"Are you excited to be almost done with your first week of school?" Tyler asked as he picked at his roll with disinterest. He looked far better than he had yesterday, a lot less pale and far more aware, but it was clear he was still tired with how often his mouth stretched into a yawn. "You've almost been living here for two weeks. Are you used to it yet?"

With a sigh, James looked at his own plate, where his food was half eaten. Everyday, he had a habit of taking everything in the cafeteria that he thought looked good, and it always ended up being way too much food. "I'm not really excited. I mean... I still have to come back next week, so it doesn't feel like a big accomplishment," he answered, and Tyler hummed in understanding, not raising his eyes from his bread. "And I guess I'm starting to get used to it, but being here is still a little weird".

Another hum, and then Tyler shot him a look and said, "have you talked to Taylor at all?" James tried to look as pointed as possible. "What? I'm just curious. I mean, you two used to have sex. It wouldn't be too weird if you spoke to one another every once and awhile".

"Yes it would," James protested immediately. "We used to have sex. We are not currently having sex. He's also in a relationship with someone who hates my guts, so it would be weird if we still kept in touch".

Tyler looked intrigued. "Are you jealous?"

"Of course not.''

"Hmm," Tyler sounded, putting his roll on his plate and clasping his hands beneath his chin. "Were you ever in love with him?"

This made James's eyes roll. "Like I'm gonna fall in love and not tell you about. If-" he was going to say more on this subject, but the look on Tyler's face had him cut off.

His green eyes were flitting around nervously, clearly avoiding James's gaze, and his lip was pulled between his teeth, which was something he often did when he lied, or was hiding something. Given the context, it wasn't hard for James to assume what.

"Wait..." James trailed off. "You've been in love before?"

"Huh? What? No," Tyler said, still avoiding his eyes. "Of course not.''

"You're lying".

"No". Green eyes met his for half a second before looking away. "I'm not... ugh. Can we please not talk about this right now?"

"You don't want to talk about this?" James asked, leaning forward eagerly as his mouth dropped in disbelief. "You can't just suggest that and then not want to talk about it. What else would we even talk about?"

"We could talk about how dinner went last night," Tyler suggested hopefully, still sounding a little timid.

"No! I want to talk about this," James demanded, stabbing an unnaturally red strawberry from his plate and bringing it to his mouth. "How could you not tell me you were in love? Are you still in love? Who were you in love with?"

Tyler grimaced. "Uh, it's all a little complicated".

"Can't you just tell me who it was?" James asked, ignoring how his voice was on the verge of begging. Tyler shot him a look, and from it he gathered that was a question he wouldn't receive an answer to. With a sigh, he changed his question. "What is it like? To be in love?"

"It's terrifying," Tyler said without pause, his eyes staring over James's shoulder with a distant look in them. "It's refreshing and wonderful and horrible and exhausting and devastating". Something seemed to be happening to his friend, his green eyes were misting over. James frantically thought of what he could to distract Tyler, assuming his friend didn't want to cry in the middle of the lunch room. Luckily, Tyler was able to stop it from happening on his own, and his gaze finally refocused on James. "So you have that to look forward to".

"Uh-"

"James, just tell me about dinner," Tyler said, and this time it was his voice that was pleading. With a reluctant nod, James showed his agreement. Immediately, Ty's shoulders sagged. "How were the triplets?"

"Michael wasn't bad, actually. Joe and Daniel tried to get a rise out of me for the first half of the night,though. They laid off once they learned that my brother had died," he answered. Tyler looked intrigued. "Yeah, it was a little weird. Kalen stayed late and left with his parents, and he told me that he thinks I don't need to be concerned about them anymore, because I've lost what they're terrified to lose, so they won't try to make my life any harder".

"That's sweet," Ty grumbled sarcastically, though he seemed to be thinking about something else. "You said Kalen stayed behind? He didn't leave with his brothers?"

James swallowed the particular piece of fruit he had been chewing and nodded his head. "Yeah," he confirmed, licking the sweetness off of his lips. "Is that weird?"

"He's never done that at my house".

"Oh? Do Mr. and Mrs. Bradford always stay behind to talk business?"

"Yeah," Tyler confirmed with a quick nod. He seemed to be recovering from their earlier conversation, but something about him still seemed sad. There was no way to tell exactly what it was. "The kids always leave together and the parents talk and I get to go to sleep. Kalen's never stayed behind at my house before, and I'd be surprised if he ever stayed behind at anyone else's... the triplets let him stay?"

"They tried to get him to go with them," James assured. "They were practically pulling him out of the house but he refused to leave". Green eyes just stared at him, unblinking. Going a long time without blinking was something Tyler was able to creepily do. "You know I don't like it when you do that with your eyes man. What's the big deal?"

"I'm surprised". That was all he offered.

"About...?" James prompted.

"I'm surprised that he refused to leave, and then stood by it when they tried to force him. That's not very Kalen. Most of the time he protests his brothers, but ultimately does what they want him to". The look on Tyler's face was one of perplexion. "What'd you guys do when he stayed? What was so important that he felt he couldn't leave".

"I don't know," James supplied honestly, shrugging his shoulders. "We just kind of talked. We talked about his brothers, and then we talked about chemistry, and he was telling me about how he wants to major in biochem but his father is really trying to push business, and then I told him about science camp-"

"You told him—Kalen— about science camp?"

"I—" James frowned when he cut off, shooting a quick look across the cafeteria at Kalen, who seemed to be in the middle of ignoring his brothers. "He seemed interested. He actually asked a lot of questions".

"About science camp?"

"Yes," James snapped, exacerbated. "About science camp and Florida and other stuff. I didn't get to talk much about that though because he had to leave".

Ty had leaned forward at some point during the conversation, low enough that his chest was pressed against the edge of the table, and he peered up at James with large green eyes. "This is all just bizarre, man. I mean, Kalen doesn't really talk to anyone really, unless it's about school and it's necessary. He tends to avoid people to spare them from the wrath of his brothers".

James shrugged. "Maybe it's because he's not worried about his brothers doing anything to me anymore".

"I don't know," Tyler grumbled. "I mean, I don't think his brothers will do anything, not if Kalen said they wouldn't, but they'd still be pretty pissed with Kalen for staying and talking to you".

"So..." James trailed off to process this. "What your saying is he stayed and talked to me even though he knew his brothers would be angry with him for it?" Tyler nodded. "Why would he do that?"

"I don't know". Tyler shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe he wanted to piss his brothers off for some reason". That made sense. From the looks of it, Kalen was often frustrated with his brother's antics, so maybe for once he was trying to get back at them. "Or maybe," Tyler continued, surprising him, "he just thinks that you're worth talking to.''

***

Mrs. Rodgers announced at the beginning of class she would be handing out their first real organic chemistry lab for them to work on for the next two days, right after she handed their worksheets back. She went around the room then, passing them back, pausing only when she stopped next to Kalen's desk to smile at the two of them. "Sorry Kalen. I gave you boys full credit though".

Golden eyes widened, and then looked down at the paper. Intrigued, James leaned over, just enough to be able to see the paper their teacher handed to the other boy. On top, it said 10/10 points in messy handwriting. James's eyes trailed down to the question they had discussed the day before, where they had both written answers. His was circled, while Kalen's answer had a red X through it.

"How did she even know that one was mine?" Kalen asked, probably to himself given the volume he used. James responded anyways.

"Probably because you don't have the handwriting of a fifth grader," James suggested, just as softly, and Kalen turned his head to look at him with a little pout. "That was a compliment, you know".

"You're just trying to make me feel better because I was wrong," Kalen accused, and James opened his mouth to protest, but paused when he realized that it was true, and somehow Kalen was able to sense his intentions better than even he could. Thankfully, before the silence between them could grow uncomfortable, the girl in the seat in front of him turned around and handed him a stack of the labs. He smiled at her as thanks, and then took the one off the top before handing the rest of them to the boy behind him. "What are we working on?"

"We have to react eugenol with bromine," James responded after a moment of investigation. He handed the lab over to Kalen, who looked over it briefly before nodding his head and leaving his seat.

As usual, they began working in silence, with James removing all of the lab materials they would need from their drawer and Kalen gathering the chemicals they would need from the front of the room and organizing then at their lab station. They continued like this, comfortably working amongst one another as they followed the procedure that they were supposed to get finished by the end of class. It took them a lot less time than it seemed to be taking the rest of their classmates, and they completed the first half of their assignment with plenty of time to spare.

"Finished already?" Mrs. Rodgers inquired, moving up to the end of their lab station. The two students working across from them raised their heads to examine their work, both of them with frowns on their faces.

"I suppose so," James responded casually, also looking down at their work. While Kalen clearly still struggled with compounds, he was a great lab partner, efficient and precise. "I thought we could possibly be able to start our work for tomorrow, but we won't be able to finish, and there's no way for us to preserve the solution overnight, correct?"

"Indeed," she agreed, raising her hand to check the watch on her wrist. It was a silver rolex, James noted with raised eyebrows. He wondered just how much Mr. Bradford paid these teachers. "You still have about twenty minutes left. Would you like something unrelated to chemistry to do? I have a handful of worksheets I need copies of. I was going to do it during my lunch hour but then a student came in to talk to me and I need them for eighth hour. Would either of you be interested-"

"Sure," James agreed, the same time that Kalen eagerly said:

"Yes". They turned and looked at one another. "James can do it".

"No," James disagreed. "You should. I don't really even know where to go to print stuff off. I'd just get lost and be late to my next class".

"How about-" Mrs. Rodgers cut in, and James just noticed that she had moved away from them at some point, because she was currently approaching with a small stack of papers in her hands. "You both go. That way, neither of you are just sitting here, and Kalen can show you where the student print center is. Okay?" Both of their mouths opened to speak, but neither of them got the chance to answer. "Okay! I need ten copies of each of these. Thanks".

***

It was strange, walking down the empty hall just the two of them, but James found he enjoyed the surrounding silence as they talked quietly amongst themselves. "You still get lost around here?" Kalen asked softly, his golden eyes on the floor in front of them. The tilt of his head made his dark hair fall into his eyes, but he didn't seem to be too bothered by it.

"Well, I know where my classes are now, so I go the same route every day, which isn't hard. I just don't know where everything else is yet," James explained, and Kalen hummed. "The library, for instance. I have no clue where it is. I actually had to skip History of Mathematicians this morning because we were supposed to meet there to do research".

"Oh," Kalen said, sounding sympathetic, though the laugh in his voice was undeniable. James shot him a look out of the corner of his eye to find the other boy looking up at him. "I can get that fine waived for you, if you'd like".

The offer made James smile, but he shook his head. "Thank you, but no. It's the only way I'll learn". He thought about the pink slip in his backpack, demanding him that he pay the front office twenty five dollars. "Or at least that's what my teacher said. He still didn't tell me where the library was though".

"We're gonna go past it," Kalen offered, looking back ahead. "I guess this place doesn't seem that big to me. The middle school in the area is a little bigger though, so maybe that's why".

"This place is three times the size of my highschool back home," James informed, pushing his fists into the pockets of his slacks. "There's about the same number of people though, which is weird".

"Did you like your old high school?" Kalen asked, actually sounding interested. James thought about Tyler's words over lunch: maybe he just thinks you're worth talking to.

"Does this mean you weren't listening to my mother over dinner?"

Kalen laughed a little, the sound very warm. "I was listening, but I find that the majority of the things my parents say about me aren't actually true, so I figured I'd ask you. Did you really not like it because of the science program?"

This made James groan. "Okay, fair point. I didn't like my high school, my mom was right about that, but it wasn't... all about the science program".

"But it was a little bit?" Kalen cut in, and when James looked at him, the other boy had a smile on his face that told him he was being teased.

"Just a tiny bit," James admitted. "But it was a small part of it. The options I had for science did suck, but I would have survived". Kalen hummed in understanding. "My best friend moved from Florida when we were starting middle school, and from that point on, I really only had my brother. I mean, I did have other friends, but we weren't super close. I couldn't stand them after my brother died, since they either avoided me because they didn't want to be around me because I was sad, or they wanted to be around me because I was sad and they were convinced that they could fix me or whatever".

For a long moment, Kalen didn't respond, and James worried he had made it awkward by bringing up his brother, but then, in a timid voice, Kalen asked, "can I ask what happened to him? If you don't want to talk about it, I won't force you to".

"It's alright," James assured, turing into a stairwell when Kalen gestured a hand in that direction. "I mean, I'm the one who brought him up, so I guess it's only fair if you want to know what happened".

"You don't owe me," Kalen said quickly. "I don't want you to tell me if you don't want to.'' He could feel Kalen's eyes on his face then, waiting eagerly to hear what he would say in response to that.

It took a minute as James weighed the danger of being honest with the other boy, but one look into those gold eyes had him throwing caution to the wind. "I want to tell you".

Simultaneously, they both paused on the stairs and looked at one another. And then the moment was over, and they continued on, just like that.

It was still hard to talk about, but James was able to dissociate and discuss it as if it had happened to someone else so his emotions didn't get in the way. "Ace got sick during his junior year, and progressively got worse. We didn't know what was wrong at first, but discovered he had a brain tumor right before his senior year. He lived five more months and died at the beginning of the new year when the tumor ruptured. It wasn't exactly unexpected. He was at his worst that last month". During the time it had taken James to say this, they had come to the bottom of the stairs and cut across the hall, to the student print center.

"Oh," Kalen breathed on an exhale as he swiped his student ID in the card reader. "I'm sorry". The door clicked open, and Kalen secured a hand on the door knob and opened it just enough that it wouldn't lock again. Then, he looked up at James with very large eyes that held something like sadness.

"It's alright," James mumbled, trapped by that gaze. Kalen narrowed his eyes at this, and James huffed. "Okay, so it's not alright. Of course it's not alright, but don't apologize for making me talk about it. I don't get to talk about him often, since most people are worried they'll make me uncomfortable, and my parents just shut down, but I find myself wanting to talk about him. Not as much as I did in Florida, since there aren't many reminders here, but sometimes I still want to... when thinking about it becomes too much."

Kalen nodded in understanding and finally pushed open the door to the print center, revealing a room that looked exactly how it should, given its title. "So you two were close then?"

"Very," James answered, trailing behind Kalen as he moved to the copier in the room. He had to swipe his student id again and wait for the machine to start up. "As I said, my best friend moved away when I was young, so he was pretty much all I had. Losing him was..." he trailed off, and then dropped his eyes. "You know how there are just things that you think just can't happen? Like you can't even think about them because it hurts, and when you do think about it feels like you'd die if it actually happened? It was one of those things". This was getting a lot more personal than James had been expecting, but Kalen didn't seem bothered. In fact, he even seemed intrigued, eyes wide and shiny. "I felt like I couldn't breathe for the longest time afterwards".

"I can't imagine losing one of my brothers," Kalen said softly, turning his face away and putting the first sheet of paper into the copier. "We worry about someone killing Pierce every once and awhile, since he seems to get himself in those situations."

"Ah, the aggressive one," James said without really thinking, crossing his arms over the top of the copier. Kalen's eyes shot to him in surprise, his expression hard to read. "Oh... sorry. That's how Tyler described him".

"Ah," Kalen said with a small smile, dropping his hands to gather the papers as they came out of the copier one at a time. "That doesn't surprise me. They're not exactly fond of one another". James hummed, and Kalen chewed his lip. "Did Tyler describe all of us?"

"He might have".

"What'd he have to say about me then?" Kalen asked, seeming nervous. As he contemplated the mortification he would face by admitting that Ty had described Kalen as the sweet one, Kalen spoke again. "I'm the spoiled one, I know".

"What? No. That's not what he said".

"Oh".

It was quiet for a minute, and they just looked at one another, waiting for the other to speak. James gave in first. "I was told you were the nice one".

Kalen looked surprised by this for half a second, and then he smiled. It wasn't like his regular pleased smile— no, this one had something mischievous about it. "You know, I'm not sure if that's actually saying much".

"I don't know," James pointed out, eyeing Kalen curiously. It was something he probably shouldn't have done, but they were in private, and despite Kalen's teasing, James had already determined that Kalen was in fact nice, and wouldn't do anything about the stare. "I've been here three weeks. I haven't met all your brothers".

Kalen hummed thoughtfully and brought his eyes to the copier, feeding it the second paper. There was a light flush on his cheeks, but James figured he didn't want it mentioned. "You'll meet them soon enough".