A week later, Piers and I are in art class. He's drawing some beautifully detailed drawing of a woman while I draw a piece of shit stick figure. "Jill that looks great," the art teacher comes over. "Really? Thanks," I say with fake enthusiasm. When she leaves the general area I look over to Piers, "She's full of shit." He laughs and continues shading in the woman. He's blocking her with his arm, not intentionally, but I can't see it. "Can I see it," I ask resting my head on his shoulder. "Sure," he moves his arm. "Oh hey! That's... me?" He smiles, "Yeah... It's you!" "I love it," I smile picking up the piece of paper. It looked like me, I was a little surprised he decided to draw me. My excitement must've caught the teacher's eyes because she was standing next to me a second later. "Wow! Jill, you drew that," she asked. "No! Piers did," I say excitedly. She looks over to him, "I had no idea you were this good!" I put it up next to my face for comparison. "I think it looks better than the real thing," Sheva smirks across the table. "Fuck you," I mouth. She laughs and the teacher takes the page from me. "I'm going to hang it up," she takes a piece of tape and pins it to the wall. "Great, my face is on the wall," I say sarcastically. "Well, at least I didn't draw your usual face," Piers laughs. I flare my nostrils before continuing my stick figure.

We continue with the day, we sit next to each other in Earth Science now. He doodles all over his notebook, like the ratio is 6 to every 1 word on the page. He draws various women and men all across the margins. "Who's that," I point to a woman who's shaded in. "Sheva," he laughs. "So racist," I shake my head laughing. "That's Chris right," I point to a man in a football uniform. "Yeah! You got it now," he smiled. "Who's this," he points to another man. "Richard," I say excitedly. "Yep," he smiled. "Who's that," I point to a girl. "That's Jessica," he says. "Ugh! You like her don't you," I say annoyed. All guys like Jessica, wouldn't surprise me if he did too. "No... Don't worry about that," he sighs. "Come on! All guys like her," I say honestly. "Not all of them," Piers sighs. "What? Are you gay," I joke. He's silent. "You're not," I pause, "You are! You can tell me Piers. I don't care, we're friends... I won't tell anyone!" He sighs again, "Yeah... I am." I'm a little shocked, but it's not a complete surprise. He puts his head down on the desk, resting on his arms. "It's okay Piers," I rest my hand on his back. I rub my hand vertically across his back, "It's okay. I still love you!" He looks up smiling, "I love you too, but you know, not in that way." I laugh, "You're so dumb!" He smiles and we finally start paying attention to the class.

Lunch comes and we're all sitting together again. It's hard not to tell the others about Piers, but I promised and I'll keep it until he decides to tell them. "So guys, my birthday's next week," Piers beams. "Having a party," Forest looks over. "Actually yeah, my parents rented out a small place downtown. It'll be great, I'm inviting all of you," he says excitedly, "Jill, could you help me set up the playlist?" "Sure," I nod. "The rest of you are coming right," he asks the rest of the group. "Why not puppy," Chris ruffles his hair. "God, why are we friends," he says sarcastically. Chris laughs, "Love you Piers!" Piers rolls his eyes, shaking his head. "Oh man! I have to buy a dress," I yell. "Don't you have one at home," Forest asks. "Yeah, but I wore that to Chuck's party last year! People will think it's the only thing I wear," I protest. "Girls are so much work," Chris rolled his eyes. Chris, Richard and Forest's phone all vibrated against the table. "What the hell," Richard asks. The three pull out their phones almost at the same time. "It's a chain message from Jessica," Chris says. I see him tap the screen and his eyes widened. "Piers... It's about you," Richard said wide eyed. I take Chris' phone and read it, Piers looking over my shoulder. "Turns out Piers Nivans is gay! HAHA lol," it read. All of Piers' emotion vanished from his face. "Piers, I.." he ran off. "Why the hell is he so upset," Forest asked. "She sent it to the whole fucking school," I say as I read the contacts it was sent to. "Well it's not like he is," Forest say in a 'I know for a fact' tone. I make a face, trying not to because I promised Piers I wouldn't tell anyone. "He is," Chris noticed me. I sigh and nod my head in defeat, "Yeah. I was the only one who knew." "That means he thinks you told her," Richard said. "But I didn't! I don't know how she found out," I try to argue my innocence. "No one's blaming you Jill... Besides, we believe you," Chris sighed, "This is going to cause problems for him." "I'm going to go find him," I say following the direction he went in.

CHRIS POV
This is fucked up, why the hell would Jessica do that? Jill runs off to find Piers and hopefully get him to not be mad at her, but I'm sure it won't be that easy. "So, Piers is gay," Forest says kind of surprised. "Eh, I kinda saw it," Richard said. "Me too," I agree. I'd seen Piers checking me out, at first I thought I was conceded but it happened more than once. "Does this change anything," I ask them. "I don't care," Forest says. "No! Of course not, Piers was the first person to push over the garbage can for us," Richard smiles. "True true," Forest thinks harder about our group's relationship with Piers now that we knew. "Yeah, nothing changed. He's still the stupid puppy we know and love," he jokes. I see Jessica cross the courtyard, someone comes up to her and they begin talking.
"We should spread a rumor about Jessica," Forest suggested. "We should," I agree. "But what," Forest strokes his chin, if he had facial hair it'd be better. "Got it... She's a slut," Forest shouts out. "No.. Everyone already knows that," I dismiss his first plan. "I don't know what, but I'll think of something at some point," Forest says. The bell rings and I say goodbye to my friends, walking through the crowded halls, and making my way to the next class. As I walk down the hall, I begin to think about how much it'd suck to be Piers right now. No one deserves that to be public information unless you decide it. Jessica went over the limit and violated him. It's his business, not hers. I reach the math classroom and take my usual seat behind Jill.

The lesson begins and Ms. Chang is teaching us about boring statistics. I don't really care, so I poke Jill's right shoulder. "What," she leans back sounding a little annoyed. "How'd it go with Piers," I whisper. "Terrible, he hates me! He thinks I told Jessica, but he knows I hate her. He won't even talk to me now," she sighs, "I just don't know what to do..." I lean forward, "I'll talk to him after school." "Thanks Chris, but I don't think that'll work," she sighs again. "Just let me try," I say confidently. "Fine," she continues writing her notes. I look over to Piers, he looks pretty angry as he writes his notes. Am I the only one who doesn't take notes? Class ends and I have a seperate from my sophomore friends. I really do feel bad for Piers.

After two other boring classes, I meet up with Jill in front of the school. "Need a ride," I ask. "Aren't you going to talk to Piers," she asked. "Yeah, later," I told her. "Fine... Let's go," she walks towards the school's parking lot. I get my keys out as Jill walks around to the passenger seat. I unlock the car and she opens her door, sitting down. I do the same and put the key into the ignition. We head toward Jill's house, I'm driving slower than usual. "Why are we going so slow," Jill asks annoyed. Anyone could tell that something was bothering her, I guess she really didn't like it when a friend was mad at her. "Just wait," I say and then I see him, Piers walking home alone. "Piers," I pull over and half climb over Jill so I can talk to him through her window. "Just leave me alone," he began to walk faster. "I'll get him," I get out of the car. "Piers," I yell at him. "I said, 'Leave me alone'!" I began to run and grab him. "What the hell are you doing," he struggled to get free. "Come on, we're talking," I drag him towards the car. "Let me go," he yelled as we reached the car. "Chris! What the hell are you doing," Jill yells. I throw him into the backseat and then get into the driver's seat. "What the hell are you two doing," Piers yelled.

"What are we doing Chris," Jill asked with a hint of fear in her voice. "Talking," I began to drive towards Jill's house again. We pull up in front of the two houses and Piers opens the back door and tries to escape, but I grab him by his scarf and pull him back, "You're listening to us whether you want to or not!" He crosses his arms in defeat and I guide him to Jill's house. Jill unlocks the door, neither of her parents were home. "Let's go to my room. We won't be interrupted if my parents come home," Jill says. "You make it sound like we're having sex," I joke. "Ugh shut up! We just kidnapped Piers," she yells. "Yeah you did," he says frustrated. I sit him on Jill's bed and Jill sits next to him. I grab her desk chair and pull it over in front of the bed.

"So, who wants to start," I say. "Start? This a fucking therapy session," Piers asked. Jill interrupts with a sighs before speaking, "I'm sorry Jessica found out be I didn't tell her!" "Sure..." Piers says. "I don't even talk to her! I fucking hate her," Jill yells. Piers turns his body away from us. "Piers! She sits pretty close to us in Earth Science, maybe she found out then," Jill begs for him to forgive her. "Piers, you're Jill's best friend! Why would she betray you," I interrupt. Piers turns to us, "You don't understand! I just want to be alone! I don't want to talk to anyone! I just want to lay down and think!" "Go ahead," Jill yells, "Lay down! I'm sick of you being mad! There's no reason for it! You'd have to tell everyone some day! Why not now?" My jaw drops, staring at Jill. I turn my head to face Piers, who looks like he's about to cry. "You don't understand," he yells, "I'm not mad at you anymore! I got over that! It's just that... Life won't be the same with everyone knowing.. I'll be 'that gay kid' for the rest of high school and then when I'm older I'm 'that gay guy'. You know people are homophobic, I'm pretty sure Chris over there sees me completely different, and just 'cause you understand Jill, doesn't mean everyone else will!"

"Piers, let's get one thing straight. I knew you were gay," I tell him. "Wha..." he pauses. "You think you were so secretive, but I saw you staring in gym, during practice, well pretty much everywhere! Now that I know you actually are, doesn't change a thing," I tell him. He lets out a nose laugh, "You noticed, huh?" "Yeah," I sigh, "I noticed you too Jill!" She jumps a little, "What!?" "You're just like him! Thinking you're all clever," I laugh. "I don't know what you're talking about," she crosses her arms and tilts her head up. "Whatever," I smile, "I need to go pick up my sister. I'll see you guys later." I stand up. "Wait," Piers calls. "Thanks Chris," he smiles and then hugs me. "Yeah, thanks Chris," Jill joins the hug."I really have to go," I say sorry that I have to break this touching moment.

I quickly head downstairs, both sophomores follow, but I'm the only one leaving. "See you guys tomorrow," I yell from my car. "Bye," I hear both Jill and Piers yell as they wave. I laugh as I begin to drive towards my sister's middle school. I pull up and see her waiting alone holding her black book bag. "You're late," she sighs angrily. "I know Claire. Calm down," I tell her. "You didn't have practice today, why are you so late," she asks. "None of your business," I say with an attitude. "You were with Forest and Richard weren't you," she smirks as we walk to the car. "No, I was with Jill and Piers," I correct her. "Oh," she says as she opened the passenger door. "What's the smell," she asked, "Smells like perfume.." "Oh! That's Jill," I say. I hope she didn't pick up on how happy I was when I said that. "You like her," she smiles. "No... Just because I hang out with a girl doesn't mean I like her," I tell her. Claire was always good at reading people's emotions, it was like a freakin' superpower. "Okay," she said sneakily.

JILL POV
Chris left in a hurry and Piers and I were fixed. I'll have to thank Chris later. We went back to my room. "Your party, what are you planning," I ask. Actually, an old friend is planning the whole thing," he says. "Old friend," I ask. "Yeah, her name's Helena. I knew her from before I moved to New York. We were best friends since like second grade," he explains. "And I'm just hearing of her now," I ask suspicious. "It never came up," he shrugs. I roll my eyes as I smile at him. "So what does she have planned," I ask. "All I know is that there's going to be a dress code, but not formal and it's going to be like a club. She's coming to town on Friday to plan it," he says. "But isn't your party Friday of next week," I ask, "Her parents let her miss a week of school?" "She's coming to our school for the week. Then she's leaving the Sunday after the party," he says. "So, is she your date," I ask. "I don't know, probably not. I don't want a date for the party," he says. "I could be your date," I strike a terrible model pose. "That's okay," he says. We both laugh and then he looks to me, "You going to ask Chris to go with you?"

"No, a girl asking a guy is pathetic. I'll see if he asks me. If he doesn't it'll prove he doesn't like me like that," I say confidently. "Whatever," Piers rolls his eyes, "I'll make sure he asks you." I roll my eyes once again, "Why don't you ask him to go?" He flares his nostrils, "He's not going to go with me... He has his heart set on you." I stick my tongue out at him; he smiles. "I hate you," I tell him. He laughs and eventually I do too. "So, who are you inviting," I ask after a long pause. "Well, Richard, Forest, Chris, You, Helena, Sheva, and I don't really know who else," he says. "Rebecca," I ask. "Yeah, I'll invite her! I'm also inviting some friends from New York," he said. "They'll come all the way out here for a party," I ask. "Some will... The rich ones," he jokes. "I'd come see you Piers," I smile. "Like I'd want you too. You'd be the reason I move from Raccoon City," he smiles. "Shut the fuck up," I punch him playfully. "Can I ask why you move so much," I ask. "Yeah, Dad's work makes us move. He was originally in the Army, just like his father and his father's father. He eventually left and we moved to New York so he could find work, they also had good hospitals for mom. Then dad was offered a position with Umbrella here in Raccoon, and they offered their top medical researchers to help mom if he took the job. So, we're here forever."

I lay down on the bed. "You okay," Piers asked. "Yeah... Fine," I sigh. "Why are you laying down all the sudden," he asks. "I don't know... I'm just tired all of the sudden," I tell him. "Okay, I should head home anyway," he sighs. "I'll walk you out." I do just that and wait for Piers to go inside the house. "Hi Jill," I hear someone call my name. "Tom, get inside," Piers yells. I shake my head, Tom's the weirdest person I'd ever met. I return to my room, going on the computer like I usually did. I go on Facebook, deciding to look at who this Helena was. I search Helena in Piers' friends list and there's only one choice, Helena Harper. I click the name and it brings me to her page. The profile picture is two girls. One with long wavy brown hair and the other with brown hair reaching her shoulder. I click on the image and the one with the long hair is tagged as Helena, the other Deborah Harper. Her sister maybe?

She was attractive, and seemed to like a lot of the things Piers did, by what she liked on her page. I look through the girl's pictures and soon found one of Piers. He laughing extremely hard, the back of her head was why she was tagged. Then I found pictures of Piers from when he was younger, he was so freaking cute, what happened to him? I then have the sudden urge to look at Chris' pictures, and I do. Most of them were him making stupid poses or stupid faces at the camera. He's so stupid!