"The school is different without Jasper," Jamie whispered.

"I agree," Ally sighed, glancing towards the entrance of the school. It had been about three weeks since Jasper had simply disappeared. He left no notes, not even a trace of himself. It was as if he had never even slept at their house, and even though Kane didn't want to let it affect him, his mind continuously replayed what he had said.

"I love you, treasure."

Had he meant it? Should he have said something back?

"I love you, treasure."

If he really loved him, he wouldn't have left without giving him any clue on where he could be. Love would never permit it; he would have at least asked for Kane to follow, not knowing if he would or he wouldn't. There was no chance the love could let him leave someone he wanted to have a future with. Kane furrowed his brows; maybe it was a good thing he hadn't said it back even though he wanted to. Either or, it was too late now—Jasper had vanished and there was no indication that he would return any time soon.

As for Jay, Kane had done everything he could do give him his space. After the game, although the football team were angry with him, they didn't try anything. They let him be and forced themselves to forget about the occurrences, moving on to focus on the first play off games.

Kane had changed ever since Jasper had left. He wasn't as excited or outgoing as he used to be, most of the time he returned home and barricaded himself in their bedroom. When Ally would return hours later, he would already be sleeping. They tried to have a conversation once, but Kane shut it down as soon as it was even brought up.

It was the first week Jasper had left and Kane was found laying on his bed, scrolling along his phone. He barely said hi to anyone anymore and when Ally talked to him, it was always one worded answers or simply a mumble. This one time, she wanted to converse with her brother, talk about troubles she had that week and wanted to bond as they used to.

That was why she taped his shoulder and said, "Hey, can we talk?"

"I don't feel like talking."

That had made her frown. "Why not?"

"I just don't want to," he murmured, shrugging his shoulders and turning away from her.

Ally scoffed; she had had enough of his sudden change in demeanour and hated being treated as if she was a villain. "I know you're upset with Jasper but what the fuck did I do?"

"Please Ally," Kane tightened his hood over his eyes, curling into a ball and pulling the covers over his face. "Not now."

"If not now then when—"

"I don't know, alright?" He sighed, unable to meet her gaze. "I don't know."

"What are you sad about anyway?" Ally snapped, stepping towards him. "You guys never dated and he wasn't good for you."

"I don't know either alright!" Kane finally shot upwards, narrowing his eyes towards her. He had enough of people telling him to simply get over it, that it wasn't a big deal. To him, it was. "I'm not sure why I feel this way but I just do. I miss him, a lot." He shook his head, gripping his face with his palm. "I don't know why but I do and I want him to come back." His teeth gritted, "But I know he's not."

She could see the way his eyes started to grow with tiny tears that he attempted to hide. The way she had approached it was off but she only did so because she cared about him. After a long sigh, she sat beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. A short silence followed before she whispered, "I miss him too, you know."

The following day, Kane seemed a bit happier. He woke himself up early and they even ate breakfast together before they headed for school. The only troubling parts was when he saw Jay around, which saddened him whenever he did considering they had been good friends, but he didn't want to cross the boundaries already emplaced. The next week, Kane was no longer upset and enjoyed being around Ally and her friends. Of course it was the regulars, Jamie, Kristen and Megan, but he met a few more people he was getting along with.

He met the guy named Joey; he had already met him when he signed up for the robotics club and never showed up once. He also started being first with Robby, a rugby and wrestling competitor who trained every day after school for three hours. Kane had even been invited to one of his practices to watch. Elizabeth, preferred being called Eli, was also in their art class and they had to partner up one day, randomly selected by their teacher. And lastly there was Hunter, a random fifth year who saw him at his locker and they started chatting. Hunter was much taller than him and drop-dead gorgeous, with black hair in a buzz-cut, a sharp jaw and already a full-fleshed beard.

These people kept Kane company, but he still had his eyes out for Jay in case he needed to help. It was the fourth week after Jasper's disappearance and the Bulldogs football team had made it to the finals of their playoffs. They were playing a rival team at the end of that week; they called themselves the Mountains and they had always lost to them. Everyone was ecstatic for that game, let alone Kane who couldn't await to drink with the school after the game.

However, something caught his eyes while he was walking towards the entrance of the school that morning. He never saw Jay at the parking lot since Jay didn't have a car, but he noticed Jay was leaving a bright red car, one that appeared terribly familiar. It was only after a few more glances that he stopped in his tracks.

He watched as Jay waved a hand to Ava, blowing her a kiss before he turned away and walked towards the school too.