A/N: Hey guys! It's been a little bit since an update, teenage like is just so busy, ya know? Anyways, I don't own Codename: Kids Next Door or the characters, just the ideas. I hope you enjoy!

Thursday - 7:26 a.m

McClintock High - Parking Lot

"Hey guys, Abby's got something to confess," Abby looked over at Angeline, who was in the driver's seat of her hand-me-down Honda Odyssey. Angeline cocked her eyebrow and Muffy leaned forward and with her bacon, egg and cheese McGriddle stuffed her mouth, said,

"Spill," Abby closed her eyes and took in a deep breath then let it out.

"I think I'm in love with Hoagie."

After a few seconds of silence from her best friends she opened her eyes just as the two let out bursts of laughter. Abby stared ahead, no expression on her face as the other two continued laughing; Muffy even accidentally spit some of the breakfast sandwich out onto the floor. Angeline finally let out a breath and stopped laughing. Looking at Abby, a small smirk still on her face, she said, "Abby, you hate Hoagie. You tell us that all the time."

"I don't hate him,"

"Yeah, obviously not if you're in love with him," Muffy muttered. Angeline and Abby both looked back, different expressions on their faces. Angeline was obviously humored by Muffy's comment, but Abby certainly was not.

"Hey, can you guys take this seriously?" Both girls sobered up (sort of) and stared at Abby, who did look slightly baffled by the situation; which was odd for her. Abby Lincoln, flustered over a crush? Yeah, right.

"Okay, okay, we're sorry. Please continue," Angie took a sip of her iced coffee and looked at Abby expectantly, who just shrugged.

"No, I just need you guys to tell me why I'm not in love with him," Muffy scoffed as she crumpled the yellow wrapper into a ball and tossed it behind. Ignoring Angie's glare, she stared at Abby,

"That's easy; Hoagie sucks!" She laughed and began counting on her fingers, "Can either of you remember the last time Hoagie turned in a piece of homework? Yet, he's still at like the top of our class. His wardrobe? All gross old band tee-shirts. Old and irrelevant, all of them. He's got such a sardonic and dark personality. And he probably has a small dick,"

"Hey, Hoagie's tall, he probably has at least an average- never mind," Abby spoke up. "There's nothing wrong with being naturally smart either. Or liking bands from a billion years ago."

"Dude, we were supposed to convince you to not be in love with Hoagie. That means shutting the fuck up and agreeing with us," Muffy said, not pleased that Abby was debating with her about the teenage boy.

"Not to mention those nose rings- not a good fashion choice," Angie added looking towards Abby who just shrugged. She almost said something about it 'being sorta hot', but then decided against it. Instead she said,

"He's had those since like sophomore year, when he went from super nerd to super edgy," Muffy and Angeline shared a look that made Abby want to simultaneously kill them and herself. "What?"

"Seriously, though Abby- how can you possibly think you're in love with Gilligan? I mean, I know none of us really know him that well, but he seems…" She hesitated. Not that it was a break in the conversation because Muffy picked up right where she left up,

"He seems like a dick. He's such a smartass, doesn't that piss you off?"

"So are you, but we still keep you around," Abby said, which evoked a middle finger from the blonde. "I don't know. I don't know what's happening. But for some reason I have the overwhelming urge to kiss him," Muffy and Angeline simultaneously screamed. Abby sighed exasperatedly. She wasn't sure why she bothered talking to them in the first place, they know about as much about love as she does (next to nothing).

"Abby he's not-" Angie looked at Muffy again for help; she didn't exactly know how to put this nicely. And Muffy didn't care about being nice,

"He's not attractive. The one thing he's got going for him is the longish curly hair. The sexy Kit Harington look," Abby looked at her with her eyebrows raised in question. Muffy shook her head, "Game of Thrones- whatever, not important. He's nothing spectacular. And he's fat." She deadpanned.

"That's mean," Abby chided.

"It's not like she's wrong, though," Angie spoke up. Abby changed her subject of glare from Muffy to Angeline who put her hands up in defense, "Don't look at me like that,"

"Hoagie isn't fat. He's…" She hesitated and berated herself for doing so. Muffy pointed her finger right in Abby's face,

"I guarantee that whatever word you're looking for his a synonym for fat. That doesn't change the fact that he is." Abby glared at her, pretty sure she had never wanted to deck Muffy more than she had wanted to then.

"Why does it matter?" Abby asked, "What does him being fat have to do with anything?" Both girls hesitated, both not wanting to piss Abby off anymore than she already was. After a few more moments of silence Abby opened the door and stepped out of the minivan. "Abby's goin' to class. See ya later," Before either had the chance to object, she slammed the door. She began to step away but turned around and opened the door again, "And he's not ugly," She then slammed the door for good and walked towards the building. What shocked the girls the most was not the fact that she had gotten uncharacteristically upset and stormed off, but that she sounded more disappointed than angry. Muffy took the last bite of her breakfast sandwich and shrugged,

"Must be menstruating,"

1:01 p.m

McClintock High - Art Studio

There was no one that Wally hated more than Mr. Fife, his guidance counselor who had insisted that Wally needed another art credit to graduate, when he did not. He already had his two credits and was more than pissed off when he realized and it was too late to drop the class. Grumbling under his breath, the blond pounded on the clay, every once in awhile, picking it up and slamming it back on the table. He tried kneading it like dough, then he laughed as he made two circle mounds and poked his index finger right in the middle of both mounds. "Inverted nipples," He chuckled to himself, making the girl beside him jerk her head up,

"What did you just say?" A long black piece of hair had fallen out of Kuki's messy bun and her hands were too gross to fix it, so she settled on jerking her head until it was at least out of her face. And as she jerked her head for the last time she could've sworn she heard Wally Beatles say something about nipples.

"Nothing," His hands were quickly on both mounds trying to crush the evidence, but it really just looked like he was groping clay. Kuki felt like an eighth grader as she bit down on her lip and tried not to laugh. She was a seventeen-year-old girl, she definitely shouldn't have been laughing at the sight of a seventeen-year-old boy fondling clay boobs.

"Wally, do you need help?" She asked, trying to avoid laughing at his reddening cheeks.

"No, I just- I just haven't decided what animal I want to do,"

"Wally we got the assignment a week ago," Kuki said, raising her eyebrows. She was already nearly done with sculpting. Kuki had done a Panda Bear wrapped around a small stick of bamboo. She hoped it would turn out well, if it did (and even if it didn't) she was going to put it on the shelf where she keeps all of her little knick knacks and candles. Her favorite knick knack being her 'Road Rage' Rainbow Monkey and her favorite candle being 'Midnight Blue Citrus' by Bath and Body Works. "You could do a Koala, your mom would love it,"

"I can't give my mom whatever piece of shit I make in here, it'll turn out bad no matter what," Kuki shook her head,

"No, you definitely can- Mom's have to like art pieces their kids make. It's like the most important part of being a parent,"

"I think that probably goes away when that kid is an adult. If Joey made it she would go crazy, but if I make she'll just shrug and put it on the mantle," Kuki raised her eyebrows and sat down on the stool,

"Mm, sounds like you're jealous," She winked just to be sure he knew that she was only teasing. She wasn't sure why she had butterflies in her stomach because, to be quite honest, boys disgusted her. After what happened with Patton she wanted absolutely nothing to do with teenage boys, especially ones that are friends with Patton. Honestly, she wanted far away from anyone who even knows Patton.

She knew it was stupid to think (even for just half a second) that Wally could be different than all of the other assholes that hang around Patton. But watching him push his blond hair out of his face, despite having clay all over his hands, made her giggle and think that hopeful thinking might not be so bad after all. Besides, it's not like she's never been disappointed before.

4:56 p.m

McClintock High - Mustang Football Stadium

Sitting on the bleachers watching his former teammates do sprints up and down the field he felt his leg twitch, as if urging him to get up and just start running. He felt his cheeks beginning to burn from the chilly, windy air. He wrapped his dark coat around him tighter and huffed hot air into his pale and dry hands. He wanted a cigarette. He shook his head. He threw his last pack out a few days ago after realizing how gross they are. They make you smell, they make your lungs turn black, and they made Nigel specifically look like a middle aged business man that had an entire family to support in the 1950's. He had been trying to curb the craving of a cigarette by trying different, less destructive methods to help him cope with his life falling apart. Yoga (middle-aged lady bullshit), music (couldn't listen to it without thinking about Rachel), movies (helped a little; however Netflix only has so many options and he can't afford Hulu, and reading (books are so boring) are all things he had tried. He hmphed under his breath as he saw Coach blow his whistle and call everyone in.

Coach really had been trying to stay supportive, despite Nigel's consistent breakdowns. He always had the team gather around him so he could be 'involved' in their talks both post and pre practice. Not that he listened. None of it really mattered to him anyways. After a few minutes of rambling, they all put their hands in the circle chanted "Mustangs!" and called it a night.

Except for Nigel, who continued to sit in the same spot. And Rachel, who sat down next to him. "So, you and Lizzie break up yet?" Nigel was more than ready to tear into her until they made eye contact and he saw the smirk playing on her lips. Instead he rolled his eyes,

"We were close after that party," He muttered,

"Yeah, thanks for standing up for me, by the way," She snarked sarcastically. It slipped out. She sat down to try and make peace not fuck things up even more, though that's what she was afraid of doing. He just shrugged and ran a hand over his nearly bald head,

"Sorry. I get your point of view. I do. But I feel an obligation to be with Lizzie. Sort of like you with Chad," He thought maybe giving a shitty excuse and changing the subject to something about her would work; get her to talk a lot like she normally does.

"Not anymore. Chad and I broke up,"

"What? When?" He couldn't believe he didn't hear something about that, Lizzie and her friends seem to know everything about everyone (that they deemed important of course, Chad Dickson was still considered important to them despite graduating years ago).

"Awhile ago. You would've known if you would prioritize our friendship like you do your relationship with Lizzie," She said. She internally shrugged, sort of accepting that she's probably doing more bad than good talking to him.

"It's not like you need me anymore," She raised her eyebrows which prompted him to continue, "Aren't you friends with the loser stoners now?"

"You mean the people you're friends with whenever you're not up Lizzie's ass? Yeah," Nigel let out a small laugh that had no absolute no amusement to it and shook his head,

"What do you want?" Rachel shrugged, not moving from her spot.

"I'd like to have my best friend back…" She hesitated and then shrugged again, "But I don't see that happening anytime soon." There was no malice in her voice, no nasty undertone. Just the slightest disappointment was evident, but that was all.

"Yeah. Me neither." And with that, Rachel left.

10:09 p.m

McDonald's - Parking Lot

"Is this why we're fat?" Kade looked over at Hoagie, who was sitting in the driver's seat, working on his second Big Mac. He shook his head, it was too dark to truly tell, but Kade knew that behind Hoagie's glasses, his eyes were getting more and more bloodshot. He swallowed the shittily made burger and said,

"No, dude. Shitty genetics," The five teenagers that were packed in the Subaru were covered in dry sweat from finishing marching band practice an hour before and a few of them were beginning to feel perspiration form on them once again from the lack of cool air.

"This probably doesn't help," Virginia mentioned, shoving a french fry in her mouth and then grabbed the blunt from Bartie and took another hit. Herbie had his back up against the door, his head leaning against the window, chewing his third hash brown.

"Virginia I don't have a dad, I can do whatever the fuck I want to cope with my emotions," Hoagie said, looking at her through the rearview mirror, she only rolled her eyes in response.

"Guys. Snoop Dogg smokes like eighty blunts a day."

"How's he so fucking skinny and sick lookin'? I swear, every blunt I smoke I gain like five pounds with all the junk I eat," Bartie wondered. Hoagie and Kade both rolled their eyes- Bartie looked almost as 'fucking skinny and sick lookin' as Snoop Dogg. Instead of responding, Hoagie cranked the volume so that the Grateful Dead CD was pounding through the speakers and stuck his hand back. Virginia might have griped, but he didn't hear or care- the only thing he cared about was tearing into the greasy sausage McMuffin.

"Gilligan,"

"What?"

"Are you gonna do anything about Abby other than jerk off watching her volleyball highlights?"

"Dude shut the fuck up," Hoagie actually turned around this time to hit Bartie who, despite laughing, clutched his arm,

"Ow,"

"I don't do that," Hoagie said, "That's gross. Now all of you need to shut the hell up. You're ruining my high." He then leaned towards the steering wheel and cranked up the volume even louder and nodded his head along to the beat as he chewed a chicken nugget.

As I was walkin' down Grosvenor Square,

Not a chill to the winter but a nip to the air,

From the other direction she was calling my eye,

Could be an illusion but I might as well try, might as well try.

A/N: That song at the end? Scarlet Begonias, good song. Anyways, I'm sorry for the super long wait and I'm sorry things aren't really progressing super quick, that's just the way I planned everything out and how I feel like the story and the characters will best progress. But I do hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed chapter eight! Reviews and ideas and constructive criticism are all welcome and much appreciated! :)