A/N: Hello, again! I can see some viewed this story, so welcome! Remember to review the stories you read as it allows the author to interact with the readers + lets the author know they actually have readers. Even if it's just a "cool story" or "good job" or "nice", anything is good in my book. However, I will be posting all chapters regardless because I had a creative itch that needed to be scratched.

This chapter is the longest of the entire story, so after this, most are around the 1600 WC mark.

Ch 2: Do Something

You're alive, You gotta move

You gotta do what you gotta do (oh, yeah)

You gotta try, You gotta choose

You gotta use what you gotta use

Before you lose it

Setting: Interior, the high school, the lockers, early morning.

It was what they did every morning for weeks, met early at the school before students started showing up. It was the perfect plan to start each day together without any on-lookers. Sly couldn't very well meet Lorena at her place - Samantha Woo, a foreign exchange student from Hong Kong with a motor mouth that would put auctioneers to shame, lived with Lorena and would surely gab about them to the gang in 2 seconds flat. Lorena would meet Sly at his place, but his house was cold, stale, and uninviting, which was probably why Sly spent very little time there despite his family's wealth.

Besides, this added a little flavor, a little danger to their relationship. They felt like spies in a James Bond movie, meeting up in an undisclosed location, the possibility of being ousted but loving the adrenaline.

Lorena leaned against the side of the lockers, her back to the double-door entrance to the halls, staring at a textbook. A firm hand grasped her midriff, and she giggled, allowing her abs to collapse into the figure behind her. That same hand guided her to face him, and they met nose to nose.

"Good morning," she giggled, draping her free arm around his neck.

"Good morning, yourself," Sly whispered, his strong, muscular arms wrapping around her waist. He caressed Lorena gently, making sure to support each other's swaying, as if they were dancing to music only the two of them could hear.

Lorena threw the textbook on the corner bench nearby, grabbed his hand, and the two rushed over to the double doors, searching. No one outside yet. Around the corner? Nope. The coast was clear. The two's lips locked quickly, like they did every chance they could. If they were going to keep this charade up, they both knew time was precious, and they didn't want to waste any second if they could.

Lorena guided Sly against the small section of wall that sat between the two restrooms in the hall.

"So, how is your morning going?" Lorena soothed. Her hands pressed against Sly's shoulders as he leaned his back against the wall, only one of his arms holding her waist now. He never wanted her to feel enclosed, like she couldn't escape when she wanted to, and Lorena appreciated that. Sly held her close, but didn't suffocate Lorena...and he never would.

"It's going a lot better now that you're here," Sly grinned. "But it is getting harder to dodge the gang's questions." Lorena slapped her hands against his shoulders, and turned to fit into the nook of Sly's body.

"I know," Lorena sighed, biting her lip. She entangled her fingers in with his as Sly held the Latina. "Sam thinks I'm still upset about what happened with John."

John, who we will undoubtedly never hear from again, was the suitor who took credit for the love letters that Sly sent to Lorena. He was a dillweed who couldn't even pronounce the word "pretty" correctly. That honestly should have been the first clue he wasn't who was claiming to be. For those wondering, he is, INDEED, failing English.

"Well, maybe would be a good time to tell everyone?" Sly questioned, his demeanor calm and soothing. He knew something was up, he wasn't stupid. Lorena was definitely working through something about their relationship, but he didn't want to push her. Sly had waited 3 years for this, so he was willing to wait a little longer for the world to know. He loved and respected Lorena enough to tell him when she felt ready, but these tiny inquiries couldn't hurt.

Sly just hoped she would figure it out before his temper and impatience got the best of him, two vices he had been working on for a really long time.

"What," Lorena crooned and turned to face Sly, "and leave behind all the excitement?" She giggled and gave him a peck, lovingly flicking his nose. She noticed she was giggling a lot lately. She liked that.

"Don't get me wrong," Sly contended as he waved a hand nonchalantly, "these rendezvous have been great, but…"

"But?"

"I just think once everyone got over the initial shock of it, it wouldn't be that bad," he argued. "I could show off I won the most considerate, gorgeous girl in the school," Sly asserted. A twinge of his sleazy growl he would always vocalize poked through, which he didn't mean to do. It was a force of habit, and he regretted it instantly. He didn't want Lorena to think that's what he thought of her, just a piece of arm candy. She was more than that.

But Lorena, unfortunately, only heard old Sly at that moment.

"Is that what I am to you?" she snapped, "just another girl to show off?"

"Lorena," Sly sighed heavily, that temper of his just itching to make an appearance, "you know that's not how I think of you…"

Their fight continued, maybe too loud. For neither could hear the crowd of teenagers approaching those double doors. The doors swung wide open AND…

Lorena shreeked, grabbed Sly, and threw him through the nearby restroom door. Her heart was pounding, sweat threatening to drip from her forehead. Surely, no one saw them together, right?

"Hi, Lorena!" Mark greeted cheerfully, a hand thrown up to wave. Mark was Sly's very opposite cousin, and he was very sweet. No one would have ever mistaken him for a Winkle, not even the gang when they all first met. "Have you seen Sly anywhere?" he asked as the group made their way towards her and the lockers.

Lorena did a double-take to the restroom doors. Which door did she throw him into? She never looked, only jumped. Oops.

"I didn't hear from him last night or this morning," Mark continued, "and we're supposed to plan a trip to see Grandma Winkle. She's having her appendix removed."

Lorena felt herself walking backwards, an awkward move to be sure, but she was still considering her cover. Was it safe? It sounded safe.

"Now why would I know where the ferret face is this time of the day, huh?" she laughed just as awkwardly as she walked. She quickly course-corrected herself and fell in line with the rest of the crowd. She grabbed her textbook she threw earlier and tossed it into her locker, slamming it closed. "So, Grandma Winkle is having surgery, huh?"

"Isn't she, like, 80 years old?" Sam questioned. The beautiful Asian female was standing next to her locker, the door wide open. It was covered from head to toe with pictures of Samson, a bombshell male model she once met. Her boyfriend, Tony, didn't care that her eyes went goo-ga-moo for the man. They were both very trusting of each other. Tony, a very dashing and smooth African-American, was the drummer of the band and definitely had the best rhythm of the entire group. If he was jamming, you just could not help but jam to the music with him.

The trust that this couple had was something Lorena envied.

"Yup, and she's getting a facelift while she's at it," Mark shrugged nonchalantly. "She figured: two birds with one stone."

"Your family is a bunch of bizarre, frivolous, look-at-me, smarmy, privileged nutcases," Tony jeered. He was known well for his descriptive, long-winded remarks.

"Yeah, how are you even related to them?" Tiffani joked, baffled. Tiffani was the band's bassist and girlfriend to Jake, their lead guitarist. Tiffani, a blonde beauty and avid surfer, was an original member of the band along with Tony. She was as peppy as a puppy, and she knew it. She wasn't ashamed at all about that. "You're not a sleazy, creepy, and underhanded skeeze like… well.."

Suddenly a high-pitched scream and loud slap came from behind them in the hallway. All of their heads shot around the corner in time to see a door fly open and a male figure come hurling out immediately after. "And stay out!" shouted a female voice.

Lorena's eyes magnified. OMG, I threw him into the women's restroom.

"Sly!" the gang yelled in chorus, save for Lorena, who was panicking silently. The group gathered around him, annoyance on everyone's face. Sly didn't notice at first, he hardly ever paid attention to how they would react to his antics. But this time, he was just trying to straighten his clothes and shoot a bitter look at Lorena.

That was humiliating, he thought.

"Why do you have to be such a scuzz, cuz?" Mark pointed out.

"But–" Sly gestured to Lorena, who started pursing her lips together.

"Yeah, Sly," Tiffani agreed, cutting Sly off, "we're graduating soon, and you need to grow up eventually."

"But I–" he threw his arms to his chest, ready to defend himself. He caught Lorena's expression, who was just enough removed from the moment for none of the others to see her reactions. Her head was shaking unnervingly. "I–", Sly grumbled, pushed his tongue to the top of his mouth, and dropped his hands to his hips. "I AM grown up," he growled through his teeth, and looked up. He couldn't look at them, or her, if he was going to lie like this. "I just like getting caught up in immature or childish behavior." He shot a poisoned look towards Lorena, who smiled and blew him a kiss.

The gang just groaned and walked back to their lockers. Except Jake… him and Sly needed to have a private conversation.

"Sly," the devilishly handsome guitarist slapped the band manager on the shoulder. "What happened? I thought you told Lorena you were her mystery man."

"Oh, yeah, that." Sly dropped his head and started anxiously fidgeting with his fingers. He could tell Jake, right? Jake knew everything that happened. In fact, he was the only one. For better or worse, these two brooding men had become friends after a very shaky start. He needed to confide in someone, but would Lorena be okay with that?

Sly glanced up and caught a glimpse of the love of his life. "It, uh…it didn't work. She couldn't get past it being me." He bit the inside of his cheek and smacked his fists together. That was the very reason why he didn't want to come clean in the first place, and it hurt thinking that it was still a possibility. Why else would Lorena want to keep it quiet?

"Oh, man," Jake apologized, "I'm sorry. I really thought you two would be good together."

"Uh, yeah, so did I."

"So, Lorena!" Sam suddenly exclaimed. Jake and Sly joined the rest of the gang at their hangout near the lockers. No one else dared to enter this sanctuary for some odd reason. "Did you ever find out who your mystery man really was?"

"That's right," Tony smiled devilishly. "Any more surprised gifts to show the rest of us up?" He caught an annoyed look from his loving partner. "And can he give me the number to the florist so I can send my one true love the same bouquet?" He smiled a big, infectious smile to Sam.

"Uh, no… nope. Never found out," Lorena hesitated and sat down on the longer side of the bench adjacent to the lockers. "Which is too bad, you know?" She shrugged her shoulders, hoping she was convincing them.

Wait, Jake mentally stopped. I thought Wimple told her?

"Oh, well in that case!" Sam slapped her hands together, clearly excited, "I have a friend I think you would be interested in." Sam flopped next to Lorena on the bench. "His name is Scott, and he goes to Central High and is part of their honor society!"

The secret couple's eyes both shot wide, wider than they ever had before.

"Uh, that's okay," Lorena quickly said, alarmed. "I don't think I'm ready for dating right now." Sly, who was leaning against the lockers, pushed off and towards the brunette, leaning over her shoulders.

"Why not?" he crooned in her ear. "Maybe you'll find the love of your life." Normally, Sly's flirtatious maneuvers were way more sleazy, but his voice sounded sexy, rugged, collected. Lorena smiled sheepishly. His voice made her melt. She had to bury that. But, damn.

Fearing the gang would catch on, Lorena's elbow met Sly's stomach. A low, guttural groan escaped his lips, and he sauntered away, clutching his abs.

"Okay," Sam shrugged. "But if you change your mind, he's available." She pulsed her eyebrows rascally.

The gang suddenly grabbed their belongings as the bell rang signaling the start of First Period. Jake, ever the wary, squinted his eyes, ping-ponging them back and forth between Sly and Lorena.

Something was up.

You'll do something, No matter who you are

You're gonna leave your mark

So use your mind and your heart

Just do something, To make a stand

Change is in your hands

A/N: Ooh, interesting predicament. Review!