AND THE BS started right away for Y/N.

Right now, he is sweeping the floor of the social hall with one hand while he leans on one crutch for support. The room is filled with students as the Stars and Planets club is having their meeting.

Y/N pays no mind to them, mostly listening to music from one of his AirPods as he sweeps. 3005 by Childish Gambino is blaring into one hear.

Nearby, Hailee is talking to a few students at a table. She is an instructor in the club, and is one of the many things she does at the school.

"This is a very simple device made of plastic wrap, a coat hanger, and white-out." She holds up a makeshift object. "Does anyone know what it is?"

"It's a star friend."

Hailee looks over at Y/N, who gazes back. Unbeknownst to her, Y/N had been overhearing her lesson to the teens. She is surprised the young man had known that. She turns back to her fellow students and continues.

"This is a star friend, and it will help you locate stars and planets with your naked eye."

Andres, Matthew, and Casey enter the social hall. Matthew mocks the action of Y/N sweeping with a goofy face, and Y/N rolls his eyes. Hailee keeps talking to her clubmates.

"Mercury and Jupiter can be seen just over the West Southwestern horizon after sunset..."

Matthew and his posse pass by Hailee, and he leans toward her.

"Bet you could see angels up there flying around." He says.

Hailee stops her lecture and looks back at Matthew. Andres laughs, and they three continue toward Y/N, where they greet him with a handshake and a quick hug,

"In fact, there are some things that could be called miraculous." Hailee suddenly replies, directing their attention towards her. "Einstein said the more he studied the universe, the more he believed in a higher power."

Matthew snickers. "Well, if there is a higher power, then...why is it He can't get you some new clothes?"

Andres laughs and pats him on the arm. Hailee doesn't let the jab toward her outfit get to her and keeps an unwavering expression, responding in a sweet manner.

"He's too busy looking for your brain."

"Ohhh!" Andres reacted and spoke spastically.

Matthew shoves the laughing Andres and turns around, not having anything to say back to the girl. Y/N smirks and slaps the man's chest.

"Hey, laugh. It's a joke, man."

Hailee also smirks to herself and returns to her lecture, leaving the boys to their conversation.

"Man, come on," Matthew tells Y/N. "Let's just get outta here."

Matthew picks up Y/N's other crutch that was beside the seats and starts to use it himself. Y/N basically gives up on cleaning and leans against the railing.

"I can't. Gotta stay."

"Come on, man," Andres replies. "Principal Willy's gone. Let's make some moves."

"Uh...I..."

Matthew leans on the crutch and imitates Y/N.

"Uh...I..." He mocks. "C'mon. Come on."

The leader hobbles off, basically stealing Y/N's crutch in the process. Y/N scowls. Andres pats the man's chest.

"Come on, man." He says.

Andres follows Matthew. Casey chuckles and imitates holding a broom, doing a sweeping action.

"I don't know. The custodian thing kinda suits you, you know. It works."

Casey goes to join the other two. Y/N snickers and replies sarcastically.

"Oh. Well, thanks, bro. Thank you."

Meanwhile, Hailee picks up a book and looks up, staring at Y/N. He turns to look at her about a second later, and she quickly looks down, where she returns to teaching the group. He still gazes at her as the Childish Gambino song he is listening to starts to come to an end.

No matter what you say or what you do
When I'm alone, I'd rather be with you
F—k these other n—s, I'll be right by your side
'Til 3005, hol' up

Y/N takes a quick breath and turns around, walking away and toward the exit of the social hall.

It is the evening. After spending time with his friends, Y/N ended up driving Krystal to her house. Usually, he'd take his motorcycle, but he still is in the process of repairing it after his crash a few days ago.

He pulls up alongside her house in his mom's white Camry. He stops the car and stares forward, scratching his neck.

"Okay." He begins. "So...I'll see you at school."

She turns to him and takes a moment before she responds.

"My parents aren't home. You want to come in?"

He sighs. "Come on, Krystal. Nothing's changed."

"I know. I—I just thought that..."

"It's over."

His response surprised her. She knew that their relationship was sort of on and off recently, but Y/N had never given a firm confirmation like this before. It left her feeling bitter, but she agreed nonetheless.

"Yeah. Whatever."

Krystal sighs loudly and exits the car, slamming the door. She walks back to her house with her arms folded across her chest. Y/N looks out the window and lets out an exasperated exhale.

He is mostly upset that she slammed the door. There was no way he'd return home to his mom with her car damaged. Still, the whole situation with Krystal left a sour taste in his mouth. He shook his head and spoke to himself quietly.

"O...kay."

Y/N then drives off.

Y/N arrives back home. He uses his crutches as he walks into the living room and sees his mom on the sofa watching Dateline. He was simply going to walk to his room, but Anna calls out.

"How was your day?"

Y/N stops. "Uh, all right."

"You feeling all right?"

"Yeah." He shrugs, too. "Why you ask?"

"I can't ask how my kid is feeling?"

Her tone sounds as if Y/N flippantly asking that hurt her. Y/N quickly dispels it.

"No...I—I mean, yeah. You could." He stammers a bit. "Sorry, uh...I had some words with Krystal just now."

"And that didn't go well?" She replies.

Y/N only shakes his head, not wanting to get into it further. Anna could tell he didn't and decided to leave it be but still decides to offer her thoughts.

"Things will get better. If not with her...then with someone else. Don't fret."

"Someone else." He mutters with a snicker. "I don't know, Ma. My type ain't out there."

Anna shakes her head. Y/N bids farewell before going to his room.

• • •

Y/N IS IN deep slumber. The light coming from the pulled-back curtains still isn't enough to wake him. Anna keeps trying to wake up her son.

"Good morning, Y/N. " She says sweetly. "Y/N."

He squints a bit but still doesn't wake up. She gets louder.

"Wake up. Come on. Up, up, up, up!"

Still nothing. Anna believes he can hear her but just doesn't want to get up. She smirks and decides to do something else.

"Alexa, play Spotify. Max volume."

"Playing Spotify."

Immediately, Cyclone by Baby Bash, featuring T-Pain, starts blaring from the device. The beat drops, and it awakens Y/N, his eyes opening quickly.

"Up!" Anna says, bobbing a bit to the music. "Whoa! I haven't heard this since my college days."

Y/N watches as his mom dances a bit to the song. She even mouths the lyrics.

She moves her body like a cyclone
And she makes me wanna do it all night long
Going hard when they turn the spotlights on
Because she moves her body like a cyclone
Just like a cyclone

The sight of it made Y/N cringe, and he let out a groan. He grabs his other pillow and buries his face into it.

"Stop. Please. I beg."

Anna stops and laughs. She ends up lowering the volume and speaks to him again.

"Come on. Get up. Time to wake up."

He shuts his eyes and mumbles. "It's Saturday. No school."

Anna tilts her head and grins. "Tutoring. Remember?"

Yup. His requirements. Y/N totally forgot about it. The teenager opened his eyes again slowly and sighed.

"Right..."

"I'll make you something to eat before you go. Get dressed."

His mom made her way out of the room but continued to dance to the music. Y/N groaned again.

"I said stop. Please!"

A bus ended up taking Y/N and several other kids to the sister school about a couple of miles away from their high school.

Y/N is inside tutoring a 13-year-old Dominican boy named Dylan. He'd been having trouble with math, and Y/N was assigned to tutor him.

They had been in the same lesson for the last hour. Y/N attempts to be of help, but Dylan is clearly bored. Meanwhile, Hailee, who is also part of the tutoring group, is having way more success with her students at the table behind them.

"Okay, let's try this again," Y/N says, pulling the book closer to Dylan, pointing. "Which of these are similar triangles? This one or that one, huh?"

There is no reply. Dylan taps his pencil, annoyed.

"What do you think?" Y/N asks again.

Dylan immediately stands up and gripes. "Man, I think this is bullshit!"

He surprises the people in the room, along with Hailee. They watch as the boy leaves. Hailee looks at Y/N, who lets out a sigh and stares at the book in front of him.

"That makes two of us." He mutters, shutting the book.

The study group is back on the bus. Y/N sits in the middle seat alone, putting on his AirPods and scrolling through the playlist on his phone. He chooses Flashing Lights by Kanye West, letting it play as he looks at nothing in particular. Just brooding.

She don't believe in shooting stars, but she believe in shoes and cars
Wood floors in the new apartment, couture from the store's department

Hailee watches him from her seat a few rows ahead on the other side of the bus. After a moment of staring, she finally gets up and walks over to him. Y/N glances at her, taken aback and wondering what she is doing. She sits down and smiles at him.

"Hey."

Y/N ignores her and looks out the window, mostly paying attention to the song. Hailee keeps speaking.

"Do you wanna buy some raffle tickets? I'm trying to raise enough money so we can buy Granada Elementary some new tablets."

Y/N turns to her and gives a simple answer. "No."

He goes back to gazing out the window. Hailee decides to try again.

"So I saw you in there with Dylan. And I know it can be very difficult, but maybe you should try backing into it from somewhere else."

The girl waits for a response from the boy, but he still doesn't say anything. Nevertheless, Hailee doesn't give up.

"Are you gonna go visit Michael Dunlop?"

Again, nothing. She keeps going.

"That would be a no. You do know that they moved him from the hospital to that rehab place on Balboa Boulevard?"

The seventeen-year-old boy has had enough. He taps his AirPods to pause the music and snaps at her rather angrily.

"Is this your idea of small talk or something?" He asks. "Because if it is, your social skills need some work, okay? No one forced Mike to jump."

She remains calm. "It's called peer pressure."

"And how do you know about that? Is that in the Gospel? In your precious book?"

Hailee looks down at the Bible on her lap. Y/N shakes his head and looks back out the window. The girl shuts her eyes briefly, taking a quick breath before reopening them.

"Please don't pretend like you know me, okay?" She replies.

"But I do. I do." He smirks, looking forward. "We have all the same classes in the same school since the 1st grade. Why...you're Hailee Steinfeld."

He smiles at her viciously. Y/N continues as the girl listens.

"You sit at lunch table four, which isn't exactly the reject table, but it's definitely in self-exile territory. You have exactly one sweater: the blue one. You like to look at your feet when you walk. Oh, and yeah, and for fun, you like to tutor on the weekends and hang out with the cool kids from the Stars and Planets. Now, how's that sound?"

"Thoroughly predictable." She simply nods and then shrugs. "Nothing I haven't heard before."

Y/N arches a brow. "You don't care what people think about you?"

"No."

With that said, Hailee rises to return to her seat. Y/N watches as she leaves, thinking about her stern one-word response to the question. It made him think about what his answer would be.

Does he care what people think about him?

The young man sighs. He taps his AirPods again, and Flashing Lights continues to play into his ears.

As I recall, I know you love to show off
But I never thought that you would take it this far
What do I know? (Flashing lights, lights, lights, lights)
What do I know? (Flashing) know? (Lights, lights, lights, lights)

• • •

ANDRES PULLS UP to the school where they were holding auditions for the spring play. He had No Lie by Dua Lipa and Sean Paul playing loudly on his radio. It came as no surprise, as he loved Dua Lipa with a burning passion.

Y/N sits beside him in the passenger's seat. Andres finally parks in front of the school.

"Hey, I don't know what your problem is, man." Andres reaches behind him to help get Y/N's crutches. "Mrs. Rosen got some nice tatas goin' on, man."

"Sure, bro," Y/N replies as he takes his crutches from Andres. "Thanks."

He opens the door and gets out of his Jeep. Andres smirks and looks at him through the open door.

"I just can't wait to really see you in some stage make-up. That's gonna be kinda cool." He says.

Y/N shakes his head as he shuts the door. He leans in to remind him.

"Just be back in an hour, okay? Don't flake on me."

"Hey man, tell them maybe do like West Side Story, you know. We get that hot ass girl like the one from the movie they did a couple of years ago."

"You mean Rachel Zegler?"

He positions his hands like he's making a declaration and announces dramatically. "Maria! Maria!"

Y/N chuckles. "I'll see ya, man."

Before he can walk off, Andres calls out. "Hold up!"

He then puts the volume louder and lets the Dua Lipa song play, singing off-key as well, which he knew always made Y/N cringe.

"Hypnotized, pull another one
It's alright, I know what you want
Get the vibe, it's gonna be lit tonight!"

"Hell nah, bro." Y/N waves him off.

Y/N walks away, albeit smiling, leaving Andres singing his heart out at the curb with the music blaring.

Mrs. Rosen is in the theater speaking to the students sitting before her, who sit in chairs against the wall.

"This year's spring musical is a story of burning passions and blazing Tommy Guns written by our very own Danny Solano."

Everyone turns to look at Danny, who smiles back. Hailee is also there who lightly claps. Mrs. Rosen continues.

"With words and music by Hailee Steinfeld. It follows the rise and fall of Tommy 'the Gun' Thornton in prohibitionary New York. Danny, perhaps you—"

Y/N comes in, using his crutches to walk. The teacher calls out to him.

"Mr. L/N, better late than never. Please, join us."

Y/N scowls in greeting, leaning on his crutches for support. He fakes a smirk.

"Sure."

The teenager makes his way over to a seat on the right side of the room. Hailee sits on the other side, eyeing him curiously. Then there is Danny, who isn't looking too thrilled at the arrival of the bad boy who was simply there as punishment.

"Now then, let's see..." Mrs. Rosen says as she looks at her sheet. "Hailee will be our Emily, the mysterious club singer."

Y/N glances at Hailee, who looks very happy about her part. He shuts his eyes and leans back against the wall, hoping this entire thing somehow went faster.

"Taylor will be playing Betty." She continues.

Hailee turns to Taylor, who sits next to her. She whispers.

"Congratulations."

The two girls share a smile. Mrs. Rosen looks back at her sheet.

"And...Y/N will read Tommy Thornton."

The boy's eyes open immediately. He smiles but in a confused manner.

"Wha—?" Y/N chuckles. "No. No. See, I—I didn't plan on acting or anything. Like..."

They are now sitting in a circle on chairs. Y/N drums his fingers on his play booklet as he lets Taylor read her part.

"When did you know, Tommy?"

Y/N, looking mighty annoyed, turns to the girl.

"Know what?" He asks rather blankly.

"That we were in love?"

He sighs and looks back down at his booklet. Y/N reads his lines with absolutely no emotion whatsoever.

"Love? Uh...baby, believe me, you don't wanna go falling in love with a guy like me."

Hailee looks up from her book and watches Y/N read his lines. Other girls in the group also eye him, as if they are swooned by how the attractive teen was reading, despite him barely trying.

Taylor responds in character. "It's too late, Tommy. I'm crazy about you. I'm breathing it, drinking it all in. Aren't you?"

He laughs slightly. "Yeah, I—I don't know what I'm drinking, dollface, but if this is love, pour me another glass?"

Y/N cringes at the last line and chuckles. Danny looks over at Y/N, not appreciating the critique of his writing.

"Mr. L/N, are you trying to be bad at this?" Mrs. Rosen asks.

"Oh, no," Y/N replies with a grin. "It just comes naturally."

Everyone laughs at his remark, including Hailee.

The teacher chooses to move on. "All right, everybody, let's go to the end."

Hailee finally stops staring at Y/N, looking down and shaking her head. She smiles softly as she turns the pages of her booklet.

Y/N waits impatiently outside the school for Andres. He's propped up on his crutches and looks out onto the street, seeing nobody. He lets out a quick sigh.

In the background, Danny and Hailee walk side by side down the steps of the building. They have been chatting for a bit.

"Don't even pretend like you're not gonna be great. I mean, you're so pretty."

"Okay." She replies rather quickly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He nods. "All right. See ya."

Danny leaves. Y/N continues to stand where he is, and he's all grumpy. He can't believe Andres is actually flaking on him. Next time he goes over, he's ripping the man's poster of Dua Lipa.

Hailee notices Y/N and goes to join him, exchanging a goodbye with another girl on her way. She stands behind him, and he glances back, rolling his eyes.

Not her again. He faces forward.

"So, would it kill you to try?" She asks about the play.

"Yup." He replies. "And I'm too young to die."

The girls sighs quietly.

"Okay, so you don't care about classes, or sports, or graduating, but you like school because you're popular, and you'll never be on top again."

"That's...thoroughly predictable." He says, repeating her line a couple of days ago on the bus.

She nods. After a few seconds, she finally responds.

"Your act only works on an audience."

Hailee walks away, and Y/N ponders what she said. He takes out his phone to check the time and looks up, seeing the empty street ahead and nobody coming to get him. He looks back at Hailee.

Meanwhile, Hailee gets in her car, buckles up, and revs the engine. She looks up and sees Y/N standing in front of her car.

Nothing was stopping her from running him over; the expression on her face told Y/N just that. So, he hops out of the way on his crutches and heads to the driver's side. She rolls down the window and turns to him.

"Are you feeling Christian?" He asks, giving his best attempt at puppy dog eyes.

Hailee sighs. How could she refuse?

Hailee is driving. Y/N looks out the window and hasn't said anything in the few minutes they've been moving.

"Seatbelt." She says.

He gives her a look as if she'd just asked him to jump off the Hansen Dam. Y/N sighs as he complies, buckling his seatbelt. Hailee smiles.

She taps her smartphone on a stand by the wheel, choosing to play some music. Heaven Takes You Home by Swedish House Mafia starts to play from her stereo, catching the young man off guard.

When Heaven takes you home
And you're at the gates alone
If the grass isn't greener
Come back and check I'm still breathing

"You...listen to Swedish House Mafia?" He asks.

She nods. "Is that weird?"

"No...I—I guess I just didn't expect it."

"Do you like them?"

"Uh...yeah. Well, electronic music, in general. But they're a group I listen to."

"Cool." She replies, still looking ahead at the road. "Anything else you listen to?"

He shrugs, not wanting to really get into anything else. She tries again.

"So...nothing?"

"I don't know. Forget about it."

"So music talk's over with?"

"Right now, yeah."

She nods and grips the wheel, smirking.

"42."

He turns to her. "42? What do you—what do you mean, 42?"

"42 is befriend somebody you don't like."

Y/N's brow is raised. He looks ahead.

"It's a to-do list I have exempt from my life." She clarifies.

"What, like getting a new personality?" He snaps back.

"Mm. Spend a year in the Peace Corps. Make a medical discovery."

"That's ambitious."

"Be in two places at once. Get a tattoo. Ride on a motorcycle."

Y/N turns to her. There is a beat.

"What's number one?" He asks, his curiosity piqued.

Hailee smiles.

"I'd tell you, but..." She looks at him. "...then I'd have to kill you."

Y/N chuckles at her remark.

"Thoroughly predictable." He adds.

Y/N looks out the window and spots a familiar-looking jeep in the lot of a Taco Bell. It's Andres who was with the rest of the posse. Laura, Casey, and Matthew chat amongst themselves, and Y/N looks on with an uh-oh expression.

He leans forward in an attempt to hide himself so they won't see him. Hailee looks at him and then out the window, knowing why he was doing so.

They finally pass by his friends, and Y/N gets up again. He looks over at Hailee, who just scoffs and gazes back toward the road. The music continues to play in the car.

There's nothing wrong with you
You're perfect, you're cool
You took the best parts of you
Showed me what love can do

• • •

OUTSIDE, IN FRONT of the garage, Y/N and Andres are running lines for the school play. The Latino was there to help his friend since it was the least he could do for flaking on him the day before.

"I've come to see if you're ready." Andres read flatly as he sat on the bench.

Y/N leans on his crutch for support as he reads from his booklet.

"Take a good look, lady, 'cause the only thing I'm ready for is a dirt nap."

"Ready to look inside your heart, Tom Thornton?"

Y/N sets his crutch down as Andres continues to read the lines badly.

"Your words have been heard and not just by me."

Y/N looks away from the booklet, trying to recite his lines without needing to see them.

"When you walked into..." He trails off, and Andres encourages him to continue. "Aw, shit."

Y/N reopens his booklet and reads.

"When you walked out of the rain and into my club..." He points at Andres. "That wasn't just a coincidence, was it?"

"Nothing's coincidence, baby." Andres reads. "You know you're the only one who can make me sing."

Andres shuts his book and suddenly starts thrusting the air, as if he was banging the teacher.

"Oh, sí, Mrs. Rosen! Oh, you gonna put Andres in all your plays!"

Y/N looks the other way, trying to keep a straight face. Of course, Andres wanted to make a joke of the entire thing. He ends up flipping on his back and humps the air some more, imitating the teacher's voice.

"Andres, I'm gonna put you in all my plays! Ay, ay, ay!"

Y/N chuckles. "Come on. Come on, man. Come on."

Andres laughs as he lays on the bench. Y/N starts to get serious.

"Do you know I got three weeks to memorize this stuff?" He adds.

Andres calms down and sits up. "Man, you couldn't pull this off if you had three months, man. Al Pacino couldn't even make this shit work, and he was in frickin' Scarface."

"Look, I didn't write it, okay?" Y/N retorts.

"No, but you're the one who's gonna make a jackass outta himself in front of the whole school, the town, your friends..."

"Look, I don't have a choice. So, would you just help me out, please?"

Andres gets serious, too. He gets up and puts a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"You know I'm just messin' with you, right? I'm gonna be there opening night, front row, and you could count on it."

Y/N nods. Andres adds one last thing.

"With tomatoes."

The boy laughs. Y/N snickers as well.

"Thanks, man." He says.

Andres and Y/N do their handshake.

At the same time, Y/N's mom pulls up in her Camry and exits, her arms full of groceries.

"Y/N? Boys? Can you help me with these?"

"Yeah!" Y/N calls out and puts the booklet down.

Andres drops his as well. "No problem, Ms. L/N."

The boys approach the car, with Andres patting Y/N's back and putting his arm around him.

• • •

IT IS THE MIDDLE of the school day. Y/N leaves the classroom and closes the door behind him. He looks around momentarily, checking to see if anyone he knows is there before walking over to Hailee, who is taking things out of her locker.

"Hailee." He greets.

She glances behind and sighs. Hailee turns back to her locker, smiling.

"What do you want, L/N? I've known you for years. You've never been the first one to come up and say hello."

He lets out a breath, struggling to say what he wants. Y/N decides to go straight to the point and speaks lowly.

"I need help with my lines."

She shuts her locker and faces him, carrying the book for her next class.

"Y/N L/N is asking me for help?" Hailee asks in a surprised manner.

"Yeah."

There is a beat. She nods.

"Okay. I'll pray for you."

Hailee walks away. Y/N chooses to follow her.

"Hailee, no, look." He feigns a smile. "You really need—"

"You've obviously never asked anybody for help before, right?"

"No..." He says under his breath.

A random girl walking with her friend spots the popular kid and greets him.

"Hey, Y/N."

Y/N pays no mind to her, and the two pass by them. A part of him is a bit embarrassed having been seen with the choirgirl. Hailee continues.

"A request like yours requires flattery and groveling. It can't be all about you. It has to be for the common good of everybody."

"It is for the common good."

They stop walking, and Hailee turns to face Y/N.

"Okay, Danny Solano deserves the best." He tells her, then sighs. He speaks softly. "Please?"

Hailee takes a second. In her mind, she was glad to know that Y/N genuinely wanted to do well in the play and also respect the writer's work.

"Okay." She replies. "One condition, though."

"What's that?" He asks with a shrug.

Hailee looks directly at Y/N and places a hand on the books she is carrying.

"You have to promise you won't fall in love with me."

Y/N chuckles. What kind of request was that? Of course, I won't. He smirks and puts his hands in his pockets.

"That's not a problem."

"Okay." She says with a nod. "I'll see you this afternoon after school."

"Okay."

Hailee leaves. Y/N watches her go and sighs again before looking down. Soon, he heads in the opposite direction and leaves, too.