I've been sleeping at Colton's apartment for the past five days. I haven't worked up the nerve to go home yet. Colton and his Mom have been fun roommates. Alex makes Colton sleep on the couch, but he always crawls in next to me and then jumps back to the couch before Alex catches him.

I haven't talked to Mother. I've called Dad a couple of times. He thinks I'm staying with Auntie. I've eaten lunch and hung out with her a bit.

It's a big mess. The only thing that makes sense is that I like Colton. It's stupid, but I actually really like him.

I shake my head as I walk to my locker. I think way too much about Colton. I have about five minutes before Biology starts. I just need to grab my text book. I unlock my locker and grab my book along with a Vitamin Water I stashed.

I slam my locker and start to walk towards Bio. Something slams into me and I drop my books. "Thanks a lot, jackass," I say as I bend down and pick them up. The guy hands me one of my notebooks.

"Sorry," he says. I look up.

"Oh, hey buddy," I say to Greyson as I stand up. "How's it going?"

"Good," he says. He has a faint smirk playing on his lips. "What class do you have?"

"Biology with Burton," I tell Greyson.

"I'll walk you," he offers. I nod. "How's that crazy dude of yours?" Greyson asks. I laugh.

"He's good...we're good, better than good." There's this dopey smile on my face. Greyson smirks.

"So you guys fucked, huh?" he asks.

"Not exactly, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happened in the near future," I say. Something flashes across my mind. "Oh, so uh, remember last week when you get me and my boy out of detention?"

"Yeah," Greyson says. "Why?"

"Well, we kind of saw you," I say, lowering my voice, "In the supply room." Greyson stops walking and his eyes flash.

"Oh," he says quietly. "Can we go talk?" I nod. I pull out my phone and text Colton: Hey, I'm gonna be late to Bio. Cover for me. Tell Burton I'm having feminine troubles and stuck in the ladies room.

My phone buzzes: no prob. U ok?

I text back: I'm good. I'll explain later.

"So, where are we going?" I ask Greyson.

"There's a hidden stairwell that doesn't have cameras," Greyson tells me. I nod and we walk there in silence. Once we're in the stairwell, Greyson drops his satchel to the ground.

"So, uh, maybe I saw something wrong," I say, leaning against a wall. Greyson shakes his head.

"No, you saw right." Greyson runs his hands roughly over his face. "Look, I don't how to explain it. Christian-Ms.Rollins-and I...it's complicated," Greyson says.

"Go on. It's cool, I'm not gonna judge you," I say. He nods and then starts pacing. I move and sit down on the stairs.

"Christian...she and my sister, Mac, are best friends. So, she was always hanging around my house, you know? Always teasing me. We were always messing with each other. Sometime in the last year or two...I dunno. Something changed," Greyson tells me. I nod.

"Suddenly it was like the world finally made sense, right?" I ask him.

"Yeah. I guess something changed for her too. Last summer I was trying to do everything that I could to stay away from her. So I didn't fuck things up, right? But one day my sister and my parents were gone. I don't really know what happened, but we ended up being together, right? We were both confused. She was older than me by four years. I was her best friend's kid brother. And I was confused as hell too, I mean, literally I could have had any girl. But we were stuck together." Greyson looks at me. He yanks his hands through his hair.

"You don't choose who you love," I tell him. "Love picks for you."

"Love's a bitch. Christian and I swore that it would never happen again. But it kept happening. The more we tried to stay apart, the closer we were drawn together. We pretended it was just a Summer fling. Honestly, though? I'd been in love with her for years, just too fucking stupid to notice it. So, when the end of Summer came, she went back to college and I went back to pretending it all meant nothing," he tells me.

"How'd that work for you?" I ask him. Greyson laughs.

"Terrible. I wasn't doing good. Getting into fights, doing bad shit. It especially didn't go well for me when Christian came for Thanksgiving with her boyfriend. I was clinging to distant memories," Greyson says. He walks over to his satchel and pulls out a drawing pad. He hands it to me and continues talking, "She and my sister would come back from college and since they're inseparable, Christian stayed with us. I mean, she had it rough growing up. Her dad went to jail and then when she was twenty, two years ago, her mom died." I nod and look through his sketches.

"Wow, Greyson...these are amazing," I say. His entire sketchbook is filled with charcoal drawings of Christian or Ms. Rollins. I'm not really sure what to call her. The drawings are incredible.

"They're all I had to hang onto, you know? She was away at college, and then she'd come back every weekend or two. Christmas came, right? She stayed with us, with her boyfriend and it fucking sucked. I was just trying to get through school. And then when Winter break ended, she showed up at school as a student teacher. She spent less time at the house and got her own apartment. I was going crazy and then somehow she came back to me. One night I ended up at her apartment and one thing led to another," Greyson says. I nod.

"Does she know that you love her?" I ask him. He stops pacing and stares at me.

"I don't know. It's so messed up and we're together and then we're broken up. And then we sneak around and then we stop. It's the same cycle. I don't know what to do. I'm going through hell," he says.

"Is it worth it?" I ask him.

"What do you mean?" he asks.

"Is it worth going through hell for her?" He stares at me.

"I think it is, but I honestly don't know. All I know is that it feels so right to be with her," Greyson tells me. I look through the sketches again.

"There's probably a bunch of shit with her being a student teacher and dating or having sex with a student, right?" I ask him. Greyson nods.

"I don't know. I turned eighteen in September, which was well before she actually started student teaching," Greyson says.

"Do have her in one of your classes?" I ask.

"Yeah, sixth period. I have in her in my English class," he says. I nod.

"Kind of a personal question, but have you had sex in the school?"

"No, but almost. When we're around each other it's hard to think rationally." He looks at me. "Sorry for burdening you with all of my shit.  I just don't know what to do. And you're the only person that's said anything to me about it."

"I don't mind," I say. "Look, I think you need to tell her that you love her to start. School's almost over and when it ends she won't be your teacher. You just need to go for it." He nods.

"Yeah," he says. "We should probably get to class."

"What do you have?" I ask him.

"Free period," he says. "I'll walk you to your class." I hand him his sketchbook. We grab our stuff and walk back into the hallway. As we're walk through the empty hallways, I hear heels clicking and then Greyson stiffens.

"What is it, buddy?" I ask him. A teacher rounds the corner. It takes me a second to realize that it's Ms. Rollins. She has a couple of textbooks and manilla folders balanced between her arms while she's furiously typing on a Blackberry. A binder clip is between her lips.

Greyson and I have stopped walking. He's watching her every move. She looks up and sees us. Her eyes lock with Greyson's and then she drops everything. "Shit! Son of a bitch!" she mutters and bends down to pick up the things she dropped. Ms. Rollins pushes hair out of her face that's falling from her bun.

I look at Greyson and he looks at me. I nod and say, "I'll uh, see you around, buddy." He nods too and then goes straight for her. I turn left down the hallway and then go down a staircase.  I shake my head to myself as I make my way into Biology.

I open the door and Mr. Burton perks up. "Andy, so nice of you to join us," he says. I roll my eyes and take my seat next to Colton. "Eighteen minutes late. Do you have a pass or a reason, perhaps?"

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Burton. But I was having, uh, womanly problems," I tell him. He stares blankly at me. "You know, surfing the red wave." His face reddens slightly.

"I'll excuse your absence," he says. A guy in front of me snickers. He mutters something to his friend.

"What's so funny?" I ask the guy, leaning forward to yank on his hood. He whips around.

"There's no way you were in the bathroom for twenty minutes dealing with that," Bryce says. "You were doing other stuff."

"Shut the hell up, Bryce," I say. I cover my mouth. "Oops, I'm sorry guys! Bryce and I menstruate together! He's a bit moody!" I whisper-yell. Everyone in the class snickers.

Mr. Burton goes back to his lecture. "So, why were you late?" Colton asks.

"I was just helping a friend," I whisper to him.  Colton looks at me. "You don't believe me, do you?" I ask him.

"Not really," he says. "You don't have to lie to me."

"Dude, chill out! I was just talking with a friend who's go through some hard shit," I say. Colton stares at me. I sigh. "Please trust me." He nods.

"Okay," Colton says. I lace my fingers with his under the lab table.

I take notes on Mr. Burton's lecture, but my mind keeps wandering to Greyson and Ms. Rollins. The bell rings and I grab my stuff.

"Hey, I'm gonna take Ellie shopping," I tell Colton as he walks me to my car.

"Sounds good. What time are you gonna be home?" he asks.

"Not sure. Probably later." He nods. We get to my car.

"Well, I'll see you later," he says and starts to walk away.

"Colton," I say. He turns around. I drop my backpack and run up to him, crushing my mouth over his. It takes Colton a second to respond, but then he kisses me back. After a couple of minutes we're both breathless. "I'll see you later," I tell him. He nods and I walk back to my car, grabbing my backpack and shoving it into the backseat of my car.

I turn on the radio and drive to Eleanor's elementary school. I'm there fifteen minutes later. Her school gets out at four. I pull into the parking lot and fix my hair. I get out of my car and walk to the main office of her school.

"Hi," I say to the woman at the desk. "I'm Andy Reed-Collins. I'm here to pick up Eleanor Hopkins. I called earlier and Eleanor should have brought a note to school." She nods.

"ID please," she says. I dig my ID out and hand it to her. "You're all good. You can go up and grab Eleanor." I nod and smile warmly.

"Thank you," I say and walk up to Ellie's classroom. I nudge the door open and  she springs up when she sees me. I smile at her teacher. Ellie shoves some stuff into her desk and then gets up and says something to the teacher who nods.

Eleanor walks out and grins at me. "Hey!" she says.

"Hi. You should grab your stuff," I tell her. She nods and walks to her locker, bouncing. "So, you excited?"

"Yeah! It's gonna be soooooo fun," Ellie says. She grabs her backpack. I smile at her as we walk to my car.