Raine had decided that Noah Santiago was avoiding him. Which was irritating. Mostly because Raine had also been avoiding Noah Santiago. There were rules to mutual avoidance. One person could not suddenly become better at it. That was rude.

Raine sat beside Maya during first period with his chin resting against one fist, pretending to read something about the legislative branch while very deliberately not looking three rows over. Noah was there. Probably. Raine wouldn't know. He hadn't checked. Except twice. Maybe four times. Five, technically, but one of those had been accidental because Mr. Hollis had walked across the room and Raine's eyes had naturally followed movement.

That did not count. Maya turned a page. Raine stared at the same paragraph he had been pretending to read for six minutes. Maya turned another page. Raine tapped his pencil. Once. Twice. Three times. Maya sighed.

"If you stare any harder, he's going to catch fire."

Raine's pencil stopped.

"I'm reading."

"You're holding your government textbook."

"Yes."

"Upside down."

Raine looked. It was not upside down. He turned slowly toward her. Maya smiled.

"You checked."

"I hate you."

"No, you don't."

"Current evidence suggests otherwise."

Maya looked across the classroom. Raine grabbed her sleeve.

"Don't."

"What?"

"You know what."

"I was looking at the clock."

"There's a clock above the board."

"I prefer that one."

"There is no other clock."

"Interesting."

"Maya."

She grinned. Raine let go. He looked back at his book. His phone buzzed beneath the desk. His stomach did something profoundly embarrassing. Raine immediately hated himself. He glanced down.

MOM.

Not Noah. Obviously. Why would Noah text him? They had seen each other approximately forty-five minutes ago. That would be ridiculous. Raine unlocked the phone.

Mom: 'Come home immediately after school'

His stomach tightened. No explanation. No punctuation. Usually bad. He typed:

'why'

Three dots appeared. Stopped. Appeared again. Then disappeared. Nothing. Raine stared at the screen. Maya noticed. Her teasing expression faded.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Lie. She looked at him. Raine locked his phone.

"My mom."

Maya waited. Raine appreciated that. He didn't say anything else. Neither did she. Across the classroom, Noah looked over. Raine noticed. Of course he fucking noticed. Their eyes met. Noah looked away first. Raine's jaw tightened. Fine. Whatever. Good. He looked at his textbook. The legislative branch continued existing despite his personal suffering. Inconsiderate.