Weeks after that night were bland. Pete had to wonder if Vance had amnesia or was purposely trying to ignore him. In English class, he looked at everyone and everything except Pete. It confused him, did he do something wrong?

On a rainy day, Pete stared out the window but glanced at Vance and noticed him staring at him but he quickly looked away. He was purposely avoiding him then.

Galloway finally graded all the papers, he began handing them out before Pete grabbed the work that Vance and Pete worked on. His lips twitched into a smile when he saw the good grade.

The bell rang and Vance disappeared. It had been weeks since they spoke. Pete didn't know if it was the dangerous mood he was in but he was determined to change that.

Instead of heading to the cafeteria, he got on his bike and rode to New Coventry. He hoped the greaseballs wouldn't bash his skull in. He parked it and locked it before walking under the bridge.

He saw Vance leaning against a building, listening to Ricky speak. He walked over, his stomach felt rocky and he would've lost his lunch if it weren't for the fact that he didn't have lunch. Vance looked up, widening his eyes before Ricky growled, "what do you want?"

Pete was sweating underneath his fall jacket, he could feel beads of sweat form on his lower back. Vance interrupted Pete before smiling, "oh, nerd, you finished my math homework? Let's go speak in private."  

Ricky was under the impression that Pete was doing his friend's homework and lost interest.

He decided to go find a bootlegger. Vance pulled him in an alley, "okay, what is it?" Pete didn't reply, he was angry. "What was that 'Pete-is-the-nerd-who-does-my-homework crap?"

He crossed his arms, glaring at him. Vance glared back, spitting beside Pete's shoes. "It's nothing, listen, I wanted to talk to you but I can't.."
"Why the hell not?" Pete's anger boiled, weren't they friends?

"Greasers hang with greasers, no one else.." This struck Pete as selfish but he had to understand. Vance had been kind enough, protecting from jocks, picking up lost objects and even going to see a movie with him. It was fun while it lasted.

"Okay, whatever..bye." Pete sighed and looked down before he turned to leave. Vance watched him start to leave and tried to find an excuse for him to stay.
"Wait!"

Pete turned, "what is it, what do you want?" He spoke with a hostile tone, different from usual tone.
"I have an idea," Vance started, waving him over, which Pete complied to. "What if I pretend you're hiring me as a bodyguard so nobody's suspicious and we can hang out."

Pete wanted to argue that he was treating him poorly. He realized that Vance did want to hang out but was pressured by his peers. "Okay, okay.." He nodded in agreement.

Vance smiled and Pete swore he almost forgot he was angry. Vance pushed him out the alleyway, Lucky was waiting.

Vance cleared his throat, hands open before Pete got the gist and dropped some money in them. "One guardian angel at your service." He spoke before Lucky laughed,
"What're you doin' with this dweeb?"

Pete wanted to retort 'oh, I'm giving him a haircut, you next, pal' but stopped. He didn't have the balls to do it. "Oh, he's hiring me for protection." He explained and he nodded.

They left New Coventry and Pete cleared his throat, Vance widened his eyes, "oh! 'Scuse me.." He handed back his change and Pete thanked him. "So, what do you wanna do?" Pete asked. Vance shrugged and smiled.

Pete got on his bike and Vance got on his. Vance's bike was considerably nicer than Pete's but that's because he cared more about bikes.
They rode back to school and locked their bikes. 

"Do you want to head to the dorm and watch TV?" Pete asked, wanting to watch Swim Team. "Nah, let's cause trouble, follow me." He wanted to plead him not to do anything that could land them in Crabblesnitch's office.

He obliged and followed the greaser before he pushed the old bus' doors open. "You been here before?" Pete nodded, "yeah, last year, Gary wanted to bother the hobo behind the bus."
Vance snorted but he couldn't tell if it was sarcasm or not.

They sat on the ripped bus seats. "Just wait, the bullies come by here." They waited but kept quiet, Pete was surprised when Vance pulled out a rubicks cube and started trying to solve it. "Damn this thing." Vance muttered and Pete smiled, "hand it to me."

He took the cube and after awhile, he solved it. During summer, his parents used to drive him to his grandparents and he always had nothing to do except solve the cube puzzle.

"Gee, I didn't know you could do that." Vance mumbled, surprised. Pete handed back the object before the chatter of bullies came from beside the bus. "What are we going to do?" Pete asked and Vance pulled out a small bag. Itching powder.

Pete smiled nervously, "go ahead." Vance rolled his eyes and took some in his hand before he slowly reached his hand through the broken window. He dropped it onto Wade before he began scratching erratically at his body.

Vance held a laugh but a slight chuckle came from his smile. He looked at Pete, "you try." Pete gulped and nervously took some and dropped it on Trent. He began yelling out, "Guys! I'm itching like crazy!"

Pete laughed quietly and handed the bag back to Vance who watched them. Suddenly, Gordon Wakesfield walked near them. "Uh, what are you morons, like, doing?"

Pete glared at him through the window, Vance noticed his dagger sharp stare. "Hey, pal, what's wrong?" He murmured, careful not to draw attention from the kids outside.

"Gordon spread rumours about me last year.." Pete replied as he kept looking at them. "Cause hell on the Ivy League prick." He whispered and handed the bag pack.

Pete took some powder in his hands and threw it at Gordon but wasn't so stealthy this time. He looked up at the bus windows just as he was being hit.

"Hey! You retard!" He yelled and Pete, startled, brought his hand back. Unfortunately, the window which his hand was in had sharp wedges of glass remaining. He had a chunk of glass in his forearm.

He screamed like crazy, "ow! oh my god, that burns!!" Blood immediately began pouring down onto his clothes.

Vance pulled him with his good arm and ran off the bus. The bullies and Gordon began racing after them.

Pete ran with Vance who headed to the school. It wasn't as busy as usual, Vance slowed to a walk. They were safe.
"How's your arm, kid?" He asked, eyeing the piece of glass.
"It hurts." Pete whined.

They headed to the nurse's office. She looked up, interrupted from her phone call. "Can I help you?" She asked with false patience. Apparently, she couldn't see the huge wound Pete had.

Vance cleared his throat, "er- Kowalski here kind of got glass stuck in his arm." She got up and handed a roll of gauze, "better? Buzz off."
They both looked at each other in surprise but walked away.

"That helped." Pete spoke sarcastically, learning to cope with the pain in his forearm. "At least we outran those punks, but yeah, what a bitch." He scoffed before grabbing Pete's wrist and pulling him to the bathroom.

Pete looked at Vance, frowning. "Are you going to pull out the glass?" The redhead looked at him, slowly nodding. "Try not to scream, okay?" He asked, Pete was going to say 'I'll try' but Vance slowly began pulling it out his skin. He felt excruciating pain, as he tried not to scream.

He thought he was going to pass out. Vance pulled it out and carefully tossed it in the trash. Pete's eyes watered, "that really hurt, oh man."

Vance nodded and looked at the wound. "...do you think I'll need stitches?" He asked before the greaser shook his head. "You'll be fine, kid, clean it out with soap and warm water."

Pete did so, hating how it stung. "Thanks." He spoke suddenly before Vance grabbed the gauze out of his coat. "For what?" He asked, wrapping the gauze around the cut. "Helping me, not running off." He wanted Vance to hold his arm for awhile longer but he didn't.

"Well, I had to help my friend, didn't I?" Vance grinned, looking at Pete. Pete would've kissed him if he had the balls, he didn't. "I was going to say something but I figured it's stupid.." Pete laughed bashfully, Vance encouraged him, "what?"

Pete laughed weakly, staring at his bandaged arm, "you're the only friend I've had who didn't treat like complete garbage." Vance smiled but felt awful.

Pete had lousy friends, he felt sympathetic. "No worries, Petey." Vance walked out the bathroom with him. "I've had enough excitement for one night, wanna watch TV?" He headed out the main building.

Back at the dorm, they sat on the couch and watched television. They were showing 'The Invisible Man' and other Halloween classics, in time for Halloween.

"What are you gonna be for Halloween?" Pete inquired before Vance shrugged, "I might recycle my pirate costume or be a zombie, you?" Pete snorted, "not a pink bunny, that's for sure."

"Tell me about your parents." He stared at the screen and Pete sighed, "they love me but I feel neglected, ignored..but they care about me in the end."

Vance knew how he felt, growing up with plenty of sisters, he was cast aside often. "Yeah, I hear ya', how's your arm?"

Pete raised it weakly, the originally white gauze was now red. "It still kinda hurts, it's getting better." Vance gave him his million dollar smile.

He glanced back at the screen, "what do you usually watch on TV?" Pete rolled his eyes at another question but he secretly liked the fact that somebody was interested in him.

"I use to watch Swim Team, until Gary kept making fun of me for it." Vance scoffed and absentmindedly fixed his pompadour. "How come? Cause you're not sporty?"

Pete nodded, "yuh-huh, it's true.. I'm not great at sports and I'm not smart enough, I'm pretty useless and I'm a loser." He chuckled and watched the movie.

He felt Vance's stare in his peripheral but ignored it. "Hey, this is comin' from me, you're no loser in my book, I think you're real interesting, I swear it."

Pete smiled wide, his grin spreading from cheek to cheek. "You'd be the first one to think that, Jimmy thought I was smart but in a kind of..  'I know how to get out of this pickle' way."

Vance snorted, laying back. "Maybe you'd have more friends if you got out more." Pete looked at him, confused. He meant it, Pete was shy and didn't know how to get out of his shell.

He couldn't blame him. Back in his elementary days, he used to be really quiet. "I tried, but, this is Bullworth, talking to a jock, prep, bully or greaser lands you in the hospital." Pete retorted, he had a point.

Vance frowned, figuring he was somewhat correct. "Yeah, but I didn't beat you up when I first spoke to you." He replied before Pete sighed softly, "true, but you first spoke to me when you were protecting me from some meatheads."

Vance sighed loudly and continued watching. They were quiet before he looked at Pete, "what if I taught you to fight?" Pete didn't refuse the idea, he sat up, "you would?"

It would've saved Pete. He could fend for himself, finally. Vance got up and threw off his jacket. He got in a fighting position, fists up as he bounced lightly on his feet. "Get up, Petey."

Pete glanced at Vance and back at he TV, weighing the choices. He sighed and got off and put his hands up. Vance lightly slapped his cheek, "use your hands to protect your face."
Pete copied his stance exactly, getting the hang of it.

"Okay, defending yourself is just as important as fighting." Vance lectured and Pete nodded. Vance told him to throw a punch, he threw a far weak one.

"Jesus, no, no, you don't lose your balance, step close if you need to punch the guy, okay?" Pete nodded and corrected himself. Vance chuckled, "okay, you're doing ' fine, when you fight aim here." His right hand brushed against his own ribs, jaw and cheek.

Pete's scared face was masked with a look of concentration. "Good, if I had to fight you, I'd think I would probably have a challenge." He encouraged and Pete's face lit up. "When somebody punches you, duck under it or catch it, pull it and off-balance 'em."

Vance threw a punch and Pete's heart skipped but he managed to duck under it. "You're doing great, I think that's enough for tonight, kid."
Pete sat back down, proud of himself.

"I wish I could've used those moves  yesterday." He commented softly and Vance pulled his jacket back on. "How come?" He looked at the redhead, smiling weakly, "Casey really kicked my ass yesterday."

Vance's blood boiled, he wished he could've protect Pete from it. "At least, maybe I'll have less of a chance of landing in the hospital." Vance chuckled at Pete's joke.

"Gimme a break, you're tough, you fight good." He sat beside Pete who was shaking his head. "I'm a weak kid, a nobody, I can't fight, I'm not even half as strong and cool that you are."

He rolled his eyes and punched Pete's shoulder. "You're funny, you're loyal but you need to fix that self-esteem of yours, find something you like about yourself." Pete shook his head and stared at the floor.

"Look, I love my hair, I like my eyes and I think I'm witty and tough, your turn." He poked Pete's shoulder.
"Um, I'm good at video games, I like to make art and I'm not an asshole?"

Vance grinned that million dollar smile and nodded, "it's a start, I should get going, Peanut's probably looking for me." He got up and ruffled Pete's short hair.

Pete nodded and looked at him, "can I hang with you soon?" He asked, hating how pathetic and clingy he sounded. Vance smiled, "you know where to find me, just pretend you're hiring me for protection, okay, friend?"

He nodded and watched Vance buy some cola from the machine. "You know, I got it! What I think's a good quality about you is that you listen, you don't judge and you're short."

Pete's heart felt bubbly and he smiled wide. He never thought about it, he raised a brow "thanks but.. Short?"

Vance nodded and opened the can, chugging from it. "Yeah, some chicks dig sweet short guys but I mean, so do guys." He smiled bashfully and waved, "see ya, Kowalski."

He left the dorms and Pete sunk back into his lounging. He stared at the screen, hearts racing crazily. 'So do guys' could've meant anybody but Vance's suddenly shy smile made his heart jump in his throat.

Vance rode back home, it was dark and he knew nobody could see him smile to himself. He felt proud that Pete finally felt a little better about himself. He felt kind of dumb that he gave him a hint that he was crushing on him.

Pete Kowalski wouldn't have caught it, nah, Vance was too smooth for anybody to notice his subtle flirting. He was crushing even harder and couldn't wait for Pete to return back to New Coventry with some cash, 'hiring him' before they went off and did something stupid like dropping itching power on the bullies, maybe they could set off firecrackers in the locker room.