Quin looked at the new kid with a scowl screwed along his face.

This new kid, Xex, was driving him insane. He remembered him from that night and exactly how he was but now… he was trying too hard to be nice. Way too hard. 

He was nice to even Ges, who you took one look at and could tell. 

Be too nice to her, and she’d fall for you. Or as G called her, a Chiyo Yumehara.

He didn’t know what that meant, but it fit suspiciously well.

G leaned up against him on the wall. Xex grabbed something out of his locker with a frown on his face. He saw G and clearly forced a smile. He buried his face back in the locker.

G sighed, and even bothered to take out her headphones to talk to Quin.

“You know what he is, right?” 

Quin glared into her eyes.

“He’s a Forget Her mixed with a Fujisaki Tooru, Quin.” she grabbed his shoulders with her deathly grip. “A Forget Her mixed with a Fujisaki Tooru, Quin.” He sighed and pushed G off him. 

“Jesus, I get it.” his eyes found Xex again and he frowned. He couldn’t help but be… jealous of whoever he liked, for some reason. 

“Just be careful, Quin.” G patted his shoulder and walked off. 

Why was he jealous of whoever Xex liked? It's not like they were friends, in fact, he thought Xex hated him. 

But still, he wanted to be who Xex liked. Even though G said that Forget Her mixed with a Fujisaki Tooru's, (FHFT), sometimes became a Fujisaki Tooru. He knew this but…

Maybe their hook up was messing with his mind. Yeah, that was it. He just wanted to have sex with him again, yeah.

 《●》

Xex had fallen into a pattern.

Every day at lunch, he'd hide behind the outside door, and stare at Quin. He didn't know why. In fact, he'd rather eat lunch outside. But nevertheless, every day, same thing.

He'd noticed some things though.

Firstly, this girl named G would sit with him sometimes. She was scary. The first time Xex met her, she looked at him like she knew all his secrets. And he was most certain she knew he was behind that door. That's what really scared him.

But he'd also noticed the way that Quin always slammed his lunchbox down before he sat, the way he smiled as he ate. The way he licked his lips while concentrating, the way he sighed when he picked up his phone, and the way his eyes gave away too much to tell.

 He saw it all, and he hated it. Because he hated Quin.

He hated the way his smile paralyzed him, he hated his brown eyes. He even hated what he did with those hands of his. He hated it so much that every time he thought of it, he blushed from rage.

Xex sighed. He needed to do more productive things. Like making his locker his own. So far all he had in there was a picture of his old dog, and that was it. He wanted to add something he loved more, something personal.

And the first thought in his mind was Quin. And he didn't think twice. 

 《○》

"Cherries?" Ms. Baca held out a bowl of cherries in front of G. G bit the stem off of a cherry and ate it. She immediately went back to scribbling in her sketchbook.

"Gee Geh, ya really like drawin'!" G looked up and shrugged. She wouldn't call it a drawing.

"Can I see it?"

G held up her sketchbook and showed Ms. Baca two pages of a beautiful landscape. It was a setting of a beautiful green landscape in Norway, with a man standing in the corner. He had a pickaxe resting on his shoulder.

"This is just a sketch though. And I have yet to blend the sky." 

Ms. Baca stared. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. 

"Geh, that's a beaut." G shrugged. 

"As I said, it's just a sketch."

"When yer done, may I hang it up?"

G nodded.

"It's not like I'll need it after I paint it."

G closed her sketchbook.

"Anyways, let's get to what I wanted to talk about."

Ms. Baca leaned over the table menacingly.

"So, what is it ya wanna talk about?"

"Xex."

"Oh, the sweet new boy? What so bad 'bout him?"

"I just want to know what you think about him."

Ms. Baca paused. "Well, he is quite nice. But the way he looks at Quin worries me."

"Yeah, that worries me too."

"Should we..?"

"No, he won't listen."

Ms. Baca sighed and pinched her nose. "Of course he won't, the stubborn shit."

 《●》

Back at Guemedos, just like every Friday. It could be boring at times. But not today.

Nothing had changed, the room was empty, everything was red and white, and the air still smelled of chocolate. But on the left wall was a white sheet. When Quin ask Guemedo about it, he said:

"I'm thinking of putting something there. Like a stage, or an art exhibit. But if I put a stage there, the pastor is sure to bring his sermons here!" He said with a smile.

It was Friday, so business would start booming again. First came the freshman, then came the families. Then came the sophomores, then the seniors (they helped a few, of course.), then the juniors, then the couples, then the seniors, and lastly, the nuns and pope.

As was custom every Friday, Quin was going to help buss tables and G was to take orders. They didn't mind doing this, and never asked for pay. But today Guemedo waved them off.

"You can do it, but wait for the new kid first."

The two just stood there in shock. What did he mean? Was he going to give their job to Xex?

G slammed her hands on the table. "You can't give my job to that kid, I won't let you!"

Guemedo waved his hands. "Don't worry Ga-, G, I won't give him your job. It's really more about Quin's job." Quin quietly said "hey!" 

"But for the sake of formality, you should just wait to work."

G crossed her arms and stared out the window, pretty much willing Xex to appear so she could do her job. After 10 minutes or so, she got impatient.

"He's not going to show up, let me work!"

"G, hold it. I will look for him, you and Quin stay here."

She sighed. "Fine."

Guemedo walked around the counter and grabbed his jacket, quieting the room. He rarely left, and in the years he had been living here, he'd never left with customers being served.

"I will be back soon." Guemedo said. Simple, but got the point across. 

He walked across the room and people started talking again. No need to let a historical moment ruin your dinner.

Guemedo's boots scraped the dirt as he walked down the road. Even when it was concrete, there was dirt. One time, Ogla grew a plant smack dab in the middle of the road.

It was still there, except old and droopy. No one had taken care of it since Ogla died. Guemedo smiled and continued on past the plant, to the gas station.

In front of the station was a young man with shoulder length dark hair and a leather jacket sat against a motorcycle with his head between his knees. 

Guemedo kneeled down next to him.

"Are you ok?"

The man raised his head with tears in his eyes. He took one look at Guemedo and lowered his head.

"You know, everyone is at the Pop Shoppe at this time."

The man nodded. "You should join them, I think you'd have a lot of fun." Guemedo said. He sat down next to the man now.

"Is Quin there?" He asked. Guemedo sighed. "Then I don't wanna be there." The man growled.

Guemedo rustled around his jacket. He pulled out a piece of bread, nothing special at all.

"What's that?"

"It is bread."

"Why are you offering it to me?"

Guemedo said nothing in response. The man took it with a growl and tore it open, taking a big bite out of it.

"You didn't seem to hate Quin earlier."

"Yeah well that was earlier."

"So I made a note not to check his house for nothing?"

The man blushed. "No…"

"You need a place to stay." Guemedo said, freezing the man in his place.

"I have one."

"You're a bad liar."

"Well I don't need to stay with you."

"Would you rather stay with Quin?"

That settled it. The man stood up and kicked up the kickstand on his motorcycle. "So you run Guemedo's, right?"