**

The Moon sees the Sun

Always bigger, bolder, bright

Their orbits collide

**

Emilio Pérez showed up late to class. The only open seat was beside me, but oddly enough he didn’t cringe at that realization. He walked up with a thin, drained smile plastered across his face. His eyes are red, I noted passively. 

“Hey, I’m sorry.” It took me a moment to realize he was talking to me. 

“What?”

“It was douchey of me to call you that, not to mention insensitive.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Emilio, athletic, brainiac Emilio, was apologizing to me? 

“Emilio…”

“Emil. You can just call me Emil.” 

What the hell?

“Oh, ok.” 

“Emilio Pérez!” A booming voice we’d both been tuning out shouted from the front of the classroom. Mr. Kinsley, the Badger himself. 

“Nice of you to join us! It’s not like you to be late. What, got permission from an imposter student council president or something?” The class chuckled, Emilio looked confused, and I turned as red as a stop sign. I should’ve known that excuse wouldn’t work.

“I’ll let it slide, but just this once Pérez. I don’t tolerate tardiness in my class.” 

As he droned on I tuned him out again, slipping into the deep pool of my own thoughts. Though I was soon fished out by another, far less demeaning voice. 

“What did he mean by ‘fake student council president’?” Emilio, Emil whispered, green eyes flashing under his dense brows. 

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.” I tried to sway his attention in an attempt to avoid further embarrassment. 

“But I thought Daphne Halloway was the student council president?” I looked up at that, forcing my eyes to meet his. 

“She is. At least, I thought so anyway.” 

The rest of the class slipped by faster than it ever had before, and in better company than I’d had in months. The way Emil leaned over to whisper banter, usually at the expense of Mr. Kinsley, painfully reminded me of Rachel. They shared the same aura of firm, false confidence. But their similarities were superficial at best. Her eyes were more mischievous, while his were sincere. She was relentlessly stubborn, he seemed to question every word he scribbled into his notebook. I’m sure he caught me staring every now and then, but he really didn’t seem to mind. By the time class was over, and we’d completed our lab work, I’d almost forgotten about Kinsley’s relentless teasing in favor of the boy occupying the usually empty seat beside me. That is, until the boy himself brought it back to my attention. 

“Okay, what Kinsley said doesn’t make any sense. Daphne didn’t seem like a liar, though I can’t say I know her well.”

“Me neither,” I agreed.

“Well, then why don’t we ask?”

“What do you mean?” Before I could even finish the question, Emil shoved his supplies in his bag, stood, and began wading his way through the stream of people meandering toward the door. I scrambled to do the same, though I’m sure I looked far less confident doing so, like a salmon struggling up the stream of bustling bodies. 

“Hey, Mr. Kinsley. Sorry again for being late, but uh, I have a question.” 

“Is it about what to do with the beakers? I tell you guys every class to just rinse them out.”” 

“Uh no, it’s about what you said earlier. About the ‘fake’ student council president or whatever.” Mr. Kinsley glanced over at me with blatant condescension, and I felt my ears grow hot. Rachel had been his favorite student, fluent in chemistry like it was a second language. 

“Oh, that. I’m surprised you don’t know this, Mr. Pérez, but the student council was disbanded years ago because, well, a few reasons but mostly because they really didn’t have anything to do after we stopped hosting the Fall Festival. You boys weren’t even here back then. The fall festival was…”

“A festival, in the fall?” Emil concluded, I couldn’t help the cluck of laughter that escaped my lips. 

“Correct. Anyway, they were replaced by the Disciplinary Committee a good couple years ago. They handle…” 

“Disciplinary stuff?” Emil concluded once again. 

“Well, yes. Anyhow, you two should be getting to class. I don’t believe your transcript can tolerate any more absences, Mr. Radley.” I blushed again as he acknowledged me, hardly attempting to hide his disdain. 

“Yeah, he’s right, come on Seth,” Emil agreed, grabbing my arm and pulling me out the door. 

“Look, I’ve actually got to get to class,” he admitted, glancing at the analog clock around his wrist. It looked like an antique. Family heirloom maybe?  “But now I’m curious. Why would Daph say she was on student council if it doesn’t exist anymore?”

“Maybe she meant the Disciplinary Committee,” I suggested.

“Nah, nah that can’t be it.” Emil stood there for a moment, his green eyes hooded in thought. They were deep, thoughtful, but objectively not as cool as Daphne’s. 

“How about this, we’ll meet after school tomorrow to figure it out. I can’t today because I’ve got soccer practice and homework.” He took a deep breath. “Anyway, sound like a plan?” 

It took me a moment to register that he was asking to hang out, something I hadn’t been asked to do in nearly a year. I was about to decline, find some lame excuse to mumble before inevitably never talking to him again, but something caused me to hesitate. Something seems weird. 

“What if she doesn’t want us to know? Like, maybe she said she was on student council to seem cool or something?” I asked, twisting my bracelet anxiously. 

“Come on, Seth. I doubt you have anything better to do. It’s like a mystery or something. It’ll be interesting. And if it does turn out she’s just lying to seem more popular, I’ll give you, I don’t know, I’ll give you something. Ten bucks, twenty even.” 

“Ok, ok, alright I’ll do it. You don’t have to give me anything because, well, because it actually sounds kinda fun.” A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.