It was the next day.

Brennen leaned against his locker; his hands in his pockets. Juno was ranting her heart out, her long messy braids swaying side to side every time she moved dramatically. Brennen stared at the ground blankly, listening to the blurred sound of Juno's voice. As a terrible night's sleep usually provides, the brunette's energy was at an all time low. All the tossing he did last night- so much on his mind yet nothing at all- haunted him every second his eyes dropped more and more.

"Bren!" Juno called, clapping her hands in Brennen's face. The older jumped and blinked a million times per second, looking up at his friend. "Did you hear anything I said??"

"I'm not gonna lie to you Jun... No, no I didn't."

Juno sighed and chuckled slightly "I appreciate you're honesty at least." She paused and looked at her friends tired face. "You alright, B?"

"Yeah I just didn't sleep well last night."

"Oh, I feel ya." She nodded, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Hey.. You wanna just skip today?"

Brennen snorted and shook his head fondly, "You're supposed to be the good one!"

"But I'm not feeling school today!" She giggled, "If I had a test or something, I would stay. But I'm literally doing nothing important."

"... I mean I could go for ice cream.."

"Brennen, its eight in the morning."

The boy furrowed his brows and chuckled. "Ice cream is for any time of day, Juno. Do you want to get out of here or not?"

June laughed and shrugged, following Brennen as he began to walk out, "You're the one with the car."

"Exactly, the driver chooses the destination."

... Colby saw them leave. He sat on a corner at the bottom of the steps leading up to the entrance, fixing his the contents of his backpack that were placed uncomfortably.

He watched Brennen shove his friend playfully. He'd always admired the looks of the young girl; a pretty, naturally freckled face, with dazzling hazel eyes, and her artificially colored hair, which she changed every few months. She was currently sporting a deep red shade, which looked amazing, but the bubblegum pink one she had before was Colby's personal favorite. And her sense of style screamed 80's, which Colby was obsessed with.

"Shit!" A curse snapped Colby out of his thoughts. A matte black binder tumbled down the stairs and landed in front of Colby's feet. The boy grabbed it and looked up to see a familiar face- the owner of the binder- rushing down the stairs. "Oh thank you!" He sighed, smiling softly as he grabbed the binder that Colby handed him.

"No problem," Colby smiled politely, immediately remembering who the boy was.

"Damn. Your eyes are so pretty!" Bradlee gasped, "How did I never notice?"

"I don't usually look up." Colby giggled, "And thank you, your eyes are beautiful as well!"

"Aw, stop it." He smiled, flipping his imaginary hair. They both laughed softly before Colby spoke up again,

"Bradlee right?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

The younger shrugged and chuckled, "I just know.."

"That's not creepy at all.." Bradlee joked. "And your name is...?"

"Colby," he smiled. "Colby Brock."

"Well it's nice to officially meet you," he nodded, reaching for the phone in his pocket. "You know Brennen don't you? Tanned brunette with the highlights? Green eyes? He always yells at you for sitting at our table?"
Colby snorted and nodded immediately. "Have you happened to see him at all?" Bradlee chuckled.

"Uh... I just saw him leave actually."

"What??" He squeaked "No he didn't!"

"Yeah, sorry." Colby smiled sympathetically.

"Ugh, he's leaving me alone on the first period!"

"You have English first, right?"

Bradlee nodded, his eyes widening slightly when he caught Colby's drift. "You wouldn't mind if I sat with you, would you?"

"Not at all, I'd love your company." Colby giggled.

"AWHH! You're the cutest thing!" Bradlee cooed, placing a hand over his heart. "Well thank you, I really hate sitting alone, I don't know anyone in that class."

"Well now you know me." Colby smiled, standing up as the bell rung.

They walked and sat together in the class, listening to the teacher give instructions; "Work on your poems and don't get too loud."

Easy enough.

Colby had always loved English, it was easy and he got to read and write. Plus, the teacher was really chill.

Bradlee began tapping his pen against his chin, thinking of a new line for his assignment. "Hey, what's a good rhyme for greater?"

Colby looked up and hummed, "Well, what is your poem about?"

"It's really deep and depressing." Bradlee snorted, "It's called love and betrayal."

"How about... Traitor? Or creator? Actually, there are a lot of words that rhyme" he giggled

"Traitor! Oh you're a genius!" Bradlee cheered quietly, writing a line under his previous one. "..How would you describe love, Colby?"

Colby blinked and furrowed his brows, placing his pencil on the desk. "I... I don't know. I've never been in love."

"No way! Have you never been in a relationship where you hope nothing changes and that you can have a future?"

"I've never been in a relationship." Colby stated bluntly, picking his pencil back up and writing a line that came to mind.

"What??" Bradlee exclaimed loudly, quickly being shushed my the teacher. "Sorry," he apologized quietly before looking back at Colby. "Don't lie to me!"

"I'm not lying!" He giggled.

"But- look at you! Like not to sound weird but you're fucking gorgeous!"

Red grew on the younger's cheeks. "Thank you."

"Are you straight?"

Colby laughed shyly, "Girls are pretty, but I like boys."

"Okay that's what I thought," Bradlee chuckled. "And I agree, boys are great. But anyways, you've never had a boyfriend??"

Colby shook his head quietly. "And honestly, as much as I'd like to have one, I think I'm too young to understand love."

Bradlee smiled softly, "You're something different. I've never heard a high schooler admit that they're too young to love someone."

"That's because they're embarrassed to admit the truth."

Both boys stared at each other and chuckled, going back to face their papers again after a few seconds. "Aside from that, do you have your eye on anyone at the moment?"

Colby smiled shyly and began doodling daisies on the side of his paper. "Not really..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bradlee teased, smirking over at Colby.

"I mean there are some boys I believe are good looking-"

"Like?"

"Like... I believe Brennen is very good looking.."

Bradlee gasped and pressed his palms against the surface of his desk. "You have a crush on him!"

"No!" Colby defended himself, "I don't know him, so I can't like him. I just think he's handsome..."

"Don't we all." The older sighed, chuckling slightly.

The rest of the class period was spent with Bradlee and Colby exchanging ideas on many different topics. It was small talk, but detailed small talk.

When the class was over, they said their goodbyes and Colby headed over to his chemistry class, while Bradlee received a text message from his best friend;

Daddy Bren:
Get your ass out here, I brought you a taco

Bradlee snorted and shook his head fondly, rushing from the class to the front courtyard. Brennen was leaning against the stair railings, a brown bag in his right hand.

"You're an asshole." Bradlee said, stepping down to meet him, "But I'll forgive you because you brought me food."