7.
Lillian was talking to Conan and asking about his day at school, but he was busy rewatching the video Cailey sent him for the eleventh time. He couldn't believe that they really broke up. It made his stomach flutter just thinking about it.

"What are you watching?" she asked curiously when Conan mindlessly nodded along to her words even though she had asked him a question.

"It's just some video," he mumbled, turning off his phone so she couldn't see and start asking him questions about it.

Her eyes were trained on the road as she spoke. "So who were those two people? Did you make some friends?" she questioned hopefully.

"Yeah, I guess so." He shrugged.

"What are their names?" She smiled. "Tell me everything about them! How did you meet? Will you introduce us? You should invite them over for dinner!"

"Mom, no." He groaned in embarrassment. "I'm not inviting them over for dinner."

She frowned. "What about lunch? It could be on a weekend."

"The time of day isn't the issue here," he laughed. "And speaking of this weekend, can I go to a party?"

The car swerved and Lillian almost crashed into a lamppost.

"What was that?!" Conan yelped and held onto the passenger handlebar, clutching his fastened seatbelt in the other.

"You want to go to a what?" she choked. "You're going to have to repeat that for me, because I'm pretty sure you just asked to go to a party."

"Is that a no?" He bit his lip. He'd just sneak out his window or something then.

"Of course you can go, I'm just surprised. That's all. You've never been interested in socializing before."

"Yeah, well," he sighed. "Owen asked me to go."

Lillian's eyes lit up and Conan immediately regretted talking.

"Owen huh?" she teased. "Tell me about this Owen."

"I want to get emancipated," he joked. There was no way he was having this conversation with her.

"Oh hush! I want to hear about this boy!"

Conan threw his head back against the headrest with a grunt, knowing she wouldn't stop pestering until he spilled. "He's the captain of the football and track team. He's the one who made me join track in the first place."

"I like him already! Show me a picture." She pulled into their driveway and pulled the key out of the ignition.

"I don't have any pictures, mom. I've known him for like a week."

"Doesn't he have one of those social medias? Does he have any photos on instabook? Is that what it's called, the picture posting app?"

"I'm going inside now."

-

Owen slugged through the halls the following morning. He was exhausted after getting no sleep since Tara was texting him nonstop, guilt-tripping him like nothing else. He didn't regret his decision but he underestimated how hard it would be.

"Did you hear?" a voice behind him whispered. "Owen Wilson and Tara McKenna broke up!"

"I know! It's totally wild," another giggled back. "That means he's up for grabs now."

"I totally want a piece of that."

He found it funny how people didn't think he could hear their gossiping about him. Not that he minded. He liked the attention he got at school since he was lacking it at home. Plus, Tara was the one everyone was talking shit about. Not him.

"Morning, ladies." He smirked at the group of whispering girls behind him who all blushed when they realized he overheard their conversation.

He didn't wait for a response as he strode confidently down the halls. He was used to the stares and hushed words spoken around him so it was nothing new. It was just amplified because of the video circling around the school.

A hand grabbed his bicep so that he stopped in his tracks. "Is it true?" Gavin asked with wide eyes. "Are you and Tara really broken up?"

"Why, are you jealous?" Owen teased, going to ruffle Gavin's hair but he slapped his hand away with a scowl.

"Bitch fine. I'll go talk to someone else." He turned but Owen rolled his eyes and slid his foot out to trip Gavin, who stumbled but stayed upright.

"I'm just kidding, idiot. Yes we broke up."

Gavin grinned. "Does that mean you'll go to Sophie's party with me? There's going to be a bunch of hot girls there." He wiggled his brows suggestively. "Girls that aren't as psychotic as Tara."

"Sure, I'll go," he said casually. Gavin didn't have to know he had already planned on going. Or that he was interested in getting a rebound. At least not some random girl at a party.

"Fuck yeah! Gowen is back in business baby!" he cheered.

"Stop calling us 'Gowen'." Owen snickered at the stupid ship name he got from a group of cheerleaders that thought they were secretly dating. "I, personally, prefer Ovin."

Gavin shook his head. "I've gotta get to class, but for the record, Gowen is way better." He blew a kiss to Owen who gagged in response.

"Later loser." Owen knocked the book he was holding out of his hands and ran away before Gavin could hit him.

He dragged through his first few periods, either sleeping or throwing shit at his teachers when they were turned around. It was ridiculously hilarious. Though the teachers didn't share his sense of humor.

After fourth period he finally had lunch. It was his favorite time of day and he was practically wagging his tail like a dog as he waited for the bell to ring. And the second it did he was sprinting out of the classroom to get in the cafeteria line first.

If you didn't know Owen, you'd think he was a lunatic. But he was Owen Wilson, nobody didn't know him. So it was normal for the wealthy 6'3 football star to be running through the halls like an idiot. No one even blinked at the sight.

After he got his food (he was the first person in there as always) he went to sit outside but took a detour when he saw Conan walking in with Cailey.

"We heard you're a single lady now," Cailey was the first to talk when Owen approached them. "Congratulations on being single, my guy."

"Thank you, thank you." He bowed, barely sparing her a glance and looking at Conan instead.

"I brought your clothes back,"'Conan told Owen who smiled at his awkwardness. "They're in my locker, if you wait here I can go get them."

"I'll go with you," he said without pause.

Cailey bit back a smile. "I have to, um, go... brush my hair. You two go ahead." She slipped away before either of them could question her.

Owen didn't think twice about her excuse. It sounded like a girl thing and made perfect sense in his mind. But Conan knew the devil was trying to play matchmaker.

"My locker's in building five," Conan replied nervously as the two walked side by side.

Owen took a bite of his burger and took over the conversation like usual, talking about anything that popped into his brain. "How's Duncan doing? I thought he was going to jump me or something but I haven't seen him at all since that day."

"I wouldn't know either," Conan mumbled. "He kind of ran away from home."

"Ran away from home?" Owen said through a mouthful of food. "What seventeen-year-old runs away from home? Where could he even go if you're both new to the town?"

Their footsteps echoed down the hallways as Conan led them to his locker. "I have no clue. We kind of had a family fight after you dropped me off and a lot of stuff happened. It's complicated."

"I'm familiar with the topic." Owen thought about his own family and the way his parents were constantly arguing, assuming Conan was talking about the same kind of thing. "Do you want to talk about it? I'm a really good listener."

The truth was, he wasn't, but he wanted to hear what Conan had to say. He wanted to soothe whatever was bothering him and make everything better.

"It's fine," Conan lied. It wasn't fine but it wasn't like he had anyone he could actually talk about it to. "Thank you though."

Owen's offer made him feel all fluttery inside. People caring about him was an odd feeling.

"Look on the bright side." He shrugged. "Maybe he got kidnapped and he's trapped in some middle-aged man's basement with one meal a day."

Conan's laugh made Owen's chest fill with pride. He made him laugh. Him.

"That's the bright side?" He chuckled.

"Yes." Owen nodded firmly, "We can only hope for the worst."

"I guess you do have a point there." He exhaled in amusement.

The two talked mindlessly as they went to Conan's locker. He found that Owen never ran out of words to say. Usually he hated people that were so extroverted and chatty, but he liked listening to the sound of his voice. And he couldn't deny that his randomness was amusing.

"Here's your stuff." Conan opened his locker, giving Owen his now clean clothes that were folded into a neat pile.

"Thanks." He smiled, seeing that Conan really did wash them like he had thought he might. "The period is over in like ten minutes. Do you want to just walk around?"

"Sure," he gave in and tried to play it off cooly, ignoring his own giddiness.

Conan came to terms with the fact that he might've had a teen tiny crush on his new friend. He didn't expect it to go anywhere but he knew he wasn't in charge of his feelings. If he liked Owen then he liked him. There was no helping it. It was almost impossible to not like him.

They walked around for a few minutes and by then Owen had decided that there was no way he'd be going back to class after. He was in too good of a mood to go to class, algebra would ruin it.

"There's an arcade a few minutes away from here," he said suddenly. "Do you want to skip the rest of school and go?"

Conan looked up at him with large, pale blue eyes that shone under the light. The sight was captivating and Owen forgot what they were talking about for a second. "Just the two of us?"

Conan had never cut class before. He was smart and had good grades but he wasn't the nerdy, play by the rules type. It made him slightly nervous but he didn't want to pass up the opportunity of spending time with Owen, even if they were only hanging out as friends.

"Just us." Owen swallowed thickly, wondering why his heart suddenly beat a little faster. "Is that okay?"

Conan smiled at him shyly. "Yeah. I'd like that."

"Cool." Owen mirrored his smile, guiding him out of the school's back entrance so they could sneak out.

The school was gigantic which made is easy to sneak out of. Owen's parents gave up on reprimanding his bad educational habits like skipping, not doing homework, talking back to teachers, getting bad grades. They had no expectations for him so there was no room for disappointment. It didn't matter if he got in trouble.

Conan was a little scared about how his mom would react but he'd come up with some excuse to tell her. He wouldn't be surprised if she'd just be happy he was hanging out with a friend.

"I used to go to arcades all the time when I was little," Owen said excitedly as they traveled down the sidewalk, "I haven't been in a really long time."

"Why'd you stop?" Conan quizzed, hugging himself because of the cold air. He was wearing a hoodie but he was used to Texas heat so it didn't help much.

"Because my parents suck." He snorted as he unlocked his car once they got to the parking lot, both of them hopping inside.

He turned on the heat when he noticed that Conan was cold. It was barely a two-minute drive but he wanted him to be comfortable. He had an urge to take care of the boy that was unfamiliar to him. It was similar to what he felt for Tara, yet vastly different at the same time.

And it confused him like hell.