The moment the bell rang, Cole was out of his chair and walking through the classroom door. He didn't want to spend another moment in the room with Noah. He kept his head down as he shouldered past other students spilling out into the halls, ignoring the shoves of people pissed at him for being rude. Daring a look over his shoulder, he saw his partner watching him walk away. Cole shook his head and hurried down the stairs to the first level of the school. Hundreds of teenagers blocked his way to the front door of the building, so he turned left and headed down hall to the back exit. Not many people used this door because it was so far away from the student parking lot, but that was irrelevant to him.

Outside, he was greeted with the warm embrace of seventy-eight degree weather. Cole took a moment to put his backpack on the ground and pull off his hoodie. Underneath he wore a green t-shirt with a picture of a sloth on the front. It just so happened to be his favorite shirt he owned. He stuffed the hoodie into his backpack and sprinted to the student parking lot, knowing there was no way he was going to beat the traffic. That didn't stop him from trying, though. He spotted his mom's minivan a few hundred yards away. By the time he reached the vehicle, there was already a line forming at the entrance. He sighed and threw his bag in the back, hopping into the comfy seat up front.

He sat back in the driver's seat and pulled out his cellphone, responding to a few missed texts he'd received last period. Paul wanted to know who Cole's recent tweet was about, and Naomi was concerned only about when they were going to hang out again. He told Paul that it was his asshole of a partner in parenting and Naomi that they could hang out tonight if she wanted to. He had an entire oven pizza in the freezer, a fresh jar of Nutella in the pantry, and enough Coke to fill his swimming pool. She instantly responded with the time she'd come over and six emoticons. Er, seven, Cole determined after counting again. Approximately six minutes had passed since he'd gotten in his van, so he figured he might as well get home before lunch was over.

Cole turned the keys in the ignition, quickly turning down the hardcore rap that blazed the moment the vehicle turned on. He adjusted his mirrors, slipped on his seatbelt, and began backing out just as another car moved behind him. The driver slammed on the horn and Cole's heart stopped. He'd never been in an accident, and he didn't want to start now.

"Watch where you're going, dick!" Cole heard someone shout. He rolled his eyes and let them pass before he pulled out from his parking spot. His mother's vehicle sputtered as he drove off school property, and he prayed to Flo from Progressive that he it didn't end up dying on the way home.

The rest of the day had been completely uneventful. He had a few pages to read in American History, but that could wait until tomorrow morning. Most of his assignments didn't get done (or even started) until the day they were due. Procrastination was Cole's middle name. After putting the pizza in the oven, Cole made his way into the living room to put on MTV. No, they didn't have the best shows, but he knew that Teen Mom was going to be on soon, and he and Naomi loved to make fun of the girls with babies. They even had an ongoing joke about Naomi getting pregnant so she could become famous. Just as he sat down on the couch, there were a few knocks at the front door. He groaned and stood back up, dragging his feet all the way to the door. He opened the door to his black-and-purple haired best friend. Her lavender eye shadow and silver lip ring glittered in the sunlight.

"Pizza," she said immediately. Without even waiting for him to greet her, she pushed past and headed directly to the kitchen, sights set on one thing and one thing only.

"It's still in the oven."

"Well, take it out, then."

"I mean, I just put it in," he corrected, reaching into the fridge to pull out a can of soda. Naomi glared at him then snatched it from his hand.

"You mean to tell me that you don't have pizza ready for me?"

"That's exactly what I mean, bitch. Soz," he smirked. She punched him in the arm hard, and Cole winced and moved to cower away.

"That's what you get for callin' me a bitch, bitch."

"Yeah, okay..." Cole took a pause, then muttered, "bitch," under his breath. Naomi giggled and skipped into the living room. He grabbed a bag of chips from the top of the refrigerator and followed behind her. Once on the couch, she slipped an elastic band off her arm and put her hair into a messy bun, or as she liked to call it, a 'half-assed-lazy-bitch-bun.' Cole secretly admired her hair. Her entire family was blonde, and yet here she was, her jet black locks and dark purple tips sticking out like a piece of coal surrounded by snow. She glanced at him sideways.

"What?"

"There's just... so much ugly that I can't help but stare."

"Ha! Ha! HAHAHAHA! Oh my god, you're so FUNNY, Cole!"

"Thank you, I try my -"

"Shut up," she replied, sipping Coke with a grin on her face. Cole rolled his eyes and brought his feet up under his behind, unclipping the chips. He held the bag out to Naomi and she dug around, pulling a large handful out. "Why didn't you invite Paul?"

"He has basketball practice on Wednesdays, remember?"

"Ah. He's always too busy playing with balls to hang out with us anymore."

"Don't be that way," Cole said lightly.

"Sorry. But really. He's rarely around anymore. We don't even sit together at lunch now. That was my favorite part of lunch. Besides the food, I mean," she said, crunching down hard on a taco flavored Dorito. Cole knew what she meant. Last year, the three of them sat together every day, sharing stories of stupid classmates and bogus homework assignments. Now, Paul sat with his teammates and was always busy on the weekend.

"I know... But we'll all get together one day and it'll make up for all the crappiness. I promise."

"Sure, sure," she said absently, her attention on the television. They watched with sick entertainment for ten minutes. The scene before them was a complete television tragedy. A brunette sat with a baby on her lap, crying as she held her phone to her ear. "God, she always does this. Boo, he's a dick, just dump him, oh my god!"

"She won't dump him."

"Why not?"

"Well, he's completely out of her league. She doesn't want to date someone uglier than him. I don't even think someone would date her besides him. I mean, if she did dump him, you think her new boyfriend would stay with her once he found out she was on this show?"

"That's a good point," Naomi admitted, licking her fingers clean. "I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be right back."

"Aight den."

"Stop listening to the hip hop station. You're white," she muttered on her way down the hall. Cole smiled and headed into the kitchen to check on the pizza. He peeked into the oven. About halfway done. There was the sound of a door closing outside, and he made a face. His parents didn't get off work until seven. A quick glance at the clock confirmed it was just past five. Cole walked to the door, looking through the peephole in the door. Why was Noah heading up to the door? No. Nonono, turn around. But he didn't turn around. He rang the doorbell. Cole made no movement to unlock the door, though. There was no way that he was going to talk to him unless he absolutely had to. Maybe if he pretended no one was home, Noah would go away.

"Who's that?" Naomi whispered right next to his ear. Cole jumped and made a loud noise of surprise.

"Damn it, Naomi," he whispered back angrily. She shrugged.

"I know you're home, Cole. You're Mom Van is in the driveway." Damn. Cole hadn't thought about that.

"Go away."

"C'mon, man."

"Let him in, Cole," Naomi said quietly.

"You don't know who he is. I'm not going to let him in."

"Is he a vampire?" She raised an eyebrow.

"No, but he does suck."

"That joke was lame." Naomi glanced behind him and a look of horror spread across her face. "Cole, move, there's a black widow on the wall." Cole jumped out of the way like he'd been electrocuted. He spun around to see that there was nothing on the wall. "Dumbass," Naomi replied, unlocking the front door and swinging it open.

"No -"

"Well, hello," she replied. She leaned against the door frame seductively. Cole grabbed her by the arm and yanked her back. He moved to close the door in Noah's face when the other boy's hand slammed against the door, keeping it open.

"I don't want to talk to you," Cole almost yelled.

"I don't care! I want to talk to you."

"And I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you don't grab me," Naomi jumped in, pissed off about being yanked.

"The pizza's ready," Cole replied. Naomi's demeanor changed and she headed for the kitchen. Noah watched her disappear, an eyebrow cocked up.

"Who's she?"

"Why does that matter?"

"Look. Why are you being a dick to me?" Noah asked, glaring at Cole.

"Really? Really? Wow! Okay, well, for one, you weren't invited over to my house, and yet here you are! Two, we're not friends, so stop trying to pretend like we are! And three, you can't just come back into my life and act like we didn't hook up!"

"What?" Behind Cole, Naomi stared with wide eyes. Cole glanced over his shoulder and sighed.

"Cat's out of the bag now," Noah replied.

"You slept with this guy and you didn't tell me!?" Naomi yelled.

"I'm sorry! But trust me, it wasn't worth talking about!"

"Oh please, this dick is legendary," said Noah.

"It was your first time," Naomi said quickly, cutting off Cole's remark about Noah's package. "How could you not tell me?"

"I'm sorry! I'll tell you everything as soon as Noah leaves."

"I'm not leaving until we talk," Noah replied.

"We're not talking!"

"Then I'm not leaving." Noah crossed his arms and put his foot in the doorframe. Naomi had her hands on her hips, staring at both of the boys with a cross look on her face. Cole's knuckles were white from holding the doorknob so tight. They all stared at each other for a moment before Cole flung the door open.

"Fine! C'mon on in, man! Make yourself at home!"

"Thank you," Noah said with a satisfied look on his face. He entered the home and closed the door behind him. Naomi grabbed Cole by the arm roughly, tossing Noah a friendly smile.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Why didn't you tell me about this guy?" she asked him once she yanked him to the side.

"He's nobody, that's why."

"The way you're acting right now leads me to believe you're lying to me, and I don't like liars."

"I'm not lying!" Naomi grabbed his nipple through his t-shirt. She twisted hard to the left. "Okay! Okay! Stop!" Cole cried, slapping her hand away.

"Spill."

"I'll tell you after I talk to him, okay? I don't want him here any longer than he has to be." Naomi stared at him for a minute, deciding if he could be trusted now. After some thinking, she nodded.

"Hurry up."

Cole found Noah staring at his father's artwork hanging up in the foyer. He scratched the back of his head as he moved from picture to picture. He didn't look confused, though. It was as if he was just quietly absorbing all the information from the pictures. He turned around, sensing someone was behind him. "Creep," he said with a smirk.

"Yeah, well. Come upstairs with me?"

"Now? With company downstairs? My, you dirty slut," he teased.

"Shut up," was all Cole said before pushing past him and climbing the staircase. He could hear the soft carpeted thuds of another set of feet following him. His bedroom was the first room on the right of the long hallway. Noah took a moment to look around his room. Cole waited on the bed, staring the other boy down.

"You like Harry Potter?" Noah asked, jerking his head to the minimalist posters he'd gotten for a past birthday.

"I had a childhood, yes," Cole replied. Instead of the snarky response he expected back, Noah simply smiled. Not a smirk. A lopsided, close-mouthed smile. Cole looked away, unsure why he was smiling.

"Cool."

Noah took a seat in computer chair at Cole's desk. He turned on the monitor and closed out of the blog about sex advice. Facebook soon replaced the page. He logged in and checked his notifications. "Noah... You said you wanted to talk."

"I know. Hold on, I want to show you this." Cole stood and moved behind Noah, his hands on the back of the chair. He watched as the other navigated to his messages. Cole felt a wave of nausea fall over him.

"You're talking to him on Facebook?" he asked meekly.

"Just once or twice. I wanted to know what he was doing."

"Oh..."

"Sorry," Noah said almost as quietly as Cole. That was completely out of character. Cole was perplexed.

"What's he doing?"

"He's in his junior year of college, now. Has a girlfriend. An apartment. A new dog, too. She's cute."

"Oh. Cool," Cole replied, chewing on his bottom lip. He turned away from the computer, trying to control his breathing. He wasn't going to cry. Not in front of Noah. The boy already knew what his weakness was, and if he knew how much the whole situation still affected him, he would use it against him, without a doubt.

"His girlfriend's hot, too. But whatever. I wanted to let you know that he says he's not still pissed at you. I'm surprised, though. I'd be freaked if I was him," Noah laughed maliciously.

"It's a good thing you're not, then," Cole said, his back to Noah. "He was much better than you could be anyways."

"I'm sure he was. Is that why he -"

"It's time for you to go."

"Fine. I came over to see if we could work out this whole situation so we don't fail, but if that's your MO then cool," Noah said, standing up. He logged out of Facebook and pushed in the chair.

"It doesn't look like your wishes are going to come true. Stop being such a dick and maybe people will be more prone to working with you."

"Stop being such a bitch about what happened. Grow up. There's an idea, huh?"

Cole grabbed the closest object to him - a large clock from his nightstand - and threw it at Noah. "Get the hell out," he yelled. Noah scoffed and shoved his chair to the ground, storming out of the room. Cole stared at the chair, his breaths coming in heavy and short. A door slammed shut, and a moment later he heard a car pull away. Naomi came up a few seconds later.

"Cole? What happened?" she asked cautiously. He glanced at her, fighting back the sting of tears threatening to break free.

"Nothing. Noah's just a fucking piece of shit, and I -" His voice cracked painfully, and he looked away. She moved towards him, pulling him into a tight hug. He tried to worm away, but Naomi held him firmly. Eventually Cole stopped struggling and he let her comfort him.