Kyle chewed the end of his pen, cursing himself for skipping history class. Now he had extra homework. He wouldn't have minded except he'd had extra basketball practice, too, and now he was behind. To top it all off, Joey was in a whirlwind of undone homework shit and needed help, too.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man..." Joey kept mumbling, while writing down at top speed. "When did we get so much homework?"

"While you were making out with Kelly. Now shut up and write," Kyle answered, flipping through his history manual in search of some details he might have missed.

"Oh no," Joey whispered. "Kelly."

Kyle slammed the book shut. "If you're going to start moaning about how much you miss her, I'm kicking your ass, you wuss."

"No." Joey nodded towards the door. "Kelly. She said she'd be in the library today."

Kyle followed Joey's gaze and spotted Kelly and Kay in the doorway. Kelly looked apprehensive, but it was the fire in Kay's blue eyes that got his attention.

He knew she had sass and attitude, but it usually came out when she got moralizing. This was different. He never thought she was capable of such passion, such raw feelings, even if the feelings were anger. It was probably Jackass again. What had that moron done this time?

The girls headed towards them and Joey already scooted over to make room for them.

"Hi," Kelly said in a small, guilty voice.

"Homework," Kay grunted, dropping her books on the table and pushing most of them towards Kelly. She then took out a chemistry notebook and disappeared behind it.

Taking it as his cue to get back to work, Kyle retuned to his history essay and wrote another paragraph on the evolution of communism after the Russian Revolution, trying to ignore the whispers coming from Joey and Kelly and not give in to his compulsion to analyze every micro expression on Kay's face. Another paragraph down and he was starting to really want to punch Joey. In front of him, Kay's fingers had tightened around the edges of the notebook.

Kyle glanced upwards just to see the fawning couple fawning some more and he wasn't sure how much more he could take.

Apparently, Kay was in the same boat. She lowered her notebook and mumbled, "Bar?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Kyle picked up his books and the two of them got up.

"You don't have to leave," Joey said quickly and rather desperately.

"Um, yes we do," Kyle answered over his shoulder.

They settled at the bar, and both of them spread their work out. Kay began scribbling on her notebook furiously, writing down a complicated reaction. The pen tore the paper because of the pressure.

Kyle watched her, wondering if he should mind his own business, but he wasn't sure he could. When Kay sniffed, he leaned towards her and took the pen before she did more damage.

"Are you alright?" he asked. She didn't answer, but stared at the hole in the page as if it were the most fascinating thing. "Kay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, her tone clipped.

"Is it Evel Kenivel again? What did he do this time? Throw himself off a plane?"

Her hand balled into a very tight fist and he took it to mean that this time, it was serious. "I don't want to talk about it, least of all to you."

Okay, that asshole had officially made it on his hitlist. She was truly hurting. It wasn't annoyance or disappointment. He'd done something to her this time, not himself.

At the risk of Kay never speaking to him again, he was kicking Donnie's ass. But as far as this conversation was concerned, he'd respect Kay's wish and stop talking.

He turned back to his homework, but his heart wasn't in it anymore. Unfortunately, he didn't have the luxury of finishing it later.

"Do you think I'm a boring nag?" Kay asked all of a sudden.

Really? A boring nag? She should dump Donnie's sorry ass. "No, I can't say that would be the first words I would use to describe you."

She tilted her head slightly, some of the fury leaving her blue eyes. "Then what?"

He pondered for a second, but the image of her as she walked in still haunted him. "I'd go with fiery."

Her eyes widened. "Fiery?" Her tone was laced with wonder and doubt. She shouldn't by taking shit from anyone. Just like she didn't take shit from him when they first met.

"Yup. Unfortunately, the second one is naive."

She frowned again and looked away.

Kyle sighed. She wasn't going to like this but someone had to tell her. "You shouldn't let anyone give you shit. Honestly, Kay, you're better than that. I mean you stood up to me no problem. Why should anyone else be different?"

She tried to glare at him, but her expression had softened considerably. "Thanks, but could you go back to your homework, please?"

"Sure." And back to his own homework he did go. But that didn't mean he didn't notice that she was no longer writing or that she was wiping away tears she didn't want him to see.

After a while, she seemed to calm down and started writing again. Kyle relaxed a little and it was easier to focus on what he was doing. That until the sound of her cracking pen broke the silence between them. Kay stared at it as if she couldn't believe she had enough force to break it.

"Don't ask," she said before he could open his mouth.

"I know what will help with homework. Coffee. So what are you having? My treat."

She turned to him, her head tilted in curiosity, but didn't look upset. "You're buying me coffee." It wasn't a question, but she obviously expected an answer.

"Yup." Hell, he'd buy her a pony if that would cheer her up.

She pondered for a second, then frowned and nodded. "Okay, I'll have a cappuccino."

Kyle signaled to the barista and ordered Kay her cappuccino and an ice cream frappé with extra cream and chocolate syrup for himself. Anything that tasted as little as coffee as possible. When he turned back to Kay, he noticed her staring at him in shock. "What?"

"You speak fancy coffee?"

He laughed. "Honestly, when you go out with Cecily, it's unavoidable to pick up names of ridiculously complicated coffee and stuff that's basically just sandwiches."

Kay frowned at the mention of Cecily's name and turned away from him. Kyle fought the impulse to ask what was wrong, but he was getting a little annoyed. Why did everything have to upset this girl?

"Your girlfriend's a bully, did you know that?" Kay suddenly said and Kyle realized the frown and silence were due to her deciding whether to tell him this or not.

The news was slightly unsettling.  "Um, no, I don't think she is."

"She totally humiliated this girl today for putting up a poster for the superhero theme. They wrapped her up in the poster and wrote Dumbass on her forehead," Kay continued as though he'd said nothing.

Kyle frowned and a slight chill spread over him. He didn't want to think that Cecily was capable of something like that, but Kay wasn't lying to him either. He would be able to tell if she were.

She turned to him, a bitter smile on her face. "Are you really that blind?"

Was he? And why did he feel like she was the pot calling the kettle black? And he'd just realized how racist that expression sounded. "Um, I don't think so. Look, Cecily is a little... spoiled, I guess, but she wouldn't do something like that." Or so he hoped.

"But that's the point. She always does stuff like that. That's part of why she's queen bee."

Kyle just started. This was news to him. He knew that Cecily was popular, but when had she become queen bee? How much stuff had happened while he'd been away? Cecily didn't seem that changed to him. But on the other hand, he hadn't paid much attention.

"She also warned me to stay away from you."

"She what?"

This got to him more effectively than the potential bullying. Because that did sound like something Cecily would do because she was possessive. But he wasn't her property.

Kay's eyes widened and she looked genuinely scared. "Please don't tell her I said that. I don't want trouble."

Kyle let out a long breath, trying to calm down. "I won't. But she has no right to decide that. I talk to whoever the hell I want."

Kay looked away, seeming sorry to have started the conversation. Fortunately, they were both distracted by their coffee arriving. Kay eyed his drink with wonder and he couldn't suppress a smile. He was still pissed by the Cecily thing, but it wasn't Kay's fault. He'd look into that later.

"Want to swap?" he asked.

"Oh, no, I couldn't." She pulled the small cup of cappuccino closer, looking a little disappointed.

He took her cup and pushed the giant glass towards her. "Don't worry about it. You can have it."

"Thank you." Kay took a sip through the straw and closed her eyes in delight. "God, it's delicious."

"They have one with peanut syrup which is really good, if you're a peanut person."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "I take it you're not a peanut person."

"Nope. I think peanut butter is the most disgusting thing ever invented by mankind."

"Come on, really? Peanut butter jelly time?"

"Nope, disgusting, and that banana can go fuck itself." He cringed the moment the words were out. He wasn't supposed to swear in front of her.

Fortunately, Kay just giggled and he realized he'd never seen her laughing. He took a sip of cappuccino and almost spit it out. It wasn't bad cappuccino. It was just... too much coffee.

"Not a coffee person either?" Kay asked, scooping some ice cream into her mouth as if to spite him.

"Nope." He took another sip. Yup, still tasted like sewer water with foam.

"So you're an energy drink kinda guy?"

"No way, those things taste nasty. Like bubbly caramel." He didn't actually need energy drinks. Max told him his batteries were screwed up, but his uncle was actually addicted to coffee.

"Don't like caramel either, huh? So, what do you like?" she asked, stirring her drink with the straw.

"I like hot stuff." That came out weird. "Mexican food. And Italian food. I love pasta."

She looked at him interested. "I like pasta too. How about lasagna?"

Kyle shrugged. "I'll eat it, I'm just not a huge fan."

"Ah, come on, that's my favorite food."

"Strange. You don't look like a fat orange cat to me."

He'd done it. Kay leaned her head back and laughed. It seemed to fill the room and loosen his shoulders. She had a beautiful laugh. That stupid boyfriend of hers should be doing his best to keep her laughing all the time.

"Tell me more," she said, struggling to regain her composure. "What else do you like?"

Kyle thought about it, but he'd never made a list. "Off the top of my head: sea food, adrenaline, music of any kind any time, sarcasm and making people laugh."

"Fooling people and making them think you were in jail."

"Oh no, that was completely on you."

"I'm a little disappointed that you can't actually make a shank."

"Who said I can't?"

She grinned at him "What else?"

He rubbed his chin, not sure what to tell her next. "I like speed and traveling, even if I haven't done much of that yet. I think my favorite desert might be cheesecake and I also drink milk which Joey finds really weird."

"Better milk than the hard stuff," Kay said, and once again looked sad.

"I can't actually drink alcohol. I throw up almost instantly. Max thinks I might be intolerant to it or something."

"That's good news," she mumbled, obviously wishing Donnie had an intolerance to alcohol, too. Maybe then he wouldn't get drunk and leave her without rides home.

"How about you?" he asked, trying to distract her from her miserable thoughts.

"Me..." She looked ahead, at nothing in particular, her eyes unfocused, and for a moment, Kyle thought she wouldn't answer, but she took in a big breath. "I like coffee. I'm not a morning person. I love Fridays and Saturdays, but hate Sundays. I think sunsets are the most beautiful part of a day, but sunrise brings hope with it. I love fast cars and motorcycles, but I'm afraid of them. I like lemon and mint tea, I think it's the most refreshing drink on this planet. I wish I had a pet. I dabble into mechanics, my favorite subject is chemistry, and I play the drums."

"You play the drums?" Kyle asked, surprised.

"Yup. I'm not as good as Sonia, but I'm pretty decent. Also, I speak fluent Spanish."

"You're amazing." That had sort of slipped out, but seeing the honest smile on Kay's face, he didn't regret it.

"Thanks. I feel better."

"That's what friends are for."

She looked at him as if considering his statement. "So we're friends now?"

"We played twenty questions, so that officially makes us friends. We get no say."

She laughed again and leaned over to take his unfinished cappuccino. "Then I'm taking your coffee."

"Good riddance."

As she pulled the cup towards her, her eyes scanned his essay. She frowned in confusion. "What subject is this? A comparison of utopic communism versus the applied science?"

"It's history. I skipped class so now I have to compare Marx' and Engel's theory to what actual communism was like in the USSR."

Kay stared at him. "You're taking honors history? How many honors classes are you taking?"

"Um, all of them."

She stared some more and he started feeling a little self conscious. It wasn't that big of a deal.

"How do you balance everything out? School, the band... I heard you're captain of the basketball team, too."

"It's not that hard. School's a bit rough, but the other stuff I do, those are hobbies, so I actually do that for fun. Now imagine if I had jail on top of that."

"You're never going to let that go, are you?"

"Nope."

Kay tilted her head, but before she could say anything else, Joey and Kelly came up to them, cheeks red and arms full of books.

"I'm so sorry, but we have to go somewhere without distractions so I can finish this," Kelly said. "Can I come over to your place, Kay?"

Kay looked at her friend surprised, as if she'd grown an extra head or something, but nodded. She hopped off the stool, smiled at Joey, then turned to him.

"Thank you. For the coffee and for... You know." She smiled widely, honestly. "Bye, Kyle. I'll see you around."

And as the girls left, Kyle realized it was the first time she'd ever said his name. And he liked the way it sounded coming out of her mouth. More than Joey's panicked screech anyway. They still had a mountain of homework to get through.

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Hi everyone!

First off. A huge thanks and shoutout to @aaron_ledgers for the amazing artwork here at the bottom. He's insanely talented! This chapter is also dedicated to him.

So, we get to see Kathy, or Kay, through Kyle's eyes for the first time. She kinda seems different, doesn't she? What do you think?

This is one of my favorite chapters because it's the start of their friendship and also the beginning of snowballing events.

Just out of curiosity, do you like Kyle's POV or Kathy's POV more?

Thanks so much for reading and don't forget to vote, comment, add to your list, shout out, promote it to the president... Stuff like that ;)