Kathryn walked into school with a lot of the (black) students giving her looks of sympathy. No doubt hearing from their mom's and grandma's from church about the attack on her house, her father and their pastor. Not wanting to deal with their fake words of pity, she decided to meet up with Theo at their usual spot at the library. She quickly ripped out a page from her notebook and scrawled out a note to slip into his locker.

At lunch, she made her way to the library to wait for Theo at their spot. Five minutes in and she wondered if he was talking to a teacher.

Fifteen minutes in and she assumed he probably decided to have lunch first.

Thirty minutes passed and she worried of someone, especially his brothers, stopped him in his way there.

When their lunch hour came to an end, she left the library, upset. Theo would never purposely skip out hanging with her. So what happened?

It seemed like her answer came in the form of Mason, laughing and high-fiving one of his baseball buddies as they just finished stuffing a black kid in a locker. Kathryn didn't want to do it, but desperate times call for desperate measures. So, taking a deep breath, she mentally prepared herself for how this conversation was gonna go and walked over to him.

"Mason," she called out, making him turn around. Confusion was written across his face as soon as he realized Kathryn was willingly speaking to him. But he quickly covered it up with his usual cocky grin.

"Kitty Kat," he greeted a bit too happily. "Well well, well, let me guess? You finally realize you wanted to be with the better brother," he said, making her cringe. "I️ don't usually do black girls but for you, I'll-"

"Can it," she cut him off, disgusted. She then opened the locker door that was holding the scared male black student hostage. "You can go," she tells him. His eyes darted between her and a menacing looking Mason. "He's not gonna do anything to you, I️ promise," she said, carefully watching him. The boy quickly climbs out and pauses for a moment to look back at them. Mason steps up to him in an attempt to scare him but Kathryn steps in front of Mason and pushes him back. "I'm looking for Theo," she explained, crossing her arms. "He was supposed to meet up with me and he never showed so, what did you do to him?" She boldly poked him in his chest.

Mason looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. "You're so cute when you're trying to be scary," he laughed off. "Anyways, I️ don't know what you're talking about. I️ haven't seen the dweeb all day," he pushed her hand away from him, turning to leave. Kathryn sighed and was about to leave when Mason's voice stopped her in her tracks. "Actually, now that I️ think about it, maybe he's avoiding you," he said, catching her attention.

"What are you talking about?" She hissed. If this was Mason bullshitting her again, she swears she's gonna-

"You didn't hear?" He asked. "Our house got tagged," he revealed, making her eyes go wide with shock. "Guess what was spray painted all across the front of the house. Just guess," He said, slowly stalking towards her.

"I️...I️ don't-"

"Really? We're gonna play that game?" He confronted. That's when he harshly shoved her against the lockers. "My pops wasn't none too happy about having that shit sprayed painted across his walls after coming home from work," he tells her. "He knows you and Theo are like two peas in a pod. He made Theo clean that mess up, alone. And now, he's mad at you," Mason shrugged.

Kathryn glared at him, not believing a word he said. Instead she scoffs and pushes him aside. "You're an ass," she tells him before walking off. Theo's not mad at her, he could never be mad at her. Plus, she didn't do anything wrong, it was those stupid segregationists. She knew talking to Mason was a bad idea. Now she was more angry and confused than before.

"And remember class! Our annual sock hop is in two weeks! Make sure you buy your tickets in time!"

She walked into class and sat in the back with the rest of the colored kids. It was already hard enough that she could barely see the board but now, with Theo on her mind, it was gonna be an extra struggle to pay attention.

But it was a review of the lesson they had the day before, so she didn't fall behind as bad as she thought she was. Once class was over, she made her way to the next class, hoping to run into Theo on the way there. She looked for him all over as she walked through the halls and was elated to find him near his locker with his nose in a book. She smiled as she approached him.

That's why he didn't show up! He was too busy reading. It was so typical of Theo to lose track of time when he was really into a book. She looked around to see if the coast was clear before grabbing his arm and tugging him into the nearest empty alcove. "Where have you been? I asked you to meet me at lunch and you didn't come. I was almost worried you were avoiding-"

Theo snatched his arm back, recoiling from her touch. "Kathryn, I can't- I can't talk to you, alright?" He sounded frustrated.

Kathryn frowned. "What?" She whispered. "What are you- what do you mean?" She stammered, confused by his sudden change in attitude. "Theo, if this is about yesterday-"

"This isn't just about yesterday. This is about us!" he snapped. Suddenly the bell rings, cutting their conversation short. "I️ gotta go," he huffs before rushing off, leaving her to stand there all lost and confused. But not wanting to be late, she walks to her next class, feeling numb.

Did she just lose her best friend?

* * * *

Kathryn walked home, alone. Her mind still reeling from her confrontation with Theo earlier. Was Mason right? Was he actually mad at her?

"Oh, so you did find my brother," Mason said from behind her as she walked past him casually leaning against a tree. He pushes himself off and walks over to her, who takes a couple steps back from him. "And from the way you're tearing up, I️ guess it didn't go well?" He sounded amused. Leave it up to Mason to revel in a black person's pain and misery. Kathryn just ignored him and tried to walk past him but he reached out and pulled her back by the wrist, pulling her against his chest.

"Let me go Mason-"

"Then don't ignore me while I'm talking to you!" He yells back, making her quiet down.

"Fine," she spat. "What do you want?"

"How'd it go? With my brother?" He wanted to know.

Kathryn rolled her eyes and wriggled out of his grip. "You were right, okay? He's mad," she crossed her arms. "And he refused to talk to me."

"Must be pretty mad at him huh?" Mason asked, loosening his grip on.

"I️ could flip my lid," Kathryn agreed.

"Might wanna get back at him," he encouraged her anger.

"I️f I️ just knew how " she wondered.

"I️ think I️ know one way," Mason said, and before she could ask what, she felt his lips against hers, taking her by surprise.

"Kathryn?" She heard Theo's voice say from behind her, making her immediately pull away to turn and face him. He was heartbroken one moment and then in the next, he was pissed.

But before anyone could say anything, he had already ran off in a different direction. Kathryn turned to go run after him but Mason held her back. "Don't worry about him. He's probably having one of his little bitch moments," he scoffed.

Kathryn turned to face him. "You knew he was coming, didn't you?" She angrily asked. "Why would you do that to him?!" She shoved against his chest.

Mason just laughed, enjoying the situation entirely too much. "How about, because I️ don't care?" He offered. "It's not my problem that I️ did what he couldn't do."

"Oh yeah?" She says defiantly. "And what's that?"

"Taking what I️ want."