JESSIE
I WAS on my second lap of bored pacing around the house when Dad intercepted me in the living room.
    "Hey, Jess, can you tell Octaveus that he should get going if he's planning on making it to gymnastics in time?" Dad said as I walked by him.
    "Sure," I replied and walked the long way around the house to Vee's room. Vee was lying on his stomach on his bed shirtless, facetiming with Drew. Vee was wearing his black gymnastics sweatpants, but his tank top was draped over the bedpost against which his phone was propped up on. He had his head on his hands and his hair hung over his eyes, messier than ever. The glow coming from the phone screen was the only light in the room that was on. The light illuminated his paper-white skin. Even from the doorway I could see the fondness in his expression as he listened to whatever Drew was saying (I couldn't exactly hear). I knocked on the doorframe and Vee looked up at me. He nodded at me then turned back to his phone.
  "I've gotta go, I'm gonna be late for gymnastics," he said after Drew finished talking. "Love you. See you tomorrow."
    "Love you too. Bye." Drew hung up first and Vee returned his phone to his pocket. He sat up and stretched, bending backward far enough for his head to touch the wall behind him.
    "Stop showing off and put your shirt on," I snapped at him.
   He smirked. "Why are you looking?"
   I rolled my eyes. "Just get out of the house so that I can have some peace and quiet around here."
   He put his tank top on and stuck his tongue out at me as he limped out the door with his leg braces in hand.

LUCKY
After class, Lieh, Kiera, and I went up to the viewing area to watch Vee and Julian. They were practicing the same routine they practiced after every class, adding on more advanced moves as they went. When the three of us got up to the viewing area we noticed that we were not going to be alone; there were two teenage boys and a girl also watching the private lesson. The girl looked to be about five-foot-six-inches and had fiery red hair that went down to her shoulder blades and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a purple T-shirt and jeans and was leaning against the railing. One of the boys had skin as dark as Kiera's and short dark brown hair; he was pacing. I couldn't tell for sure what he was wearing, but he looked about five-foot-eight. The other boy was five-foot-nine and looked like he had some sort of Asian origin to him; his skin was dark tan and his eyes were narrow and dark brown. His hair was also dark brown, but it looked deep red in the light, and there were a bunch of red-brown freckles over his nose and cheeks. He was wearing a navy blue college sweatshirt and grey sweatpants.   
   The girl noticed the dark-skinned boy running in circles and said, "Micah, stop pacing."
   "We probably shouldn't have let him drink that espresso," the Asian boy sighed as the other boy trotted over to them by the railing.
   "Hey, Drew," the African American boy said. "How long have you known that Vee does gymnastics?"
   "Mikey, you were the first one to know," the girl said.
   "I know, but how long has he known?"
   The Asian boy rolled his eyes and went back to watching Vee and Julian. It didn't surprise me that the three were there watching Vee; there wasn't really anyone else for them to watch, and I admit, Vee was really interesting to watch. Mostly because of how flexible and muscular he was; he could twist himself into any position or lift practically anything in the gym that wasn't nailed down.
   After Vee and Julian finished their private lesson and Vee started heading back inside, the three other people went down the stairs to meet him. Lieh, Kiera, and I walked down the half-hidden stairway to the gym and entered through the gym doors. We went to grab our stuff and I found myself watching Vee and the other three. Vee leaned against the wall patiently while the other three teens walked over to him, then smiled and greeted them. The African American boy started running in circles again, but Vee acted like it was completely normal. When the Asian boy got to Vee, Vee immediately pulled him into a hug, and I don't know for sure because we were on the other side of the room, but it looked like after the hug they were holding hands; the Asian boy's face was also bright red.
   The four of them talked a little bit, then Vee texted someone on his phone and grabbed his leg braces and leather jacket. As the four of them headed out the door, Vee draped his motorcycle jacket over the Asian boy's shoulders. I watched them through the window after they left the building; the girl and African American boy went over to an older-looking Ford pickup truck while the Asian boy slid his arms into the sleeves of the motorcycle jacket-- which was visibly too big-- and got on Vee's motorcycle behind Vee, putting his arms around Vee's waist. The pickup pulled out of the parking lot and Vee followed it on the motorcycle, heading in the opposite direction he usually drove after class.

OCTAVEUS
"Dude, you are so lucky," Micah said to me when we got to his house. "You get to hang out with a bunch of hot girls in leotards all day."
    I shook my head at him, but he wasn't done yet.
    "Who's the girl that you were practicing with?" He asked.
    "Lucky," I said. I ignored him and joined Drew on the couch while Micah started raving about how hot Lucky was and how lucky I was. (Wow, how ironic. I just said 'lucky' twice in that sentence.)
    "What'd you do, give him coffee or something?" I said jokingly to Drew, putting my arm around him and pulling him closer to me. He raised his hands in defense.
    "It was Summer's idea."
    "Aw, c'mon guys," I heard Micah exclaim. "Do you two have to be so lovey?"
    "Yes," I smirked at him over the back of the couch.
    "Mikey, what do you expect them to be like?" Summer laughed, looking at him. "They're two teenage boys that are dating each other. You can't get much worse."
    "I dunno," Micah said. I rolled my eyes.
    "You have chalk in your hair," Drew told me. I ran my fingers through my hair to get it out. Drew smirked at me.
"Let me get it." He rubbed the top of my head and there was a small cloud of white chalk dust.
    "There's another example," Micah said. "Vee, you only let Drew touch you. I tried to hug you the other day and you almost killed me!"
    "Are you complaining?" I smiled. "You want some of me too?"
     "I just don't want you to kill me!"
     "Don't worry, I don't kill without reason."
      "Oh, that's a relief," Micah said sarcastically. Micah's mom walked into the room suddenly, a leaf-green oven mitt on one hand. Micah's mother was a short woman, slightly on the larger side, with frizzy greying dark brown hair and kind dark brown eyes. Today, her hair was in a bun and there was some sort of white powder (probably flour) coating her hands making her chocolate-colored skin look lighter. She smiled warmly at us.
      "Micah didn't tell me you three were coming over," she said, glaring pointedly at her son. "But if any of you are hungry I just baked cookies."
    "Thanks Mrs. Zaar," Summer said, smiling warmly back and following her into the kitchen. Micah started to follow them.
       "You two coming?"
       I shook my head. "I can't eat cookies." Drew said that he wasn't hungry.
      Micah shrugged. "Suit yourselves." He said and walked into the kitchen.
        After Micah left Drew took off my leather jacket that I'd lent to him for wind protection on our way over here and cuddled up to me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I kissed his forehead and leaned my head on his, lightly rubbing his shoulder.
      "How can you stand doing gymnastics for two hours twice a week?" Drew asked me.
      I chuckled. "Why, are you tired?"
      "Exhausted," he shifted so that he was half-lying down and leaned back against my chest. I felt him shiver, even though we were sitting in front of a fire, and he moved closer to me, me putting my arm around his waist.
      Suddenly Micah was in the doorway again. "Oh, come on! Again with the cuddling!"
       Drew jerked away from me in surprise, his face immediately turning red. "What??"
      Micah was standing in the doorway between the kitchen and living room, holding a small stack of chocolate-chip cookies in one hand and a half-eaten one in the other. He was glaring at us as if he was angry, but he really wasn't. He just likes feeling included in things.
   I rolled my eyes after Drew moved and stretched, extending my arms toward the ceiling and arching my back.
   Micah sighed. "Stop showing off your abs, Vee. We all know you have a six-pack and no other student in our school does, no need to rub it in."
   "I'm not showing off," I retorted. Then I realized that when I stretched my tank top had pulled up to show my stomach and pulled my shirt down again.
   "Oh, shut up." I grumbled at Micah when he gave me an I-told-you-so smirk. "The only reason you noticed was because you were looking. So don't get sassy to me about admiring myself."
   "Me? Sassy?" Micah placed one hand over his heart like he was deeply offended. "You, sir, are the Sass King! Sass King has no right to call the not-sassy sassy! I am merely sarcastic." He bowed and I laughed. "And as for the second part of that sentence, I was not admiring you," he added. "I was being polite."
    "By staring at my stomach?" I said, raising an eyebrow at him.
   "By looking at you when you were talking!" Micah replied, though his cheeks were tinted a little pink.
   "Oh, come on Mikey," I said, smiling. "Don't deny it. You were admiring Sass King's gorgeousness."
   "I was not admiring," Micah said, crossing his arms. "Sass King's Spicy Asian was."
   "I was not!" Drew said indignantly, not meeting my or Micah's eyes. I could tell he was lying; his face was bright red. "And what did I say about calling me Spicy Asian?"
   "Aww, Drew," I drawled, hugging him. "You don't have to deny it, I know it's true."
   "No it's not!"
   "Mmmmhmm." Micah leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed. Drew glared at him, his face getting even redder.
   "So you don't think I'm pretty?" I asked Drew quietly, giving him the kitten face. The kitten face, I had recently discovered, worked very well on him. His expression immediately softened.
   "That's not what I mean, Vee," he said hurriedly. "You are pretty-- very pretty," he added after I went for what I call the 'extreme kitten face'. "I just wasn't admiring you. . . oh, will you stop looking at me like that if I confess?" He sighed. "Fine! I was looking! There, happy?" He scowled, his face as red as a cherry. I smirked and hugged him harder.
   "Very happy," I kissed his cheek.
   Micah smiled and shook his head. "I was about to confess too, if you hadn't stopped making that face earlier!" He said, then realized what he'd just said and blushed. "I mean, wow Drew, how could you stare at him like that?"
   I rolled my eyes and got up. "I should get going before my parents wonder where I went," I said. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." I kissed Drew goodbye and grabbed my leg braces, waving at Mrs. Zaar before I closed the door behind me.