“There you are.”

Thomas was pulled from mentally reliving his lunch hour by a hand clapping down on his shoulder. He turned to see Ian and Eli standing behind him.

“Where’d you disappear to at lunch?” Ian raised an eyebrow at him.

“Oh, I…” Thomas wasn’t sure how much he should say. He didn’t think his friends would react badly if he said he was at the GSA, but he didn’t feel like it was entirely his story to share. He had just been there for support.

He remembered what Mrs. Rust had said at the beginning of the meeting. Nothing left the classroom. Did that include who had gone? It would make sense. So he shouldn’t say anything.

But Ian and Eli were looking at him expectantly.

“I, uh, something came up.” He tried to brush it off with a shrug. “Someone asked for my help. Sorry.”

“Whatever.” Eli grinned at him. “But you missed out. Shea made cookies in her catering class, and she brought some to share.”

Thomas grinned back. “Were they edible?”

Eli punched his arm. “Watch it. If you insult my girlfriend’s honor, I’ll have no choice but to beat you up. I don’t care if you’re my friend.” Behind him, Ian was shaking his head slowly.

Thomas laughed. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. I wouldn’t want--”

“Thomas!”

He jumped when Briar suddenly appeared beside him, grabbing his arm. She was giving him a serious look that bordered on a glare.

“Hi Briar.” Ian greeted her with a grin. Thomas guessed he had been going for charming, but it looked a little dopy to him.

“Huh?” Briar glanced his way for barely a second. “Oh, hi Ian. Long time no see.”

“We miss having you at our lunch table.” He hinted, sounding a little too hopeful.

“Right. Sorry. I was helping some ninth graders adjust.” She narrowed her eyes at Thomas. “We need to talk.”

Her tone made Thomas a little uncomfortable. “Yeah, sure. What’s it--”

Briar didn’t wait for him to finish. She tightened her grip on his arm and started dragging him away. “I’m borrowing him.” She shot back at Ian and Eli before they disappeared in the crowd of students leaving for the weekend.

She pulled him outside, then immediately turned to go around the side of the school. With everyone headed for the bus stop on the main road, the side of the building was deserted. Even so, Briar waited until they could hardly hear any other voices.

“Logan told me you went with him to the GSA.”

Thomas was surprised that she was so angry about that. “Yeah. Sorry.” He never expected Briar to get jealous. If anything, he had been sure that she would understand Logan’s reason for not asking her.

“Don’t apologize.” She hissed, making him flinch back. “I’m not angry you went.”

Thomas raised an eyebrow at her. Then, a moment later, thought that might not be the best course of action. If she really was angry, then he shouldn’t push buttons.

“Look.” Briar took a deep breath. “He said he told you. Or rather, you were there when he told the GSA. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to say anything. He’s got a fresh start here, where nobody knows, and he wants to keep it that way.”

Thomas almost laughed. “Don’t worry. Even if I wanted to talk about what I heard in there - which I don’t, let’s be clear - I don’t know what half the words they were using even mean.”

Briar studied him for a long moment. “FtM.” She said slowly.

Thomas shook his head. “I mean, I’d guess it’s an acronym, but I’ve got no clue what it stands for.”

“Good.” Briar nodded to herself. “Let’s just leave it there, then. Don’t tell anyone, and don’t treat Logan any differently.”

With that, she turned and walked away. Thomas was left looking after her, feeling a sudden itch to get to a computer and look up what FtM meant.