"Um, what happened?" Cassidy asked awkwardly.

Loisa's eyes were rimmed red, but she still looked gorgeous.

She sniffled.

"I, um. I....got ......rejected. I know. I'm so stupid. And this is silly, but....I thought-"

Cassidy wrapped her arms around Loisa, who responded by holding on tight and crying harder.

"I'm sorry, Loisa." Cassidy said honestly.

"Maybe I'm not good enough-" Loisa sobbed.

"Stop that. Don't you dare disrespect the good in you. You are smart, and talented. You are an amazing person. There's nothing wrong with you. This is just something that happened. You are going to be okay." Cassidy responded fiercely.

They ended up leaning against the graffitied wall of the bathroom, arms wrapped around each other.

Loisa had wanted to go steady with Derek. (Ew, gross.)

Derek had essentially laughed in her face. (Not, all that suprising.)

"Why are you here? I thought you liked being in history. You sit with the New Guy, Leo Henderson, right?" Loisa sniffed.

Cassidy handed her a piece of toilet paper to wipe her nose with.

She sighed.

She was going to spill her guts to Loisa Gars in a dirty girls bathroom.

"I needed a break. Someone said something, and I just, felt...."

"Like trash." Loisa finished.

Cassidy looked at her, suprised.

"Was it Derek?" Loisa said softly.

Cassidy jerked back.

"I like him, but I'm not stupid. He isn't nice."

"Then why do you like him?" Cassidy blurted, asking the question that she'd been dying to since day 1.

"He isn't nice. I'm smart enough to see that. I love science. I'm a smart person. But even when he's manipulating others. Even when he's an ass. He's so smart. Everything he does is intelligent. And he wishes that he didn't have it, but I can see how smart he is. It isn't what his parents want. He's a jock, and he does every sport he can, but.... when he says things. I can hear it. The intelligent part of him." Loisa whispered.

"And I know what that feels like. Keeping up appearances. Hiding how smart you are. Hiding what the world doesn't understand." Loisa finished, her  fingers subconsciously reaching up to her face, painted artfully in makeup.

Cassidy thought back to the bitter interactions that she'd had with Derek.

And... she did a double take.

"Its strange." Loisa chuckled. "If he could get away from the people that are trying him down, he would be free."

"Just like the rest of us." Cassidy breathed, and her whole mind lurched.

Because that made Derek human.

That made him just like her.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket.

Her dad.

He wasn't going to be home for dinner, and was asking her to make it.

Cassidy didn't realize that Loisa could read her screen, and the earlier texts.

"Hey, do you need a ride?"

Cassidy stared at her.

"Oh, right. My dad. Um, I was just going to walk home after school."

"Where do you live?" Loisa asked.

"Sunridge." Cassidy admitted.

"Sunridge? You were planning on walking that?"

Cassidy nodded.

"Do you mind staying after for a couple of hours?"

"Um, no? Do you need something?" Cassidy was confused.

"Great. If you can stick around, I have practice, and then I can drive you home. If you don't mind." Loisa declared.

"Oh, it's okay. I walk home a lot." Cassidy assured her.

Loisa frowned.

"That's okay, but it isn't great. If you ever need a ride, we love having company."

"We?"

"The Marching Band kids." Loisa grinned, her face lighting up.

"You're in band?" Cassidy sputtered.

Then she realized how ridiculously judgy that sounded.

But Loisa just laughed.

"Yeah, I play trumpet. It's a great time. You can hang out this afternoon and come see, and then I can drive you home. Deal?" Loisa offered.

Cassidy tucked her phone away and wrapped her arm back around Loisa.

"Deal."