"Are you sure you're ready?" Biana asked me, giving me the millionth worried once over as I slipped on my school bag. I sighed.

"Yeah, like I said for the last hundred times," I rolled my eyes. "I know you're worried, but I'll be okay."

"You don't get it," Biana scoffed. She sat down on my bed and then proceeded to fall to her back dramatically. "When you had your memories... there were a lot of loose ends. And those loose ends still exist, even though you can't remember them. All the things that went wrong in your life were because of Keefe, and oh-so conveniently, you've forgotten all of it."

"Sorry, I'll tell you in advance the next time I fall hopelessly in love with someone, to the point they make me develop a life-threatening disease and force me to forget their existence to be cured of it." I squinted at the mirror, smoothing a disobedient strand of hair into place.

"That's not my point," Biana said, shaking her head. "You did all these stupid, convoluted things because of Keefe. And just because you aren't in love with him anymore doesn't mean it won't cause trouble. And the whole school knows you had Hanahaki disease. They're bound to figure out that Keefe was the person you liked, and I don't think the entire school knowing you're gay after your particular set of events is something that you want to experience."

My shoulders sagged. "I know. But I do have a plan. I'm going to pretend to know Keefe. It can't be that hard, right? He was my best friend, and as long as we keep acting like we're best friends, they won't suspect anything."

"And what if they ask who the person you liked was?" Biana sat up straight, her hair somehow falling perfectly into place.

"Simple. There's that girl from the other school, right? Linh Song?" I vaguely recalled having heard people talk about the two new transfer students. I even brushed past her and her twin brother once. They were both conventionally attractive, striking people who liked to keep to themselves, each of them having a silver edge to their hair.

"Linh? The Exillium student? You don't even know her!" Biana said incredulously. "How many lies do you plan to keep up?"

"As many as I have to!" I yelled in frustration. I slapped my hands over my mouth and mentally counted to ten before speaking. "Mum and dad already didn't react well to me being gay. The whole school knowing would be very, very messy."

I saw a flicker of sympathy in Biana's eyes. "They didn't disown you, which is good."

I snorted. "Parents of the year material."

She shook her head. "That's not what I meant. It's just... they grew up pretty conservative. Give them some time to adjust. And if time doesn't help, I'll completely support your decision to do whatever the hell you want."

I sighed. "You're probably right. We should get going."

I stepped out of my room to see my parents perched suspiciously by the dining table. They looked away when they saw me, as if they'd been examining my door for a while. I stared at them for a moment.

"We're off to school," I muttered half-heartedly, hand on the doorknob when my mother called for me.

"Fitz, wait," my mother called. I turned around and found my parents exchanging long glances at each other. They finally turned to me. "About what you told us in the hospital."

"We'll need some time to get used to it," my dad said. I looked away.

"So, you've told me," I murmured. "Many times."

"We still love you," my mum added. "Despite... everything that you've told us-"

"Despite?" I said, glaring at them. "You can't love me-"

"Don't interrupt," my father hissed, and this time, I held my tongue. I looked down.

"Fitz, we will learn, okay? Until then, please just bear with us." My mother said softly.

"Until then I just have to put up with snide comments? Disappointment for who I am?" I said, and when I looked at them, there was plea in my eyes. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"Fitz, it's just the way things are, I-"

"You're acting like you have no control over your attitudes. As if I'm the one who has to get used to you. Ironic, isn't it?" I scowled at them, and sprinted out of the door, fast and far enough for Biana to not catch me.

***

"How are you doing?" Keefe asked when I reached the school.

"Fine," I said dejectedly. He put his arm around my shoulders. He was so casual about it to. Just two bros, he probably thought. But I caught the sneaky glance he sent my way as he did it.

"Nuh-uh. That's code yellow. Fine never actually means fine." He said, and he spoke with the intensity of a lunatic.

"How long has that been a thing?"

"Since forever."

"And what's code red-" I asked, but I lost the question to the school bells chiming. Keefe whistled.

"That's our sign to hurry to PE. Ms. Alexine will have our heads if we're late." Keefe said, and the two of us sprinted to the gym.

A group of beady eyed students stood in a clump when we arrived. Thankfully, Ms. Alexine hadn't arrived yet. Despite her insistence for timeliness, she had a bad habit of arriving to class after most of the students.

"How was surgery?" A student I had no idea who was asked me. I gulped.

"It went all good." I answered coolly.

"So, who made you get all sick?" Another cloyingly sweet voice butted in. "Is it Keefe? That's what I've heard."

"No," I said firmly. "Keefe and I are just friends" Even as I said the words, they felt untrue. After everything we had gone through, 'just friends' didn't bring justice to the kind of bond we had. And as I thought of this, I realised that the kind of bond we had superseded the platonic kind. Where it fell, though, was a massive grey area. "Uh, it was actually Linh from the other school."

"Linh Song?" the first girl asked. "That's unexpected. Her brother's going to freak out, though."

"He doesn't know," I assured them. Girl two scrunched her face up.

"I just texted Linh. She says she doesn't know you at all."