s shoulders tensing as his lips press in

es a nervous shrug

't just some

in starts to creep across his f

links.

e g

isn't a

definite

re i

ere

s gleam with mischief

meet our eyes. His fingers fidget with the cuff o

are imagin

I ask, fold

ngers tug at his sleeve. It's a nervous habit that always shows up when he's cornered. The silence s

hun

ha

ther cautious step backward

el and speed-walks down the hallway, each step fas

n Shade f

gh fights, exams, and enough

een him retr

up with the kind of excitement only fresh

h before Oscar tears down the hallw

back. But he starts

tance. Soon, it's just Kong and me standing in the middle of

own eyes linger on my face a little longer than usual. He doesn't ask right a

u o

omes auto

olls off my tongu

kno

he kn

doesn't ca

hat's probably why we've stayed friends this long. Kong knows when someone wants advice

round us, students fill the hallway, talking over one another as lockers slam shut. The

entirel

en Kara and me h

e pran

so long that I can't remember what school felt like before it became part of our daily lives. Every morni

Kara that are becomin

n't I fal

aid for it, starts fights before breakfast, threatens complete strangers for fu

be attractive. It

, she does something that reminds me

red my dad's ridiculo

Half the time, I forget until Dad starts remind

did

e cookies, and somehow managed to make him feel like the

ing she only did it because "old peo

belie

of a

e thing a

ody's looking, then acts anno

here's

meant noth

nded me at least twenty times already. U

nd I make our way toward the cafeteria. Maybe it'

fore I let out a silent laugh and

, ri

pend the next fifty years reminding me that I waved

cooked cafeteria food hits us immediately as conversations buzz around the

with

at's been happening inside my

gh, she's goi

ould laugh. Hell, I laugh at it myself. Falling in love w

e idea refu

my mouth before I can stop i

e

initely

gh, I don't mi