Lunch break was upon us. For whatever reason, we had been joined by an unexpected guest. At least, he might have been unexpected for the other three who were seated with me at the lunch table. What might as well have become the photography club table, featuring myself, Lance, Jaz and Naomi, was now hosting its first guest.

  “Catch,” the boy said.

  I turned to the voice, and a juice box whizzed past my face and landed sideways onto the edge of the table.

  “There’s no way you expected me to catch that,” I said.

  “Come on Tris, you’ve gotta be ready for the pass at any moment. The game depends on it.”

  Lawrence must have thought that he was training me to play basketball or something, because this was the second time he’d asked me to catch something.

  “Hey man, you lost or what? The insufferable dickhead table is back where you came from.”

  Lance, at least, seemed pretty unimpressed with his debut at our little corner of the world. Lawrence Young rolled his eyes then sat down next to me.

  “Why are you picking a fight?” he asked. “If anything, you should be thanking me for kicking your ass into gear. Right, Nao?”

  “I mean, I don’t disagree.” She shrugged. “You were kinda dragging your feet Lancey.”

  “So what, now you’re admitting that you were humoring this guy to make me jealous? Kinda manipulative of you.”

  “Well, nothing else was working. Besides, that wasn’t why…”

  “Hmmmmmm? That wasn’t why what?” Lance leaned in with narrowed eyes.

  “Never mind.”

  She was probably going to mention that her main reason for talking to him was related to getting more information on Zoey and Ben. She must not have wanted to speak her ulterior motives out loud before the two of them since it’s stuff she dug up for my sake. Still, that’s gonna leave a lot of room for misunderstandings, isn’t it?

  “Anyway Tris,” Lawrence said. “How’d your talk with Ben go? He met with you earlier, right?”

  I looked down at my own hands at the table. It was something even I wasn’t exactly sure of. I don’t know if you could call it much of a talk, and I don’t know if you could say much of anything was resolved. But I wasn’t going to lie to him after everything we’d been through yesterday.

  “I think that we understand each other a little better now, at least.” Lawrence’s eyes shined with a childish optimism that I couldn’t help but pity. “But I don’t think the two of us will ever see eye to eye.”

  The way Ben sees the world and the way I see it are inconsolable. At least, that’s how I see it. There’s no level of understanding that can ever gap the bridge between us. We’re just two completely different people.

  “Haaa, really?” He sighed. “Yeah I figured things wouldn’t go well. Thanks for hearing him out anyway.”

  “I’m just glad he didn’t get violent again. I would’ve really let him have it then,” Naomi said.

  At her words, Lawrence grinned. “Fine attitude. You’re honestly wasted on that guy over there.”

  Lance shrugged. “Look at that, the petty complaints of a loser. That’s funny. Don’t you know I’m a celebrity now, kid? Your words mean nothing because you’ve got nothing on me.”

  “Oh, I do have something.”

  “Yeah? What is it?”

  “Well, game, for one. I don’t know or care about how you lucked out with Nao over there, but that’s all it is. It’s not something you could replicate with someone else.”

  “Hah? What’s this loser talking about? You think I couldn’t pick girls up if I wanted to? You think you’re so special, don’t you?”

  Lawrence raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to call me a loser? Really?”

  “Why not? You are a loser. You lost the homecoming game, you lost your star player, and you lost Naomi. What part of any of that doesn’t make you a loser?”

  “Oh, okay. Why don’t you prove it to me and make a bet out of it then?”

  “Huh? A bet?”

  “Ugh.” Naomi rubbed her forehead.

  “Yeah,” Lawrence said. “There’s this game I used to play with the last captain of the team. We called it Spearfishing. It’s where we take turns talking to girls to see who’s better at making the catch.”

  “What, is this an Olympic sport or something?” Jaz glared at him.

  “A sport a loser like me couldn’t possibly win at, right Lance?”

  Naomi and Jaz’s expressions weren’t particularly joyful at the prospect of being forced to watch this type of competition. As for Lance…

  “Too easy. I’ll take you on. Hey Naomi, you’re fine with it, right?”

  She shook her head, still holding it in what looked like disappointment. “Sure, whatever. Knock yourself out.”

  “ALRIGHT you’re dead. Watch this.”

  Lance stood up, then Lawrence held his hand out to stop him from across the table.

  “Wait,” he said. “There needs to be rules to this.”

  “Ah, conditions of combat. Of course.” Lance sat down with a firm nod, folding his arms. “Very well. Name thy rules, valiant foe.”

  Jazmine cringed. Naomi stared off at another table. I followed the exchange of the two boys out of mild curiosity.”

  “We’re gonna flip a coin. Winner gets to choose who goes first. One of the girls has to choose our target. That’ll make it fair. Jazmine seems to dislike us both equally so she should pose us both a good challenge. What do you say Jaz?”

  Lance nodded. “Yeah. Are you fine with that Jaz?”

  “Why should I participate in your idiotic game?”

  “Oh come onnn, it’l be fun,” Lance said.

  Jaz pouted, but only for a moment, as Naomi had taken the opportunity to whisper something into her ear; something which caused her to grin mischievously.

  “Okay, fine. I’ll do it.”

  Both Lawrence and Lance found themselves frowning at the exchange before them.

  “Hey wait, what was that about?” Lawrence asked.

  “Nothing, Naomi just gave me a suggestion for my picks.”

  “You’re not gonna favor Lance with an easy girl, are you?”

  “Wanna give me an example of an easy girl, Lawrence?” Jaz glared at him.

  Lawrence flinched, then offered a resigned shrug.

  “Whatever, dude hurry up already. What’s the bet?” Lance asked.

  “Hmm. Okay, how about this: the winner gets to ask the loser one question, and they have to answer truthfully. Sound good?”

  “Huh?” Lance furrowed his brows. “Do you think you’re that interesting or something? Why would I… hmm. Actually, this works. Yeah. Sure, I’ll do it.”

  I’m not sure what it was that Lance thought of asking, but it didn’t seem like Lawrence was too interested himself, as he immediately unveiled the George Washington copper from his pocket and flipped it into the air. He then sandwiched it in a beautiful catch on the back of his hands. “Call it.”

  “Tails never fails, man.”

  When Lawrence removed his hand, the president’s face stared right at him, as if to mock the confidence that led to Lance’s call in the first place.

  “Goddammit.”

  “Guess I’m going first,” Lawrence said, standing up. “Jaz?”

  Jazmine sighed. “Yeah yeah, hold on.”

  As she scouted the nearby tables in what could only be described as the manner in which a sea captain lost at sea searched for any sign of land, I found that Naomi was still relatively disconnected from the happenings at the table. As they found themselves enraptured by Lawrence’s game, I thought back to Benjamin’s spiel from earlier. In his own way, he was struggling to cope with what Zoey had done to him too. Our connection was sort of similar to the bond Gwen and I shared. While mine and her bond was based on our mutual pains caused by unrequited love, his and mine might be over the wounds caused from loving Zoey Brahm.

  If there was a big difference, it’s that I can’t see myself ever liking Benjamin Otto the way I like Gwen. Not after everything he did to me. Perhaps if Laura’s influence were stronger right now it might have been possible, but as I am now, I just can’t see it. The way he views the world is just fundamentally incompatible with mine. The pacifist and the warrior. To him, life and the people in it are things to conquer. As for me, I…

  “Aaand he’s off,” Jaz said with a sigh. “Geez, why did you agree to this Lance?”

  “What? I had to prove to him that he’s a loser.”

  “You’re not going to, though.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “No,” Jaz said. “If he was mediocre at it then he’d just be a weirdo. But Lawrence Young is trash precisely because he’s good at what he does. Meanwhile, you’re…”

  “You don’t make a good first impression,” Naomi said.

  “Sure, we can put it like that.” Jaz sighed. “Point is, you’re out of your league on this one.”

  Lance pouted. “Huh? What’s he got that I don’t?”

  “His expressions are cute, and he’s easy to talk to. Compared to him, talking to you feels like dancing with someone who steps on your toes every five seconds.”

  “Whatever man. I can have cute expressions if I want to…”

  Jaz rolled her eyes then focused on Lawrence, who had in all likeliness already approached the girl seated a couple tables off behind me. I hadn’t bothered turning to look since the crowd of spectators staring over from the other table might make things a bit weird for them.

  “Hmm, okay. He’s in… and oop, she’s already laughing. Not good, Lance.”

  “Shut up dude, they’re probably laughing at him.”

  “Yeah yeah. Oop, now all three girls sitting there are laughing. And… yeah, he handed her his phone.”

  Lance scoffed. “Fake number, oldest trick in the book.”

  At his words, Jaz held her phone out past Naomi and towards Lance. “We’ll know if it is or isn’t.”

  It seemed like they had the rules of the game all figured out. Jaz had pretty much everyone who was anyone’s phone numbers thanks to her role in the photography club. Still, while I understand Jaz’s grievances, Naomi’s head was still down in her phone, appearing to zone out everything around her.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Naomi, are you okay?” I asked.

  “Hmm?” She glanced up at me then looked back down at her phone. “Oh, sure. I’m doing super right now.”

  Her cold expression betrayed the word ‘super’ that had just left her mouth, but I wasn’t in the mood to press her about it. Neither Lance nor Jaz seemed to pay her any mind though, so it must not have been such a big deal. It was jarring for the normally energetic Naomi to stay quiet for such a long time, though.

  “Human trash! What’s up!” Jaz saluted Lawrence upon his triumphant return.

  “What’s that, some kind of weird nickname?” he asked, returning to his seat at my side then placing the phone onto the table. Everyone, and by everyone I meant, Jaz, Lance and myself, as Naomi still hadn’t taken her eyes off of her phone, compared the number with the one sitting in Jaz’s phone. As expected, the numbers were identical.

  “Well?” Lawrence grinned. “Under two minutes. You gonna up the score Lancey?”

  “Heh, easy. Jaz?”

  Jaz sighed. “Two tables behind us. Blonde girl.”

  “Roger roger. I’ll try not to brag too much when I get back.”

  Lance got up and left the table in search of his target. And once he was gone, Jaz glared back at Lawrence.

  “Spearfishing?” Jaz sighed. “Could you have at least thought of something less… dehumanizing?”

  “The captain came up with it, not me. If anything, he was just a bad influence.”

  Jaz looked like she wanted to say something, but she decided to let it go for the time being. “Whatever, can you just tell me how it’s going?”

  “Sure,” Lawrence said, looking over at Lance as he began chatting with the girl Jaz had spoken about. “Let’s see. He’s rambling about some nonsense and grinning like an idiot. No doubt about how he’s a celebrity now or something. None of the girls seem too impressed, they’re giving him weird scowls. Now he’s joined them and he’s sitting next to them. He’s talking… he’s talking…” A loud whipping sound filled the cafeteria, prompting many students to turn their gazes over to Lance. “Yeah, I think he’s done.”

  Jaz’s facepalm was almost as loud as what Lance was just on the receiving end of. Lawrence grinned. It seemed like the match was settled. It was disappointing, but not surprising. That he allowed himself to get baited by Lawrence was the real mistake he made. It’d be like asking Lawrence to play him one on one in Dota. The difference in knowledge and experience is too wide for it to be considered a fair competition.

  Lance returned with a frown as he rubbed his cheek with his right hand.

  “How’d it go?” Lawrence snickered.

  “Bite me, retard.”

  “You’re pathetic,” Jaz said.

  “You can bite me too. Anyone else have any sly comments to make?” His gaze shifted between myself and the distracted Naomi. “Right, that’s what I thought.”

  Lawrence rolled his eyes. “Whatever man. Let’s just get on with it. I wanna ask you…”

  “Wait,” Jaz cut in. “No one said the competition was over yet.”

  Lawrence frowned. “Huh? Yeah it is. He only gets one shot, there’s no round twos here.”

  “No, not Lance. I’m talking about Tristan.”

  “Tri-“ Lawrence swallowed the word.

  “You’re joking, right?” Lance laughed nervously. “He wasn’t included in the bet.”

  “He wasn’t excluded either though, right? Listen, either Tristan plays or Lance doesn’t have to answer your pointless question.”

  Lawrence scratched his head, glaring between Jaz and Naomi in frustration, then sighed.

  “Alright, fine. Not that he’s gonna beat me anyway. Who’s the target?”

  “Her.”

  Jaz pointed, albeit subtly, over at the cheerleader’s table, where a familiar face came into vision. A fragile, anxious smile barely tugging at the corner of Lawrence’s mouth.

  “You can’t be serious.’

  “Sure am!” Jaz tilted her head with a coy smile. “Krista Klein. That’s your target, Tristy. Think you can do it?”

  “Hold on, is this some kind of joke? Are you trying to mess with me?”

  “Hmm? Does The Law have a problem with the choice? Oh, right. I guess you two did used to date a long time ago. Would this be a problem for you?” Jaz asked, her eyes narrowing as she eyed Lawrence intently.

  It looked like he wanted to say something, but there was a part of himself that was holding him back. Was he afraid to admit that he was troubled by it?

  “Okay Tristy,” Jaz said. “Let ‘er have it.”

  I had to be honest with myself, I had absolutely no intention of going along with it. What would talking to Krista do outside of embarrass me? But that was only until I caught a glimpse of something on Lawrence’s face. There was something still there. But why? He’d been with so many other girls since Krista. What could possibly be left?

  Then, I looked over at Lance. He shouldn’t have been goaded by Lawrence, but I don’t like that he had gotten shamed like that earlier. If this will take the heat off of him, then it’s the least I could do.

  I stood up.

  “Hey, Tris,” Lawrence started.

  “I’ll be quick, don’t worry,” I said to him.

  Besides, there was something I wanted to ask Krista anyway, and this would be the perfect opportunity. I bit my lip and headed over to the table across from us. Penny Taylor was absent from their little group. She was seated next to Warren a bit off from us. Without her or Gwen, I had no real foothold into this den of lions I was about to leap into. But still, I had to make the effort. As I approached the table, the conversation among the cheerleaders began filling the insides of my ear.

  “… And then Veronica got reaaaaally pissed. Like, I thought she was going to throw that little freak to the ground and drag him by his nasty hair. But she just did that thing she does. You know what I’m talking about, right? The cartoonish deep breathing thing. She like inhaled and exhaled visibly like twice and then she goes ‘oh, I’m sorry you feel that way’ and does this like bullshit PR smile that’s so plastic you’d half expect the words ‘made in china’ to be printed on the back of her gums. But anyway, the guy does this like scoff and he says ‘girls like you are all the same’, obviously he’s kind of a prick and he does NOT say the word girls. And yeah, THAT’S when she finally loses it, and she says…”

  Krista’s monologue is interrupted as the gazes of the four other cheerleaders seated at her side go from focusing on her face to climbing up over to mine as I stood over the girl in question at her side. She follows their gazes over to me then raises an eyebrow.

  “What do you want?”

  I wasn’t one of Krista’s many fans among the male student population by any means. But as the girl who won the title of Homecoming Queen, she was extremely gorgeous, and basically on par with Zoey as far as student popularity went. It was only natural, therefore, that I found myself tongue-twisted the second her attention had shifted entirely over to me.

  “I, uh… I wanted to talk about…”

  “Oh, yeah. Tristan, right? You directed that movie Gwen wrote?” She smiled, then tapped the seat to her left. “Come, sit down. I wanna hear all about how that little production came together.”

  “Uh, right…”

  I took the time to walk past her and take a seat. The other girls, who were all initially glaring at my foreign presence, eased up once Krista had accepted me.

  “So, so, soooo,” she said, facing me as she delicately slid a spoonful of the rice from her specially prepared lunchbox into her mouth. “How did Gwen end up getting involved in the photography club’s film? She wasn’t the biggest fan of Zo last I checked.”

  So she knew at least that much, huh? They were friends so it wasn’t surprising, but if I recall correctly, Krista and Zoey were on amicable terms. Was there not a conflict of interest there?

  “Oh, we were talking about Lance and Naomi and she kind of just offered. I wanted her to act initially but she turned me down because she didn’t want to work with Zoey.”

  “Hmmm.” Krista stared my way.

  “How did you two start talking?” One of the girls asked.

  “H-huh? Well… we kind of bonded over… our unrequited love.”

  The truth was obviously a no-go, but I’m not great at lying either. Which is why I the next best option is always to go with a non-answer.

  “Wow,” the girl responded. It seemed like she was genuinely impressed with my answer though, which caused me to ease up a little.

  Krista, on the other hand, only offered a brief giggle. “Haha, yeah. That’ll do it. To be honest, that girl was far too good for Ben. But I’d never have said it to her face. She was head over heels for him. Still though, you said something strange there Tristan. Unrequited? Aren’t you dating Zo now?”

  “I’m not,” I said. “That’s just a rumor she started on her own.”

  “Wait… what? Okay, now this is interested.” Krista leaned forward with a playful smile. “No, because she told me herself yesterday, right? You two are dating. And honestly, I didn’t really get why yesterday, but now that you’ve gotten this haircut, I can kinda see it.” She tilted her head. “But now you’re saying she’s lying?”

  I looked down at the table anxiously. “I don’t really get why, and I’m not really interested in finding out either. I don’t really want anything to do with her anymore.”

  Krista went silent. I felt her eyes on me as I wondered how I ended up on trial for my relationship with Zoey. Was this all a part of that girl’s plan? What did she intend to do by starting such a powerful rumor? And why was she absent today of all days?

  “So, what did you want?” she asked.

  “Huh?”

  “Well, you’re the one who walked over here. Is there something you wanted to ask?”

  “Oh, uh… there’s no easy way to say this.”

  “Come on, out with it. Don’t keep us waiting.”

  I took a deep breath. I’m not sure what kind of world was waiting on the other side of these words, but I was in too deep to stop now.

  “I think Lawrence is still in love with you.”

  Krista, who was grinning playfully, was suddenly only carrying the remnants of that innocent expression as she blinked multiple times. Her empty gaze carried an otherworldly disbelief that I had suddenly regretted unboxing.

  “Hey, maybe you should just leave?” one of the girls said.

  “Yeah, why are you stirring stuff up all of a sudden?” Another one added.

  “I… I just…”

  Dead end. I’m an idiot for saying that. I should just leave. Similar thoughts ran through my mind until her voice cut through the buzz.

  “Huh? What are you guys talking about?” Krista asked. “We’ve been grilling him about Gwen and Zoey, where do I get off playing the victim?”

  “Yeah, but Krista…”

  “It’s fine,” she said. “Tristan, it doesn’t matter if he does or doesn’t. The person he is now… I kinda just really hate it. I hate it, and I hated that Gwen and Penny hung out with him so much. If I’m being honest, that’s probably why I hang out with Zoey despite how much Gwen hates her. That guy, he’s just so…”

  “He’s hurt,” I said. “And no other girl in this school has been able to fill the shoes you left behind.”

  The words created a silence at the table. A silence that, while prescient, was eventually dispelled by a short chuckle from Krista. “I mean, naturally. I’m just that gorgeous after all. But no. You don’t get to cheat on me then claim that you miss me or whatever. That’s not how this works. Even if I wanted to be with him again, I can’t trust him anymore. It’s just going to lead to a bunch of stupid fights that I have no interest in torturing myself over. He’s an ass and that’s that. He’s honestly lucky that I’m not being petty about it right now. So what is this anyway? Are you trying to get me to go back to him?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know what I want. All I know is that it looks like he hasn’t gotten over you yet. I just thought… if he decided that he wanted to talk to you again, about what happened…”

  “There’s nothing to talk about. He’s made that clear to me since we broke up. It wasn’t an easy break up, but I’m kind of over it now. I can talk about it as freely as the Blue Jays sing in the morning. If he’s still hung up about it, then that’s on him.”

  “So, if he decided that he wanted to talk to you about it, would you listen?”

  Krista shrugged. “Sure, I’d humor him. I’m not only gorgeous after all, but also as gracious and benevolent as Mother Theresa herself. In the words of the great TayTay though, we are never, ever, ever, getting back together. So if he does decide to come get whatever closure he’s looking for, make sure he understands that. There are some actions you just can’t take back, and cheaters don’t get second chances. You should remember that too if you’re dating Zoey.”

  It was more than I’d think he deserved if I was in her shoes, so I was relieved that she had been willing to give him that much.

  “You’re way too nice to that Lawrence guy,” one of the girls said.

  And to that, Krista only shrugged. “The only reason I even let him get off so easy was because of his sister.”

  “Laura?” I asked. “Why her?”

  “She came to apologize for him. Haha, man if I were a worse person. She’s such a sweet girl. Really poured her heart out asking me to forgive him. I ripped her a new one over how her brother was actually just a terrible person, but she… anyway. Point is, if it wasn’t for his sister I’d have totally ruined his life by now, you know? Would’ve been a big scandal by now.”

  Laura did? How come I never heard about that? She seems to be covering for Lawrence in the shadows too, huh? Those siblings really care for one another. I felt kind of jealous of their bond.

  Still, I had just about asked everything I wanted to now. I didn’t feel like disturbing their lunch any longer, specially considering how straightforward I was with those personal questions of mine, so it was about time I headed out.

  “Hey, uhm… do you think I could get your number?” I asked.

  “Huh? Are you hitting on me? I have a boyfriend, you know.”

  Technically I guess I was hitting on her. Those were the rules of the game, after all. “I was just thinking it’d be better if you got a heads up if he did decide to talk to you.”

  Krista swung her head in left and right diagonals playfully as she pondered it, then shrugged once more. “Eh, sure. Why not. But I do have a condition.”

  “A condition?” I asked.

  “Keep me updated on you and Zo. You two coming out of the ashes of Benjamin’s downfall are the most interesting thing that’s happened this year since… God, I don’t know what. I wanna hear more about it. You know, if it’s cool with you or whatever.”

  I smiled and handed her my phone. “Sure, it’s a deal.”

  When I made my way back to what was now ostensibly the photography club table, I handed Jaz my phone. She compared the two numbers and grinned.

  “Didn’t know you had it in you, Tristy.” Jaz smirked.

  “Wait, seriously?” Lawrence asked.

  “Wait, so who wins now?” Lance asked. “They both got the numbers. Is there like a round two? Or…”

  “No, girls with a boyfriend are worth more.” Lawrence scratched his head frantically. “How the hell did he…”

  Naomi finally took her eyes off her phone and smiled at Lance. “Aren’t you happy? Your girlfriend cleaned up the pathetic mess you made. You should be thanking me.”

  “Pfft, whatever man. I was just unlucky, that’s all. Besides, I don’t care about game anyway. One girl’s enough for me, they don’t even play Dota.”

  “If all the people playing that game are like you then I can imagine why,” Jaz sighed. “Good for you though, Tristy. I honestly just went along with Naomi’s idea to mess with Lawrence, but I’m impressed.”

  Her praise was interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She glanced at it for a moment, then mouthed the word sorry before walking off to answer the call.

  “She’s right though man, that was some good shit.” Lance said, immediately filling the empty air. “What kinda magic did you use to get her number?”

  “Uh, there was no magic. Just…”

  At that moment, I remembered Zoey’s words. The words she’d left me with when she’d driven me home from our outing with Laura and Jacob.

  A man’s attractiveness to other women is infinitely higher when he’s seen together with an attractive woman.

  There was nothing special about me. It was Zoey and Gwen that intrigued Krista. She wanted a slice of whatever she thought those two saw in me. The only thing I had to do was not completely embarrass myself and things were always going to turn out this way.

  I felt myself growing sicker by the second.

  That girl’s words, her philosophical outlook, everything was still hanging over me. Clinging to my skin.

  “Trist?” Lance asked.

  I felt my lunch coming up.

  I couldn’t be here anymore.

  “Bathroom.”

  I picked myself back up from my seat and hurried over to the men’s room before I could dye the table as I had the toilet bowl two nights ago.