“Study Group, Day 53.” She scrawls this onto her whiteboard as Sam lies on her bed, his eyes peering at a thick novel.

Leah clears her throat as his brown eyes flick towards her. She leans back in her swiveling office chair and bends over to pick her ocean blue backpack, retrieving a set of binders. She opens the rings of each crammed binder and papers flutter onto her desk. She arranges them into two piles.

Sam watches, ever curious. He isn’t sure why he’s at her house – it’s not like they could assign homework on the weekend after midterms.

“My parents aren’t home, so do you want to…”

Sam narrows his eyes, his heart racing just a little faster.

“…go out together and do something fun?”

“Sure.”

She stands up, jumping to her feet as she throws her winter jacket over her shoulders and tightens her slightly loose ponytail. The bed slowly creaks as Sam rolls off and stretches, the novel he was reading tucked under his arm. He’d only come to her house a few minutes before, so his jacket was still draped across the end of her bed.

Leah suddenly of the room, humming, and Sam quickly slings his backpack over his shoulder and scoops up his jacket before sighing and following her.

----------------------------------------------------

The library was quiet and empty – perfect for the two of them.

They both hold a stack of books, ranging from cheesy YA novels to self-help to SAT preparation.

“Where should we sit?” Sam whispers, careful not to alert anyone of their presence.

“Follow me.” Leah confidently weaves through the vast array of shelves, occasionally paused to glance at the spine of a novel she finds intriguing. They find themselves at a hallway and then in front of a glass door, which she opens and slips inside.

Bright, sporadic illustrations litter the wall and comic characters smile down at the pair as Leah tips her head towards a cluster of soft chairs in the midst of the children’s section. Sam almost wants to laugh, but obliges, finding an especially nice bean bag chair and placing his books on the ground.

“Hey.” Leah murmurs, looking up from one of her books. It’s a book on baking and she’s on a page on how to create the perfect blueberry scones. “I need to ask you something.”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“I need advice on something.” Her eyes nervously flick to the door. “I know it’s been kind of weird since New Year’s and we’re not really...uh…on the best terms, but I need an opinion from a guy and you’re the only person I trust right now.”

He doesn’t know how to respond.

She was right – they weren’t on the best terms. He wanted to pretend the whole ordeal never happened, but after he’d broken down and told her, there was no going back. If anything, there was only more to talk about now. He wasn’t sure what possessed him that day to tell her. But that didn’t matter, right?

But, unfortunately, he still cared about her too much to say no.

“Yeah, of course.”

“Will and I haven’t been on the best terms for a while now.” She blurts it out like it’s been itching to leap off her tongue. “He’s one of those people who are really nice and really rich. And yeah, he’s really smart and got into one of those selective private schools up north.”

“That sounds…fine.” He isn’t sure what to say.

“It’s great! He’s great! But there’s nothing pulling us together. We text each other every single day, but there’s nothing that we talk about that has a deeper meaning. We’re both so wrapped up in our lives that we don’t have time for us anymore.”

“Then just…break up?”

“I know I should, but we’ve been friends for so long and my entire friend group-”

“Nothing will happen if he’s actually a nice guy,” says Sam. “Plus, I’m sure he’s noticed it too. It’s unfair to both of you if you let this keep happening.” It’s a careful answer, but he isn’t sure about what his mind is trying to imply. Will was nice when he met him – in fact, he had almost saved him. “And even if he hasn’t, Will doesn’t deserve a one-sided relationship either.”

“It’s weird to hear someone else say it, but yeah.” She softly laughs to herself. “Mom was right about relationships in high school.”

“Don’t have them?”

“Don’t have them.”