Asher wanders through the halls on his free period, bored. Dakota is in class, as is Lukas and Kelly. As he passes a slightly ajar door, soft strains of music slip through. He stops, listening closer.

Asher, despite being mainly interested in technological advancements and science, a part of him wants to play music. He never asked his Auntie Taylor to teach him, assuming that music was Copeland's thing. He inches closer, wondering if it's his talented cousin in the room.

He nixes that thought immediately. The music is that of a violin.

He nudges his way into the room, mismatched eyes flicking over the space before him. It's a small room with a few music stands and stacks of chairs. A grand piano is pushed to one corner, and a girl with short blonde hair and pale green eyes sits in front of a music stand, lithe fingers drawing a bow over elegant violin strings.

"Is that Mozart?" Asher asks.

The girl jumps, her corkscrew curls bouncing. She blushes and pulls the instrument from her chin.

"Um...yeah, it is," she whispers. She glances back up at him. "Oh! You're Asher Hamato, right?"

He rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah."

She grins. "You're the one who made that awesome robot presentation in Mr Hefner's science class! He's mentioned it."

He tilts his head a little at the sound of his grade ten science teacher's name. From what he can deduce, this girl is in grade ten, one year younger than him, and loves music and science.

Not bad, he thinks.

"He has?"

"He said that you and your twin were incredibly brilliant. He still has the robot to demonstrate..." She trails off. "Wow...I sound like a fangirl."

He laughs. "Well, I've never had a fan before." He moves closer, hands in his pockets. "I just overheard your concerto. It was beautiful."

She tucks a stray curl behind her ear. "Thanks."

He motions to a nearby chair. "Can I stay here? I'm on my spare and it's kind of boring."

She nods. "Sure." Once he sits, she introduces herself, "I'm Ruby."

"Asher, but you already knew that."

She laughs. "I didn't expect you to be musical."

He looks at his feet, shuffling them a bit. "It's more of a hobby. Scientific discovery is my passion, but music is like...a forbidden love."

"Oh? Why not?"

"Copeland is the musician in my family, like my Auntie Taylor."

"Copeland? She's your cousin that played guitar at the end of year wind up and that one talent show band, right?"

"That'd be her."

"She's so pretty! I wish I could play guitar like her..." Ruby trails off again.

"Why wish to play guitar? Violin is obviously your forte."

"Music joke?" She smiles.

He shrugs. "I tried."

"If you like music, why don't you take lessons?"

He purses his lips, thinking about trying to play with three fingers. Copeland did it with guitar, but a violin seems a lot more difficult.

"I don't really have that much free time."

"Well...we have the same spare. If you wanted, I could teach you violin. You'd have to get your own though."

He grins brightly. "Really? You'd do that?"

"Sure!"

"Thank you! That's..." He shakes his head, still grinning like an idiot. "That's awesome."

"I could text you later, work things out?"

"Sure!"

They swap phone numbers, excited. The bell rings, and they bid each other goodbye until later.

🍕🐢🍕🐢🍕🐢🍕🐢🍕

At lunch, the Hamatos and Friends clan gathers at their usual spot. Dean walks into the cafeteria, flanked by Katie. Their hands are intertwined together comfortably, smiles on both their faces.

"Hey Dean!" Mitch calls.

"Spot's open," Elisabeth seconds, waving.

He nods, pulling Katie in their direction. She frowns and stops him, tugging on his arm in the process.

"Dean, what are you doing?" she whines.

He looks back at her. "Um...I'm eating with my cousins and friends?"

She rolls her eyes. "You really don't get it, do you? You're the QB, I'm a cheerleader, we sit with the football guys and other cheerleaders. Besides, Mackenzie is there. I need to impress her if I'm going to get head cheerleading spot when she graduates."

He shakes his head. "But...I always sit with them."

She bats her eyelashes. "Please Dean? You're my boyfriend, I'm your girlfriend...can't you do this one thing for me? Just for today? I need to let people know that we're together, alright? Make it publicly official!"

She flutters her eyelashes again and smiles innocently. Dean softens, his face heating up a little.

"Well, if it's just this once," he mumbles.

She grins, leaning up and kissing his cheek. "You're the best."

She grabs his wrist and pulls him towards another table, him following after like a love-struck puppy. Copeland growls and clenches her fists.

"What. The. Actual. Fuck. Dean?" she emphasizes.

"Co, calm down," Tiki murmurs.

"Why the shell does he like her?! She's a conniving, two-faced, ombré dip-dyed witch!" she whisper-yells. "She's got him wrapped around her finger, and I hate that."

The other eight students eye each other uneasily.

"Why is he letting her push him around like that?" Asher inquires.

"It's social death," Nixie answers. "His girlfriend, his football team, and the cheerleaders are super high up on the popularity ladder. Dean is climbing to the top of that ladder, fast."

"I'm scared for him," Mitch admits. "I mean, he's supposed to be our team leader."

"In your family team?" Kelly asks.

"Exactly." Dakota nods.

"That's so bogus, man. I mean, Katie's hot and all, but this..." Lukas' grey eyes seem to darken. "No way."

Elisabeth shoves her plate into the centre of the table.

"You guys can have this. I'll be in the library," she mumbles, taking off.

They watch her leave, saddened. Mitch hesitantly takes one of her uneaten french fries.

Meanwhile, at the jock table, Dean looks back at his family, guilt gnawing at his chest. Chase smacks his back and jostles him lightly.

"You okay, man?" he asks, his concern genuine.

"Fine," Dean lies.

Chase frowns a little, leaning closer and dropping his voice to a whisper. "I saw the thing with Katie. You know, you can go and sit with your family. I won't judge you."

Dean smiles at his teammate thankfully. "Thanks, man."

"The game at the end of this month is big! Big, I tell you! We have to get our cheers down pat or it won't live up to expectations," the head cheerleader, Mackenzie, says. Her green eyes twinkle slightly with excitement, her red hair put in a side braid.

Dean, having hung out with these same people at numerous games, thinks she's nice. She's actually living proof that not all cheerleaders are stereotypical and rude. She's really nice in fact.

Sort of like how Katie used to be.

That doesn't make him want to hang out with them. He wants to go back to his friends and family and talk about Space Heroes with Elisabeth or video games with Mitch and Nixie or anything with everyone else. Not this; games and football plays and working out and cheer routines. He's a mutant wolf-raven ninja, not a...dumb jock.

He glances at Chase, who notices his look and nods once. He smiles lightly and looks to Katie, who sits on his other side.

"Katie, I'm gonna go," he says, deadpan.

She bats her long eyelashes at him. "Deanie, is something-"

"Stop calling me Deanie." He stands up. "I'll see you all at practice tomorrow."

He salutes, turns on his heel, and beelines for the table. His heart sinks when he sees that Elisabeth isn't there, but he keeps going anyways.

"Um...hey guys," he greets nervously.

Copeland stands up and stalks away without a word. Tiki follows, shooting Dean an apologetic look. The remaining friends cross their arms, looking pissed. Dean tries to start up a conversation, but Nixie cuts him off.

"You know, I don't have siblings or any close relatives, but I know that if I did, I wouldn't be treating them like this," she snaps, her red-brown eyes blazing.

"What? If this is about Katie-"

"Yeah, Katie. Your super awesome girlfriend who is not awesome to any of us, but you still put her in priority," Dakota cuts him off. "Just because you fawned after her for two years doesn't make that okay!"

"Some leader you are," Asher cuts in, sounding more hurt than angry.

"Not cool, bro," Lukas whispers.

"What would Venus think if she saw you like this?" Kelly asks honestly.

The thought of his little sister, the mutant who looks up to him most, makes his heart pang with guilt.

Asher and Dakota get up, followed by their friends as they leave the table. Mitch and Nixie watch Dean for a moment before Nixie stands, whispering something to her friend before sprinting away. The last student remains sitting, watching his older cousin with his emotions hard to place.

Dean looks up at his cousin. "Mitch, listen, I-"

"Don't even try, Dean," Mitch says, his voice hurt. "You're happy with them and you have your whole future seemingly planned out. Sorry we can't be that for you anymore." He stands up. "I'll see you at home...maybe."

He walks away, head hung. The lone boy sits at the empty table, slowly resting his head in his hands.