Pelham was able to breathe easier after telling the truth about himself to April. However, the tranquility didn't last; there were his parents and, of course, his best friend. Not that he was in a rush. As a matter of fact, Pelham thought he could ease off for a while and take things slow. At least, that was what April had adviced him to. And he trusted her. He had always taken her word for everything.

Pelham spent the weekend catching up with school assignments that had been given to him and talking to Roshon through Skype. Roshon only had a week left. If Pelham alone was missing a lot of lessons, his best friend was definitely going to have himself laboured. Pelham had already forewarned Roshon regarding the mountainous piles of works that had been assigned to them, so Roshon would at least have a heads-up. Roshon, however, never seemed to give a hoot, for he had been talking about a girl that he was starting to develop a small crush on for an hour. This led Pelham to talk about his relationship with April.

"Ask her out," Pelham suggested, popping a peppermint sweet into his mouth.

"No," said Roshon. "I'm not as good as you. You get along well with the ladies."

"I have charms,"

To which Roshon gave an exasperated look. "You and April may as well get married and leave school already,"

"Yeah, about that," Pelham sucked on the sweet, scrunching his face while doing so. He quite hated the taste. "We broke up."

"April Fools is not in another few months, Pel," Roshon said, then laughed. "Oh, April Fools. Damn, that's funny." Then when Pelham continued to look impassive, his laughter ebbed away. "You're serious."

Pelham nodded. If he was going to say it, now was the time.

However, Roshon got there first; "What, has the charm worn off after all those years?"

"Uh, yeah ... seems like it," Pelham said, trying to sound indifferent. "I don't want to be in an unjust relationship full of lies." It was, after all, the truth.

Roshon was refraining himself from laughing. "What now? Are you two going to be those typical ex-couple who avoid each other in the hallway?"

"No," Pelham scoffed. "We've agreed to stay friends." He smirked. "Best friends."

"How dare she," remarked Roshon, feigning offense.

"Yes, she does dare,"

"I hope she doesn't make offensive jokes about you because we both know I'm very good at that,"

"She already has and she's actually better than you,"

"You take that back, Pelham,"

"Okay,"

"So who's your company now that I'm gone?" Roshon asked offhandedly. "Oh, is that Alves boy still around?"

Pelham didn't know why his stomach constricted at the mere mention of the name. Per usual, he paid no heed to it. "I haven't seen him around," he shrugged, feeling guilty for some reason. "I've been sick, remember?"

"No, I don't remember,"

"You're a great friend."

"I know."

*

Anxiety was starting to weigh him down once Monday arrived. And he couldn't quite put a finger to it; everything seemed to be surging towards him like a rising tide as soon as he stepped into the hallway. Looking around, everything was habitual; the considerably burdensome Monday vibes could be felt radiating off every student. Normally, Roshon would greet Pelham at his locker, seeing as they tended to arrive at the same time. That day, however, was different. Pelham felt like a minor finding himself lost amid the adolescents swarming the hallway.

He scanned the hallway as he walked, the hollow in his stomach deepening when he didn't see April at her locker. Not that he was surprised; April didn't usually arrive early. In the end, he proceeded down the hallway towards his locker, greeting some of his classmates as he went.

Soon enough, when he closed his locker door and was about to head towards his homeroom - regardless of being twenty minutes early - his eyes landed on a familiar, tousled raven hair. Doesn't he ever comb his hair? was the first thing that he thought of. At the sight of Lucio's back, Pelham's stomach gave an odd - and a rather spirited - somersault, and he could feel his face splitting into a wide grin as he approached the boy.

Lucio was standing just in front of his locker at the far end of the hallway near the stairs, shoving books - somewhat hastily, he might add - into his schoolbag as he did so. Pelham halted just behind him, so when Lucio turned around to walk, he nearly ran into the older boy's chest.

"I'm-" he started to apologise, but paused when his eyes landed on Pelham. "Oh, you! Er - hi!"

"Thought I'd say hello," Pelham said. "How was school?"

"Never mind that," Lucio said, trying to sound dismissive. "It's always the same. Question is; how are you?"

"Good, fine, awesome, brilliant, splendid, thanks,"

"Not a lot of students turned up last week," Lucio pointed out, as though they had been chewing over that particular topic for the past five minutes.

"Because we're not as diligent as you," Pelham remarked. "Okay, that's not the case; I was sick."

"You could've at least told me or ..." Lucio's ears turned a shade of pink as his voice trailed off.

"Or?"

"Nothing,"

"Or?"

Lucio murmured something incoherent.

"Pardon?"

Lucio sighed, took a deep breath, and said, "Or else I wouldn't have waited the whole week."

"You waited for me?" Pelham couldn't help the flattery dripping at the last word.

"I didn't exactly say that,"

Pelham slung one arm around the younger boy, pulling him close and ruffling his hair, causing it to be more unkempt than it already was. Little did he know that Lucio was scarlet in the face.

"How else would I know, anyway?" Lucio said. "You know, that you were sick. I could ... you know, visit or something ... or - wait, you already have friends. So, uh ... never mind."

"Technology," Pelham pronounced every syllable as slowly as possible, as though Lucio was five.

"No kidding," Lucio huffed. "Yes, because I'm very good at tracking down people via social media."

That made Pelham realise that the two of them hadn't had ways to contact each other throughout the weekend. It felt odd not speaking to Lucio, as though they had known each other and had been the best of friends for a really long time that when it came to them not interacting, Pelham felt oddly detached. So Pelham gave Lucio the username to all of his social media accounts; Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and, under the case of bizarre circumstance, MySpace. And, of course, his phone number.

"Who uses MySpace anyway?" Lucio raised an eyebrow after he was finished at adding Pelham as a friend on Facebook. "Or Facebook?"

"So what?"

"It's twenty-sixteen,"

"My mum made me my MySpace account, not me,"

"Why?"

"Because she thought I was lacking friends,"

To which Lucio made a sound between a laugh and a cough.

"Hey - you free after school?"

"I don't know. I hope so," Lucio shrugged.

"Wanna come over?"

Lucio raised both of his eyebrows. "For what, may I ask?"

"Baking videos. Makeup tutorials. I'm a hit on Youtube,"

Lucio didn't look amused.

"Rosh and I usually have this weekly routine where we come to each other's house to play video games," said Pelham, seriously this time.

"Typical."

"Yeah, and it's usually on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - I'm not a geek. He is. And since Rosh isn't around, I'm asking you to-"

"Are you replacing your best friend?" Lucio laughed.

"No,"

"Anyway, you can at least spend your time with your girlfriend,"

"Yeah, speaking of," Pelham pressed his lips together, trying to smile, though he could feel himself grimacing. "We broke up."

"Why?"

Pelham found himself at a loss of words. So he repeated what he said to Roshon when he'd asked why he and April broke up; "Charm's worn off." Added with a nervous laugh - which was downright pathetic for him.

April was in a year above Pelham - her last year of being in a sixth form - so he did not share any classes with her. As for Lucio, now that Pelham realised; he hardly ever saw the boy around between periods. Before they were friends, closer than acquaintances, he only ever saw him a couple of times a month. Of course, now that they were close, Pelham couldn't help but want to see him more often. What he had also noticed as of late was that Lucio wasn't exactly a lone ranger; there were times where Pelham would see him talk to another girl, and some other people.

None of whom were always around Lucio, of course. Pelham wondered why, seeing as Lucio was quite laid-back. He couldn't wholly comprehend why people didn't want to be friends with him.

As for Pelham, it sure was dull without Roshon around even though he had some other classmates who were not considered as acquaintances. They were just friends who he rarely hung out with, and not because he was picky. Rather, he normally - and somehow - got into a circle of not more than four friends. This was not because he was withdrawn or preferred a close-to reclusive life. He simply enjoyed being in a close range with only a handful of friends.

During lunch, he tried his best to scan the cafeteria for any signs of Lucio. He didn't know where the boy usually sat, or with whom he normally was. But after five minutes of roaming the area with his tray clutched in his hands, he came to a conclusion that Lucio didn't eat at the cafeteria.

True enough, when he texted the boy to ask for his whereabouts, Lucio answered that he was outside.

*

Lucio lowered his cap over his left swollen eye and tried to flatten his fringe so it lay flat just on his fairly bruised forehead when he heard footsteps approaching. He licked his fingers and pressed them against his fringe so it remained stuck and damp on his forehead. Not five minutes later, Pelham occupied the empty space next to him on the bench.

"You like eating outside, I take it?" Pelham asked.

Biting back any snide remark that wasn't worth it - especially not for sweet, charming Pelham - Lucio nodded. "It's peaceful here," he said truthfully.

"What's the difference with eating inside?"

You have no idea, Lucio wanted to say that, but thought better of it. "Just different," he said. He sure liked twisting his sentences so he didn't have to lie.

"Cool cap, even though the school doesn't allow it," Pelham said. "Screw the rules, right?"

"Thanks,"

Lucio could feel Pelham's eyes on him. "What happened to your eye?" the boy asked.

Lucio froze for a second. How did he see that? "It swelled," he said tersely, hoping his nonchalance would stir Pelham to another topic.

"Witty,"

"I have humour,"

"No, really; what happened?" Pelham insisted, bending low to look properly at Lucio, who tried to hide his face. It was a futile attempt.

So he removed his cap and swept his fringe from his forehead, revealing his black eye and the bruise just over his already perfect charcoal eyebrow, a sight to which earned an almost inaudible gasp from Pelham.

"Some kid threw a tennis ball and ... yeah, this happened - my fault, of course," he explained.

It was true. He wasn't lying; someone did throw a tennis ball, and it did hit him on the face, and it was also his fault for existing and breathing around 'those people'. Again, Lucio was considered a professional - considered by himself, really - at twisting his sentences by hiding the wicked truth so it didn't sound like he was being harassed at all.

"You know," Pelham began, sitting back to take a bite of his sandwich, "if it were some funny accident, you wouldn't be hiding it."

Lucio didn't say anything, partly because the older boy was correct. Why did he have to be so shrewd? Lucio wondered.

"Unless, of course, you're trying to maintain your good physical looks,"

Lucio nodded, causing Pelham to chuckle. "Quite catastrophic," he stated, and Pelham laughed.

Thankful that he was doing fine at all that day, even after the school tyrants had come to a menacing pre-stage of physically harassing him, Lucio asked Pelham when he should come over just to keep the mood up, despite himself.

However, Pelham was far too distracted and more concerned about Lucio's face to answer. "You sure you don't wanna do something to your eye?"

"I'm fine,"

"It is swelling to a critical size,"

"Don't scare me like that," Lucio said, laughing. "I know I have a puppy eye."

Pelham blinked. "You mean puffy eye?"

"Shut up, English isn't my first language,"

"You sure you don't want to at least get some ice?"

"I better get food than ice,"

"Yet, here you are, sitting and contemplating on whether you should listen to me or ignore me,"

Lucio gave Pelham a pained look.

The older boy studied him carefully before saying in a gentler voice; "Lucio, is everything okay?"

Lucio was momentarily surprised to have been asked that question. It was as though Pelham knew something was acutely wrong than just him having a swollen eye and a bruised forehead. Was it that obvious? People hardly ever asked him regarding his mental and physical well-being. The only person who seemed to care about him, as far as he was concerned, was his aunt and Vanessa. Lucio averted his gaze towards his hands.

"Yeah, okay, this swollen eye of mine is starting to itch," he said - truthfully.

Pelham grinned. "C'mon then. Let's get you some food and some ice," Pelham regarded Lucio's uniform and fixed Lucio's loosened tie. "Better."

He really didn't want to enter the cafeteria, not when there was a group of individuals that he certainly needed to avoid. But he guessed, with Pelham, he didn't suppose there was anything that they could do much than to at least jeer at him.

He knew he shouldn't ask this, but the words came tumbling out of his mouth before he could even make up his mind; "Why did you invite me over instead of your other friends?"

And Lucio didn't want the answer to be related to Pelham pitying him, because even Lucio had friends - not exactly close, but at least he had quite a few people to talk to before Pelham entered his relatively uneventful life. "Dunno," said Pelham, shrugging. "You're uh ... you're cool."

"Okay," Lucio dragged the "ay", uncertain with himself - or anything, really.

"I guess you're ... real?" Pelham turned to Lucio, locking their gazes together. "Does that make any sense?"

"I ... I don't know?"

"Well, that's your answer."