Cole glanced up when he noticed the sudden shadow standing over his phone, beaming when he then found that the person was Kyle. The two of them had been growing much closer in the past few months. They already were becoming close friends when Kyle offered to train him, and since then their relationship has only grown. Cole had thanked Kyle before for his help and celebrated with him when Cole's mother had commented on the weight that Cole had lost. 

It was not a very encouraging comment. Hearing, "At least he is not completely made up of fat anymore" damaged his confidence even more than before. But the comment meant that his mother was noticing, which brought them even closer to the possibility of being home free in regards to Cole going to a boarding school. And that was the end goal.

Cole frowned when he noticed that Kyle seemed a little . . . nervous? Nervous wasn't the best way to put it. Maybe unsure worked better? Either way, Kyle did not seem comfortable and Cole now wanted to know why.

"What's wrong?" Cole asked, his wide eyes opened fully as he stared up at Kyle. Kyle's eyes widened in response and his palms started to sweat. Kyle had planned to get right to the point and tell Cole what was going on, but now he was distracted by Cole's big, grey . . .

"Your eyes," Kyle whispered airily, his stare locked onto Cole's gorgeous eyes. Cole frowned as a blush flowed into his cheeks, giving him an innocent appearance.

"What about them?" He asked with a confused pout, wiping his face as a precaution. Kyle blinked, clearing his vision so he could properly see Cole.

"Why are you-" Kyle cut himself off, suddenly remembering the instance from the morning. "Did I say that out loud?" Cole nodded, a small smile playing on his cute thin lips.

"Yeah, you did. I hope you still remember how to think, right?" Cole teased, leaning on his forearms to become closer to Kyle. Kyle shook his head, chuckling lightly to ease the worry that Cole might be feeling.

"Yeah, I hope I do," Kyle had smiled and said that to Cole, but he really believed the statement. Having this happen two times in an hour was jarring. Kyle rubbed his neck to relax, then went back to focusing on his task. "Cole, I do have to tell you something."

Cole had let his stare move back down to his phone. But at the sound of Kyle's voice, looked back up and found Kyle staring intently at him.

"I promised Angela that I would help her study for midterms. So, I wanted to tell you that until midterms are over, there will be one day a week that we can't meet up." Kyle tried to give Cole this information calmly, as adults usually do, but the words were rushed out. Cole sat still, blinking up at Kyle for a moment before a frown slowly made its way onto his face.

"Oh," Cole muttered, unable to help himself when he looked down at his desk. "Okay, then." Kyle quickly noticed Cole's mood and started to look guilty. Cole sighed. He didn't want to make Kyle feel guilty for helping out his friend, but Cole was disappointed and slightly jealous of Angela's opportunity to spend more time with Kyle. Was Cole a child for thinking so? Probably, but he couldn't help his emotions and they showed on his face without him being able to stop it.

"Cole, I really didn't-" Kyle started, attempting to apologize despite not knowing why he was apologizing. Cole shook his head.

"It doesn't matter. Go have fun studying, I won't stop you." Cole ground out spitefully. He turned back to his phone when he realized that he hadn't actually been paying attention to what he was saying. Kyle took that as his cue to leave and made his way over to his own seat.

Kyle thought that Cole would be a little bit upset, but he never expected that reaction. The situation seemed to mean more to Cole than Kyle realized and now Kyle was left wondering how he could rectify the situation.

Sighing, he leaned on his hand and waited for class to start. He would figure this out, but it would have to wait until after first period.

—————

Kyle was almost dragging his feet as he walked through the halls. He wanted to give himself as much time as possible to figure out what he would do to make Cole happier because he still had no idea. Kids went past him at twice his speed, some waving but most just aiming to make it to their next period as soon as possible.

Kyle was still walking at a snail's pace when Angela walked up to him.

"Hi, Kyle." She smiled, tilting her head slightly as she spoke. "What are you doing?" Kyle glanced down at his feet where Angela was currently looking. He was still walking very slowly and because of his height, in order to walk as slowly as he was, he could only move his feet a few inches in front of one another. Angela had noticed and Kyle looked back up at her face with a sheepish grin.

"I had been helping Cole with something every day after school for the past month or so. I told Cole about what we had planned because it would cut down on my time to help and . . . things became weird. I wanted to give myself more time to come up with a way to make things better." Kyle explained softly with a shrug. "I haven't come up with anything yet."

Angela looked down at the floor with a concentrated frown. She continued to frown as the two walked for a few moments before nodding her head.

"If it causes too much of a problem, we don't have to do it," Angela suggested, her voice unsure and a bit nervous. "I don't want to cause trouble between you and Cole." Kyle immediately shook his head.

"No, Angela I promised that I would help-"

"And you made a promise to Cole first," she shot back, shutting Kyle right back up. She took in Kyle's guilty expression and sighed. "How about this, if he seems fine with it during lunch, we can meet up to study today, if not then tell him what I told you. Your friendship is more important than helping me."

Kyle pursed his lips, closing his eyes as he thought over her offer.

"Fine," He agreed, slumping his shoulders in defeat. "But only because you suggested it." Angela smiled softly and nodded.

"Good." She smirked. "Because we're here." Kyle looked away from Angela and saw the doors to the cafeteria. The loud noise of all the students crammed into the room spilled out of the doors in waves, and Kyle sighed.

"I should have walked slower," Kyle mumbled sourly, earning a surprised laugh from Angela. Angela threw her left hand over her mouth and gave Kyle an embarrassed look. 

"You're so stupid." She frowned. Kyle grinned and Angela was only able to hold her frown for a few more moments before a smile grew on her face as well. She gave Kyle a weak slap on his shoulder and attempted to push him into the room.

"Go find your boyfriend and stop bothering me," Kyle blushed at Angela's order and frowned when he noticed her grin of triumph. Kyle tried to formulate an appropriate response that would make Angela blush as well but she had already gone over to her friends before he could.

Kyle, defeated by Angela, went over to his regular lunch table. As he expected, Cole and Neal had already gotten to the table and were having lunch. Kyle went to the bench beside Neal and slowly lowered himself onto the seat.

Cole glanced up, saw Kyle, and only gave him a small hi before going back to eating his food. Kyle felt the sting of rejection hit his heart and winced, rubbing the spot unconsciously. Neal watched the exchange with a raised brow before shrugging. 

"What took you so long?" Neal asked, shoving Kyle lightly. "I just had one of the best conversations with Cole ever because you weren't hogging him, so take a long time to come to lunch again tomorrow, alright?" Kyle growled at Neal and shoved him back.

"Shut up would you?" Kyle grumbled. Kyle couldn't stop himself from glancing at Cole. He had hoped that there would have been a small smile, brightening Cole's cool grey eyes like usual, but Cole only wore a blank expression. Kyle huffed in disappointment and pulled out his lunch. 

A few minutes of Kyle and Neal talking went past, Cole did not join in the conversation the entire time and Kyle felt his frustration start to grow. When Neal had made his third joke and Cole still hadn't laughed, Kyle was fed up.

"Look, Cole." Kyle started, his eyes narrowed and angry from irritation. Cole's eyes widened, surprised by Kyle's anger. For the entire duration of their relationship, Kyle had never, not once, been angry with him. He had barely even been irritated. So seeing it now shocked Cole to no end. "If it really bothers you so much that I want to study with Angela, then Angela and I won't. She doesn't want to be a problem for you and I don't want to deal with your pissy attitude."

Cole almost flinched at the way that Kyle spoke to him, but he didn't. He kept his gaze down at the table and didn't move.

"Wait, what do you mean by studying with Angela? What is this about?" Neal asked, chuckling in an attempt to ease the tension. Kyle bit his lip with a sigh and then, a bit reluctantly, decided to tell his nosy friend.

"This morning, Maddie suggested that I study with Angela to help her out with the midterms coming up. But it would cut into the time I spend helping Cole out." Kyle explained, his anger starting to deflate into exhaustion. "Cole hadn't seemed OK with it at all and I told Angela so she offered that we just call it off-"

"There is no need for that." Cole sighed, looking up at Kyle with a firm determination. "Since you two are so worried about my feelings, then I'll be joining you."

Kyle thought about protesting. He had no idea where this idea came from or what Cole's motives were. But it was Cole and Kyle was especially weak to Cole. Plus, Kyle could see from Cole's stubborn expression and the way that Cole sat that he had made up his mind, leaving no room for argument.

"Ok." Kyle shrugged, smiling a little at the satisfied huff that Cole released.

Neal looked back and forth between the other two boys at the table with him. They were staring at each other's eyes and making the oddest expressions. Neal rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Then I guess that's settled." Neal joked, watching his friends for some reactions. The other two boys did not spare him a glance for the comment, instead simultaneously going to eat their food.

Weird. Neal thought with a shake of his head. Teenagers in love are so weird.