"You should invite your friends, I'd love to meet them." Jonathan smiles as him and Evan walked down the sidewalk, no particular destination in mind. "You already met my friends. But, if you don't want to I completely understand."

Evan was still trying to wrap his head around what had happened before they left, thoughts running all over the place as he remembered how close their faces had gotten. "If you really want me to, I can invite them." He answered, pulling out his phone. "Where should we meet?"

Jonathan took a moment to think. "What about that place where we first met up? I'm dying to have another one of those milkshakes." Evan just nods, unable to help the smile that creeped onto his face as he saw Jonathan's grin.

Evan: u guys wanna hang out with me and Jon? We're going to that diner by school rn

Craig: oh hell yeah im down those shakes are the shit

Tyler: I'm down

Brian: we'll be there

David: yup

"They're coming." Evan slides his phone back into the pocket of his jacket. Silence settled between them once more as they continued walking.

"So, tell me about yourself." They halt at a crosswalk. "Besides your name, age, what grade you're in, you get it. Nothing I already know."

Evan thinks for second, wondering what he could possibly tell the boy beside him. "I like vodka." Was all he think of.

Next to him, Jonathan lets out a laugh. "Not what I had in mind, but I'll take it. So, vodka, eh?"

"Y-yeah." Evan chuckles. "Why don't we just play 20 questions? That makes a bit more sense." He looks at his friend, who nods in agreement to his offer. "Ok, I'll start. Erm, favorite color?"

"Light blue." The brunette smiles, thinking of a question to ask back. "Biggest fear?"

Evan looks at the ground as the light turns green, allowing them to walk across the street. "Flying." He admits, turning towards his friend. "You?"

"Spiders." Jonathan shivers at the thought. "Your favorite color?"

"Dark red." Evan answers without even having to think. "Favorite animal?"

"Okay, this may be a bit weird, but I really like snakes. I don't know why, but they're just so awesome in my eyes." Evan chuckles at the excitement in his voice. "Okay, okay. Hm, favorite subject?"

"History." Evan was too shy to say English, so he instead chose his second favorite. "Yours?"

"Math." Evan could tell that they were just a few blocks away from the diner. In his pocket, his phone buzzed. He ignored it. "Do you have a crush on someone?"

Evan's blood ran cold, muscles tensing as they reached another crosswalk, halting as they waited for the light. "No." He lied, unaware of what the boy beside him knew.

"Are you sure you're not lying to me?" Evan felt his breath catch in his throat, a sinking feeling in his chest telling him that Jonathan knew something.

"That's two questions." He dodged the second question by referring to the rules of the game they were playing.

"The game is twenty questions, we're barely on four, meaning that I still have sixteen left, so answer it." Jonathan spoke harshly, pretty much demanding an answer.

"I'm not lying. I don't have a crush on anyone." Evan said, looking up and letting out a sigh of relief as he caught sight of his friends. "Hey! Guys! Tyler!" He called out, running ahead to catch up with them.

----

During lunch, Evan stayed quiet, sipping his milkshake silently while his friends began to converse with his English partner.

Multiple different times Evan had been called out on his quietness, thankfully this was not one of those times. He was able to sip his milkshake, avoid eye contact with Jonathan and still listen to the conversation.

"Who got the double cheese burger with extra pickles?" The waiter asks as he arrives with a tray full of food.

"Me!" Craig said excitedly, causing Evan to chuckle at his child-like behavior.

"Alrighty, who got the single patty with no tomatoes or onions, extra mustard?" He pulled out another plate, which was placed in front of Tyler. One by one, he went through half of the table's plates. "I'll be right back with the rest of your food, guys. For now, anyone need anything else? Ketchup, hot sauce, anything?" Looking around the table, everyone shook their heads. "Okay well I'll be back with the rest of your food."

When the waiter came back, he gave Evan, David, Brian, and Jon their food and took almost everyone's glasses for refills.

"Damn Ev, your plate is fucking tiny compared to ours." Craig comments as he glanced at Evan's chicken tenders. The boy shrugged.

"Dude all they have is burgers here, you know Evan hates that shit." Tyler defended his still quiet friend, who had said nothing other than telling the waiter his order.

"They serve way more than burgers here, Ty. Anyways, I was just making an observation he can eat whatever he wants." Craig held up his hands defensively, the whole table laughed at the exchange.

"You really should've gotten more to eat, Evan. All you had this morning was a muffin." Jonathan calmly stated, sipping his water through his bright red straw. Evan shot him a glare as the rest of the table laid their eyes on him, asking a silent question.

"I'm not very hungry today, sue me." Evan snapped, rolling his eyes as he bit into a piece of his chicken. Meanwhile, on a separate plate, each of the members of the table contributed a few fries and they slid the plate over to Evan.

"Eat." Tyler ordered before Evan could protest against their actions. "It's the weekend, enjoy yourself." Evan had no choice but to do as he was told.

---

The group ended up at the mall, Evan still mostly keeping to himself as he allowed Jonathan to mingle with everyone. Even though he stood right next to him, it was almost as if he wasn't there.

"So, Evan, you never answered my question earlier." Jonathan speaks quietly as the rest of the group is preoccupied. "Who's your crush?"

Evan's eyes narrow, anger rising in his chest at the risky move the brunette was trying to pull here. "I didn't lie, now shut up before you attract their attention." He shoves the boy before walking over to his friends. "Sup." He states, looking at the window of the store. "What are we looking at?"

"David wants this man purse, totally gay." Craig smiles, turning to Evan to see him already looking at the bag. It was a shoulder bag made of chocolate leather, a hint of metallic embedded in the material, a flap concealing the inside pockets with two metal clasps.

"To each their own." Evan looked over to see David staring at the bag. "How much?"

"Fifty." David says, squinting at the price tag with a frown.

"I'll buy it for you." Evan offers, bringing everyone's attention to him.

"That's okay, Evan, you don't have-"

"I want to, Dave. It's really no problem, come on." He leads the other boy into the store, walking up to a worker. "Hi, there's a bag in the window I'd like to buy." The worker, although skeptical, walks over to the window and grabs the bag.

"Terry, can you ring this guy up please?" He calls to another worker, who turns and nods swiftly.

"Hiya, how are you today?" She says, smiling warmly at Evan and his friend. "This is a nice bag, good choice." David let Evan get in front of him so he could pay.

"Thanks Evan." He said quietly to his friend. "I really owe you."

"It's no problem, David. This is a gift." Evan smiled back at him before handing the cashier his debit card.

"Oh, you two are adorable, how long have you been together?" She scans Evan's card, handing it back once it had went through.

"Oh, we're not dating, we're here with our friends. They're outside. Besides, Evan has a boyfriend." Evan turned around, looking at David with a confused expression before turning back to the girl with a smile, nodding along to his words. She handed Evan the copy of the receipt that he had to sign.

"Oh, sorry about that. I hope you and your boyfriend are very happy together, have a great day you two!" She waves as Evan grabs the bag off the counter, handing it to his friend as they begin to leave.

"What the hell, Dave? Boyfriend? I don't have a boyfriend!" Evan hissed to boy, who just grins as he holds the bag, swaying it gently.

"Yeah, but you're gonna ask out Jonathan, right? Isn't that why he's hanging out with us? To see how he fits with everyone?"

"He wanted me to invite you guys....." Evan trails off as they reach the entrance, rejoining their friends as David makes an 'O' shape with his mouth.

They begin to walk around once again, and pretty soon Evan began to feel hungry once more. Earlier, he had insisted that everyone eat the fries they had given to him since they looked like they were starving. Grudgingly, they had caved in to his offer, so Evan didn't eat as much as he had planned. Because of this, he felt miserable as they passed by different food vendors in the mall.

Jonathan looked back at him, noticing his lingering eyes on a pretzel stand they had just walked by. Without thinking twice, Jonathan turned back around.

"Let's go to the food court."