“TGIF!” Gav said, flicking his hair dramatically.

                “Wow, it’s Friday?” Gage asked, seeming genuinely surprised.

                I nodded at him and Gav and I laughed. “Get a calendar,” Gav said, poking Gage’s shoulder.

                “Get maturity,” Gage snapped, slapping Gav’s hand away. “Don’t touch me. I hate when people touch me. Unless they’re doing so inappropriately.” A grin spread on his face.

                “Gage, you’re so dirty,” Rose said, rolling her eyes as she came and stood next to me. She smiled at me brightly. “Hi Trav!”

                “Hi Rose,” I said with a small smile.

                The bell rang and I waved to my friends before heading off towards my locker. I reached my locker, put in my combination, and pulled it open.

                I began to exchange a few books, sighing as I realized I needed to find a worksheet for math class. Great. This could take forever with my messy locker.

                “I mean it Josh. If they touch him, they’re dead.”

                I jumped a little and peeked at the locker a few down from mine. Sure enough, there stood Collin Radke and Josh Ferrell.

                “Well, they’re stupid to fuck with Alex. They know they’re going to get their asses kicked for it,” Josh said with a shrug.

                “Whatever. You know Alex won’t tell us if they hit him again, so keep an eye out,” Collin grumbled angrily before storming off down the hall. Josh hurried to follow him.

                Jeez, I wonder who was picking on Alex. Everyone knew how protective Collin was of his brother. Hurting Alex was suicide. Collin would find you and beat you within an inch of your life if you so much as poked his little brother.

                I groaned, realizing that we had gym with the Radke brothers and Josh today. Great, Collin was in a bad mood which meant he was probably going to be extra cruel to poor Gage today. Gage had honestly never done anything wrong to any of them. They picked on him just because he was gay and it wasn’t fair.

                I went to class and suffered through the day until it was time for gym class. I hurried to the locker room, where Gage and Gav were, already changing.

                “Gage, watch out today. I saw Collin this morning and he seemed really pissed off. Someone must keep picking on Alex,” I warned.

                Gage chuckled and shrugged. “Big deal. Get changed and let’s get to gym.”

                He watched me smugly as I pulled my shirt off. I hurriedly changed and followed him and Gav out to the gym.

                “You guys can walk the track or play basketball or volleyball,” coach said after taking attendance.

                The three of us made our way up to the track and began to walk. I kept an eye out for Collin and Josh, but only saw Alex. He was walking by himself, his head down and his shoulders slumped.

                I relaxed a ton, glad they weren’t around. With any luck, they were skipping or had gotten into a fight and were in the principal’s office. I didn’t want those two assholes to hurt Gage just because they were mad.

                “So can we hangout afterschool, or do you need Trav’s help with something else?” Gav asked with a pout.

                I blushed and saw Gage fighting off a smirk. Gage cleared his throat and shook his head at Gavin, shrugging.

                “Nope, I got all the help I wanted from him yesterday. So we’re free to hangout today,” he said, the smirk finally managing its way onto Gage’s face.

                “Yea, yea! Hanging out!” Gav cheered happily.

                “We can go to my house if you guys want to,” I offered.

                “Duh. Gav’s mom’s weird and my mom’s annoying. The only time we don’t go to your house, Trav, is when we absolutely can’t,” Gage pointed out in annoyance. Gav nodded in agreement.

                “Out of my way faggot!”

                Collin roughly shoved Gage out of his way. I jumped a little in surprise, not having seen him come up onto the track. Or really into the gym, for that matter.

                Gage glared at him in annoyance and gestured to the several feet of space between himself and the wall. Collin raised an eyebrow as Josh stepped up next to him.

                “You could’ve moved your fatass over there,” Gage said.

                “You want to start something faggot?” Collin snarled.

                “What the hell are you talking about? You’re the one who shoved me!” Gage snapped, clenching his fists tightly.

                He took a deep breath and unclenched his fists. An easy smirk slid onto his face. I nervously chewed on my lip. This wasn’t looking like a very favorable situation.

                “Whatever Collin. You’re not worth my time,” Gage said simply, turning back to Gav and I to talk to us.

                Collin let his fist fly, hitting Gage in the side of the head. Gage staged into me and I caught and steadied him.

                “Are you okay?” I asked in concern.

                “I’m fine,” he growled, rubbing his head and glaring at Collin.

                I grabbed the back of Gage’s shirt as he moved to hit Collin. I dragged him back and glared at him, shaking my head wildly.

                “Stop it Gage! He’s definitely not worth getting suspended over,” I said.

                “Shut up you stupid cock sucker!” Collin snapped, glaring at me.

                “That’s not what your mom called him last night,” Gav said with a wink.

                Collin opened his mouth to yell at Gav, but his eyes slid past him. “Alex,” he said, motioning the younger boy over. “I was looking for you.”

                Alex timidly walked by us and stepped next to Collin. He was in the same head down, shoulders slumped position that I had seen him in a few minutes ago.

                “Alex, why do you hang out with them?” Gav asked, staring at Alex.

                Alex seemed startled that Gav was actually talking to him. He nervously glanced at Gav and then to Collin, as if too afraid to speak.

                “Don’t talk to Alex,” Collin snarled, stepping in front of Alex protectively. “He’s too good for you.”

                “Well if he hangs out with you willingly, than obviously not. All you guys do is pick on Gage just because he’s gay. He wasn’t doing anything wrong and you tried to start a fight with him,” Gav said, glaring at Collin and Josh.

                Collin glared at all of us in hate. He grabbed Alex’s arm and dragged the younger boy away with Josh hurrying after them.

                “I hate, hate, hate Collin and Josh. They re annoying as fuck. But god dammit! Alex is so hot!” Gage whined, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

                “Well, I don’t see you two working out even if Alex was gay. I think Collin would kill you. But good luck with your fantasies,” I said, patting Gage on the back.

                “I have other fantasies,” he said, shooting me a knowing look before beginning to walk again.

                “How old is Alex anyways? Jeez, he’s so quiet and shy. I always mistake him for, like, 11,” Gav said, shaking his head.

                “He’s 14 or 15, I think,” Gage said with a shrug.

                “Look at Gage being a cougar!” Gav cheered.

                I rolled my eyes and continued to walk as Gav and Gage argued with each other. I wondered if Alex Radke really was secretly gay. Man, I felt horrible for him if he was. Having the biggest homophobe in the school as a brother had to be tough if you were secretly gay.

                “Hey Trav, did you talk to Rose yet?” Gav asked, coming up to me and keeping his voice down so that Gage wouldn’t overhear and flip out on him.

                I shook my head, feeling slightly guilty. I had been putting it off because I really didn’t want to talk to her for Gav. Dammit. I was such a selfish fuck. I hated it.

                “Not yet,” I said, cracking a reassuring smile. “I wanted to get her alone first so that we wouldn’t be interrupted.”

                “Yea, yea! You’re the best friend ever Trav!” Gav cried brightly.

                “I know,” I said with a smug grin.

                Gage came over to us and shoved Gav away from me. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, glancing up at me.

                “As soon as I work on you, I’m moving on to Alex,” he mumbled.

                “Gage!” I said, rolling my eyes.

                “Sorry. But can you really blame me? I mean shit, his parents knew how to work the genetics into that boy,” Gage said, smirking.

                “Looks aren’t everything, Gage. What if he’s as big of an asshole as Collin and Josh are?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

                “Alex, a big asshole? Trav, the kid’s terrified of his own shadow. I’ve shit things meaner than Alex,” he said.

                “That’s disgusting. Anyways, good luck with that,” I said as Gav wandered back over to us.

                Gage moved up a little to talk to a kid he knew. Gav turned to me, his eyes bright and eager. My heart sank at the sight, knowing he was thinking about going to the dance with Rose.

                “Will you talk to her afterschool? I don’t mean to be obnoxious about it. It’s just…I’ve liked her for a while.” He blushed a little. “I joke around with her a lot, though. I probably shouldn’t, because now she doesn’t take me seriously. But you can convince her that I’m serious. I know you can. She’ll listen to you.”

                I offered him a comforting smile. “She’ll go with you Gav. Of course she will. Who wouldn’t want to go with you? You’re attractive and funny and-” I cut myself off and just prayed I wasn’t blushing. Jeez Trav; might as well tell him you’re fucking in love with him.

                “I hope she goes with me,” Gav said with a sigh, oblivious as always.

                “She will. I’ll talk to her tonight,” I assured, patting him on the back. Just because I was jealous, it didn’t mean I wasn’t going to be a good friend to Gav.

                He smiled brightly at me and hugged me. “Thanks Trav!” he said cheerfully.

                I smiled back at him. “No problem,” I said. I glanced behind me to see how much time we had left in the period.

                My eyes landed on Alex and I was a little surprised to see he had already been looking at me. A brilliant blush claimed his face and he quickly ducked his head in embarrassment.

                Huh. What was up with that?

                I shook it off and realized we only had a few minutes left of class. Gav, Gage, and I went down to the locker room together and changed before heading off to our next class. Tonight, I would talk to Rose and get her to go with Gav. I just wanted him to be happy, even if it meant that I would be miserable.