Apart from the fact that I spent the entirety of my maths lesson and all of lunch doing my best not to stare too much at Leroy and failing miserably, the rest of the day was quite good.

Most of the students seemed to be in high spirits, excited about the party that night. Some of them had even brought balloons to school in celebration. Many of them tried to give them to me, which I found very hard to decline. By the end of the day, I had several tied to my bag.

One thing that wasn't as good as the rest of the day was not being able to avoid Donny throughout it. Sadly, Andy hadn't gotten to him, and I had to deal with him. The good news was, I didn't get my face punched in. Blaire was currently asking all about the encounter as we leant up against my car out front of Blaire's house while we waited for the all-clear from Bradly for my birthday party.

"He really doesn't like you." Blaire let out a laugh as she tried to get more comfortable against my car, though kept her eyes on me.

"It's not a secret," I mumbled, sliding my back left and right across my car, trying to keep warm.

"Is there a reason?" Blaire asked, propping herself up on her elbow.

"I rejected his sister." I chuckled, but I could feel my face heating up.

"Oh, still that? I thought he would have gotten over that. It's been, like, two years."

"Yeah, I'm not that lucky." I pushed off my car and hoped the cold air would be a good excuse as to why my face was red.

"Why'd you say no again? She's pretty."

Mentally, I was screaming. The conversation that was circling was simultaneously one that I wanted to have and one that I wanted to avoid at all costs. Was I going to tell Blaire the real reason? No. I wanted to, more than anything, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"She wasn't my type," I responded, shrugging. "And I didn't say no. We dated for a day. Then I said no."

It wasn't a lie per se, as, technically, she wasn't my type—mainly, because she lacked a particular pronoun.

"That pissed Donny off?" Blaire questioned with a chuckle, and I nodded.

"Yeah, apparently it upset her a little bit."

"Ah, Pete. Such a heartbreaker." Blaire's chuckle turned into a laugh, and I leaned back up against my car.

"Oh, yeah. That's me for sure. Honestly, I don't even know why Donny holds such a grudge. His sister doesn't even care anymore."

"How do you know that?"

"I've seen her at school, and she occasionally will still say hey," I answered Blaire's question with a shrug. "I think she's got a boyfriend now."

Blaire hummed slightly before we both fell silent. I felt as though Blaire was thinking a few things over, and I couldn't help but hope she didn't start asking questions about my dating life. It was bad enough I had lied to Andy and Leroy about liking Blaire, I didn't need to spin another lie to her.

Thankfully, saving me from the possible onslaught of new questions, was my parent's car pulling up beside mine.

"All right, everything is set," Bradly's voice drifted to my ears as he stepped out of the car.

"You could have just texted," I said, and he shrugged.

"He wanted to wish you a happy birthday in person," my mum said, rolling down the driver's side window, and I saw my dad lean across the front seat to look at me out the window.

"She means dad." Brad rolled his eyes, leaning up against my parent's car.

"While that is true, and a happy birthday, son, Brad also didn't want to leave without saying it."

"I thought you'd be at the party?" Blaire asked, and Brad shrugged again.

"Don't give him ideas," I whispered harshly to Blaire, who gave me a small push.

"Don't worry about him, honey. Brad's still freaking out about this audition," Mum chimed in, and Brad groaned.

"Mum!"

"Oh, yeah. Have you decided about that yet?" I asked, rubbing my hands together, trying to warm up.

"Not yet. I have, like, two months before the audition, so I have some time to figure it out."

"I still think it'd be a wasted opportunity if you don't at least try," my mum said knowingly, and Bradly nodded before glancing over at me as if he was reliving the conversation we'd had that morning.

"Look on the bright side. You may not even get into the show," I chipped in, shooting a smile at Bradly, who gave a slight smile back.

"Peter!" My dad gave me what I could only describe as a 'what-the-fuck look'.

"What?" I questioned, still smiling at Bradly. "If he goes to the audition and fails, he can at least say that he tried."

"And if he gets it?" My mother inquired.

"All right, let's not get ahead of ourselves," I joked, causing Blaire and Bradly to laugh, and my parents to scold me.

"Be supportive, Peter," my father gave me a stern look, though I could see a smile playing on his lips.

"I was supportive this morning, you all just missed it," I defended.

"Actually, Pete, I wanted to talk to you for a second," Bradly asked suddenly, taking a few steps away from our parent's car.

"Uh, sure?" I raised my eyebrows at him and moved toward him.

"Just be quick. People will be arriving at the house soon, and Pete needs to get there."

"We have to wait for the dumbasses, anyway," Blaire said with a shrug.

"We'll be quick," I said, and Bradly guided me a little further away from the two cars.

"So, uh, what you said this morning..." Brad started, trailing off, and I glanced back toward Blaire and my parents who were in idle conversation.

"I said not to mention that," I said, turning back toward Bradly, who smiled.

"You mentioned it just then, so I thought it'd be okay."

"Ugh, whatever. What about it?" I asked, slowly swaying on the spot. Why was it so cold? It wasn't even winter anymore.

"I just... do you really think I should go for it?" Bradly's eyes looked as though they were pleading.

Pleading for an answer, and I could tell Bradly needed that answer more urgently than he let on. Not because of a deadline, but because he didn't want to feel the uncertainty anymore.

I understood that more than anyone.

"Look, Brad. The way I see it is, you don't have anything to lose. If you don't get it, nothing changes. Yeah, you might be bummed out by it, but you'll move on. You're a big boy. You'll get over it. But if you get it..." I trailed off, not so much because I didn't know what to say, but because I liked the drama that came with it. Before I could finish what I was saying, however, Bradly finished it for me.

"I'll be pursuing my dream."

"I mean... that wasn't what I was going to say, but basically, yeah."

We both stood in silence for a moment before Bradly gave me a small smile and nodded.

"All right, thanks, Pete. We don't speak of this again?"

"Never." I nodded and turned away from him.

"Don't do anything stupid tonight."

"I'm not an idiot like you. I'll be fine." I gave Brad one more smile as he shook his head.

"Have fun."

"Thanks, Brad."

With a small nod, Bradly walked back to our parent's car and slipped into the back seat. With a few waves, my family drove away and rounded the corner, and Brad's words echoed in my mind.

"God, I hope I don't do anything stupid."