Lee gave three sharp knocks to Arland’s door and waited until it slowly cracked open. His friend cautiously peeked out at him.

“Just me,” Lee assured.

The door swung open fully and Lee was quick to step inside so Arland could swiftly shut it behind him. The smell of strawberries permeated the room, courtesy of the vape flavor Arland preferred.

Lee wrinkled his nose at the strong scent and moved to sit on Arland’s bed, only to pause at the sight of an open suitcase on it. There were a few days worth of clothes already tossed inside.

Lee felt a spike of fear run through him. Was this it? Was his friend finally getting kicked out? Trying to keep an air of nonchalance, Lee questioned, “Going somewhere?”

Before answering, Arland took a long drag from his vape, exhaling heavily with frustration. He took care to turn away from Lee so as not to assault him directly with the vapor.

“I’m getting picked up after morning classes tomorrow to help my parents get ready for some party they’re hosting on Friday,” Arland explained, clearly less than thrilled about it. “I’ll be gone ‘till Monday.”

Lee let himself relax, settling down on the edge of the bed. “What kind of party?” He asked.

“It’s supposed to be for charity, but it’s really just an excuse for Mom to gossip and Dad to suck up to his boss,” Arland said dismissively.

“Why do they need you there?”

“Oh, you know how it is,” Arland declared with a flippant wave of his hand. “In their circle you gotta bring your kid, dress them up to brag or lie about their accomplishments, and then herd them off to a corner to socialize with all the other kids forced to be there.”

Lee wondered if that was what most of the boys at Haverford Academy were used to. He supposed it made sense, seeing as many of them were the children of wealthy elites. His own situation was a little different, but Lee wasn’t interested in correcting Arland’s assumption that he similarly attended such parties.

The two of them decided to redirect their conversation to lighter topics, chatting idly while Arland continued packing.

Then there was another knock on the door.

They both tensed, worried it might be a teacher or supervisor. Arland tossed his vape at Lee to hide under the mattress as he crept toward the door and slowly pulled it open.

The door was roughly shoved ajar and Lee was startled to see Thomas push his way in, arms laden with his school bag, textbooks, and a collapsible lap table.

Thomas stilled upon realizing Lee was in the room, then whipped back around to face Arland. “What’s he doing here?” He demanded brusquely, jutting an elbow out in Lee’s direction.

Lee very much wanted to echo the question, not at all expecting to run into their Class President here of all places.

Arland seemed completely unbothered by his arrival, despite the fact Thomas was considered a pseudo authority figure among students. He kicked his door closed and answered, “I invited Lee over to hang since I’ll be gone the rest of the week. Same as you, Tom.”

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Then, as if to emphasize exactly how little Thomas’ presence fazed him, Arland reached under the mattress and pulled his vape back out. He took a puff and then went back to tossing his laptop charger into his suitcase like nothing had happened.

Thomas glanced back at Lee, who offered up an awkward little wave.

After a few seconds of silence, Thomas finally grunted, “Whatever,” and sat down on the floor. He set up his little table with his homework spread out on it, and leaned his back against Arland’s bed, right next to Lee’s legs.

Finally, Thomas reached into his bag and pulled out a lighter and a pack of actual cigarettes.

“You smoke?!” Lee blurted out in shock.

Thomas shifted to turn his body toward Lee, his deadpanned eyes drilling holes of anxiety into him. Thomas took care to light up a cigarette directly in Lee’s line of sight as he asked sardonically, “Got a problem with it?”

Lee quickly shook his head, biting his lip to keep from saying anything else that might further annoy his classmate.

Plenty of other boys (such as Arland) secretly smoked on campus. What had taken Lee so off guard was he’d never suspected Thomas to be one of them. HIs impression of the redhead had always been that of a strict rule-abider.

Arland pulled out an ashtray from his desk drawer and offered it to Thomas as he remarked, “Tom can’t smoke in his room, so he drops by here to do it once in a while.”

“What’s wrong with his room?” Lee wondered.

“Prez is such a happy little helper. Teachers and other kids come to his dorm outside of class all the time to ask him for favors,” Arland replied with a derisive snort.

Thomas snatched the ashtray out of his hand with a glare, offended at being described as a ‘happy little’ anything.

Lee understood; someone in Thomas’ position definitely couldn’t risk a teacher coming by and catching the smell of nicotine. Arland already didn’t care about rules, so he wouldn’t bother snitching on the President like someone else might.

That still left Lee confused about one thing though. “I thought you guys didn’t like each other?” He admitted.

Arland and Thomas both blinked at him, nonplussed. In unison they asked, “What gave you that idea?”

“It just seemed that way?” Lee rubbed at his arm unsurely. “You never look that happy to see each other.”

Arland asked in a fake whisper, “When does Thomas look happy to see anybody?” The President blew smoke toward his face in retaliation, so Arland ducked out of the way and continued with a grin, “I think Tom’s a bit of a teacher’s pet, but he’s cool.”

Thomas rolled his eyes and stated, “It annoys me that Arland treats school like a joke, but I don’t dislike him personally.”

So they were kind of friends? That was the tentative conclusion Lee came to.

“Are you going to tell?” Thomas inquired as he purposely knocked some ash off the end of his cigarette.

Before Lee could respond, two new dialogue choices appeared before him.

[Yes, it’s against school regulations!]

[I would never! You can trust me.]

Of course Lee wouldn’t tell. What sense would it make to turn Thomas in for something he watched Arland do all the time?

“I would never!” The words were dragged from Lee’s throat and turned into an emphatic declaration as he assured, “You can trust me.”

Thomas stared him down for a long moment, measuring his sincerity. Eventually, his posture relaxed and he turned back to his homework, muttering, “Alright.”

(+5%) [Affection 20%]

Lee had hoped Thomas’ affection would go up, but was surprised when he finally got a new achievement alongside it.

(+1) [❤️🖤🖤🖤] (1/4)

The Heart Gauge actually increased!!!

Even though he didn’t quite understand what made ‘Hearts’ different from ‘Affection,’ it was tangible progress.