Rodney watched the lightning dance across the sky from the entranceway of SDCI, his only focus was avoiding eye contact with Hunter. The only light coming from the large windows, everything else was covered in shadow. He could hear Hunter shuffling around and wished that they hadn't taken so long packing up, now they were the only two people left.

"Rodney, I... I'm sorry, I should have asked first," Hunter stammered, finally breaking the silence. "I just got a little confused, no one has ever really been nice to me without wanting something, you know?"

"It's okay," Rodney cut in, he gripped the straps on his backpack a little tighter. His eyes never left the empty parking lot, "I'm not mad at you. It's just..." He could picture Ally's reaction to finding out about the kiss, and how quickly she would leave him.

Hunter stepped a little closer, causing Rodney to lean away. "It's just what?" Hunter asked coming to a standstill.

Rodney took a step back, finally looking up at Hunter. "I'm dating Ally again. She finally feels the same way I do.... and I just messed it all up" Rodney could feel his upper lip trembling and his eyes started to feel puffy.

"Hey, you're not the one who kissed someone else," Hunter said, placing a hand on Rodney's shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up over it. If any is to blame it's me, I kissed you."

"But I didn't stop you, not right away," Rodney admitted, but he didn't slip his shoulder out from Hunter's grasp.

"Look Rodney it was a little mistake, you don't have to tell her about it." Hunter insisted, "A small slip-up isn't worth ruining your relationship over. Besides you would be doing me a favor too, if anyone found out about what I did it would ruin me."

Rodney looked back at Hunter and could see the worry and fear in his eyes. "You're right, I won't tell anyone." Rodney relented, but before Hunter could say anything there was a hint from outside.

As she pulled up to the curb, his mom's car headlights pierced through the rain. Rodney raced out to meet her, quickly stuffing his project in the trunk.

"Thanks for helping me," Rodney called back to Hunter, giving him a small wave.

"Anytime," Hunter shouted through the rain with a small head nod.

As Rodney climbed into the passenger seat, he looked back to the school one last time, noting Hunter had already vanished into the shadows. Rodney sat back in his seat, wondering why nothing ever went according to plan, why did it feel like he never seemed to do anything right?

"Everything okay, honey?" Sasha asked as they pulled out of the parking lot, she looked over at Rodney.

"Everything is good. I won," Rodney gave her a weak smile, drawing her eye to the first-place ribbon pinned to his shirt.

As his om congratulated him his mind began to wonder. He had to do better, be better. He had to prove he was all in for Ally; by any means necessary. He just didn't know how he was going to do that yet. He was so busy worrying about the kiss and its consequences he never noticed that a third person had stayed behind in the gym that day.

Hours ago Erica had stood in the gym watching as it was announced that Rodney had won first place. Erica clapped with the crowd, she knew that Rodney would win because she knew Rodney. She looked around the gymnasium, there was no sign of Rodney's friends anywhere. In her mind's eye, this proved they weren't his real friends, they didn't even show up for him on his big day, and she could use this to prove to him that she was a person who would always be there for him.

"Rodney?" she called out, but her voice was drowned out in the audience. She pushed her way closer but just as she was gaining some ground the lights flickered. The announcement was made to leave the gym for safety reasons and the crowd began to head out.

Erica followed the crowd to the main entrance way fo the school, taking note that Rodney was not among them. Erica halted, frozen mid-step, he must still be in the gym. She turned on her heels just as the lights finally flicked out, plunging the school into darkness. She freed her phone from her pocket, using her flashlight app to guide her back to the gym. This was her chance, Rodney would finally be alone, she had waited all year for this moment.

When she made it back to the gym, however, she heard two voices coming from inside—Hunter and Rodney. She clicked off her flashlight and stepped behind the bleachers, she tried listening to their conversation. She did her best to listen in, wondering why Rodney would give a douchebag like Hunter the time of day, but she found their conversation hard to hear so she took out her phone and opened the speech-to-text app. She hoped it would pick up more than she could.

"Damn," she muttered under her breath, as she realized just how friendly they were to one another. Then there was a pause in the conversation, one that came out of nowhere so Erica snapped a night vision pic—the photo revealed it all. Rodney and Hunter had their lips locked together, clearly visible in the grainy image

"What the hell?" Erica whispered, she thought Rodney was into Ally, but the photo suggested something else entirely.

She listened to them pull apart and their scramble to gather their belongings. They moved silently in the dark and Erica could feel the tension between them as they left. Erica waited until they left to slip out of her hiding place.

She didn't want to lose them, so she followed them at a safe distance. She listened in on their exchange before Rodney left and then tried to piece it all together.

It was a lot. Rodney was dating Ally, again, but Hunter and Rodney kissed each other. Rodney was more complicated than she thought, but what was really important was how she could use this.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Okay, Erica, think," she whispered to herself, her thoughts racing with ideas. "This changes everything."

She wandered back to the stairs and took a seat. She had photographic evidence that Rodney and Hunter kissed but did that mean Rodney was gay? If he was then why was he so broken up over Ally, it didn't fit. What she needed was more information, what she had was enough to end Rodney and Ally's current relationship, and if she played her cards right she could be the open arms Rodney came crying to.

"Operation Evidence," she declared under her breath, a rogue smile playing on her lips. She'd always had a knack for digging up dirt, and now she had a mission. With newfound resolve, she got up off the stairs and headed out into the storm, ready to shadow Rodney even closer than she had been before.

"Rodney," she said, as she thought about the way he made her feel seen when everyone else seemed to ignore her. "I know you and I are meant to be."

---

Derek slumped into a cafeteria chair, not really paying attention to what was happening around him. He traced the grain patterns on the tabletop, his mind clouded with thoughts of Marcy—her laugh, her frown, the way she'd tuck her brown hair behind one ear when she was nervous. The images of her are tainted by the idea that she kissed someone else.

"Earth to Derek," Jordan's voice cut through the fog. They slid into the seat across from him, their blue eyes searching his face with an unspoken question.

"Hey," Derek mumbled, forcing a weak smile. "What's up?"

"Nothing is up with me but something is clearly up with you," Jordan said, leaning forward. Their dyed a particularly bright shade of blue with white highlights, creating a look of waves on the ocean that usually would have made Derek crack a joke. Not today.

"Nothing, just... stuff." Derek picked at a loose thread on his sleeve, avoiding eye contact. "I need to talk to Rodney, but I can't."

"Well if you can't talk to Rondey about it, you can always talk to me," Jordan said firmly. "Look, I know we're not besties or anything, but you're my friend, Derek. A good one. And if something's eating you up, I want to help."

Derek lifted his gaze to meet Jordan's. "That means a lot, Jay. Really."

"I'm serious, I am here for you," Jordan chuckled softly. "And you know Rodney sees you as his best friend, I am sure that there is nothing you could tell him that he wouldn't try to help you through."

Derek cracked a genuine smile. "True. But this time I told Rodney I would do something weeks ago and I still haven't."

"Alright then, spill. What's the thing you said you would do?" Jordan's tone had softened as they got comfortable in his seat.

With a deep breath, Derek let the words tumble out. "It's Marcy. She kissed someone else when we were together. She has been trying to apologize but... I pushed her away, even though I was the one who hurt her first. It's all a mess really."

"Ouch," Jordan winced, resting their chin on folded hands. "Have you talked to her since?"

"No, and that is why I can't tell Rodney. I said I was going to talk to her a week or so ago. I meant it too, I went straight to her house and I was going to knock on the but... all I could think about was how she kissed someone else instead of trying to talk things through with me, and how mad I was that it even got to that point." Derek's fist clenched instinctively as he recalled it all.

"OK, so I only have one question for you. Do you still have feelings for her?" Jordan asked gently, a nudge rather than a push.

Derek hesitated. His heart knew the answer before his mind could catch up. "I miss her. Every damn day."

"Can you forgive her?" Jordan observed quietly.

"Maybe, I don't know." Derek's voice was barely above a whisper as he confronted the truth. "I don't even know who I am more mad at, her or... myself."

"Then that's what you really need to figure out first." Jordan reached across the table to give Derek a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Thanks, J. You are one wise tenth grader," Derek said, finally feeling like he found the root of the problem.

"What are friends for?" Jordan replied, their eyes reflecting the same sincerity that filled their voice. "I am sure once you figure it out, everything will fall into place. Let me know how it goes."

Derek nodded, bolstered by Jordan's support. He stood up and made his way back to class. He was thankful for Jordan's help, but still felt some uncertainty building in him.

Derek took his seat in his world history class, his fingers drumming an anxious rhythm on the wooden surface. Marcy was in this class with him. He had almost missed the entire semester of class because it, getting the assignment from other people in the class so he could keep up.

Marcy looked up to see him, she didn't try to greet him or draw his attention, she just offered a small smile before returning to her work.

Derek leaned back in his seat taking a breath. Seeing Marcy did fill him with emotions, just not the ones he thought it would. He didn't feel angry at her at all, he felt a longing. He wanted to talk to her, to catch up on everything he had missed while he was avoiding her, he wanted to see her smile again.

It felt like an eternity before the class had finished and even then Mr. Brennan had asked Derek to stay behind to discuss his absences. Derek half listened to the lecture while watching Marcy make her way out into the hall.

"Got it," he said when the speech ended, grabbing his things and racing out into the hall. With each step toward her locker, his heart felt like it was beating out of his chest, until he finally arrived at his destination.

The space outside Marcy's locker felt colder than the rest of the school, or maybe it was just the nerves icing over Derek's skin. She wasn't there, Derek's eyes scanned the hallway, and fear set in as he wondered if he had missed her again.

When Marcy finally emerged, her brown hair cascading over her shoulders, Derek held his breathe. She was engrossed in her phone, oblivious to the fact he was by her locker until he reached out, gently touching her arm.

"Marcy," he said, his voice more earnest than he intended.

She looked up, surprise registering in her features before settling into a cautious hope. "Derek?"

"Can we talk? Just for a minute?" His question hung in the air, he hoped he wasn't too late.

"Okay," she agreed, stuffing her phone into her pocket.

"Look, I've been a total dick," Derek blurted out. "Avoiding you, blaming you... but I never stopped to think about how I hurt you first."

Marcy seemed confused, her features softening as he spoke. "It's okay... I mean, it's not, but I understand. And I am the one who should be sorry, sorry for kissing someone else. It's my fault that our relationship ended."

Her confession caused tears to stream down her face. Derek reached out and wiped one away. "We both did stupid things. Let's just try to be less stupid in the future." Derek laughed while fighting back tears of his own.

"I'd like that, I'd like that a lot," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the conversation of the other students around them.

Their gazes locked, and for a moment, the world narrowed down to just the two of them. Derek didn't feel the anger and resentment he thought he would when they finally talked it out. Instead, his mind was flooded with good times they shared, laughter, lazy days, and whispered secrets.

Slowly, tentatively, he closed the gap between them, his lips meeting hers in a kiss that conveyed his apology and wanting to start over. It was a promise, unspoken yet deeply felt, that they would try to be better.

"Does this mean..." Marcy started to ask, her words trailing off.

"Yeah," Derek confirmed, a smile creeping across his lips. "I'm in if you are."

Hand in hand, they stepped back into the bustling corridor, the uncertainty of moments ago replaced by a newfound hope that they could move away from the past and toward the future.