Gerard isn't in art this morning. When I walk down, I see Cody taking down Gee's stool and setting it down on the floor. We didn't hang out this morning, I woke up late. But it didn't matter though because he texted me saying he wasn't at home. I don't know where he would be at 6 a.m. or why he would be busy then. So when I walk into history class, I was surprised to see him sitting at his desk.

"Hey, you're here," I say, setting my backpack on the ground.

"Yeah, I missed first and second period so I just got here."

"Where were you?" I ask.

Gerard shakes his head. "I don't want to talk about it." I look at him nervously. "So how was your weekend?"

"Oh, it was good. At Hayley's we were playing assassins. It was really fun."

"I like that game," Gerard says. "Who's the best?"

"Well, first round, Patrick got like everyone so that was scary. I managed to get Sarah but they caught me the second round. Lynn was pretty good one round but the rest not so much. Then later we were having a Foosball match. How was your weekend?"

"It was good," he says. "I hung out with you then Sunday Cody stopped by." I glance at him. So Cody can come over by I can't? Okay then. This probably has to do with whatever Cody knows and I don't, which would explain why he wanted to get out of the house.

The bell for the passing period rings and our teacher goes over notes for the civil war, talking about the South succession and The Great Compromise. Halfway through, we finish and then start on a worksheet.

"Hey, Frank, I got a question for you?" he asks.

"What's up?"

"So...did you notice anything between Cody and Amelia lately?" he says.

My eyes widen. "I knew I wasn't the only one. Jenna and I were talking about this over Thanksgiving break."

Gerard eases up. "Okay, because I wasn't sure if I was the only one suspicious."

"Why, did something happen?"

"Well, not exactly. I just started noticing something between them, just a very slight difference. I brought it up to him yesterday but he kind of just laughed. Said there wasn't anything going on."

"I brought it up to Amelia but she had the same reaction, said there wasn't anything, they were just friends."

Gerard narrows his eyes at me. "Yeah, sure. Well, if three of us noticed, there's obviously something going on."

We get to lunch, the five of us sitting down together. "I'm so tired, I need the weekend," Amelia says, opening her lunch box.

"It's only Monday," Gerard notes, twirling his water bottle around the table.

"Where's your lunch?" Cody asks Gerard, narrowing his eyes.

Gerard pauses, looking at him. "I'm not hungry," he replies. Cody sighs, digging through his lunch box and hands him yogurt." Gerard stares at it reluctantly but takes it. "Isn't the dance is at the end of the week."

"Oh, right," Jenna says. "We're meeting at our place for pictures, right?"

"I think so," Cody says, looking at her. "Aren't you girls having some like-" he gestures his hands around his face and Jenna and Amelia stare at him, "like some girl's night with spa stuff?"

"Probably," Jenna says smirking. "Is that your interpretation of a girl's night?" She mimics his hand gesture and he rolls his eyes at her.

"Like I know," he sighs. "You guys going shopping?" he asks.

They both shake their head. "We already got our stuff on Black Friday, remember?" Amelia says. "I mean, we did. The others went beforehand."

"What are we doing for the dance?" I ask. "It's Saturday, right?"

"Yeah," Jenna says, opening her soda. "I don't know what you guys are doing but I think we're coming over Friday, the night before. We'll do pictures here then go to the school. Come back here and hang out."

"What couples are going? Like in our friend group," Gerard mentions casually. He looks at Jenna. "You and Lynn?"

She smiles softly, her cheeks rosy. "Yeah, we didn't go to homecoming together so technically this first dance as a thing."

Gerard smiles at her softly. "Brendon and Audrey are going together, unfortunately." He hasn't eaten his yogurt yet, just stirring the granola and dried berries around. "What about you Cody?" he asks.

Cody glances up at him confused. "What?"

"You going with anyone?"

"You guys?"

"Well, obviously," I say. "But are you going with a date?" Cody shifts his eyes from me to Gerard.

Gerard sets his food aside, still not eating it. "You and Amelia should go together." Amelia snaps her head up nervously. I notice Jenna refraining from smirking.

Amelia glares at me. "Really, Frank?" she says. "Bringing Gerard into this?"

"Wait, what do you mean?" Cody asks her confused. "Gerard's the one who started this."

Amelia pauses, looking at him. "Did he?" Cody glances between the rest of us. Jenna forces herself to keep a straight face but I see the corner of her mouth curving. "Frank was asking about it last week."

"Gerard was talking to me about this yesterday," Cody says. "Who told who?"

"No one," Jenna says. The four of us glance at her and she cracks a grin. "No one is going around saying anything. You two are just obvious enough for us to individually realize."

"Realize what?" Cody asks. "Jen, there's nothing going on." She starts giggling and Cody's cheeks flare. "Cut it out."

"Please, there's obviously something going on," Gerard says.

Cody purses his lip to the side then looks back at Amelia. "Did you say something to them?" he mumbles.

"What? No!" she cries out. Her bangs fall in front of her face.

Cody pauses, looking down. "What, do you like me?" he asks her. Amelia hesitates, brushing her hair out of her eyes. Cody's face is flushed and he's gritting his teeth. "Do you?"

"No," she says softly. Cody stiffens up. "You're my friend."

He takes a short breath. "Well-good," he says. "Because that's all we are and...and that's all we're ever going to be." He faces away from her. "So you guys just stop asking about it." Amelia's eyes are glossy, her lips parted as if she wants to say something but she doesn't speak. I can sense both of them are very uncomfortable. Amelia looks vulnerable and Cody's very pensive. "Gerard, eat it already, please?" Cody says, trying to change the subject.

It's Gerard's turn to become uncomfortable. "I'm not really hungry," he says.

Before Cody says anything else, I reach for the container and grab the spoon. "Do I need to feed you?" I say in a light-hearted voice.

"What-no, I-" I cut him off, putting the spoon against his lips. "Frank, you don't need to," he whispers.

"Well, you obviously can't by yourself. Open." Gerard starts blushing and reluctantly opens his mouth, allowing me to feed him. He starts eating, looking very confused, taking the spoon from me. "Finish the rest," I tell him. He doesn't say anything else, just glancing down while chewing.

The rest of lunch is relatively quiet. Jenna and I walk up to English together. "That's was awkward," she says as the two of us head upstairs.

"Yeah, but it's not like they were mad."

Jenna shakes her head. "No, they seemed more so upset than angry, but not upset with us."

"Probably at each other for not admitting it. You can totally tell, right?"

"Definitely. They always sit next to each other and they're now always goofing around. It's like they're middle schoolers crushing on each other."

When I walk into math class, Amelia has her head down, fidgeting with her hands. "Hey," I say, taking a seat. She glances in my direction and I can see her face hiding behind her face. She looks upset, much more upset than lunch like she was crying the period before. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," she whispers.

I lean on my desk toward her. "You know, I recently watched a movie with Gerard and they said that find stood for freaked out, insecure, neurotic, and emotional."

She looks up at me with soft eyes. "You guys watched The Italian Job?"

"Ah, you know it," I say. "So what's going on?" I didn't think we upset her at lunch. We couldn't have embarrassed her from it.

"I just feel sick." I look at her concerned. "My stomach hurts and..." She takes a deep breath, bouncing her leg up and down.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

She looks down at the floor. "I just want to get this day over with," she says.

Our teacher goes over the homework and then we learn about radians of a circle. We won't have our test on Monday because the dance is this weekend so he's having it Friday. Honestly, I'm alright with that because radians are just fractions you need to memorize. We go over a few examples before handing us our homework to work on for the last few minutes of class. It takes me less than five minutes to solve 30 questions. Amelia's done early too, putting her finished homework in her folder than packing her backpack. She crosses her arms over her desk then buries her head.

The guy next to her is absent so I sit in the empty desk and look at her. "Hey, you want to talk?" I ask. She shakes her head against the desk. "Are you upset from lunch?" She doesn't respond. "I wasn't intending to hurt but if I did, I'm sorry."

"No, you didn't upset," she mutters. "Just forget about it, I don't want to talk." She's trying not to cry, her eyes glistening.

Class ends shortly after, the two of us walking out like we usually do. "Hold on," Amelia says, going to the bathroom instead. I lean against the wall, waiting for her to come back out. Brendon is walking with Audrey down the hall, he looks tired. As they pass, I wave at him. Brendon perks up for half a second, smiling at me. I swear, I thought they broke up already. Well, it looks like Brendon wants to.

The warning bell rings when Amelia comes back out. "Oh, you didn't have to wait for me," she says. Her face is normal color and her makeup is mixed. I can see slight redness in her eyes still She probably just applied more makeup.

The two of us head down to the front staircase. "I know, but I wanted to."

"Please don't tell the others, okay?" Her voice is quiet.

"I won't," I tell her.

We get downstairs as the bell rings. "Hey, what took you guys so long?" Gerard asks.

"Pop quiz," I say, causing Amelia to double take but not say anything, "except he waited until the last three minutes of class before he gave it to us," I say.

"I hate it when they do that," Jenna says. "Hey, you guys want to come over and hang out a bit?"

Amelia shifts her bag, avoiding looking at Cody. "I have a lot of math homework, actually. Maybe another time."

I saw her finish her work and put it in the bag. She's not upset with us, she's upset with Cody, upset he said he didn't like her. "Do you want some help?" I ask. Amelia looks at me. "I still got to finish it too so I could come over and help you if you want."

Amelia hesitates. She knows I'm well aware she's lying. "Uh, yeah, if you don't mind." I smile at her softly but she looks at me suspiciously.

"So am I dropping you guys off at Amelia's?" Cody asks

She doesn't say anything right away. "Yeah, seems so," I tell him.

Cody twirls the keys in his hand looking around as if he needs to say something but doesn't know what. Gerard and I make eye contact, he turns to Cody. "You still coming then?" Cody asks Gerard.

"Yeah."

He nods along. "Well, then let's go."

Cody drops us off at Amelia's and we head in through the garage. "Thank you for not saying anything," she says as she closes the garage door and we step into the laundry room.

"I understand."

"Amelia, you home?"

"Yeah, dad," she calls out. "I...Frank's here."

"Frank?" he calls back.

"Oh my god," she mutters. "Don't think he remembers you."

"It's alright."

The two of us walks over. Her dad's washing the dishes and her little brother is playing Call of Duty. "Hey, Frank," her dad calls out. "You guys need anything?"

"No, we're just studying. Got a lot of math homework."

He smiles. "Alright then." Her brother starts screaming. I think he got shot. "Caden, it's just a game."

"Yeah, I know," he mutters.

We head upstairs and go to Amelia's room. "So if I'm not helping you with your finished math homework, what am I helping you with?" I ask.

Amelia sets her backpack down on the floor at the foot of her bed. "I don't know," she mumbles. She sinks down on her bed and I walk over to her, sitting next to her. "I just..." She covers her face with her hands and takes a deep breath. As soon as she sighs, she starts crying again.

I wrap my arms around her and pull her close. "Hey, you're okay," I say gently. "What's going on? Talk to me."

"It's stupid, it's so stupid," she mutters. "I don't want to bother you with my problems."

"No, it's not. Melia, I asked if you wanted me to come over. I knew you were lying about your homework, that's why I asked to come over. I wanted to make sure you're okay. And...you said yes. You wanted me here because you want to tell me. It'll be okay, I want to help you but I can't if you don't talk to me about it."

She wipes her face and sighs. "Take a wild guess," she mutters.

"Are you upset about lunch?" She nods against my shoulder. "Are you upset at us for bringing it up?"

"No, not that. Just..." I rub her back gently, waiting for her to say something. "You were right, I just didn't want to believe it. I really like him. I really like him and it hurt hearing him say that." She sits up, wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry," I tell her.

She starts laughing, more tears rolling down her cheeks. "I'm a mess." I glance around her room, seeing a box of tissues on her vanity. I lean over and grab the box, handing it to her. Wiping her face, she tries catching her breath. "When you brought it up last week, I thought you were crazy. I mean, I didn't think I liked him, we were just friends and that maybe recently, we started talking more but I didn't really think about him like that until you said it. I guess you made me realize I liked him."

"When did you start?" I ask her.

She smiles softly to herself. "I don't really know. I don't think I really did realize myself. We've always been close, we were only getting closer and closer. But then you suggested it and I thought it was weird but then I started thinking why not? Like I could see it. I never realized how much I liked him until today," her smile flickers, her voice pausing, "when he said we'd never be something."

"Amelia, I'm pretty sure he was lying."

"How do you know that, Frank?" she asks.

"Because you were lying too," I point out.

She flops back on the bed. "Only because I had to. He asked me point blank. 'What, do you like me'?" she says, mimicking him in an irritated voice. "He sounded annoyed like he was disgusted."

"I don't think so, I'm pretty sure he was just confused."

"But he was happy when I said no. He said we'd never be anything else, he doesn't...he doesn't want to. And then he didn't want to talk about it anymore."

I turn around and lie next to her. "When you said no, he flinched." She shakes her head. Resting her arm over her eyes, she turns away from me when she starts tearing up again. "Amelia, I wouldn't lie to you."

"How can you be so sure? What if...what if you're wrong?"

I don't think I am. I am pretty sure Cody likes her. But...what if I am wrong? Not about him liking her but him willing to do something. "No matter what happens, you're going to be okay," I tell her.

"I really like him, he's one of my best friends and I don't want to lose anything."

"You won't. That I can guarantee."

The two of us hang out for a couple of hours. She starts feeling better after talking to me about it and eventually, we start talking about other things, which helps perk her up. Her dad comes in her room, asking if I was staying for dinner. They were going out to a steakhouse and I was offered to come. I tell him I need to head home soon, knowing my parents wouldn't want me out that long. I also don't eat steak. I'm sure they had vegetarian options but I do have to go home.

They drop me off at home and I head in. My mom's making dinner, my dad upstairs. It's quiet and I enjoy it. Afterwards, I go upstairs and I start reading my new book for English, The Things They Carried. So far, it's a rather drab book about Vietnam and all they're doing is carrying a bunch of military equipment. Granted, I shouldn't be surprised, it's in the title.

My phone goes off when I'm in chapter 2. It's a text from Gerard. -You home?-

I reply back to him. -Yeah, why??- I rest my phone on my lap, waiting for him to reply. Suddenly, it starts buzzing. Gerard's calling me. "Hey, what's up?"

"You're home now, right?" he asks.

"Yeah..."

"Are you by yourself?"

"I'm-I'm in my room reading, yeah, I'm by myself. What's going on?"

"Did you really do homework with Amelia today or what that some excuse?" he asks.

I sit up on my bed, putting my book to the side. "Am I not able to help my friend with math?" I ask suspiciously. "What? Do you think I turned straight and we hooked up after school?" I start joking.

Gerard stifles a laugh. "You better not be turning straight on me," he retorts.

I bite my lip, unsure how to reply. "What's...what's that supposed to mean?" I ask him. I was joking, he wasn't supposed to reply.

"Nothing," he laughs, "but seriously, did you guys do homework or not?"

"Why?" I ask.

"I'm pretty sure Cody just had a crisis on me about being in the friend-zone and I'm wondering if Amelia did the same or not."

I smile to myself. Not about my friend having a crisis but him feeling the same way. "We didn't have math homework today. She was having a meltdown because Cody broke her heart at lunch." Gerard chuckles on the other end. "Man, they're really meant to be together, aren't they?"

"No kidding, we got Romeo and Juliet over here."

"I hope not, they both die in the end."

"True, what's an iconic, straight couple that isn't tragic?" he asks.

I think back. "Pretty sure most romances are tragedies," I say. "Oh, that's that one movie we saw together, uh, I can't remember but it's the 'as you wish' one."