I consider waiting for Hannah on the dock but I'm Candela's ride and she's tired, so I just want to get her home before her dad gets on my case. We say goodbye to our friends and then I end up herding her to my car. She's unusually quiet during the drive, but I don't mind. I think of Chloe and how she told me to text her a photo after prom, but I'll probably get home way too late, and I don't want to wake her with my text.

"Nate." Candela says quietly. "Can I ask you about something?"

"Sure Candy."

She starts smiling, but it fades fast. "Who was that girl you were with tonight?"

"That was Hannah." I explain. "I just met her tonight, but she was cool."

Candela relaxes in her seat and curls up quietly. I turn up the radio, thinking we're done talking but then she reaches over and turns it down again.

"Do you like her?" She asks.

I glance at her. "Yeah, I just said she was cool."

She sighs. "No, like do you like her? Romantically, I mean."

"Oh!" I laugh and ignore that I'm beginning to blush. "I don't think so, we were just joking around. Talking to her was like talking to an old friend. She was cool."

Candela rolls her eyes. "You said that already."

"Well, I guess I meant it." I say. She laughs. "Why did you ask?"

"I was curious." She turns in the passenger's seat so her body is facing me. It doesn't look comfortable, especially not with her seatbelt on. "Have you ever liked someone?"

"Yeah, one girl." I reply before I realise what I'm saying. Candela gasps.

"What, really? Who?"

"I'm not going to tell you." I say.

"What? Why not?"

"Because, it's private."

She scoffs. "Does Kellan know?"

"Yeah."

"And it's private? Kel's got the biggest mouth in the world! How is it private if he knows?"

"Come on now, Candela, his mouth ain't that big. Plus, he's kept it to himself for all this time." I defend lamely.

He wouldn't have even known if he hadn't been around me a week after Chloe and Reese started dating. I was heartbroken and upset, swimming for way too long every night and this close to giving up on everything, so he wrenched it out of me. He also laughed so hard he lost his voice but he bought me grapes and cheered me up, so I guess that cancelled it out.

"Whatever." She scoffs and sits back. "What do you like about her?"

"No. This is not happening."

"What?"

"We aren't having a heart to heart in my car. I'm not getting emotional about this, I refuse." I shake my head firmly. "That is not happening, not tonight."

She stares at me and then bursts into laughter. "You're so dramatic, come on! Just tell me!"

"Uh... No?"

"Please? Like, one thing. One little thing. It doesn't have to be anything big, it can just be her eyes or her hair colour or something small. One little thing, Nate, not much. Nathaniel, can you hear me? Nathaniel?"

"If I say something, will you shut up?" I ask.

"Absolutely." She says. "I promise."

"Fine."

Candela cheers.

I bite my bottom lip, not really knowing what to say. It's really warm in here, so I wind the windows down. It doesn't help cool my warm face, though it does feel less stuffy in my car.

What do I like about Chloe? I could just cop out and say everything, which is true, but I know Candela won't accept that from me. I can't say her hair or else it'll be obvious: Chloe's got this great mass of recognisable copper coloured hair that gets everywhere. And her eyes are pretty, sure, but... they're just eyes, you know?

"Are you gonna speak?"

"Give me a second." I say and she relaxes. "Um. I like how warm she is."

Candela snorts. "What a cop out."

"What? No it's not!"

"Warm? Nate, everyone's warm. We're not reptiles. Our blood is –"

"Don't be obtuse. I mean she's a warm person."

"What does that even mean?"

"It means that when she smiles at me, I feel better." I say, lamely. "Even when I'm not okay, her smile is enough to tell me that she's there for me and she's not judging me even though everyone else is?"

"Yeah..." She says, as though she's expecting more. And since I am a pushover, I give her more.

"And... like, I don't know, she treats me like I'm the same old regular Nate, even after I almost broke that record, and all that stuff last fall. She's my best friend and I can count on her to stay my best friend forever. And it's nice to be able to count on someone like that."

Candela doesn't say anything else, and when I glance at her, she's just staring at the side of my face. It makes me squirm, so I try not to look at her again as I keep driving. My foot's heavier on the gas pedal as I hurry to get her home, eager to be alone again. She keeps staring at me, and I wonder why we're even having this conversation in the first place.

Eventually she shuffles back until she's sitting properly in her seat. "That was kinda beautiful Nate." She says sincerely.

"Thanks." I mumble.

It takes another ten minutes to get to her house. Candela gives me a hug across the seat and gets out of my car, but as she's about to walk to the door, she hesitates and turns.

"You leave something in my car?" I ask, looking at her empty seat.

She shakes her head and bites her bottom lip. "It's not that."

"You sure? I don't wanna turn around in twenty minutes because you forgot your lip gloss or whatever." I joke. She doesn't smile.

"That girl you like..."

"Seriously, Candy, forget about all of that –"

"I think she really likes you too." She interrupts.

I try not to laugh. I gave up on Chloe liking me back a while ago, and I'm not about to start getting my hopes up again just because Candela's clued in now.

"You think, huh?" I say, trying to curb my sarcasm.

"Yeah, I really do. So don't be afraid to make the first move, okay?"

She waits for me to nod before smiling and rushing over to her house. I raise my eyebrows as she slips inside, and then drive away.

-

On a typical day, I wake up at 4am. I eat a granola bar and then jog over to the training centre, aiming to get there for 4:40am. I'm always late, but never more than ten minutes. My trainer's a middle aged white guy named Barry and he meets me outside before we start an hour long training session.

After swimming the distance of about five miles, Barry drives me home. I say hi to my mom and get ready for school (on the weekend's I go back to bed). Then I make breakfast, my lunch and snacks and get going to school. Some days I go to my part time job, and on other days I go back to the pool, or lift weights. Or I run some more.

Today's the last day of high school, and it starts out no different. After training, I wave Barry off and head inside, stinking of chlorine and feeling stiff. My mom's busying around in the kitchen and she smiles at me as I come in, roughing up my hair.

"Oh, your hair's so dry!" She says and pulls a face.

"Right, I gotta moisturise it before school." I sigh.

"I got some coconut oil in my room if you need it." She says. "How was this morning?"

"Same as usual." I head to the laundry room and put a quick wash on my costume. Then I head to the kitchen, deciding to have breakfast first today. "Barry thinks I'm losing flexibility."

"What? How could he know that?"

I shrug. "I don't know, I swam a length in like, thirty seconds instead of twenty five."

Mom smiles. "You're definitely slacking."

"Whoops." I say and crack several eggs into a bowl. "What time are you leaving today?"

"In about ten minutes." She says. "I've got six root canals to do today, our newest intern Stella is so damn useless and thought it'll be great to schedule them all on one day. You know Stella, right?"

"The blonde one?" I briefly remember my mom talking about her a few mornings ago.

"Yeah, her! She's a nightmare, she hasn't done any of the paperwork for the last week properly and Dr. Nasir volunteered me to help her out. Can you believe that?"

"I really can't." I tut and sprinkle some salt into my eggs. "You working overtime today then?"

"Unfortunately." She sighs. "Why?"

Right. I was going to ask if she wanted to watch The Karate Kid with me tonight, but I squash that thought bubble before it bursts. "Just wanted to check."

"You should put more salt in those. You know you love salty food."

I stare at her, then my eggs. Mom comes over and bustles me over away from the bowl, armed with a whole bunch of seasoning. She ends up making the eggs for me while I get some veggies and vegan cheese, chatting about her upcoming work schedule. Soon she gives me a hug and leaves, telling me to enjoy my day. Then it's just me in this big empty house. 

Sometimes I wish my grandma still lived with us, or like, I had my dad around. But my grandma got remarried and moved to New Orleans when I was ten, and I've never known or met my dad. My mom gets weird whenever I try bringing him up, so I just don't anymore.

My mom's always at the dental surgery, and my schedule's packed, so we barely see each other during the day. Mornings are the only times we really talk anymore, and I kinda miss having her around. It's gotten worse since last year: some mornings she's not even here to say hi.

After my breakfast omelette, I take a long shower and send Chloe a wake up message. She sends me a picture of her work outfit and since I know nothing about fashion I tell her it looks great. We talk a while until we both have to get going and then I head out, ready for my last day of high school.

My friends are easy to find, lounging around the benches in the courtyard. From afar it seems like they're having an intense conversation and I'm a little apprehensive about approaching them.

"No, I don't wanna go to Disney World again! What are we, five?" Candela's saying. She sees me and she smiles, shuffling up so I can sit next to her.

"According to Nate, we're seven." Kellan says. Of course, nobody knows what he's talking about, so they look at me and I shrug. "Whatever, anyway, Blossom, I think Disney World's a good idea."

One of our other friends, Blossom, lights up. Her blonde hair bounces as she squeals at us happily. "Oh, I can't wait! Graduation trip to Disney World!"

I turn to Candela, thoroughly confused. "What are we talking about?"

She sighs. "We're planning our summer, you know, doing big things before you and Kel head off to different states for college."

"Oh." I get some fruit out of my backpack and start eating. "What do you wanna do?"

She shrugs and steals one of my grapes. "I wanna go to Miami for a week or something. Go crazy on the beach, fall in love..."

Halley snorts. "I'm sorry to interrupt your 'summer romance' but I can't afford that. Can you?"

Candela shrugs, and turns her body away from her. "I mean, my mom might pay..."

"For you to live it up in Miami? Be real Candela."

I tune out of the conversation and focus on my fruit, knowing they'll figure it out and I'll decide if I wanna join in after that. My friends have big personalities and I've learned that letting them talk out whatever they're arguing about is easier than arguing with them myself.

Candela shuffles over and decides to lean on my shoulder after she's done sharing snide remarks with Halley. The action makes me freeze, because she's never done that before. Kellan raises his eyebrows when he sees, so I try to make it clear I don't know what the hell she's doing either.

"Nate, what are you looking forward to this summer?" She asks.

I shrug. "Resting, mostly. Barry's letting me taper for most of it because he thinks Berkeley's gonna be extra hard come fall."

She scoffs. "I mean, with us!"

My shoulder starts to ache. "Hanging out wherever y'all decide we hang out then."

"You're so easy to please."

"Is that a bad thing?" She giggles and nestles into my arm more. I can't ignore this any longer. "Um, Candela?"

"What is it?"

"Could you... move?"

Candela stares up at me. "What?"

"Could you get off my shoulder? It's sore."

She finally gets off me and I thank her before going back to my grapes. Soon the bell goes off and we get up to go, ready for our last day of school. When we're in the hallway, Kellan holds me back and punches me in my arm.

"Ow?" I say.

"What was that out there with Candela?"

"I don't know? She's never done that before, it was weird." He stares at me. "What?"

"Do you believe me now when I say she really likes you?"

"She doesn't." I roll my eyes. "Maybe she assumed we're close enough to be... I don't know, that close?"

Kellan stares at me some more. I squirm underneath his gaze and look away, down the hallway. To my surprise, I see Hannah talking to someone at a locker, a bright smile on her face.

"Hey, I'll catch up with you in a second."

He squints at me, but I just ignore it and head on down the hallway. "Where are you going? You're gonna be late for homeroom!"

"Don't worry about it." I keep walking.

I reach Hannah, who by this time is no longer talking to anyone but is rooting around inside the locker she's standing at. I think about waiting for her to be done but then I realise that that's probably creepy, so I settle for the easiest option.

"Hey."

She looks up, then looks back into her locker. Then she looks up again, as if she realises who I am. "Well, if it isn't the Cameo King!"

"Is that my new nickname now?"

"Absolutely." She closes her locker with a grin. "What's up Cameo King?"

I shrug, realising that I have absolutely nothing to say. A part of me just wanted to escape Kellan's speculation about the whole Candela situation. "I thought I'd say hi."

"Well, hi!" She waves. "And before you ask, I'm not going to say it in Korean."

"I wasn't gonna ask you that." I roll my eyes but I'm still smiling. "Who's your homeroom teacher?"

"Mrs Jenkins. You?"

"I'm right in your hallway. Mrs Scott." I say.

"Great." She smiles, like it really is the greatest thing she's heard. "Wanna walk together?"

"Yeah, sure."

We walk through the hallway, hurrying when the next bell rings. Hannah immediately asks me why I wasn't at the prom after party. I explain to her that I had to get Candela home before her curfew and she pauses before following on after me.

"What is it?"

"What do you mean what is it?"

"Why did you pause like that?"

She pauses again. "So I know you said she wasn't your girlfriend..."

My eye twitches. "I did..."

"But you sure do act like her boyfriend."

We reach Hannah's homeroom class just then. Mine is across the hall, and through the open doorway I see Kel talking to Mrs Scott. She's laughing at something he's saying.

"I don't. And she doesn't like me." I deny, thinking of this morning out on the lawn. "She can barely stand me."

Hannah shakes her head. "Whatever you say. Anyway, I gotta get inside, so did you need anything?"

"Um." I say, shuffling around awkwardly. Hannah waits patiently for me to spit it out, smiling at a girl who passes by to go to homeroom. She almost breaks her neck looking back to stare at us. "So I recently found out we have the same lunch period."

"I can confirm this fact." She says, readjusting her backpack. "I'll see you then?"

"Yeah, of course." I say and then take a deep breath. "Do you wanna sit with me and my friends? At lunch?"

"Oh." She raises her eyebrows. "Yeah, sure. If that's okay with your friends?"

"The more the merrier."

Hannah smiles. My nervous energy dissipates and I raise my fist. She bumps it gently.

"See you at lunch?" I repeat.

"Lunch." She says. Mrs Jenkins calls her name. "Okay, now I really gotta go, I don't wanna get an unnecessary tardy on the last day."

"Later then." I wave and she smiles.

Hannah disappears into her classroom while I cross the hallway. Kellan's still with Mrs Scott, and she's still laughing at something he's saying. His facial expression makes it clear that he saw me talk to Hannah but I don't care too much. I think he might be reading too into it.

I take my seat next to Candela and lean back, stretching my long legs into the path.

"Hey, we lost you back there. Where'd you go?" She asks me.

"I was just talking to a friend, that's all."

"You have friends?" Kellan says, slipping into the seat on the other side of me. He smiles at his terrible joke and then side eyes me. "You guys looked cosy."

"Oh, it wasn't like that." I say dismissively, ignoring the fact that Candela visibly relaxes next to me. "Her name's Hannah. We met at prom, before we took all those photos."

Kel gasps. "Mysterious prom girl? The one Candy cockblocked?"

She scoffs. "He just said it wasn't like that, Kellan. And don't call me Candy."

He puts his hands up in joking surrender but that pisses her off somehow and she starts on him about how immature he is or whatever. The two of them go back and forth across my desk until Mrs Scott comes and tells them off.

a/n: whew, so Tuesday is my update day! hooray for decisions being made based on my inability to remember to do things for longer than three minutes at a time! #adhdgang