Cole skipped fourth period the next day. He knew it in his heart that he couldn't sit next to Noah for an hour without punching him in the face or ripping out his throat. He'd crossed the line and Cole wasn't going to speak to him. If they both failed the assignment then so be it. That's what Noah got for being such a dickhead. Cole smoothed out his green and blue flannel shirt, trying to occupy himself while Paul got changed. Leaning against the gym wall, Cole tapped away on his phone, reading through tweets. He glared when he saw Noah's name on his feed. For a moment he was confused. He didn't follow the boy. It finally sank in that Emma, a girl he did follow, had retweeted him. Guess who was going to catch the unfollow next.

"Ready," Cole heard a voice say. He looked up from his phone and smiled at Paul. Normally they would have shared a quick bro hug, but Paul's umber skin gleamed with sweat. As much as Cole loved the guy, there was no way he was going to touch his sweat. He hated touching his own sweat. Paul met his eyes and sensed something was wrong. "What's up, man?"

"Noah," he muttered, pushing off the wall and heading towards the double doors. He held it open for Paul.

"Who?" Cole scolded himself. He hadn't even told Naomi about Noah, so why did he expect Paul to know?

"He's this guy I... I know personally."

"Euphemism?" Paul asked, adjusting his grey t-shirt. The front had gotten tucked into his pants and he hadn't realized it until now.

"Yeah. During the summer, some shit went down, and... yeah."

"So do we need to fight him?" he asked, his lips pulling into a half-smile.

"As much as I want to, I don't think so. Someone else will kick his ass. Eventually."

"That's a shame, man. I've been doing that Insanity program. It's working like magic. I'd show you my abs, but I don't want you to fall in love with me." Cole scoffed and rolled his eyes. Little did Paul know that he'd been Cole's first crush. That was another story that he hadn't told Naomi.

"I know your personality, Paulie. Trust me, I won't fall in love with you." The two laughed as they exited the building. The weather outside was the perfect temperature. No higher than seventy degrees with a slight breeze that ruffled Cole's hair. He spotted the other boy looking him up and down and he made a face. "What?"

"Nothing," Paul replied, judgment clearly in his voice.

"What?!" Cole insisted.

"Well... How can you wear that?" Cole looked down at his outfit and shrugged. He had on a pair of coral-colored jeans and tan shoes.

"I see nothing wrong with it."

"Colored pants are weird. And only losers wear Sperry's."

"Yeah, okay, FUBU," Cole retorted, shooting a smirk at Paul. The boy laughed loudly, hitting Cole on the back.

"Shit, I haven't heard of FUBU in years, man!" Satisfied with his own joke, Cole let out a small laugh. "You driving? Or am I?"

"You do it. I don't think my ride'll make it past my house."

"Alright, that works for me. Your ride is shitty anyways."

"Thank you," Cole grinned, following Paul to his car. The dull green Civic was old itself, but compared to what it had looked like before Paul fixed it up, this version was a Ferrari. The two of them quickly climbed inside the vehicle, eager to get out of the parking lot. Because of the fact that they were skipping, there was no traffic, and they were easily on the road in less than a minute. Paul flipped on the radio, drumming his fingers in the dashboard. Cole began singing along, his hand over his chest dramatically. Paul glanced at him and grinned, bobbing his head to the beat.

"So, what are we eating?" Paul asked after the song ended. Cole thought for a moment, going through each restaurant in his mind. There were plenty of fast food options, but none of them sounded appealing.

"Burger King?"

"Fine by me. That's close, too, because I'm about to run out of gas."

"You'll get plenty of gas from BK," Cole said with a smile.

Five minutes later, the two were parked outside of the fast food restaurant. Cole hopped out of the vehicle and closed the door with his leg. That had been something he'd been practicing for a while now. It had no real use other than to make him look just a bit cooler, and that was completely okay with him. A blast of cold air hit Paul and Cole as they opened the door. "I'll go pick a table, you go get us Whoppers," Cole replied. Paul shrugged and headed towards the front counter. He scanned over the room for a good seat when he heard the familiar laugh of Noah. "Shit."

"What?" Paul asked. He turned around to look for whatever had upset his friend. Cole shook his head in disbelief.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he complained. Noah glanced to the right, meeting Cole's eyes. He smiled and waved a French fry in his direction. Cole turned back to Paul, counting back from ten. "Can we leave?"

"What? Why?"

"Because the devil is sitting over there eating a cheeseburger."

"Who?" Paul asked. Completely lost he looked around, trying to figure out who this 'devil' was. Cole punched him in the arm. "Dude, what the fuck?" he snapped.

"Sorry! But stop making it obvious! That asshole I was telling you about earlier? He's over there with his friends." Paul made a nonchalant glance behind Cole and nodded.

"Okay, I see him. But we can't go anywhere else. I barely have enough gas to make it back to school and then home."

Cole sighed and stared at the ground. He didn't want to stay, but he didn't want to burn up all of Paul's gas. The guy barely made enough at the movie theater to pay the car payments, let alone drive him places. And Cole had no job to pay him back for gas... Why couldn't Noah just jump off a bridge so Cole never had to see him again? He could drown for all he cared. As long as he didn't have to see him anymore. It was a horrible thought but it made him feel better.

"Fine. We can stay. But can we eat in the car? Or at school?"

"Sure. Thank you, man," said Paul. Cole shrugged and followed his friend to the counter. When they received the cups from the cashier, Cole took it upon himself to get the drinks. No matter where they ate, he, Naomi, and Paul always got the same thing. It was a combination of Mountain Dew, Coke, and root beer. They called it Coke Mountain's Beer. Cole filled both cups with equal parts of the drinks. He turned to smile at Paul, who had walked to the machine. Noah smiled back at him instead of his friend. Cole dropped his smile and placed the lids on each cup.

"You didn't wave back at me. Really hurt my feelings, Cole," Noah purred in his ear. Cold shouldered him away.

"I don't care."

"You don't?"

"You're slow, I take it. Let me put it this way: if you were on fire, I wouldn't even give piss on you to put it out."

"Mm, kinky," Noah grinned refilling his cup with Dr. Pepper. "Honestly, I'm surprised you don't have a boyfriend. You sure are charming."

"I'm sure you'll get a good guy, too. I hear people love being followed."

"Well, you more than anyone would know about not letting someone go, wouldn't you?"

"Fuck you, Noah."

"You already did! That's the funny part about this whole situation! If I remember correctly, you weren't this hostile when you were begging for me to fuck you harder." Cole popped the lid off his cup and threw the drink Noah's face. "God damn it!" Noah yelled, shoving Cole back. Paul was instantly at his side, keeping his friend from falling.

"Hey, hey, back off!" Paul yelled.

"Back off!? He fucking threw a drink in my face," Noah shot back, wiping his eyes. They stung like hell.

"You fucking deserved it!" Cole said. Before anything else could happen, the manager came running from the back, pointing at the door.

"Out, all of you."

Paul looked at the man. "But -"

"Get out before I call the police." The man's hard brown eyes burned holes in them. Noah huffed and stormed out of the door to his left, his friends hopping up and following him. They all glared at Cole and Paul. Once they were all gone, Paul looked at the manager.

"I'm so sorry. We won't be trouble again," Paul said quickly. The manager nodded but still looked skeptical.

"Please just take your food and leave," was all the man said back before disappearing into the back once more. Paul glared at Cole and instructed him to refill the cup. Without saying a word, he made another Coke Mountain's Beer and waited by the door. Paul paid, and together, they made their way back into his car.

"What the hell was that?" Paul asked as calmly as possible. Cole shrugged and looked at the floor of his vehicle.

"He pissed me off."

"And!? You can't just go around throwing shit at people who make you mad."

"Why not!?"

"Because you get kicked out of places when you do! You look like a fool in public! You embarrass every single person around you!" Cole's heart pounded, and he tried to find a fault in Paul's logic. There was no justification for his actions, and he knew it.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I let him get to me. Again."

"Again? What did you do last time?"

Cole chewed on his bottom lip.

"I threw a clock at him. He kept bringing up old shit."

"Like what?" Paul dug into his bag and pulled out his burger. The paper wrapped around it crinkled loudly.

"Like about this guy who he knows he shouldn't talk about."

"Jesus, what did you do last summer?"

"A lot. Which is why I don't want to talk about it..."

"Then we won't talk about it. But shit, man..." Cole stared out of the window while he ate his fries. There was an awkward silence before Paul started up his car.

"I'm sorry, Paul," Cole said quietly. Disappointing his friends made him feel almost worthless, and at this point he felt like a penny; dirty and without much value.

"It's okay, man. Fuck him, alright? If it helps any... I bet he had a small dick." Cole cracked a smile despite himself.