At lunch, I let myself into our room, where Leigh and Nadia were already waiting. I sat on the couch with Nadia, putting my lunch down.

                "Where's Kace?" I asked.

                "He'll be here. We saw him talking to some friends in the hallway," Leigh said. "Also, the teacher said she'd email me back about that meeting after she checked her schedule."

                "That works," I said. "It gives me time to make a presentation for her. Just keep me updated."

                "You got it, boss," she said.

                The door opened and Kace came in, several papers in his hands. He set them down in front of me before taking a seat on the floor.

                "There you go," he said.

                "Thank you," I said, moving the papers so no one would get their lunch on them. "Listen, I want all of you to keep an eye on the junior council, okay? Just make sure they don't make a grab for power or anything. I figure they'll be more of a headache than an actual problem, but let's just be safe."

                "Do you think they'll be voted out next years?" Leigh asked.

                I shrugged. "I don't know. But we'll all be graduated by then, so there's nothing we can do even if they get reelected."

                "Reelected by rigging," Kace grumbled.

                "There's nothing we can do about it now. No one could prove it," I said. "Let's just focus on what we can do. Leigh, can you set up a survey for those senior class shirt designs? I'll scan in the submissions and email them to you tonight. The principal said he wants those available as soon as possible as an incentive to buy the yearbook. It'll be a tie-in deal."

                "Got it," Leigh said.

                We gathered around and began a meeting, going over what needed to be done for the week and what was coming up. We made lists, took notes, and filed away paperwork. I assigned tasks to them and wrote down what I'd need to do, trying to take on the bulk of the work myself so they wouldn't have to.

                By the time lunch was over, we'd had to rapidly eat our food. We left the room and headed to our classes, Kace's mood dropping as we entered the science room. Taliesin was already in there, watching us as we came in and took our seats.

                "We have gym today instead of lab," Kace said.

                "We're just playing speedball, we'll be fine," I assured.

                "I know, but that gives him an excuse to be violent," Kace said.

                "And it'll give the coach an excuse to kick him out," I said.

                Kace sighed, but didn't argue it anymore as our teacher came in and started her lesson. We took notes and handed in our labs when class was over, leaving to head to gym once the bell rang.

                We had gym every other day instead of lab. I enjoyed gym class, especially when the weather was nice and we got to go outside and run the track. I'd always loved to run, that rhythm of my feet hitting the pavement and my heart beating along steadily.

                Unfortunately, we were having gym indoors today. Kace and I went into the locker room and changed into our gym clothes before heading out to the gymnasium and leaning against the wall, waiting for the coach.

                I watched as Taliesin came in and sat down away from us, his tank top showing off his muscular arms. He preferred weight lifting to running, so we'd often gone to the gym together. I'd run the treadmill while he lifted nearby. When I was done with my run, I'd spot him while I rested. Taliesin had to be careful when he worked out, but he liked strengthening his upper body.

                I pulled my gaze away from him as the coach entered. He gestured at everyone to get up, dropping a bag of pinnies on the ground.

                "Speedball today," he announced. "Line up."

                Kace and I made sure to have a person in between us as we lined up. Sure enough, Coach assigned everyone an even or odd number, going down the line.

                "Odds have pinnies. Evens are free," he said, opening the bag of pinnies and going to set up the goals as kids grabbed the pinnies.

                I mentally groaned as Taliesin pulled a pinnie over his head. Kace and I were even, which meant Taliesin would no doubt go after Kace the whole game just to be a jerk.

                Sure enough, as soon as the game started, Taliesin shifted over to the same side Kace was on. When the ball rolled to Kace, Taliesin charged in, throwing his body in front of Kace to block him off from the ball.

                Kace hit Taliesin with his chest, sending Taliesin stumbling forward. Taliesin might be strong, but Kace was a well-built guy, and certainly no one to take lightly.

                Taliesin dug his foot under the ball, kicked it into the air, and caught it in his hands. He swerved around Kace, making sure to hit him with his shoulder, tossing the ball to a teammate and jogging forward with a grin.

                "Still feisty, huh Taliesin?" Coach said. "Come on Kace, you can do better than that."

                Kace nodded and steeled himself, following Taliesin. I sighed out loud and moved to block the kid currently trying to throw the ball at the goal. It hit my chest and I managed to trap it with my feet, dribbling around the kid.

                Taliesin sped up, running at me, that grin on his face. He blocked my view of my teammates, his body quick to react to my movements.

                "Let's see if you've gotten lazy, Gabe," he said before moving in.

                I yanked the ball back, kicked it into the air, caught it, and turned, jamming my shoulder into Taliesin's chest. He winced, but used my momentum against me, turning his body so fast I started to fall over. He caught my arm, yanking me up before I could fully fall, easily knocking the ball out of my hands and into his own.

                "Too slow," he taunted, tossing the ball away to someone else. "Better luck next time."

                He casually jogged backwards to where Kace was, though he rubbed his neck. I stared in confusion, wondering why he hadn't just let me fall and make a fool of myself.

                I shook it off and focused on the game. The next time the ball came to Taliesin and Kace, Taliesin used his speed to snatch it away from Kace and kick it up into his hands, spinning out of the way when Kace tried to take it.

                Taliesin dropped it to the ground and easily dribbled away from Kace, up towards me. I steeled myself, determined not to let him get by me.

                Taliesin approached me and kicked the ball into his hands, tossing it up and down casually. "Going to try to stop me?"

                I didn't bother responding. Instead, I feigned to the right, then launched myself to the left when Taliesin tried to get around me. He ran into my body and I lurched my chest forward so it smacked against the ball, throwing Taliesin off balance. I smacked it out of his hands onto the ground and yanked it back with my foot, easily passing it up to another teammate.

                "I can do better than just trying," I said.

                He rubbed his chest. "Guess so. Have to say, wasn't expecting you to titty smack it out of my hands. Good play."

                "Don't...Don't ever word it like that again," I said. "I'll let you have it next time if you just don't speak."

                He snickered. "I'll keep that in mind for an easy goal."

                He jogged back to Kace, and the game continued on. Taliesin didn't challenge me again, though he did seem to get a kick out of using his speed to taunt Kace. Kace got him back with a particularly solid body slam that sent Taliesin into the wall so hard I was surprised he didn't dent it.

                "Alright, go change," Coach called. "Kace, try not to body slam anyone through the locker room while you're at it. Taliesin, try not to taunt anyone into body slamming you through the locker room."

                Kace came over to me, looking understandably displeased. "He's a nightmare. I'm glad you got the ball from him the second time he came at you."

                "Well, if I ever need a wall knocked down, I'll save money and just give you a call," I said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Come on, Andre the Giant, let's go change."

                We changed into our normal clothes and left the locker room, mingling in the hall until the bell rang. I said bye to Kace and headed for my last class, relieved that the day was almost over.

                I took my seat in my math class, taking out my homework and scanning over the board for any sign of what we'd be doing today. My partner sat next to me, nudging me with her arm.

                "Hey, Gabriel, let me see your homework quick. I think I did #3 wrong," she said. "Did you get 57?"

                "I got 382," I said. "One of us is horrendously wrong here."

                She stared at me with growing dread. "Oh my god. It's me. I'm horrendously wrong."

                "Mariah, it'll be fine," I said, sliding my paper to her. "Here, look it over. Can't promise it's right."

                "Can't promise what's right?"

                Taliesin dropped into the chair behind me, leaning forward to get a better look. "Looks right to me. You still struggling in here, Mariah?"

                She frowned. "What are you doing here? I thought you switched out?"

                He spread his arms, smiling cheerfully despite how oddly stiff his body looked with the movement. "I've been kindly returned to your lives."

                "Yea, that's great, whatever. So this is right? The answer isn't 57?"

                "57? Jeez, you really are still struggling in here." Taliesin elbowed me in the back. "Better step up and help her out, Gabe. We all stick together in this hellhole of a class."

                I pushed his arm away from me. "We? You haven't even been here."

                "But I'm back now," he said. He looked at the empty seat next to him. "Hey, where's Darth Vader?"

                "She moved Brett once you were gone so he wouldn't be without a partner," Mariah said.

                "So I don't have to listen to him wheeze his way through class anymore?" Taliesin looked relieved. "Miracles all around."

                I gave Taliesin a dirty look. "He can't help it that it's hard for him to breathe."

                "He can absolutely help his diet, but we all know he doesn't care to. It's not like I'd ever say anything to his face. You know that huff and puff and blow your eardrums down routine was driving you crazy too," Taliesin said.

                Okay, yea, Taliesin's old math partner did breathe really obnoxiously loud. But he was overweight and insecure about it, so it was mean for Taliesin to talk about him like that.

                Taliesin waved me away at the look I gave him. "I'm insensitive, I know."

                "Complete jackass would be putting it lightly," I grumbled.

                Our math teacher entered the room and immediately pointed a finger at Taliesin. "Not a word out of you, Torres. I'm not in the mood."

                "Ma'am, you're never in the mood. I'm still not even sure why you're a teacher," Taliesin said. "Whoops, that was a whole lot of words. I'll just shut my mouth now." He made a motion of zipping his lips, looking far too amused by how furious our teacher looked.

                She ignored him and got to teaching. Taliesin, to his credit, didn't talk the whole period. When the bell finally rang, I grabbed my stuff and left the classroom.

                "Gabe!"

                Taliesin caught up to me in the hallway, grabbing my arm. I faced him, raising an eyebrow. He slowly released my arm.

                "What do you want, Taliesin?" I asked.

                He stared at me, brow furrowed. I recognized that expression, and waited. Taliesin wasn't the type to stutter his way through what he wanted to say. He'd stay quiet until he found the right words.

                "We have classes together now. It'd be dumb to keep pretending we don't notice each other," he said at last.

                "I'm not pretending I don't notice you. You're acting like a brat, and I have no desire to be around someone like that," I said flatly. "You're taunting teachers and being a total jackass to Kace for no reason. Does that sound like someone I'd want to have a conversation with?"

                "Guess not," he said. "Start small, then?"

                "Start small with what? You're there, I acknowledge that. You're being an ass for no reason, I acknowledge that. You hurt your own friends and just ditched them, I acknowledge that." I forced my anger down as my voice got louder. Taliesin's expression had hardened, the way it always did when he was in trouble and didn't want to react. "You made your choices, Tal. It's time to live with the consequences. You miss talking? Shouldn't have walked away from me, then. We all make our own decisions. Here's mine."

                I turned my back to him and walked down the hall. It hurt, but it was the right thing to do. He couldn't just come back into my life like nothing had happened. He'd hurt all of us, and he'd have to work to earn a conversations from us again.

                I didn't look back at him. I didn't think about our history together or the uncertainty of the future. I just walked through the hallway, knowing I couldn't let myself suffer over his decisions forever.

                It was time to move on. If he wasn't going to make the strides to catch up, he wasn't going to make it to where I was going.