VI. 1.06.  'THE MATING GAME'

Life was strange. Everyone was aware of that. But what made life funkier was the added new senses that came with it. Feelings and thoughts of infatuation that, once upon a time, were guarded up by the waning threat of catching cooties.

Federico had caught the big bad hormonal bug somewhere around the start of Grade 7, and this very morning when he'd caught a glimpse of a magazine with the lady from Charmed whilst eating breakfast at the kitchen counter and couldn't stop staring at it. 15 minutes later and he let his untamed temptations win and stuffed the Stuff magazine down into the abyss of his backpack and joyously walked out the door to school.

The original owner of the magazine itself was still something of a great mystery. Federico had assumed it was his Aunt Araceli's till he's seen it was Stuff for Men. Men meaning one only other person. And the thought alone sent unnerved shivers down his spine. So there was no other option for him but to convince himself that this was just some women's lifestyle magazine and not the hopefully other alternative.

Because knowing what he knew about who his father was as a person, and his morals and strict aspects in the way he carried himself, he could never picture him being into, well, this. Girls in scantily clad outfits sitting in shallow pools of water or lying down in crinkled rose petals.

Actually, he didn't want to. At all. Ever.

He'd had crushes before. His first was Daphne from Scooby-Do, after that came and went, Sabrina The Teenage Witch came shorty after that.  And maybe, kind of, not-so recently  in the present day, Paige Michealchck. Yup. That Paige.

A girl he knew, and who knew him  well enough, and if he didn't move in the pack that he did in their jungle of a Junior High, she would've probably chewed him up and spat him back out already.

He'd seen her do it to more than enough people already with her scorning words, and sharp tounge and that had managed to hook him in.

But he wouldn't say it was a crush crush. Just a mild infatuation.

This was all confusing. Life. Junior High. Hormones. Crushes that fluctuated so often that they were starting to give him a headache.

  His Dad had already attempted to give him 'the talk' in between a home meeting last year. And it had pretty much been a mumbled word salad mess of convoluted PG explanations, and safe gestures. With a haggard speech to finish it about how the transition from boyhood to manhood was 'very bumpy and turbulent'.

He was also going to be getting a whole lot more of that later on in the day during the 'health' seminar with Dr Sally. Most kids loathed it, from what he'd been aware of, mostly due to her very uncensored explanations about sex, sexual intercourse and how to use a condom in a safe way involving props from her little brief case. She'd also had a radio show in the past from what his aunt had told him, and apparently she wasn't any diffrent on that either.

But for now, Federico had to sit in his thoughts whilst fuelling them with fantasies instead of what he should've been filling them with, which was whatever Ms Kwan was explaining at the front of the class for English.

In his broken concentration, Jimmy peered over Federico shoulder to catch a glimpse at what had drawn him in so mercifully and couldn't hold back his amusement when he realised that the object of his fascination had been a double page spread. "What are you doing?"

  At the sound of Jimmy's hushed voice from behind him, Federico tipped the magazine just enough for him to see the entire photo, but not so well that it'd catch Ms Kwan's attention. "Observational Learning."

Jimmy let out a huff and cracked a smile. "Staring at pictures of Alyssa Milano isn't gonna help you get a girlfriend"

"Who needs a girlfriend when you have a 2 page spread of your dream girl in a bikini." Federico flipped a page to another bold image of Alyssa Milano drenched in rose petals against a darkened backdrop. "Or lying in a bed full of roses. I remember that one scene from American Pie, with that other girl, and the whip cream bikini—"

"Whoa, your dad let you watch that?" This time, Spinner was the one to turn around from the seat across from Federico.

"No, I snuck into the wrong theatre with a friend of mine not knowing what the movie was about." He meekly confessed, sitting aback in his seat. "When I went in there I was a boy, when I came out I was a man"

A man with a curfew and way less inches on him then average height. But a man all the same.

"I particularly have never found Stuff magazine an interesting piece of literature. One may say it's rather degrading to the true female form and its descriptions and its purposes of entertainment."

A presence of a shadow loomed against his desk all of a sudden, along with the pointed attention from all of his peers. Including Paige and her subtle eye roll. Followed by a silence that send his gut spiralling in eternal  embarrassment.

In his prideful boasting, Federico had completely forgotten to lower his register and his copy of Stuff magazine.

  He slowly looked up to meet his teacher's less than pleased eyes. "Ms.Kwan."

   "End of the class." Her voice firmed with that command when she'd swiped it off the table.

And for once, he rightfully agreed that he'd deserved that for being a little too stupid for his own good.

As soon as Ms Kwan pivoted around to start heading back to the front of the classroom, Spinner whirled around to gave him a teasing smile. "Nice going"

  Ms Kwan had managed to bounce back from that very nerving interruption. However, Federico had decided to slump down in his desk in hopes of forgetting that entire exchange had just happened. "As I was saying, Shakespeare's language can be hard to follow. So what we're going to do is break up into groups and we're going to perform scenes from Romeo and Juliet."

Immediately, Spinner groaned in dismay at that joyous news. "Oh, come on!"

Going between the rows of desks that surrounded her, Ms Kwan began to hand out copies of the play with the parts she'd assigned for them to reenact. "We're going to perform the scenes next week with the text fully memorized."

Terri's brows deeply furrowed when she read over her copy and the underlined character she'd been assigned. "I'm playing Balthazar. Who's she?"

"He is Romeo's servant." confirmed Ms Kwan. Terri's expression mellowed a little, but not out of satisfaction.

   "And Count Paris?" asked Federico when he'd flipped his own page over. "That's a guy...right?"

Ms Kwan briefly stopped in her pacing tracks, her hand meeting her hip at his need to clarify he hadn't been casted in the role of a female character like Terri had just been with a character of the opposite sex moments ago. "He is one of the original choice suitors for Juliet."

Federico nodded in understanding, choosing to skim through the rest of the printed out lines for Count Paris. He placed a finger to the first, and it felt as though he'd just been given a script of complete gibberish. The English was there, clear as day, but when he read it over the letters seemingly had this force of habit to skirt across the page. Over and over and freaking over. Making an already difficult dialect of old-timey storytelling twice as hard to get or appreciate.

It made him hopeful that whoever his English teacher was going to be next year over at the high school didn't have a deep affinity with Shakespeare and his confusing idioms.

"Who'd you get?" Jimmy leaned against his desk when he noticed Spinner squinting at the cover page.

Moving his chair out, Spinner held the paper towards both of his friends. "Says Mercury"

Federico tilted his head to the left, then a sneer came when he spotted the cut off part of the name that was being obstructed by Spinner's large hand. "That says Mercutio, genius."

He quickly spun back to check if that was true, and let out a subtle oh once he realised the slip of an error. Subtly, Federico sent a glance in the direction of Jimmy's script. "Of course Kwan made you Romeo."

His reaction flattened a little. Which was odd to Federico, till he remembered that Ashley had muttered something about being cast The Nurse character instead of what she'd obviously hoped for, and he already knew how uncomfortable it'd make her feel to see him pretend kiss someone. 

  "Wonder who Juliet is?"

As if on cue, Paige sauntered her way over to all three of the boys in glee with her copy of the scene in hand.  "Romeo, Oh Romeo. Where fore art thou, Romeo?"

Her lashes batted and her grin outstretched to proportions that either told of how excited she was at the idea of playing Jimmy's love interest. Or the other obvious, which was that  this role would be her way to stick it to Ashley.

Over what exactly? Federico couldn't say. They were always either falling between the lines of a civil friendship and loathing one another's company to the point where they not-so subtlety plotted the other's downfall.

A very confusing game of cat and mouse if said cat and mouse had selective memories and held eternal grudges.

Ashley contained her visible mixed disappointment and annoyance at being casted as some second fiddle nurse and silently headed out the classroom once the bell had gone, Terri following just as silently in her trail to jump in with a query about whether or not she was okay. Which was evidently obvious that she was in fact, not.

Soon enough, everyone else started to file out. And a dismal quiet struck a heavy chord when Federico was forced to face the music of his dammed curiosity, staring back at Jimmy and Spinner who were waiting for the start of whatever was about to transpire from the foot of the classroom door.

Ms Kwan cleared her throat to indicate that she wanted complete privacy, making both Jimmy and Spinner to exit and dissaper out of sight. When they were gone, she opened a drawer in her desk and harshly slid the magazine across it, sending Federico jolting forward rigidly to retrieve it with a pained awkwardness riddled across his face. "The next time I see this in my lesson, I'll be informing Mr.Raditch, as well as your father. Pornography—"

"It's not..porno, Ms.Kwan." He felt the need to interrupt. Clear the air maybe. But all that did was make a tidal wave of regret hit him head on. Shut up, Shut up, Shut up were the three cursory words drumming in his ears. If he blabbed any further he'd be having to explain to Mr Raditch what his intentions were. And he would rather keel over in a pit of fire than do that. "I just forgot it was in my backpack, then I found it and I...I uh, got kinda curious. I should've put it away, I'm sorry."

A gentleness made her strait laced hard as brass stare at him soften just a bit. There were worser offences to be caught in the act of during a lesson. This one had just been a little too brave. "Well for the next time, refrain from bringing your curiosity in with you."

He let a half smile slip in relief. "And, uh, telling Raditch about my, um...curiosity?"

"Will be something that I'll still be following through on." affirmed Ms Kwan. "Just make sure to practice your lines, okay?"

"Yeah, sorry." Federico's apology came a little frayed, mumbled. "Won't happen again."

With a gesture of her hand, Federico was escorted out of Ms Kwan's class and instantly stumbled across his two friends that had been stood just close enough to the door so they could witness his telling off. Jimmy was the first to place a tentative hand against his shoulder, a mighty chuckle ripping through, and Federico happily shoved him off. "Still wishing that you were in a bed full of roses with Alyssa Milano?"

Federico adjusted his backpack strap with a heavy sigh, as he marched ahead of his two amused friends. "Yes"

"Hey, Tobster, Lee, check it out!" The sharp shrill of JT's pure enthusiasm caught Arlee completely off guard when he'd suddenly ran up to her and Toby on their way into the Media Immersion class. A poignant smile broke across his face, and with it he held up some random flyer that he'd managed to secure from the foyer noticeboard. "Dr.Sally is coming to Degrassi today!"

Arlee rolled her eyes in amusement, the strap of her backpack slacking once they'd finally stepped inside the classroom and found their designated seats.

She'd heard mentions of this visit, and this lady, Dr Sally, vaguely around her home leading up to today from her older brother. However, unlike JT, he hadn't shown an ounce of excitement over whatever was going to come from her talk. He'd more or less described it as interlude agony with the only fun part being having to watch some older woman descriptively talk about sex whilst everyone in the back row held in their laughter.

"Somebody better call the Prime Minister."

Toby looked to JT with a quizzical shrew and a slight sliver of concern to how ecstatic he was acting. "Who's Dr.Sally?"

"The sex lady." He bluntly stated with a heightening pitch, plopping himself down in the speed of light in his chair with a thud. "But she's only talking to the eight graders, of course"

This time, Toby spared Arlee a glance as a way of non-verbally agreeing that their friend was a little insane. Or just really ready for the gratuitous explanations of love and sex in a way that most normal 12 year old kids weren't. Things that anyone else would more or less squirm in a little discomfort over. "Of course"

"It's totally unfair." His hand found the base of his chin as a light huff parted from his lips in disappointment. "I heard that she brings, like, props"

A hint of a smirk flashed across Arlee's face with pride then when the perfect euphemism landed straight in her lap. "You don't need practicals to learn, you have your own"

"Practicals?" Toby raised a mighty brow when the dots didn't connect for him at first. However, when he really read her expression and managed to finally understand her slightly advanced level of crudeness, he shrouded in discernment at having to think about that at 9 in the morning. Or at all. "Gross."

"Eight Graders get all the luck" muttered JT once more. A silence took over their conversation, filled with the soft vaccum hum of Arlee's computer booting up and the tapping of her fingers against the old rough of the keyboard. Boredom. Hungover sleep. Weekend blues.

And then...

"Oh, hey! Wait a minute—"

JT suddenly turned to Arlee like a dog that'd just spotted a bird to spontaneously chase. His stubby finger went to tap her with hinderance, importance. She was used to this. The this being JT going from 0 to 1,000. "Get your brother to bring back something"

She could only crane her head so far to try and make sense of any of that. "Like what?"

"Anything"

His longing stare and drawl was enough for Arlee to gingerly turn right back around without a conformation to his request. And luckily for her, Mr Simpson had finally completed taking the attendance in silence and had decided to start the lesson. "Okay, people. As we discussed in the last class, you guys are going to create a website on an animal of your choice"

   Emma's hand, as usual, instantly went up.

"Yes?"

"Can we do a specific animal?" She questioned, already having something clearly in mind. "Like Mama Onu?"

Mr Simpson had to blink back his initial confusion. "Mama who?"

Although, what caught Arlee's attention from the corner of her eye was the slow yet steady intrigue that Toby specifically had started to exhibit when she'd started her explanation of what type of unique rare animal she was referencing. A change in his form blossomed at each little movement she made. Her fingers combing through her hair to pull it back behind her ear whilst she talked.

"....Mama Onu, she's an endangered rain turtle from the South Pacific—"

His lips pursed incredulously. Posture straightened. Concentration deepening to depths that if she weren't bored and way too observant for her own good, Arlee would've assumed he was trying to come down from a sugar high. Or another type of not so kid friendly high.

It was almost like he'd just got propelled into another universe.

This was definitely something she was going to lightly and discreetly tease him over when the moment presented itself.

"That sounds very informative." complimented Mr Simpson. "But don't forget to have fun and use the technology and your imagination, ok? That's what it's all about"

Toby was a goner

Whisked away into his Narnia filled utopia of probable glowing lights. Or at least, that's what Arlee assumed was what most boys saw when they walked by or were in front of their crushes.

A hushed whisper or two repetitively ringing in their ear. Something corny and icky like that.

"Hey man, thanks for letting me borrow these."

But there was always that one thing that came crashing down to yank that person back into reality. And for Toby, it came in the form of Sean standing before him with the notes he'd borrowed from last class.

Toby faltered. So much so, that now JT had caught onto the exact same little preview that Arlee had just witnessed seconds prior.  "Yeah, no problem Sean."

Sean stalked off with a head-nod, and Toby  held the sheets with a palpable silence. Swooning in a dazed cloud. Arlee saw that as her perfect opportunity to catch up on the important information she'd forgotten to note. "Hey, Toby, do you think I could——"

Without missing a beat, he muttered a whatever and surrendered over his notes without contesting. Or really acknowledging Arlee at all.

"Thanks."

JT let out a chuckle at his odd behaviour. "You okay?"

Toby leaned aback like he'd just floated back down from heaven. "Perfect"

The first half of Dr Sally's sex talk had consisted in flow charts and a pictonary-esk diagram that explained the natural changes that occurred within the body over time, especially during the threshold between tween hood and its subsequent ruthless regeneration, teenhood.

Hair where hair once didn't grow. Lumps and bumps. A briefcase that housed objects that if he hadn't gotten the signed permission slip to be allowed to partake in this conversation, he would've questioned how far Dr Sally was allowed to take her seminars with middle schoolers.

For what it was worth, the half an hour of World History that he had missed for this was 100% worth it. Along with the jovial premature barrel of snickers and underhanded jokes that Spinner slung out after Dr Sally mentioned a new explicit body part. Most of which she never heard due to himself, Federico and Jimmy being in the back row.

After some more surprise show and tell of the many products she'd brought along with he, Dr Sally opened up the floor for an open discussion related to everything she'd just talked about. Terri had started them off by asking about relationships, how to maintain them, and whether or not emotional connections were harder to maintain the older you got. She'd been given some good advice in return for that poignant line of inquires, with the common theme being that with development, the mind knows what it wants more easier.

Spinner's hand went flying up momentarily. Which only meant one thing, he was going to twist his riveting question into something amusingly interesting.

"Yeah, I have a friend. He's about my age. He and his girlfriend are like totally serious. I'm talking like 8 months serious..."

Just like he'd predicted

Horror didn't deter from making a home on Ashley's sunken face. She bowed her head, tight lipped, whilst Jimmy threw over a small glare for Spinner to quit while he was ahead.

Dr Sally adjusted her seat, her head tilting merely in endearment. "Mm-hmm."

With his arms folded against the desk in front of him, and a goading twinge to his smile, Spinner continued on. "How are they supposed to know when or if they're ready to you know...." He paused between his wording for the added callous effect. "Do it?"

A light guffaw clawed its way from Federico's system with the fake cough he'd decided to let rip into his hand. A move that Jimmy instantly decided to note in the moment but pretended it had gone unnoticed.

"Well, anatomically physically you're ready right now. But, emotionally psychologically, we're not sure. You have to be able to decide. Decide whether you like your body"

He nodded his head in fake understanding for a split second, then averted his gaze and his shoulder nudge straight to Jimmy as a finishing touch to his master plan of complete public prodding.

That was enough for to  Jimmy decide to finally revolt. But not on the person

"I have a friend too, he's gotten more, let's say....into sex magazines. Porn. All that type of stuff. He never puts it down. Is it an addiction or is he just trying to compensate?"

Federico went flush when Spinner started to crack up and Paige spared him a gleaming look, just like she had in English class when the initial naughty magazine confiscation had occurred, along with a couple other members of the room. A temperament of a slight annoyance cascading right after it to replace the stinging grin that had been outstretched across his features.

Unlike Spinner's subtle query that was an obvious direct hit towards Jimmy and Ashley and their apparent lack of a spark, or whatever issue they were having privately, this one was known. It had just happened. And feeling justified, he'd seen that as a perfect way to get completely even and also shift the sense of interest from him.

"Becoming indulged in sexual content is normal for any teen your age, so I wouldn't particularly classify it as a precautionary problem." Dr Sally's explanation was short and somewhat sweet, a little more flat than the others, but sweet nonetheless.

If he'd had anything embarrassing in his arsenal about Spinner, Federico would have most certainly used it just to leverage the play a little more. But he was stumped, and still stewing in his English class fail that was surely going to

With a delayed hum and jutted lip, Jimmy bobbed his head at a now solemn Federico.
"Ah, I see"

The session quickly wrapped from there and Federico didn't think twice about leaving first. Of course, not without administering a friendly punch to the arm for Jimmy on the way out for taking him down with him. He also was in dire need of one of the many (fresh) locker chips he kept in there on his way to lunch and wasn't too bothered in letting everyone else go just to retrieve them.

"Federico."

He came to a screeching halt in the middle of the hallway on his way towards the canteen at that voice. A zip of something stewed heavy from the underbelly of his gut. And that alone made him eat another chip from his big pack of Sour Cream and Bacon chips just to get rid of it. Whatever that it was.

All stood in a cold half circle close to the edge of a locker was Paige, along with Terri and a less then displeased looking Ashley. Federico approached with ease, not knowing whether or not he was about to walk into a lion's den of awkward conversation. "Sup Paige, Terri..." His eyes went down the line. "Ashley."

She, of course, didn't respond. Not even a smile or a glimmer of acknowledgment unlike Terri or even Paige. That was just one of the many things he'd noted about Ashley Kerwin. She floated between happy and stressed so often that he often wondered if there was a time in the day where she wasn't up in arms about something. 

She was a sociable girl. Popular enough. And they'd hung out loads of times...whenever other people were around them. Talking was a whole different story.

Unable to constrain himself under the air of perplexity over what they, or more so Paige wanted, Federico held out his snack bag. "Chip?" Nothing. "They're Sour Cream and Bacon."

Paige scrunched her nose a little at his offer. "Uh, no, I'm trying to cut back." He simply shrugged and continued to crunch away. "I need to ask you something real quick."

"What?" was his simple answer, between his very diligent eating.

With an object lowered behind her back, Paige moved closer to Federico. "If you had a girlfriend..." He swallowed thickly at those words, but still managed to somewhat keep his composure and concentration.

"What'd you mean if?" Federico joked musingly. Terri seemed to like that, as the beginnings of a smile had ebbed at each corner of her mouth. Till she sweeped a side stare over at Ash and that all came tumbling down again.

"I'm not talking about the pictures of half naked women who you use at the back of porno mags to fuel your wild imagination." corrected Paige passively. "I mean girls, real girls...with taste and class."

Now he was a little more interested.  "Okay, fine, what am I doing if I had a girlfriend——"

Slowly but surely, Paige revealed the item that she'd been concealing behind her back. Tucked, or rather wedged, into a lined accessories box was a wonkily shaped heart made of what looked to be old clay and baked further than it needed to be inside a kiln. "Would you ever think about giving her this?"

Federico examined it in all its glory, his eyes slitting into a beady squint. "A fancy rock?"

Silently detonating, Ashley went to snatch the item, or what he assumed now was her gift to someone, from Paige's perfectly manicured fingers. "Think I've got the message already, alright?"

She pivoted and started to storm down the hall, Terri only following in her footsteps mere seconds after without any parting commentary as to what had just transpired.

"What was that about?" Feredico felt the need to inquire.

"Just helping out a friend in desperate need." hummed Paige musingly, eyes set against the corridor that Ashley had just walked down for a straining beat. There was always a spatful line between like and dislike between those two.

"So, uh...Romeo and Juliet, you excited or what?"

Good Lord.

Federico had zero idea on where he was about to go with this. None. Zilch. Why was he even thinking about what to say anyway? She was just Paige. The same Paige he'd talked to last week, and every other week following that since school had started. The girl he went into rebuttal with, who he purposefully liked to wind up just a little just so he could see her air cold pout.

Okay, so maybe he liked her a little bit more than an infatuation.

Just a little.

A grain size type of a little crush.

In response, Paige only turned ever so slightly. Her fleeting amusement from the exchange with Ashley wearing off. "Define excited."

That stumped Federico more than he'd liked to have admit. "I dunno, it's just, you're star of the show, the main girl...."

Her arms folded. "It's not like Ms Kwan's making us perform at Massey Hall. It's just another excuse for her to get us to care about Shakespeare more than we should."

"Duh." Federico stuffed a chip in his mouth. "I just thought the idea of having to like, be all loved up and touchy with Jimmy would be a little awkward for you since he's dating your friend."

Heavy emphasis on friend.

As if by some ironic coincidence, Jimmy happened to  walked by them both with his head in the copy of Romeo and Juliet he was supposed to be memorising. That alone sent Paige into silent orbit when she saw the front cover. "Anything for theatre."

He left her and it at that when he'd decided to mumble something inaudible about catching up with the leading man. Anymore empty conversation about Romeo and Juliet and she was probably going to start asking him if he was feeling alright. Or she'd just play the normal Paige card and disengage unless something riveting hooked her back in.

A lead. A play. A scheme or seven. She was cunning in the ways she was also sincerely endearing. Most of the population just never really got a look into that side of her.

"Jimmy, wait up." Federico jogged over to Jimmy with his now half empty bag of soggy chips when he'd shut his book and stopped to briefly toss it into his open locker in passing.  "Just wanted to say, you selling me out like that infront of the Doc was not cool at all man"

Not a single speck of empathy for his lack of humiliation left Jimmy's being. "I didn't tell her outright, did I? I just wanted to help you out a little."

"Really? Didn't work" He refined. Then saw the opportunity to bit while the iron was still flaming hot when silence ruminated through their talk for a beat. "Saw Ash earlier"

Jimmy stuffed his hands in his pockets, completely unbothered. "Uh huh"

"Seemed to really be contemplating what Dr Sally was saying too, about decisions and all that"

Till that.

"How'd you know?"

Federico placed two fingers against the side of his temple as they both stopped in front of the canteen doorway. "I've got a Sixth Sense for the female mind, that's how"

As expected, Jimmy didn't take his overly confident claim seriously and kept walking after that to get his servings of food and pay at the speed of light. "Says the guy who has never even gotten passed a kiss on the cheek with one"

"I live with 4 of them, I know what I'm saying." claimed Federico boldly, only coming to a hefty pause when both him and Jimmy came across one of the rarest sights occurring right before their very presence. "Well if my eyes don't decisive me—"

"Spinner's reading?" sardonically finished  Jimmy once he'd taken his seat at the table across from Spinner, and Federico had decided to perch himself on top of the table space behind him. "Quick, record the time and date."

"Shakespeare was wild—" Spinner folded a corner of the page he was on and placed it down against the table to address them. "Juliet, like, does it with Romeo, at 13. You know, I guess she was ready physically and emotionally."

Blissfully with a ginger pep to her step, Paige came walking by and made eye contact with Jimmy in her travels. "Hey Romeo. I've memorized my lines already."

Hook, Line, and Sinker.

Federico set his jaw to try and hold in what he wanted to say. But temptation took over and he let it loose. "Someone told me she's pretty experienced when it comes to doing it too"

Jimmy blinked over at Federico with a sudden sliver of intrigue. "Paige?"

He was entirely confident in what he was saying and it was clear. His sources more or less consisted of the kids he played basketball with outside, and the herring tales of a girl who had a worser reputation for being brutal and a little to headstrong then Paige did at times. As shocking as that was to hear. "Yeah, apparently she did it last summer at a camp with some counsellor"

He hypothetically shook himself back to reality and dismissed the loosely put together claims of gossip that Federico was trying to hurl in his path. "I have a girlfriend, right?"

"Right, Ashley "you'll never get past second base" Kerwin." retorted Spinner.

Jimmy sent a vicious glare over at him for the jab at his girlfriend. "Spinner 'you'd better shut your mouth' Mason."

To help their friend out in his time of utter confliction, Spinner reeled both of his lunch and Jimmy's lunch beside each other. "Look, all I'm saying is you got two diners, but only one's selling fries and you've really got a craving for fries.

Reaching over whilst he still stewed in contemplation, Jimmy took a fry from his own plate. "Shut up."

Federico folded hims arms against the table once he'd taken a proper seat. "You keep telling me I need to take action, so why don't you?"

        "Because that's not the same thing." rebutted Jimmy. "....And you're a moron."

"Oooh you're a moron." mocked Federico in tune. "Chump."

ronnie speaks !  here's a very sporadic random long awaited (probably not) update for this fic is finally up. well part 1 anyway. if you guys don't know by now i am the type who writes too much for my own good and has to split up an episode into multiple parts lol.

federico really is the embodiment of every single boy i ever knew when i was in junior high in one. lack of common sense? check✔️ random crushes? check✔️ yo mama jokes? double check ✔️ i also really love adding in more nuggets of the best unseen characters in tv history, miss heather sinclair.  there's more in the next part and in general, her federico actually have some form of a 'relationship' that i do develop down the line as they get older. of course, all unseen ;)

hello to all the five people that read this fic!! i hope you guys enjoyed this one and will continue to carry on with it. next update should be out sometime this week, if i don't get thrown a bunch of coursework. and ummm make sure to comment & vote and all the cute stuff <3