Christina is a wild hummingbird.

        I mean this in the most poetic way possible.

        After I went on and on about "Connie" on Friday,  she told me about all of her exes and how she just learned to be a mischievous bitch at her old school. Since she moved, she figured she'd have a fresh start, but with Mitchell on her tail, her itch to sabotage is back.

        We came up with a little plan. Chris is going to get on Mitch's good side, flirt a bit. Then when he asks her to F&F (which he definitely will), she'll drop the bomb on him. She's quirky and naive, but she's real at least. I've had my share of fake girls (and fake guys).

        "Why aren't you and Mitchell friends anymore?" she asks at lunch on Monday.  I knew she'd ask but I don't want to answer.

        "Because he's retarded," I reply. Chris smacks my arm hard. "Um, ow?"

        "Don't say retarded. It's rude."

        "Okay, he's psychologically impaired. But I really don't know why."

        "Why does he call you Gay Boy?" she asks softly.

        "Because. I don't know. He needed something to call me. Are you gonna finish that?" I gesture toward her mac and cheese. She shakes her head. "He just became a real jerk in middle school." I fork down the food and dump my plate.

        "That was still funny what you did. You have no boundaries, huh?" she giggles.

        "Did what I had to," I shrug. I catch Conner's stare before I leave the room. He's trying to get to me already. I shake my head.

        Chris starts our plan right off the bat. She goes to hang out with the same group as Mitchell. Meanwhile, I sit by myself on the lockers. I'm used to it. Before Conner, I sat by myself almost every day. My best friend James moved last year, and we weren't even as close as we could've been.

        I'm reading until Matt Evans joins me. I'm appalled. He's the principal's son. His best friend? Marshall Borderly.

        Matt is so significantly nicer than both Mitchell and Marshall, but he'd get hell from them if they saw him hanging with me.

        Matt's not the best football player, but he's got a lot of heart. If I quit, he's taking my spot for sure.

        "Hey. You're friends with Freshman, right?" he asks. At the mention of Conner's nickname, I tense up.

        "Nah. Not really. He's a douche," I reply calmly. I'm blushing, I can tell. 

        "Really? Well that's all I need to know, then. He seems like a cool kid, but I guess you'd know him best," Matt shrugs.

        "Yea... why?" I ask. Conner isn't usually a topic of anyone's conversation.

        "Eh, my sister wants to date him. I needed to check up on him, you know?" he explains. I nod. Conner would. Conner freaking would. I wonder what he's up to. "Wanna know something funny?"

        "What?"

        "Mitchell cried in the bathroom after you... you know," Matt laughs. I look into his purple-ish eyes to see if he's lying.

        "No way," I scoff. "What a big baby. He needs to grow a pair." Maybe that's why we stopped being friends: because Mitch is so homophobic. I watch him shamelessly flirt with Christina. It kinda pisses me off. I am aware that she's acting but still.

        "You know, Mitch can be cool when he wants to. Messing with you just makes him feel big. Everyone likes you," Matt sighs. I'm taken aback. Everyone loves Matt. He's got dark hair and dimples. What gets everyone the most are his purple eyes. Yes, purple. He's attractive (I need to cut that out). The girls swoon over him.

        "Not really," I concur. When I walk by, I feel the hushed assumptions. Kissing Mitchell probably didn't tone that down one bit.

        "Really, dude. Watch this. Hey, Tessa!" Matt calls. A small, bubbly girl skips over from by her locker.

        "Hey Matt," she smiles.

        "This is Brandon," Matt says immediately. The girl blushes and goes doe-eyed. She opens and closes her lips as she stares at me. "Yes, that Brandon," Matt adds.

        "Oh my god. You-you... you are my hero like, oh my god," Tessa gasps. "Matt, cover your ears."

        "Wait, wha--"

        "It was totally hot when you kissed Mitchell," Tessa blurts.

        "Um, ew? God, Tessa, really?" Matt groans.

        "...thanks?" I reply. "I don't know how to respond to this really." Tessa just maintains a wide, brace-faced grin. Geezus, 'hot'? Seriously. I've heard 'funny' or 'awesome', but 'hot' is a new one. I don't pay attention to Matt dismiss Tessa, but she's gone in a second.

        "Chicks are weird," Matt grumbles. I nod. "Hey, I thought New Girl was your girl." Matt gestures toward Chris and Mitchell, who is hugging her around her waist from behind. It's just acting. She's only pretending,  I remind myself. ...she's a really good actress.

        "Nah," I shrug. "She's too... Californian."

• • •

        "What the hell was that, Furst?!" Cill yells at practice. I don't blame her; today's another day of Derek hurling bull into the air, expecting his runningbacks to take the rap for him. Cill isn't having any of it.

        "Why can't you catch anything?!" Derek yells back.

        "This is bullshit! You--" Cill shoves Derek backward. "are the quarterback!" Derek shoves her back. Carter immediately breaks it up.

        "Get off the field, both of you," Carter demands. "Freshman, Mitch, get over here." Carter is the real captain of this team. Coach Troy nods. He must not feel like screaming his head off today and is letting Carter do it for him. Cill and Derek trudge off the turf while Conner and Mitchell run on.

        Conner does a really good job yet again. I'm sour about it anyway. I can't believe I went there with him.

        After practice, Coach Troy doesn't dismiss us. Instead he calls a team meeting. Great. This means we're running.

        "What in tarnation is going on?!" he starts. Nobody says a word. We all just blink and try to communicate through sideways glances. "Okay. We'll just run until someone decides to speak up."

        "Um, Sir?" Tyler begins. I wince at the sound of his voice. "Princess Priscilla and Mr. Furst had some kissy-time yesterday before Princess blew him off. That may have something to do with our lack of teamwork... well their teamwork." Everyone 'oohs'. They finally went there. Cill and Derek finally kissed. I can't help but laugh. Then others start to laugh, too. Cill stands up and leaves the huddle, chucking her helmet at the bench. Derek just steams with anger.

        So, dickmove by Tyler, but it was still funny.

        Funny until we ran two miles, that is. Worth it.

• • •

        So, they made out in the same storage room Conner and I did, but Tyler accidentally walked in on them. Oops.

        Tuesday and Wednesday are pretty normal. I keep getting comments like, "hey, the cafeteria thing was great" and, "you definitely showed him". People should get over it.

        "So, Mitchell isn't the most terrible person on earth," Chris says on Thursday. I stop dead in my tracks. "What? He's a pain, but he's cute."

        "Am I hearing you right?" I ask. "You like Mitchell now?"

        "No I don't, silly. I'm still going with our plan because he's a jerk to you." Chris flips her long, blonde hair before she rests her head on my shoulder. The dim, dusk lighting makes her glow. "Plus, I've got my eye on someone else."

        "Mhmm? What's he look like?" I tease.

        "Oh, he's unusually tall. Brown hair, blue eyes you can get lost in. Really attractive. He kissed a boy last week," Chris sighs. "Because he's so awesome like that."

        "Eh, he sounds like a tool," I chuckle.

        "He could be one, but he's not. He's actually sweet. He gives the best hugs in the world." Chris looks up at me. That song "Pretty Brown Eyes" pops into my head and I smile as I start to hum it. Then so does she.

        I kiss her goodnight.

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Writer's Note: So, it's a little sappy. What do you guys think?