“Are you Ryan Ace?”

Ryan looked up from the page he had been illustrating. A girl in sweats was standing beside the table he was using. She watched him expectantly.

He nodded slowly. He didn’t know who this girl was.

Her expression turned to one of relief. “Oh, good.” She started digging in her bag.

Was she going to serve him with lawsuit papers? What had he done that would cause someone to sue him? He looked back at his work. It was all original, he was sure of that. At least, he was pretty sure. Had his research failed to turn something up?

“I have a class with your sister. I borrowed this from her. Can you give it back to her?”

Ryan looked up again. The girl was holding a book out to him. ‘Much Ado About Nothing’? One of Luna’s books. He wasn’t being sued.

He nodded again and took the book, being extra careful since it didn’t belong to him.

“Thanks. Oh, and tell her I can’t wait to see her film.”

Once again, Ryan nodded. The girl waved and jogged out of the room. Ryan was left alone at the table.

He sighed with relief. He pulled out his phone and quickly texted Luna to let her know he had her book. Then his attention was allowed to return to his illustration.

“That your girlfriend?” One of the other students had crossed the room. He leaned against the table casually, causing Ryan’s pencil to roll away from him.

Ryan looked up at the other boy, but he didn’t know him. He was aware that most of the people who met in this room were part of an unofficial club. They had asked him if he wanted to join, something about needing another member to become official, but he had declined. Now they just sort of co-existed.

“She’s cute.” The other boy was looking at the door. “I can definitely appreciate a girl who doesn’t feel the need to dress up before leaving the house. How did you land her?”

When Ryan didn’t answer, the boy turned to look at him. He was met by Ryan holding out his cell phone. Confused, he squinted at the screen.

Ryan waited while he read the words ‘she’s not my girlfriend’.

He knew the boy had finished reading when his eyes started to bounce between Ryan and the phone screen. Ryan calmly locked the phone and set it down.

“Uh, right.” Discomfort was clear in the boy’s voice, and he stopped leaning against the table. “What would a girl like that be doing with a mute like you.”

Ryan ignored the jibe. The boy left, and he finally got back to his work. He had to redraw the entire final confrontation to match his new script. He would be there for a while.

* * *

He met Luna at the bus station beside the school. She was late, as usual, and he was left shifting his weight awkwardly and trying to avoid any contact with the crowds of people heading home for the day. He hated rush hour.

“Ry!” He looked up, relieved to finally see Luna pushing her way through the crowd.

Then his relief was washed away by a wave of cold dread. Luna wasn’t alone. There was a boy following her through the crowd. When both Luna and the boy stopped right in front of him, Ryan edged back. The boy was taller and probably slightly older than him, two things that made him uncomfortable.

The stranger chuckled. “Man, you look like you were just stopped by the cops while smuggling drugs.”

Ryan shook his head wildly. He glanced around, wondering how many people had heard the comment. Would they think it was true? Would they think he was a drug dealer? He wasn’t! But how could he tell them that?

“Hey.” Luna’s hand landed on his shoulder. “You said you had something of mine?”

He met her calm eyes. Right. That’s why he was here. He fumbled with her book and held it out to her.

“Thanks.” She was still looking at him. She was in big sister mode, which, right now, he apricated. “You okay to get home on your own?”

He nodded. He knew that if he asked her to, she would drop any plans she had to take him home. Just knowing that made him feel not alone, which gave him the strength to walk home alone.

“I’ll bring home some dinner for you, so don’t worry about cooking.” She gave his shoulder a squeeze before letting him go.

He waved quickly, and then took off.