Nick was reading his book as he ate his lunch. It was a CCNC novel, written in the late eighties. It was nothing but adventures, battles, and gore, and he loved it.

He picked up a few fries and dipped them in the ketchup, eating them as he read about a goblin king getting his head thwacked off when someone dropped in the seat across from him. It wasn’t too difficult to deduce it was Derek. The only other person who would sit by him was Evelyn, and she didn’t have his lunch.

“Hey, Derek.” Nick glanced at the page number before setting his book to one side. “What’s going on?”

It was only after he said that when he noticed something off with Derek. His usual bubbly, happy friend looked as though he’d seen something terrifying. Considering everything they’d gone through in the past month and a half, he braced for something bad.

“So…” Derek placed his fingertips on the table. “I might have made a teeny, tiny mistake during Homecoming that is coming back to bite me. And I need your advice.”

Nick raised an eyebrow. “Are your gray marks changing?”

“Um, no. No, it’s more—”

“Derek!”

They both turned. There was a girl Derek once pointed out to him as the queen of drama. Not only did she take drama, but she loved all forms of it, too, whether acting or the gossip of high school.

“Oh, uh, hey, Emma. I was—”

She plopped down on Derek’s lap and kissed him. Nick blinked a few times, then couldn’t help it and smirked. He shouldn’t, but the entire situation was hilarious. He was waiting for Emma to be done so he could introduce himself, but it wouldn’t happen anytime soon.

Nick grabbed his chicken sandwich, taking a bite. Derek was squirming, trying to end the kiss, but this girl clearly had her claws dug into him.

Derek finally broke free by faking the need to cough. Emma broke off the kiss, but still clung to him.

“So, um, Emma, this is my friend Nick Larsen.” Derek gestured toward Nick before trying to wipe the lipstick from his face.

“Hello.” Nick held out a hand to shake hers.

Emma gave him a once over, her face devoid of emotions. “No,” was all she said.

Nick shrugged, returning to his chicken sandwich. Derek shot her a glare as he continued to wipe off the lipstick. “Emma—”

“Where are you taking me tonight?” Emma asked, lounging on him like he was a sofa.

“What?”

“Oooh, are you going to surprise me?”

Derek shot Nick a terrified look. “Yeah, um, let me plan with my good friend Nick where I’m taking you tonight.”

She squealed before giving him another kiss. A very long kiss. Nick simply watched, humor dancing in his eyes at how much Derek squirmed. Derek, who seemed to sense Nick’s complete disregard for his current situation, lifted a hand to show off an obscene gesture before Emma finally released him.

“I will see you tonight, then!” She peeled herself off him and skipped to another table.

Nick was still smirking as he passed over some napkins. Derek clawed the napkins against his lips. “She’s reapplying that lipstick, isn’t she?”

Nick glanced over, stifling his smile as Emma took out her phone, applying lipstick. “Yep.”

Derek groaned, checking with his phone camera to make sure he got everything. “It’s like she’s marking her territory. Why isn’t this coming off? Ugh, it tastes like chalk.”

“So… I’m assuming that was the teeny tiny mistake you made at homecoming?” Nick asked.

“I was trying to shut her up.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“By doing what? Kissing her?” The look his friend gave him made him lower his chicken sandwich. “Holy shit, Derek.”

“I admit my plan wasn’t exactly thought through, and perhaps I needed to take the advice of my friends and not ‘kiss crazy’,” Derek said in the quietest, most humble voice Nick had ever heard from his friend.

Nick shook his head, chuckling again. “So, you’re going to break up with her, right?”

Derek again glanced around the lunchroom before facing Nick again. “The plan is I get her to hate me before she breaks it off.”

Nick couldn’t help it. Sometimes his overly dramatic friend needed a dose of reality. He lifted his hand and slapped both of Derek’s cheeks. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to shock him out of the ridiculous drama mind that controlled him sometimes. He then pointed at Derek with his finger, his face completely dry. “No.”

Derek was surprised that Nick had slapped him, but he seemed more annoyed at his answer. “That is the only way to get to Emma. She has to decide herself.”

“Holy hell, Derek. You tell it to her straight. Stop making it about her and put your own feelings into consideration. There is no point dragging her along and playing these games. You’re almost eighteen yourself. Have some decency.” Nick grabbed a handful of fries and dipped them in ketchup. Derek stared at Nick, looking as though he had sprouted a third ear on the top of his head. Nick chewed, not comprehending why his friend was looking so confused. “What?”

“Take your own advice, dude,” Derek said.

It was Nick’s turn to look confused. “What are you talking about?”

“You asked Alejandra out a year ago. She requested time. And now you two are just… what? Waiting for another person to move? Leaving her alone to think about it? Never following up?”

Everything in Nick froze. How Derek knew about him asking Alejandra out could only be some mythical power given to the drama kids. Gossip somehow stuck to them like a fly trapper. Nick raised his finger again. “That’s… completely different.”

Derek snorted. “Really? You’re a total simp.”

“I am not. She has some things to figure out. Her parents’ divorce and everything.”

“The divorce that happened almost three years ago, you mean?”

Nick ignored him and plowed on. “Besides, I don’t exactly have the best reputation. Rafael made that perfectly clear he doesn’t want me anywhere near his little sister.”

“Oh, he did?” Derek asked.

Nick resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Yeah. It was soon after I got back to school after recovering from the car crash. Rafael told me he was done hanging out with me, and done playing CCNC. And I was never to hang out with his sister outside of the game.” That was a clean version of what Rafael said. Rafael kept hanging his criminal record over his head. Angry that Nick would betray their friendship like that. Hang out with the wrong crowd to annoy Walt. Actually think it was a good idea to go vandalize cars and houses in a different city. How pathetic his excuses were and how much Rafael could no longer handle being in his presence.

The scar cutting across his eyebrow made Nick realize he could have died because of his stupidity. It hurt far worse hearing Rafael say all that than it was Walt to scream the same thing.

But now he didn’t care at all what Rafael thought. Perhaps he didn’t care what Rafael thought of Nick’s feelings for Alejandra, either.

Nick pulled himself back to the present. “Anyway, there’s an excellent lesson in that. Rafael was clear and created no doubt about his true intentions. You need to do the same with Emma.”

Derek snorted, stealing a few fries from Nick’s plate. “You know what, Nick? You show me how it’s done. Talk to Alejandra, follow up with her, and maybe I’ll consider your ideas.” Nick gave him a dry look as he finished his chicken sandwich. “Nick the simp has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

“You still got a bit of lipstick. Right there.” Nick pointed to the side of his own mouth.

Derek panicked, pulling his phone camera to see his perfectly clean mouth. He glared at Nick. “Go to hell.”

Nick picked up his tray and his book, smiling sweetly at his friend. “I’ll see you there.”

***

Alejandra was going over her Spanish notes, trying to figure out which words were of which genders in the worksheet they were given.

The bell rang, and she finished writing the last of the words. It will be nice to not have homework from Spanish to do.

“Alejandra, can I have a quick word with you?” Señora Florez asked.

She glanced up. “Yeah.” She gathered her things and stuffed them in her bag, zipping it on the way to talk to Señora Florez.

Señora Florez was busy wiping down the whiteboard. “Here’s the thing. I know our last CCNC after-school club was a little hard for you. And I feel you should know Mr. Stower came to me on Friday asking to be the second teacher for the CCNC club.”

A deep panic filled her gut. “What?”

“He’s right. We need a second teacher for safety reasons. He might shut things down if I don’t get one, and he did offer.” She placed the white board eraser down. “Is there any reason I should refuse Mr. Stower’s offer?”

Alejandra felt a strong desire to go on default and agree with the suggestion to keep the peace. But she couldn’t. This wouldn’t just hurt her.

“You can’t… no.” Alejandra was in danger of triggering another panic attack. She folded her arms, looking away. “I… I’m sorry. But no. Mr. Stower can’t be the second adult.”

Señora Florez nodded, looking sympathetic. “Alright. I’ll need to find another adult before our club tomorrow.”

“Mr. Anderson.” It tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

Señora Florez listened, a frown growing on her face. “I’ve already tried Mr. Anderson. He’s adamant about not joining.”

“When’s the last time you asked him?” Alejandra asked.

“Admittedly, a couple of years ago.”

Her heart quickened. “Try again. I need you to go to him and say this exact sentence. ‘Mr. Stower wants to be the second adult in the CCNC club. Alejandra and Derek are pleading with you to be the second adult instead.’”

Señora Florez frowned. “And… you think that will work?”

Alejandra let out a breath. “It’s got to.”