I glance out the window as my brother and I drive back through the neighborhood. It's the first day I've been back to school since Wednesday. My father, via video chat, told Kurloz to take me immediately to the doctor's office to make sure my ankle wasn't broken or anything. Kurloz rolls down his window and flicks his cigarette out the window. He has gotten a new piercing on his lips. I think he said they were snakebits, I can't remember. I stopped keeping track of his new body designs after his fifteen bone tattoo.

"So," He turns his head back to me "What time do you get out again? Like, uh, four something?"

I turn to him in disbelief "Motherfucker, why the hell would I get out at four?"

"Don't you have practice for track today?" He takes his hands off the steering wheel, reaching for his spare smokes in his leather jacket pocket.

"The last meeting was Friday," I sigh a little. He didn't use to be like this. He use to remember simple things like this. Then, my dad sent him away to some ridiculous religion school. Ever since, he's a lot quieter and won't talk about what happened to him there. He even dumped Meulin after he got back. Which was a shock to all of us at first, tilI I found out from Nepeta they were still screwing around. Out my peripheral, I see him messing with his watch, dangling it towards the sky as if it was solar powered. Maybe they removed his brain for medical experiments.

"Oh, well, how about you just call?" He places his watch back on his clip he made especially for it, because wearing it on your wrist was out the question for him.

"Yeah, okay, " I don't take my vision off the pane in front of me. Perhaps if I stare at it hard enough I could my old, doped up, goof-ball of an older sibling would come back. "You're about to drive past the school, bro,"

"Oh my bad, motherfucker, my bad," He takes a sharp turn, making my head slam against the glass. Great, not only do I have to walk around with a sprained ankle, I also get a matching migraine. "Sorry!"

"Just stop the damn car before you send us to the hospital, again," I grumble. He pulls to the curbside and stops in front of the main office.

I slam the car door and try to hurry out of his sight when Kurloz shouts out the window "Gamzee, you forgot your crutches, man."

"I don't need the motherfucking things," I shout "I'm not crippled!"

"So? Dad said you should wear them, and the doc,"

"The doctor said I could if I wanted to after Dad yelled at him for a good thirty minutes,"

"But, what am I suppose to do with them now?" He asks distressfully. I shake my head in annoyance.

"Leave them in the car? That's a great motherfucking start," I turn my back on him, but no sooner could I take a step, Kurloz cries again. "Gamzee, but what if I need to use the trunk?"

"If I take the motherfucking things, will you go home and do what you do normally do?" I grip the edges of my hair.

"I can, or just stop by the store, then go home. Or the store, Meulin's, and then home. Do you want anything, if I go to the store?" I grab the crutches out the back, not answering. "I'll get you that soda you like, Faygo, right?"

"Yes, " I groan as I start to clump away. I hear him still talking about it as he drives off. I take a deep sigh, he use to drink that all the time. It's the only reason I love I so much. I haven't seen him touch a single bottle of it since he got back.

I wait until I know he is around the corner and I toss them in a bush. I'll just get them after school, because there is know way I'm letting John clown me about this. I hurriedly make my way down to the P.E. area. I have to give Coach Strider my medical excuse for P.E. As I make my way down the hall to the boy's locker room, I hear something emanating from the other side of the door. As I swing open the huge doors I see my whole track team

"We'll, look who's here!" Out the crowd, John shoves past a few of the shot putt throwers, with Tavros trailing right behind him. "What took you so long?"

"My brother dropped me off. But what's going on? Why are all of you guys here?"

" It's your late celebration party!" John walks up to me slapping my back "You sure have a great disappearing act! Nobody told us where you went after the last race. All we knew is that you had us win the game."

"Yeah," Tavros walks up to us, smiling and holding a gold medal. "Not only did you help us win the championship, but you broke the record for the fastest dash since the 50's!"

He places the medal around my neck. It shines under the dim lit locker room. "Aw, shit," I say. "You have to be motherfucking kidding me,"

"Nope, the trophy is over in the case," John points, I manage to make it over there. And in the place where the old one was, a brand new trophy shines bright.

"It's good to know that before we graduate, we won the trophy for the school," I smile into case.

"And that's not all you won," John grabs my shoulders and swivels me back to the crowd of boys. "Fellas, let us show him what's behind door number two!"

Tavros glances around quizzically, "John, there's no door other than the one Gamzee walked through,"

"It's a joke Tav," John sighs "Anyway, Gamzee, Principal Scratch wanted to coerce the freshman to join sports. So he thought he would show off his Successful Seniors an associates to the rest of the school at an assembly,"

"Why didn't he do that last Friday?"

"Do you really think he would do that without the reason we won?" Tavros walks to the other side of me.

"Yeah, buddy," John says on the other side of me, "If anything, you deserve this more than all of us,"

"I'm not so sure about that you guys," I look around to each of them. "You guys are still the greatest team and friends a guy can ask for," I mess up Tavros' mohawk and John's terrible fluff of hair.

"Yeah, yeah," John takes my hand off my head "Enough of the sentiment, the only reason we're all here is because we need to practice our entrance. Scratch, wanted us to do something special."

"Okay," I tell my team "Lets do this," They cheer, and we huddle closer together. "This is what we are going to do,"

((()))

"So, I was talking to Coach Zahhak yesterday,"

I roll my eyes "What did you're boyfriend say now?" It's lunch time, and sitting with Nepeta as we wait for everyone else.

"He is not my boyfriend!" She elbows my hand, knocking my sandwhich out of it in the process. "Anyway, Coach Zahhak and I were talking,"

"Uh huh," I mummble looking at the lucky ants eat my lunch. "About?"

"Wrestling!" She clasps her hands together. I look up at her from my sandwhich.

"But, arent you already the co-captin?"

She grabs her varsity jacket from off the table bench and throws it at my face, "You mean caption! And I'm looking for new teamates!"

I can see that cat like glint in her lovely, deep, green eyes that reads that she's up to something. I dig around in my backpack for that extra food I packed. "No,"

"No what?" She bats her eyelashes at me.

"I am not joining the wrestling team,"

Nepeta groans, grabbing on to my sleeve, "Gamzee, please! You know just as well as I do that you're the strogest guy on campus. We could really use you on this years team!"

"I'm graduating this year, you should look at the lower classmen," I say as I find a three week old bag of cookies that has been at the bottom of my bag. "They have good potential. Plus, you can train them like me."

"But they aren't you! And traing them takes too long!" She puffs out her bottom lip "Please? At least for me?"

I try my motherfucking hardest not to glance her way. But I saw her face she makes when she wants me to do something. Her eyes wide and begging for me to say yes. "Fine. You win, I'll tell Coach Zahhak-"

"You don't need to." She flips her bangs from her eyes "I aready told him you would,"

With that said, she gets up from the table and walks towards he building. "She's as sly as a motherfucking cat," I jump off my table and glance at my watch. I still have about fifteen minutes for lunch. Maybe I can go find John, he could give me advice on this wrestling thing. As I makemy wa to the main cafeteria building, I place my headphones in my ears. Shuffling through my music player, I put on my school playlist. When I look back up, I'm by the English halls. I feel a sudden lump in my thorat. I haven't talked to Mr. Vantas since the meet. After he kissed me, I couldn't talk. I was just caught off guard, then Coach Strider and some medical people from the track. It was so crowded and so many people asking me questions, I didn't get a chance to talk to him. In the darken halway, towards the end of the building, I see Mr. Vantas' lights illuimnating.

" Mr. V?" I poke my head through the threshold to see him sitting at his desk, with his head down.

He jerks his head upwards bearing me. When he does, I'm not quite sure, but his face had seem to change. "Mr. Makara, there you are. I was wondering what happened to you."

"Yeah, sorry, my dad wanted to make sure I was okay," I mummble. He nods his head, letting a silence come between us. "Mr. Vantas," I speak up.

"Yes, yes of course," It feels like he is in some kind of trance. He's sounds out of breath and surprise that I just walked into his classroom. "What is it that you wanted to talk about?"

Once again, silence sets in, as I find the exact words to say. I take a gulp, lets just get it over with. "I-I wanted to talk to you a-about Wednesday."

Though, Mr. Vantas keeps a straight face, there's a gleam in his eyes showing some emotion I can't quite put my finger on it. "Oh, I see

"What was that all about?" I spurt out before the silence inches it's way back into the conversation.

"You kissed me first," He shrugs. As if that was reason enough to end this.

"Well, you kissed second," I can see him visably frown at this. Well, at least I'm getting somewhere. "Mr. Vantas, do you like me?"

Having that though spoken aloud, got the weight off of my chest. But it looks like it weighted Mr. Vantas down even more than it did me. He slowly gets up from his seat and faces me.

"Mr. Makara, I have a lot of things to do. I also have to get ready for that damn assembly Dr. Strach threw together at last minute. If there is anything you need, like the past few days notes and assignments I'll give it to you last period. If there is nothing elese you wish to talk about, then I would like to beleft alone." He is loking in my direction, but he's not looking at me.

"Yes, sorry for bothering you, Mr. Vantas." I duck from his gaze, and walk out the door. Well it's not like he said no.