"They know," I panic. "They definitely know, Minho. They know I—"

"No, they don't. Why would they know?"

"Because you literally said it in front of him, you foolish little—"

"Hey, hey!" Minho holds his hands up. "How was I supposed to know they teleport?"

I allow myself to fall backwards, onto my bed. I'm supposed to have a night on my own today, because Minho will be at Finn's, but we kind of agreed we'd just spend another night together.

"Sorry," I mutter. "I just... I don't know! But they know, Minho."

"No, they don't. Didn't you see their faces? Teresa got genuinely excited and Thomas gave the most normal reaction you can have when you hear someone manages to have a crush on Gally: he was pretty disgusted. You've known him longer than me, how come I can read him better?"

I hiss. "You can't. But I wasn't exactly looking at him."

He throws his hands in the air as he jumps up, seeming to be done. "Enough. We're going to Finn."

"No."

"Yes. Honestly, he's probably smarter than both of us combined."

"Not when it's about things like this. Finn is as inexperienced as a..." I try to find the right word, but I can't find it, and Minho has began pulling me to Finn anyway, so I get distracted.

"Finn?" He knocks on the door.

My eyes grow wider by the second. He's really going to do it. "No, Minho! Don't tell him—"

"I told you about his problems too, didn't I?" He whispers back, then knocks again. "Finn!"

"You promised," I yelp. "Don't say—"

But the door opens. I attempt to slam my hand on Minho's mouth. He has fled before I'm able to, directly into, in this case, his own room. The one Finn stays in.

"Stop! I swear, Minho," I interrupt.

"We've got something to tell you."

I hate him.

Now that he's standing against the wall, I am able to clamp my hand to his mouth. He pulls his usual trick; licking my hand, but I'm not fazed by it for once. He's not telling Finn. Absolutely not.

Then he starts biting. I yelp again, but still don't let go— until it seriously starts to hurt. I smack my fist against the top of his head. It distracts me enough for him to recoil straight after that, rubbing his head.

"Vi's got something to tell you," he announces.

"No, I don't." I'm nearly yelling, my frustration boiling over. He promised. Can't he take a hint?

I don't want Finn to know, for so many reasons.

I shove Minho's head in the pillow. His elbows are free, so he jabs me in this stomach with one, wiggling free. "Ow!" I kick the back of his knee. He trips. I pin him against the floor. "You're not telling him."

"Okay, okay! Fine!"

Finally.

I don't let go of him yet, though. You never know with Minho. "You promise?"

"Yes. I already did. It was just very pleasant to watch you struggle like that."

I roll my eyes, hit him a last time, and then get off the ground. Minho jumps up beside me, smiling in some sort of satisfaction.

"All you're doing is making me more curious," Finn says. He stares at us, confused and weird and everything at once.

Guess Minho has ruined it anyway.

Or was that his plan? I glare at him.

It feels like I'm giving Minho something if I mention what is going on to Finn.

"Don't want to exclude him, do you?" Minho adds.

Finn shushes him with a motion, waiting for me to speak.

"Okay, fine." No, not fine at all. "I... might've evolved some... feelings for–" I pause for a second. "...someone."

His eyebrow raises. "And that is a big problem," he states slowly.

"Yes," Minho says. "He's already with–"

"No one told you to speak. Shut up."

Offended, Minho steps away.

Finn turns back to me. "Do I know them?"

"Eh, pretty well, yes," I admit.

"Do I like them?"

"Yeah."

In what world is this a good idea? Finn won't give better advice than Minho. Minho did actually give some good advice, which I hate to admit, but it can't get any better than that.

"Who is it?"

"Thomas," I say. His name leaves my mouth fast, as if I'm trying to get it out of my vocabulary forever. Maybe, sometimes, I do. "And he accidentally heard Minho talk about my crush and now he thinks I like Gally. You know him? Gally Potts?"

But he is too stunned to speak. "Thomas," he repeats.

"Yes."

"Thomas Reyes?"

"Yes, Finn," Minho says. "What other–"

"Shush," Finn cuts him off, pushing him away with one hand on the chest. And again, he turns to me, so shocked he doesn't seem to believe it. "Thomas Stephen Reyes?"

Frustrated, I reply, "Yes!"

"Son of Dan and Indigo, AKA Indie Reyes?"

"For the love of god, yes. Thomas freaking Reyes. Teresa Agnes's boyfriend. Viviette's best friend. The boy on the other side of the street," Minho announces impatiently.

"Yeah, that's a big problem," he agrees.

This is what I mean.

"She needs your advice," Minho points out.

"Me? You forced me here!"

"But you need the advice–"

Finn blinks a few times. "Advice from me?"

"Minho says I have to kiss other boys to get distracted."

"That is the most horrible–"

"Yes, I know," I interrupt. "And Thomas and Teresa both think I like Gally."

"That sucks."

No shit.

Meanwhile, Minho is frowning at the boxing bag that has appeared in his room. "Where did I get this present from?"

"It's mine. Not yours."

"Who gave you the allowance to do that?"

I could sneak away right now and they wouldn't even notice.

"Hey, do you have advice or not?" I urge.

"Don't take Minho's advice, that's my advice."

I sigh loudly. "If you give me advice, I'll give you advice."

"For what?"

"The girl you like."

His eyebrows start to scrunch. "Since when do I like a girl?"

"I don't know. Don't act like it's not true. A little birdie told me."

Minho covers a snort up in his sleeve.

"What?" I feel my heart sink for some reason. "What did I do? What did I say? What did you–"

"That girl might not exist." A big grin forms on his face. "And I might've needed a reason to... make you spill to Finn. And it's really for your own good! He can come up with something."

"No, I can't," Finn says dryly.

I've gotten enough of this. Muttering a bye, I walk out of Minho's room, and knock on the door of Finn's room. "Hi, Aris. I don't know if you're still awake 'cause it's almost midnight– wait, what day is it?"

"Tuesday." Aris opens the door as he speaks. "Hi."

"Oh, shit. I won't be able to get up tomorrow morning." I sigh another time, palming my face. "Anyway, how are you?"

"Feeling better than before, to be honest," he replies. "Just haven't been able to sleep. Like, ever."

I feel so bad for him. First of all, he must've been scared of us. Like, three kids who at first weren't sure what to think of him. A strange house, new school...

"Oh. Do you have anything that helps?"

"Pills, but I feel like they don't work."

"I also wouldn't know what could help. Need to talk?"

He shakes his head. "No. You go make sure you get some sleep after all. What time do you usually get up?"

"Around six."

"Me, too. If, uhm, if needed," he begins nervously, "I can also wake you up. If the alarm doesn't convince you."

"That would be very nice, Aris." My face lights up at the way his does. "How's the drawing equipment?"

His smile begins to grow bigger. "Really good. I can't... can't put it in words how thankful I am. So, eh, if you need anything from me, let me know."

"I will. Same for you." I pause, thoughtful for a moment. "Do you want to get ice cream tomorrow or something? I have no more tests for the rest of the week and it'll be closed by Sunday."

His lips part for a moment. Not because he doesn't know what to say, but because he's shocked. "Yeah, I'd like that."

I feel really bad for adding this, but I have to, "As friends." Because I won't forgive myself if any of us have different intentions and one ends up hurt, or both.

"Of course." He nods. Now it's my turn to be surprised; an actual grin appears on his face. "You like Thomas anyway."

My mouth drops open.

And I stare, blinking.

"How do you..." I grab myself together at my realization. In fact, the irritation starts to show up in my stomach. "Did Minho spoil? Were we talking that loudly?"

He shakes his head, a small smile printed on his lips. "Nope. The way you look at him just spoils it."

I don't know if that's better or worse, but surprising how he noticed that by seeing me and Thomas together like three times.

Or I'm just that obvious.

Or he's very observing.

Maybe both.

"I'll keep it a secret," he adds. "Don't worry."

"Okay, thank you... so, good night. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Sleep well."

☯︎

Surprisingly enough, I have managed to get ready for school so quickly that I still have time to take a short walk.

I enjoy the cool morning breeze against my skin while listening to music and being motivated to actually do this. It's refreshing like this.

I'm wearing black tights below my denim shorts. Above that, a top that has no sleeves at all, and is white. Above that, something I made myself. It's a black lace top, closed up with buttons. Black flowers are little details. Basically pieces of fabric I sewed onto the lace.

This is quite basic, but sadly, some outfits do stand out between the leggings and sweaters. I don't want to make it seem like I'm special by saying that, though. It's just the truth. And it's sad, 'cause I'd love to make them the outfits they all secretly want to wear, without anyone judging.

Then, even with my blaring music, I hear a sound. I make sure to press my broken phone against my body in case someone decides to honk at me, but that's not it.

Mango is running towards me, barking. I gasp as I bent down. My arms wrap around her body. "Hi, there. What are you doing here, all alone?" I move my nails on her back. "Where did the boss go?"

She barks another time, then runs off.

"Hey!" I don't hesitate to run after her. "Mango, stop! Mango!"

She runs all the way down the hill, towards a part of the countryside. I'm puffing and gasping for air once I arrive at the location.

She, in fact, is not that out if breath. With a lot of energy and rush, she starts digging. It looks like she had already started before, according to the hole.

I clap in my hands. Whistle. Call her name. But she keeps digging.

Then she stops. And looks at me, and at the hole, and at me as if I did it.

"What?" Suspicious, I take a step closer. "What did you find there?"

She barks another time. The sound slashes through the now silent neighborhood. I cringe at how loud it is. And she keeps on barking, until I stop in front of the hole, eyes on the dog.

One last bark, then I lean forward. Slowly, I force my eyes into the hole. It's dark at first. I'm not sure what to look for, as the hole is so small. I'm distracted by a cough before I've even had the opportunity to understand Mango's intentions.

I spin around. Did Thomas come get his dog?

No. No one's there.

I turn back to the hole.

And then I see it, and I startle so badly that a scream leaves my mouth, and I start taking steps back until I trip.