The bell rang for lunch, and Seb made his way out of the classroom. The others rushed out before him, but he stayed for a moment, just staring at the door. Lunch hour was the most probable time to meet Kaiden, and it made him want to run away and hide for a while but that would be contra-productive since he really wanted to meet with Kaiden. He silently thanked his lucky star that he had friends to meet at lunch nowadays. Dylan and Tyra would surely protect him if anything weird happened, or so he thought.

Before Dylan came along, he'd spent his lunches alone, and from time to time some idiot had made his life miserable. His right leg was hopping up and down where he sat, and he had almost chewed through his lips. Thinking wasn't helping. He was only making himself more nervous. With a soft sigh, he rose and left the classroom. It was time to stop hiding from things he wanted just because he was afraid. 

He didn't see the other two as he glanced around the large lunch room, and he resorted to nibbling on his lip again. They weren't at the usual table, so he assumed that they weren't back from class yet. He grabbed his food, despite his unease, and made his way to the table at the back. Mike and a couple of other guys who were friends of Tyra and Dylan sat at a table, but he didn't know them well enough to sit down with them. His eyes continued to search across the room, but he stopped as soon as he realized that he didn't want to be obvious about the fact that he was interested in Kaiden--and staring all over the room would definitely qualify as obvious. 

He sat down and started to dig into the food, but his attention swiftly broke as he got another message. He pulled up the phone from his pocket and almost spluttered out food over the table. 

I'm working this afternoon. I'll treat you with some hot chocolate if you come for a visit ;)

A wide grin spread across his face, and for some reason he couldn't start eating again. He was too excited. From the corner of his eye he saw Dylan approaching. He tried to stop smiling, because he knew it must look ridiculous, but it just didn't work. 

“What, do I have something in my hair, something slimey?” Dylan said, smirking.

Yeah, he'd been staring and smiling. No wonder Dylan said something like that.

Seb recalled what had happened yesterday, how Dylan and Zach had been painting together in art class. They were impossible to stop, so Ms Demet had allowed them to continue even after class. He was curious to know what happened between the two. Dylan was panting after Zach, and Seb knew that Zach wasn't unaffected either. 

“You and Zach seemed to have fun in art class yesterday.” Seb winked, and Dylan's cheeks flushed to a tinge Seb hadn't seen before, and apparently Dylan was embarrassed enough to smack him playfully on his head before sitting down. 

“Shut up kid!” Dylan growled under his breath, but he was grinning just as wide as Seb had just a minute ago. 

“Are you going to tell me?” Seb asked.

“Well, are you going to tell me about Kaiden?” 

Seb started to fumble with the silver ware. 

"We exchanged a couple of messages," he said casually, trying to hide the fact that he was sizzling with nerves. 

“Dude, that’s great news. How come you’re so giddy and excited, you’re basically fan-girling over there…”

Seb's eyes started to sparkle, and Dylan seemed to realize that he was excited, even if he didn’t let it on.  

“Well, you know. No real drama yet," Seb said to avoid getting more questions. It was safer to ask Dylan instead. "You and Zach, however, that would make great TV, so spit it out!” 

Dylan laughed. “Alright, but don’t tell Tyra about it yet , she would throw a fit – and I’m pretty sure I would like to avoid that.”

“You can’t keep this from her Dyl.” 

“I know, it’s just…it’s really nothing yet, and I don’t want to make her upset.”

Seb looked sternly at Dylan, trying to understand what is intentions were. Not telling Tyra about what happened with Zach was a bad idea. Tyra didn't trust the guy at all and would likely throw a fit. Seb didn't know why, but that's how it was. She would get really sad if Dylan kept her out of this, and he didn't want his friends to fight.

“Okay,” he said after a while. “I won’t tell her, but you will, as soon as you can."

Dylan nodded and started to talk about what happened yesterday. It took Seb's mind off of things, so he was grateful for that at least. It was also nice to be able to listen to someone telling you about things that were important to them. He'd never had that kind of friendship before. So, he would listen, and he wouldn't disrupt Dylan's story even if he was looking over his shoulder now and then to see if he could spot Kaiden.

"So, can I ask you about Kaiden?" Dylan asked after awhile. Seb blushed immediately, and he wished--not for the first time--that he wouldn't be so prone to blushing. His skin turned into a pinkish color that wasn't very attractive on guys. He knew he looked shy already, so the blush didn't really help. 

Dylan arched an eyebrow, waiting for an answer. Seb knew it was selfish to think that Dylan would share with him, and that he didn't need to give anything in return, but he was reluctant. He wanted to talk about it, but he didn't know how to go about it. Biting into his lip again, he looked around the room once more. At least he had to make sure that Kaiden wasn't listening. 

"He texted me a few times yesterday, and a few times today," he whispered. 

"So, what did you text? Are you meeting up?"

"He told me to come by the café today, or he suggested it... Said he would treat me with hot chocolate." Seb did his best to hide his pink cheeks from the world, but he doubted that it worked. His stomach was getting all fluttery again after saying that out loud. It made it more real for some reason. 

"So, are you going?" Dylan asked. It was the obvious question, which should be followed by an obvious answer, but Seb didn't know. He was so nervous, too nervous. 

"I don't know. I don't want to seem too clingy." 

"Don't be ridiculous, Seb. He asked you to come. Not coming would be turning him down, and from the look in your face I don't think you want to turn him down."

Seb considered Dylan's words for a while. Dylan was right. Very right. He didn't want to blow the whole thing just because he was shy. For once, someone showed interest, and it wasn't just someone, but someone who seemed really nice. Kaiden's smile and the curve of his lips, passed by in his mind. Seb sighed and placed his face in his palms. He really didn't know how to handle situations like these. He didn't have any sort of experience, and it was humiliating. 

"Hey, Seb," Dylan said, trying to soothe his friend. "Do you want company to the café?"

"Yeah," he replied, still breathing into his hands and hiding from the world. 

"Then I'll join you. So, perhaps you should reply to his message?" 

Seb sat still for a while longer, not moving a single muscle. He knew Dylan was right, but he wasn't sure what he should reply. It was always the same: his nerves messing up everything. He sighed in defeat and pulled up his phone. 

Sure, that would be awesome. I'm bringing Dylan, if that's ok?

Seb looked up at Dylan after he sent the message. He didn't like the weird expression in Dylan's face at all. 

"What?" he asked. 

"Perhaps that wasn't such a good idea after all... perhaps you should see him on your own."

Seb's insides started to tumble around. What if Kaiden took it the wrong way? What if he thought Seb and Dylan were together?

He waited for Kaiden to reply, but the answer never came. He was mortified when the bell rang to announce the last class, and he still hadn't received a reply. He didn't know what to do, if he should just ignore the thing and go to the café, or if he should interpret this as a sign to back of and stay away. He read Kaiden's message again, and then his reply. The only way out of this, that he saw, was to go to the café without Dylan, but that idea wasn't kind to his nerves. 

He walked out of the last class without a ready-made plan. He still didn't know what he was supposed to do. However, the solution kind of shaped itself. Dylan was nowhere to be seen, so going with him was out of the question. He even tried to call his friend, but there was no reply. Steering his steps toward the café, he had to force down all thoughts of running the other way. He'd rather hope for something and then fail, than ruin it all because of his cowardice.