SURPRISINGLY JAY ACTUALLY WAS at school Monday. Gabriela had really expected him to skip again, but he was even on time and when he passed Mateo, he nodded. Sahar however only appeared after fourth period, her hair dishevelled and pink paint smeared on her cheeks.

"Where have you been?" Gabriela frowned when she took place beside her.

"I joined a LGTBQ rally," she beamed.

Gabriela rubbed the paint off her cheeks with a handkerchief, before the teacher could come in and get her in even more trouble.

"Okay," she said slowly," I'm all for that, but can't you do it after school?"

"But why would I do that when I can do it now?"

Gabriela shook her head. "You need the attendance, Sahar."

The paint was off Sahar's cheeks then and Gabriela tried to fix her hair, unsure how much the girl had been moving to get her dark waves so messy.

"Mid-terms are coming up too," she said," how are your marks usually?"

"Consistent," Sahar said.

"Okay, that's good," Gabriela said, feeling faint relief," that means I only have to work on getting both of your attendances to be perfect."

"Oh no," Sahar said as she raised a hand," I didn't mean they were good. I just meant I score consistently bad."

Jesus Christ, how was she supposed to get anywhere with these two?

"Come to my house after school," Gabriela said," we'll do a study session." She pointed at Jay, who had just walked in with Mateo. "You too, Ryder."

"What?" Jay frowned," hell no."

"Come on now, Jay," Mateo grinned," it'll be fun."

Jay parted his lips automatically, but instead of a snarky reply he just nodded. For a second Gabriela wondered if Mateo was threatening him, but when he smiled at Jay it was so sincere she knew it was something else. Had they become close friends already? And if so, when?

Well, it wasn't up to her to know every detail of Mateo's life, but she was happy for him. It was hard for him to open up, truly open up, and the fact he could have someone beside Chase and the principal he honestly liked made her glad.

Jay walked to his seat behind them and Mateo followed, but when he walked past her he hesitated. She looked up at him, the tension between them still there, lingering in their gazes.

"Is it okay if I come, Gabriela?" he said quietly, his hand grazing her shoulder.

There was no pressure behind the question, just genuine worry. She could feel her heart squeeze as she reached out to grab his hand then, electricity sparking between them when she touched him.

"Of course, Mateo," she said.

When he smiled he seemed angelic, his relief lighting up his face, before quickly making place for his usual confident expression. He raised her hand to his lips, placing a kiss on the back of it. She raised an eyebrow, but he just flashed her a cheeky grin, so mischievous she couldn't even say anything.

The rest of the day passed quickly and it was only when the four of them split up to get to Gabriela's house that she realized the dynamic between them was the most tense it ever had been. Sahar and Jay were uncomfortable around each other ever since the party and that discomfort was clear when they stepped into Sahar's car together. And then there were her and Mateo, their whole ride on his motorcycle towards her house silent, her hands awkwardly placed on his hard stomach.

Once they reached her house she took her helmet off, shaking out her hair. Mateo watched her silently for a moment, before murmuring he was going to go get his stuff and be right there. When she was inside, she hated the fact she was feeling tense.

"Mija, what are you doing?"

She looked up from her position at the door, where she had been leaning, her head down. Her mother was frowning at her, standing in the kitchen with her dark curls pinned on top of her head, flour dusted on her face. Even with all the mess, she was still beautiful, her cinnamon skin almost untouched by time and her eyes, the same dark color as Gabriela's, clear. They had never wavered, not when they had endured everything to get them all out of Venezuela and not when she had been faced with learning this new language and culture, both so different from their own. For that, she would always be Gabriela's idol.

"Nothing," Gabriela said hastily as she pushed herself off the door," what are you doing, mami?"

"Making arepas," her mother said as she brushed the flour off her face.

Gabriela went over to her mother, peeking over her shoulder at the process, before kissing her mother on the cheek.

"They look delicious," she said.

Her mother tapped her absent-mindedly on her cheek, before continuing on.

"Your father is in the living room," she said," go and join him, I'll be done in a second."

"Oh, I can't," Gabriela said apologetically," I asked some friends over to study. I hope you don't mind?"

Her mother's hands stopped moving then, her attention turning fully towards Gabriela.

"With friends do you mean our sweet Mexican boy next door?" she grinned," how is Mateo doing? He didn't come over this week."

"He's doing fine!" Gabriela said, a bit too defensive, before adding with a lighter tone," and it's weird you two hang out without me, by the way."

"You know he mostly just sits with your father," her mother said," we adore the boy like he's our own. Please do marry him already."

"O my God, Mom!" Gabriela exclaimed.

"How you deal with that stubborn daughter of ours, Mateo," her mother sighed then," I just don't know."

Gabriela froze then, before turning back slowly to where her mother was looking. There, behind her, stood Mateo, looking a bit awkward in the doorway, his hands in his pockets.

"Hey," he said with a sheepish smile.

"Come in, mijo," her mother smiled," I'm making arepas."

"Really?" Mateo said, perking up a bit as he closed the door behind him," you're godsent, tía."

Despite the jokes, Gabriela did feel happy that Mateo felt at home with her parents. She loved the fact her mother had practically adopted him and let him come over as much as he wanted to, loved how her stoic father always discussed Venezuelan politics with him. It was cute how Mateo searched up as much as he could about it to have things to talk about, especially seeing as it wasn't his own country at all.

"Oh, you flatter me too much!" her mother laughed, before hitting Gabriela on her shoulder," mija, do you hear how lovely he is?"

She didn't wait for Gabriela's answer though, instead calling her father to let him know Mateo was here. The man almost appeared immediately, his arms folded across each other and his face as stern as always as he took Mateo in.

"Where have you been this week?" he said in Spanish.

"Sorry, tío," Mateo replied back," just have been a bit busy. Did you see Maduro's speech though?"

Her father's eyes sparked and their full on debate about Venezuela's current president launched in Spanish, Mateo's slightly different dialect adorable to Gabriela. She rolled her eyes at it all though, before rolling up her sleeves and helping her mother with the arepas.

Ten minutes later Sahar and Jay had arrived and were greeted by a warm welcome, her mother smiling from ear to ear. Sahar had beamed at her when the woman had hugged her and Jay had looked uncomfortable, but he hadn't protested at all, even awkwardly patting her mother on the back during the hug.

"Now go on then," her mother said," go and study, you kids. I'll bring food up soon."

Gabriela lead the way towards her room, walking up the stairs as Mateo somehow chose to be the one to give them a tour in her house.

"Bathroom on the left," he said," Gabriela's room is there on the far end."

"You have a beautiful home, Gabby," Sahar smiled," and your mother is so kind! Our house is always so busy."

"Do you have many siblings?" Gabriela said.

"Four sisters and a little brother," Sahar said," and though I love them to death, they do drive me crazy at times."

"Wow," Mateo whistled," I'm jealous. Unfortunately I'm an only child."

"Same here," Gabriela said," though if it would depend on my mother, she'd want to have three more." She looked at Jay then. "You?"

"An older brother," he said, faint warmth in his voice.

Their conversation was flowing so well that she had almost forgotten how strained all their relationships were now, but when they were all sitting around her desk on the extra chairs she had grabbed, that all came back. The silence between them was sharp, save for the occasional, futile joke from Mateo to ease the tension.

Sahar and Jay weren't looking at each other and Mateo tried his best to keep a safe distance from her, to the point where she almost wanted to shake his shoulders and tell him to act normal. They never used to be like this, so awkward, so far from the close friends they had been.

Oh, this was going to be an awkward study session for sure.