and people were starting to notice the writing on Felix's face, so I guided him up the stairs where there were less people. Less people, not no people. It felt weird to be trying random doors to find an empty room, and I tried not to think about what was happening behind the locked doors. When one finally opened, I was surprised to see Mia sitting on her bed. "Hey," she said, looking startled. She stood up. "What are you doing?"

"Felix had a run in with a marker and the line for the bathroom downstairs was really long." I shot her what I hoped looked like an apologetic smile.

"You can use mine. It's right over there."

I led Felix to her bathroom. She lingered in the doorway while I tried to get the sharpie off his face. By the time he pushed away my hand, he looked way better. Hopefully it would be good enough to get him out of the house and home. "Wanna head out?" I asked him. Felix groaned loudly and for about ten seconds before he curled up on the floor. "I guess that means no."

Mia chuckled. "So… he looks like he had fun," she observed.

I chuckled. "Maybe a little too much fun," I agreed. I really shouldn't have left him. Truthfully, he wasn't that bad. It wasn't like he was throwing up or about to pass out or anything. He was just slightly past the line of too drunk. I put my hands in my jacket pocket before I left the bathroom. "This is your room?" I tried not to sound too incredulous, but most of my apartment could fit in here.

"Yeah."

Something on her desk caught my attention as I was looking around. "Wait. Did you draw this?" I asked. Too late, I realized that I probably shouldn't be snooping around her room, but I couldn't take it back.

Fortunately, she didn't seem upset about it. "Uh, yeah. It's what I'm working on for one of my classes."

"It's incredible."

She shrugged. "It's okay. Drawing in pen isn't my favorite thing to do."

"What is?" I asked curiously.

"Don't laugh."

"Never," I promised.

"I like sculpting."

I had no idea why she thought I'd laugh at that. "That sounds really awesome. What kinds of things have you made?"

"Random things, really. Uh… before my mom left, art used to be our thing."

"I didn't know your mom left. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. It was a while ago. She checked herself into rehab and… yeah. That's it."

Shit. That genuinely sucked. "I'm sorry. That must've been tough."

Mia sat down on her bed. "Things got lonely really fast. I guess she was lonely before she left. We didn't know."

"What about your dad?"

"He works a lot. That's where he is now. He's a university president and it takes him all over the world to meet other university heads and try to get donations and grants and stuff."

"That sounds kind of cool. It sucks that you can't go with him."

"We talked about it once. We played around with the idea of me being homeschooled and enrolling in online classes, but I'd pretty much be on my own in different countries instead of on my own here. At least I have my friends here."

I couldn't wrap my head around that. "Like Lake?"

"We've been best friends forever," she agreed.

"So… not to change the subject, but this Bruno guy. Is it serious?"

"Is that why Felix was drinking?"

It would be so easy to blame Lake's boyfriend. Easy but wrong. "No. That's on me. I wasn't watching him."

"Bruno is Lake's cousin."

"Ughhhh," Felix groaned from the bathroom. "I can't compete with family."

"Um, no," Mia said. "He's just her cousin."

"Brunooooo."

"I'll tell him when he's sober," I promised her. "I don't think it's landing right now."

She chuckled. "Guess not."

"Guys. Can I get a blanket?" I bit my lip before I stood up. I took off Andrew's jacket and threw it towards him. "Thank you."

When I turned back to Mia, she had a small, pleased smile on her face. "You wore yellow."

I looked down at my shirt. The funny thing was that I'd put it on after my disastrous interview as a way of avoiding my problems, but now I wasn't so sure. Maybe I was wearing this shirt for her. It inexplicably made things even more confusing. "Yeah. Yeah, I did." Then, something else occurred to me. Mia wasn't wearing yellow, so maybe all this panicking had been for nothing. "You didn't. No one at Creekwood caught your eye?" I tried to sound as light and joking as I could."

Mia stood up. "This whole party was Lake's idea," she said softly. "She felt like people get together quicker at themed parties. I didn't like the idea of it. If I like someone, I want it to happen naturally and not just because we're both wasted at a party."

"You aren't wasted," I pointed out.

She chuckled. "No, I'm not. Neither are you."

Before I could think too much about that, Felix audibly groaned. "I'm thirsty!"

I rolled my eyes. "Can't say the same for him. I'm gonna grab him some water. Do you want anything?"

"I'd love some water too."

"Hope tap's cool with you?"

"Tap? Why? You can get some from the fridge. We might even have bottles in there if you don't want to have to bring up a bunch of cups."

I kind of wanted to slap myself because in my quest for water earlier, I didn't think about the fridge. I mean, I wouldn't have gone digging through her fridge without permission regardless, but I wish it had occurred to me to use the built-in water dispenser.

She was right. There were bottles in one of the drawers inside the fridge. I returned a minute later with the water. I passed Mia hers before I gave Felix one. I sat down next to Mia on her bed. "I need you to drink this whole thing," I warned him. "We have to leave soon, and I need you to be sober or at least closer to it."

"I'm not sure there's enough water in the world to help," Mia teased. "You're welcome to crash here if you need to. We have a few spare rooms."

"I think they're occupied right now," I muttered. Mia made a face. "It's fine; I have to go home tonight anyway. My parents wouldn't go for that, but thanks."

"Are your parents strict about stuff like this?"

I thought about her question. It was hard to answer because, to my parents' knowledge, I'd never had a drink in my life. I kind of wanted to keep it that way. "Sort of. They're protective. You know, we're brand new to a city that's like a hundred times the size of the town we moved from."

"This must be a pretty big change for you," she observed.

"Yeah. It is." I frowned. "Don't get me wrong; I'm glad we moved. I know that probably sounds weird, but I kind of like that I get a fresh start here."

"Was there something you needed a fresh start from? Let me guess… you killed a guy."

I snorted. "The cops couldn't get a confession and neither will you." I smiled as I looked down at the carpet. "No. It's like… they all knew me. Or they thought they did. There wasn't much room to be anyone other than who they thought I was. It was easy that way, but –"

"Confining?" she guessed.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"I get that. I feel like no matter where you live, being yourself is hard. There are always people who won't be able to deal with who you are. Sometimes, I wish other people would let go of who they think I am, so I have room to really be myself."

"Yeah. I guess that's not just a small-town thing. You've lived in Atlanta your whole life, right?" She nodded. "What's your favorite part of the city?"

She looked thoughtful for a minute. "The museums. There's this one art museum that my mom used to take me to all the time when I was little. I was obsessed with it. I used to beg to go back. Once a week, they had events for kids, and she would take me. It's where I fell in love with art. I go through phases with different styles, but I've always loved sculpting. It's the one thing that never gets old for me."

"Why sculpting?" I asked curiously.

"I think it's that it's always been my thing. When my mom left, it was hard for me to be around the stuff she loved. It reminded me of her. Sculpting, though, had never been something we did together. She didn't like it as much as I did, so it didn't hurt to keep liking it." She looked away. "Sorry. I don't know why I told you all of that."

"It's okay." I studied her for a minute; she looked really sad. "You must miss her." Mia shrugged. "I'm sorry you went through all that with her. It must have been scary to see her like that."

Mia stared at me for almost a minute. "It wasn't because it's not the truth."

"Huh?"

"My mom never went to rehab. That's just what I tell people."

"Why?"

"Because it's easier to tell people that drugs were too much for her than to admit that I wasn't enough for her."

"No, Mia. It's not that you weren't enough for her. How could that be possible? You're incredible."

"My dad always chooses work over me; my mom chose everything over me. I'm the common factor. It has to be me."

"It's not." I could tell she didn't believe me, and I didn't know how to convince her. "It's their job to choose you. I'm sorry they don't but that's not your fault."

She shrugged, and I sensed that she didn't want to talk about this anymore. I decided to change the subject. "Can I ask you a question?" She motioned for me to go ahead. "You live in this big house by yourself."

"Is there a question in there?"

"Yeah. Who kills all the spiders?"

She giggled, and I was relieved that the tension that had been building dissipated. "I prefer to think I live in the one house in Atlanta that's spider-free."

"Hmmm. I didn't think I'd have to add delusional to the list."

"What list?" she asked.

"The list of adjectives to describe Mia Brooks, obviously."

"Ah. Well, I think I deserve to hear this list."

I chuckled. "Well, there's friendly. Artistic. Delusional." I glanced at her out of the side of my eye. "Pretty."

"You think I'm pretty?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I really do."

Her eyes kind of fluttered for a second before she looked at me. She had this small smile on her face that was making butterflies swirl in my stomach. I kind of realized that this was my moment.

I wanted to kiss her. I didn't expect that; I didn't expect the excitement that filled me or the hope. What I was hoping for, I couldn't say. Maybe I was hoping I'd get all of my answers or that I'd find out that I truly wanted to be with Mia. Maybe I was merely curious. I don't know. All I know is that I started to lean in, and it didn't fill me with complete dread.

Before I had the chance to do it, Felix brought us back to the real world. "Oh no."

I pulled back. Mia was pointedly looking away from me. "Sorry," I murmured.

"It's fine."

I stood up, and when I got to the bathroom, all I could do was stare. "How?" I asked. He had part of his head stuck in the arm of Andrew's jacket and his shirt was soaking wet. It took one look at the empty water bottle next to him to figure that one out. He was still lying down on the floor which was probably how he'd managed to get so tangled up.

"I can't get it on," he complained.

"Probably because you're sticking your head through the wrong hole." He fully pulled off the jacket.

"Now I'm cold."

"Okay. I think it's time to get you home."

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and it immediately fell on his head. "I need to text my mom. Let her know I'm on my way."

"No. I don't think so," I told him. I grabbed his phone from him.

"She needs to know that I'll be home soon."

"Then I will text her." Except, when I tapped his screen, a big 10:49 seemed to scream at me. I was already past curfew. "Shit. We need to go now. I'll text your mom from the bus." My dad was gonna be pissed.

I helped him to his feet. He was nowhere near sober enough, but we'd have to deal. "We're gonna head out," I told Mia.

"Night."

I hesitated in her doorway. I didn't want to leave things with an almost kiss, but there was only so much I could do when I was supporting Felix. "Thanks for talking tonight. I'll see you on Monday?"

She nodded, so I guided Felix out of her house. The bus stop was only about five minutes away, but it took us nearly fifteen to get there because it was slow moving with Felix. He kept trying to randomly sit down in the middle of the sidewalk.

When we finally got to the bus stop, I pulled out my phone to check the schedule. I hoped we hadn't missed the last bus. While I was waiting for the schedule to load, my phone started to ring.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Victor, it's Benji." My heart started to pound. I was so sure he found my note and figured out it was from me. "Sorry, it's late. I hope I'm not waking you up."

"I–I'm up, I'm up. Wh–what's going on?" I didn't think I could be more nervous if I tried. I braced myself for what was coming. He got my note and was going to call me out on it. I was so sure. Why else would he be calling me?

I briefly wondered how he was going to do it. Was he just gonna casually say that he got my note? Was he going to tell me that I shouldn't be turning this into such a big deal? Even if it was unlikely, was he going to say he'd read it aloud to all his friends?

He cut off my stream of irrational thoughts. "Look, I know today's barista lesson didn't go perfectly, but since none of the rich-ass kids at school need jobs, you're kind of my only applicant," he said. "So, the position is yours."

I was so relieved; it was like I was floating all of a sudden. This wasn't about the letter. If he found it, he didn't realize where it came from. More than likely, he tossed it in the trash and hadn't realized what it was. I was in the clear. I must've waited too long to answer him because he tacked on a, "only if you want it."

I'd taken my eyes off of Felix, so I was surprised when he poked my arm. I pushed his hand away, and he immediately poked me again. I tried ignoring him but that didn't discourage him either. "Yeah. That sounds great. Thanks."

"Well, see you tomorrow and every day after school, until the end of time." He chuckled quietly. "We're going to be spending a lot of time together."

Felix poked me again. "Felix, stop," I hissed. "Cool. I can't wait." Another poke. "Felix!" He chuckled and poked me again. Oh my God.

"Is everything okay?" Benji asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, sorry. Felix and I went to a party tonight, and he had a little bit to drink tonight and now… Oh my God. Poke me again and I swear." I stood up to get away from him. "We're just waiting for the bus."

"You think a bus is running after 11 in Shady Creek?" he asked.

I groaned. "Don't tell me we missed the last bus."

"Okay, I won't tell you that. I'll just say that you're technically hours early for the next one."

I glanced at Felix. There was no way in hell that I was gonna get him to walk the nearly three miles from Mia's house to our apartment, but I really didn't have much of a choice. "Hey, buddy," I said slowly. "What do you think about taking a nice, long walk?" In response, Felix laid down on the bench. "Cool."

"Do you need help?" Benji asked.

"Are you offering us a ride?"

There was a slightly too long pause. "No. I, uh, don't have my license. I keep failing the test. I figured I could help you with Felix."

"No. I know it's late," I told him.

"I don't mind. I just finished closing up at Brasstown, so I got the night open. Where are you?"

"Do you know where Mia Brooks lives?"

"Vaguely. I've never been to her place."

I squinted at the street sign. "Does Peachtree ring a bell?"

"Yes, actually. One of my bandmates lives on Peachtree; I think I know what stop you're at. I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Thanks. I owe you one."

Once he hung up, I helped Felix up into a sitting position. I called my dad. Felix was poking me again, so when he stood up, I let him wander, but I didn't take my eyes off of him. The last thing I needed was for him to accidentally hurt himself. My dad was mad, but there wasn't much he could do. He offered to come pick us up but I thought that was possibly the worst idea in the history of ideas, so I lied and told him the bus would be here before he could get to us.

No sooner had I hung up on him then the bus pulled up. I almost couldn't believe that it was in front of me, and I knew I had to make a choice. Benji was probably going to be here in five minutes; I should call him and let him off the hook and tell him to go home. The thought instantly filled me with disappointment. When I waved on the bus, the bus driver called, "this is the last stop until morning."

"I'm waiting for a ride," I told him. I tried to make my words sound slurred, so he'd think I was too drunk to realize I was sitting at a bus stop. I felt really self-conscious about it because I felt like I was laying it on too thick, but the bus driver seemed to buy it. I was grateful that Felix seemed too preoccupied with… some kind of box he found on the ground to even notice that the bus had come.

I stood up and approached Felix. "Benji's going to help us get back to our apartment, so do we think we can sit nicely and wait for him?"

"Benjiiiiiiii," Felix sang. "He lives like forever away from us."

"Let's pretend that makes sense," I said slowly. "How far are we talking?"

"So far," Felix muttered.

That wasn't helpful. He poked me again. Jesus Christ!

I couldn't wait for Benji to get here. While we waited, I wondered if I'd made a mistake.

A foreboding feeling like I was setting myself up for more confusion filled me. It would be fine. As I thought that over and over again, I hoped I could will it into existence.