Chapter Five:

Huy and Kaily made it to class just in time, the bell ringing just as they entered the room. They took their seats at a table in the middle of the room, where Alex, Annabelle, and Andrew were seated at. Kaily quickly sat down next to Annabelle, and Huy took the only remaining seat, between Kaily and Andrew.

Oh joy, Huy thought, sitting next to this jerk again. Just avoid talking to him and maybe you’ll get out just fine.

Huy glared at Andrew, who returned the look with an even colder stare. Huy turned away, hoping not to bring attention to himself or Andrew. He sighed. Today was not the day he had been hoping for. It was nowhere near as close as the perfect day he had imagined for himself when he woke up this morning.

Huy glanced at the board, which reminded him of the project that they had to turn in. Luckily they had finished it this morning before school so they didn’t have to rush right now to piece it all together. Huy pulled out the papers and handed them to Mr. Davis as he walked by, collecting everyone’s work.

They group sat there in silence for the rest of the period, working on the assignments the teacher had instructed them to do. Huy finished his work early and decided to just sit there, not doing anything. He stared at the table as time continued to pass by in a blur. He wasn’t sure exactly how much time had passed when he decided to finally look up from the table. He looked at Kaily as she continued to write things upon her paper. He then changed his view to Annabelle who was reading a book. He then glanced at Alex who was copying off of Annabelle’s paper. And finally he looked over at Andrew, who sat there, doing nothing, even though he had long finished.

Apparently Andrew noticed Huy looking at him, for he looked up at Huy with empty eyes. A blank expression was plastered across Andrew’s face. Not a single hint of an emotion could be found anywhere upon him.

“Do you need something?” Andrew asked in a voice that was as cold and empty as that of a machine.

Huy stared at Andrew in disbelief. He didn’t think his friend could be so cruel and heartless, as though he had never felt emotions before in his life. He tried to play it off as though he was just hearing things wrong. He looked at Andrew again, but his face was still just as blank as before.

Huy looked at Kaily, who was suddenly aware of his and Andrew’s slight conflict. He glanced at her with a knowing look. He was guessing that she could hear the lack of emotion in his voice.


“Is everything okay?” She whispered.

“Not sure,” Huy answered quietly. Kaily nodded in response and got back to her work.

Huy sat in silence, resting his head on his arm. Huy stared at the clock, watching as it counted away the seconds. Since he was half asleep the remainder of the class time passed by relatively quickly, in a blur of colors, sounds, and unspoken thoughts. By the time the bell to go rang, Huy was still not fully awake. In his trance like state, he stood up, gathering his things, and left, without much of a thought to what he was doing.

“Huy, wake up already,” Kaily said. He heard her speak but he didn’t exactly hear what she had said. Kaily slapped Huy’s shoulder, brining him back to reality. “What, were you asleep this whole time?”

“Huh, oh, maybe,” Huy responded. “Not quite sure. I thought I was awake, but apparently I wasn’t. You were saying earlier?”

“Oh nothing, I was just basically yelling at you to wake up,” Kaily said as they walked down the hallways. She walked quickly, so Huy followed her from behind.

“Sorry, I was just you know, dead, asleep, any other word you know to describe it?” Huy stated, still kind of spaced out. “I guess I’m just kind of tired. Probably because of my 6:00 AM wake up call this morning.”

“What time did you get to sleep last night?” Kaily questioned; curiosity and worry colored her voice.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t get to bed too late, just around 11:30 PM,” Huy stated. “It’s just I’ve been kind of stressed out recently, and waking up at six in the morning is not something that I plan on doing ever again, unless absolutely and completely necessary.”

Kaily laughed at Huy. “You need to sleep more, silly, that’s why you’re so tired right now. You should be going to sleep at ten, you know that by now. Every single time that you go to bed after eleven you end up waking up late and spending the entire day half dozed out.”

“I’m fine,” Huy replied as they walked into their Spanish classroom. “I haven’t passed out yet, have I?” Huy joked.

Kaily looked at him, rolling her eyes. “Not yet you haven’t, but you never know what might happen in another hour or two.”

Huy took one of the remaining seats, making sure it was as far from the front as possible. He wasn’t exactly in the mood for actually paying attention in class; especially not Spanish class.

Spanish was Huy’s fourth language, so he already knew that there was no way he could ever master it. Yet alone get even close to mastering it. His first language was, of course, English, while his second was Vietnamese, and his third was Cantonese. Spanish of course, came fourth, making it impossibly difficult to learn because he began to mix up all the translations in his head. It was bad enough that he already knew three languages, but of course, high school had to be evil and make him learn another.

“Are you going to go to sleep now?” Kaily asked, looking at Huy who was already half asleep at his desk.

“There is a high possibility of that, especially since Ms. Gonzalez doesn’t care if you pay attention in class or not,” Huy stated, already beginning to doze off. “And I am pretty tired right now.”

“I told you that you need to sleep earlier. I go to sleep at ten o’clock every single day, no buts about it. And you should be doing that too, maybe then you wouldn’t be sleeping in every single class and slacking off at basketball practice,” Kaily stated, taking her out her Spanish book and notebook

“Maybe,” Huy replied, yawning. “I guess I’ll try that tonight. See if it helps out tomorrow.” He pulled his book out from his bag and placing it on the desk.

Huy rested his head against the desk and quickly fell into unconsciousness. This time he didn’t dream, just floated below in a sea of darkness, not hearing, seeing, or thinking of a single thing at all. His mind was peaceful and blank, not a single sound, sight, or bad thought to ruin the moment.

Time seemed irrelevant then. He couldn’t tell whether it had been a few seconds since he had drifted off to this simple dream land or a few hours. All he knew was that it felt so peaceful that he wished he wouldn’t have to wake up. He just lay there, focusing on the nothingness of his mind, but he eventually opened his eyes.

He glanced at the clock which told him that class would end in two more minutes. Apparently he had slept through the entire hour without even noticing. He shoved his things back into his bag and sat there, not paying much attention to anything at all still. He’d probably have to study though to catch up in all his classes because of how often he fell asleep nowadays.

“Kaily,” Huy said quietly. She looked at him. “Did I seriously sleep through the entire period?”

She nodded in response as she packed away her belongings and got ready to leave. He sat up and stretched a bit, noticing that his arm was sore from lying on it. Kaily threw a piece of paper onto his desk. It was folded into a heart shape and on the outside Huy’s name was written neatly upon it.

He quickly opened the note up to see what it was. Written inside was a poem.

“Don’t leave me behind
I’ll fall apart if you do
Don’t leave me alone
Because I love you

I can’t live without you
You mean too much to me
Without you there
Myself I cannot be

Don’t leave me in the dark
I’ll crumble to the ground
Don’t leave me in the light
Where everything can be found

Don’t leave me
I need you.”

Huy finished reading it just as the bell rang. He refolded the paper, and stuck it into his binder, closing his backpack as he walked out the door. Huy grabbed Kaily’s hand and whispered in her ear, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she whispered back, gently kissing him on the cheek. She smiled sweetly as they walked along the hallway. He smiled back at her.

They both walked out to lunch to join their friends.

Chapter Four:

“Why does your life have to be so damn confusing?” Annabelle asked Kaily.

“Don’t ask me, it’s not like I’m the one that asked for this love triangle to just suddenly appear around me,” Kaily responded. “And you’re supposed to be helping me out here, not making me feel worse.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Annabelle apologized. “Okay, so what exactly am I supposed to be doing here again?”

“Well, you’re supposed to be helping me figure out what I’m supposed to do about Huy and Andrew,” Kaily answered, her voice filled with fake disgust. “I’m so confused right now. I mean, I love Huy, I really do, but I also like Andrew. And this is all so confusing.”

“Didn’t I already tell you what I think you should do?” Annabelle asked; already knowing the answer to her question. “I told you this already. Do what you think is right. If you believe that Andrew is better for you than Huy, then by all means, break up with Huy and get with Andrew. But if you think that Huy is better, then stay with Huy and don’t do anything. Just follow your heart girl and everything will just work itself out.”

“I guess,” Kaily muttered, walking down the hallway alongside Annabelle. “But what if I make the wrong decision?”

“Well then, I highly suggest that you make the correct decision the first time around,” Annabelle answered. “If I were you, I’d stay with Huy because he loves you with all his heart, and you love him too. This thing with Andrew, it could end up just passing in a week or two and everything could just go back to normal.”

“Maybe,” Kaily said. “Hopefully things will all work out. And hopefully no one has to get hurt too badly.”

“Once you step into a relationship, someone’s going to get hurt. Whether it’s the boy or the girl, or sometimes someone who you didn’t even think would be involved in the relationship, someone always gets hurts. That’s the hard part about relationships, you have to work a lot for just a little thing,” Annabelle wisely stated. “And sometimes you just have to let go. People tend to say that letting go is the hardest thing you will ever do, and for the most part it is, but sometimes it’s just necessary.”

“You really are smart, you know that Annabelle,” Kaily said. “You know a lot about things like this even though you haven’t even been in a real relationship before.”

“I just so happen to understand how the human mind works, it’s not that complicated,” Annabelle replied. “Human’s are all the same, all wanting someone or something and they all tend to show it in the same way.”

“Annabelle, you really are a good friend,” Kaily said as they reached the north hallway exit to the patio.

“Thanks,” Annabelle said as she opened the door for them. Kaily walked out the door,
followed closely behind by Annabelle.

Kaily and Annabelle walked out onto the patio, joining Huy, Andrew, and the others. They all took their normal seats at the circular table located to the far right of the patio. It wasn’t exactly a burning hot day, but it was still quite warm. Lucky for the group, the table had an umbrella above it, shading them from the intensely warm light of the sun. “It’s been so hot the past week,” Alex muttered as he slid his jacket off, laying it on the table before him. “And these lame uniforms don’t help at all.”

“I know what you mean man,” Huy replied. “Black pants, black long sleeve jacket, and a thick collared shirt. Black is not a friend to this type of unusual fall heat.”

“That is so totally true,” Annabelle said, straightening out her blue plaid skirt. “But lucky for us girls we get to wear a skirt, which must be much cooler than those unflattering black pieces of crap.”

“They might be pieces of crap, but they aren’t that unflattering, are they?” Huy questioned, looking and sounding like a complete fool.

“No Huy, they don’t make you’re non-existent butt look fat,” Kaily joked, looking into his deep blue eyes. They were the color of crystal blue water, reflecting the midnight sky.

“What do you mean non-existent?” Huy asked, glaring at Kaily. “I’m just skinny, that’s all. You should know that by now.”

He’s so cute, Kaily thought to herself. But so is Andrew. Why does this have to all be so confusing? I mean, why do I have to like both of them? All this is going to do is lead to total chaos.

“Yes Huy, we all know that you’re as skinny as a twig,” Annabelle laughed. “I mean if we turned you sideways, you’d probably disappear from sight, that’s how skinny you are.”

Kaily stared at Huy, watching the group talk to each other as usual. She looked directly across the table, to the seat at which Andrew normally sat at. But today he wasn’t there, making the table seem empty, incomplete. It seemed like everyone was hiding secrets from each other these days. Secrets, which if told, would cause the downfall of their friendship.

“By the way, does anyone know where Andrew is?” Kaily asked, trying to join back into the conversation. “It’s odd; I haven’t seen him at all since calculus.”

“Not sure, he might have a track meeting today at break,” Annabelle stated. “But usually he would tell us about those types of things. I don’t know what’s up with him, but it seems like he’s trying to separate himself from us.”

“Maybe he just needs some space,” Alex said. “People need to be alone sometimes, to think things out.”

“It could be anything, let’s not worry too much about it,” Huy stated. His usually happy voice was as frozen as midwinter ice. “He’ll show up again soon, besides it’s not like we need him right now. We already finished our history project, so I don’t think it’s that necessary that we find him right now.”

“True, but Huy, he’s our friend,” Kaily replied, trying to get to her point. “Friends look out for each other. And he’s always been there for you, so this one time; can’t you be there for him?”

“I’ve tried asking him about it, he just said that he couldn’t tell me about it,” Huy muttered harshly. “He kept saying that I wouldn’t understand. That this was the one thing in the world that he couldn’t tell me about, no matter what. I don’t know what’s up with him, but it doesn’t matter. If he doesn’t want to hang out with us then it’s fine by me. I don’t want to have to be attached to someone that’s forcing themselves to talk with us against their will.”

“Huy, how in the world could you say that? Andrew’s your best friend,” Kaily said, almost shouting.

“How could you ever say such a thing about your best friend?” Annabelle questioned, angrily. “You’re a total jerk Huy!” Annabelle slapped him across the face, hard, leaving a slightly swollen red mark.

Annabelle stormed away from the table, Alex following closely behind her, mumbling things to help calm her down. Huy watched through watering eyes as his friends walked away from him. Kaily looked down at him with a look of disappointment upon her face.

“You deserved it Huy,” Kaily whispered in a soft voice. “I don’t know any sane person who could say such cruel things about their best friend. I understand that you’re upset that Andrew hasn’t been the best of friends recently, but there is no reason to begin acting as though you hate him.”

“I know,” Huy mumbled, barely audible. He stared at Kaily.

Huy, Kaily thought, you really have been acting like a jerk. If Andrew did tell you, you wouldn’t understand. Even I know that you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t be able to take the fact that he likes me. You’d just get straight out mad, and Andrew wants to protect your guys’ friendship, at least for the most part. You wouldn’t understand, you should just trust Andrew and not doubt him all the time.

Kaily grabbed Huy’s hand, squeezing it gently, to remind him that she was still here. Huy seemed distant at the moment, like his mind wasn’t really there. Kaily watched him as he sat there, totally spaced out.

She rested her head upon her free arm, which was gently resting against the table, closing her eyes. She hoped that maybe if she ignored the world surrounding her she could think clearly for a moment or two. Through Huy’s hand, she could feel the steady rhythm of his strong heart. She focused on it, forgetting about the noise and motion around her, letting herself drift into a quiet place in her mind where she could think. The only sound was the rhythm of Huy’s heartbeat.

If only Andrew and Huy weren’t best friends, maybe this decision would be much easier. Huy loves me, and I love him. But on the other hand Andrew likes me and I like him. But is that all it is? Just liking each other, no true love involved? I love Huy, I really do. And I like Andrew, and that’s all it is for now, a simple crush. I know what the right thing to do is.

Huy squeezed Kaily’s hand, brining her back to reality. She looked up to see Huy smiling down at her. He seemed too content for someone who had just badmouthed their best friend and been slapped by another because of it.

Kaily stared at him, watching as his eyes, which were a shimmering blue color, the shade of deep water reflecting the night sky, brighten to a more icy blue color when he smiled and become darker as his smile faded.

“Class is going to start any minute now Huy,” Kaily stated, beginning to stand up. Huy followed her, being awfully quiet. Kaily began to wonder if there was something wrong with him.

They walked, hand in hand, across the patio and back toward the north hallway. Just as Huy opened the door for the two the bell rang, signaling that class would begin soon. They continued to walk, down the north corridor and into the library, taking the south hallway to their class.

Chapter Three:

I’m fine, Andrew thought, even if I wasn’t, you wouldn’t understand.

Andrew aimlessly followed Huy down the hallway, walking leisurely to class. He wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do about this whole thing. It was like his entire life was falling apart. Everything was one giant mess.

They entered the chemistry class just as the bell rang and instantly took their seats at table where Alex was already seated. It was the last remaining table that was the farthest from the front. Andrew laid his bag on the floor, not paying much attention to how it landed, which resulted in more than a few of his things spilling out onto the floor. He quickly shuffled to shove his notebooks and pens back into his bag, but seeing as how his day had been going so far, all that resulted was making an even bigger mess.

He sighed, giving up on his bag for now. He hated today, nothing was going for him. This morning when he woke up he was hoping to be in the library early so that he could read a bit before the others arrived. But that plan ended horribly considering how his mom was sick and his dad left for work before he even woke up. Andrew felt like he was going to just die. Everything had been just terrible recently.

“Andrew, did you do the homework?” Huy asked.

Andrew glared at Huy in response. His gaze was icy cold and completely empty, not a single emotion could be found hidden within it. “Like I’d let you copy my work,” Andrew responded, his voice as cold and empty as his eyes.

“Fine then, just go and be like that,” Huy stated. “You’ve been acting weird all week. What’s wrong with you? You used to always let me copy your work.”

“I guess things just changed recently,” Andrew replied sourly. He stared down at the empty table before him, which reminded him of the cold empty spot that pounded in his chest with every beat of his heart.

“I don’t get what you mean,” Huy mumbled, confused by his friends words.

“I was guessing it’d be that way,” Andrew stared at Huy with blank eyes. “You just don’t understand me anymore.”

“Maybe it’s because you don’t tell me anything anymore,” Huy suggested, obviously trying to get Andrew to tell him something. “If you would just talk to me every once and a while then maybe I would understand what you mean. But you haven’t talked to me in weeks now, it’s beginning to seem like you’re trying to distance yourself from me.”

Maybe it’s because I am, Andrew thought to himself. You don’t understand how hard it is to be in love with something and to know that they love something else. It hurts. And it hurts a lot.

“I’m sorry, but this is just the type of thing that I can’t tell you about Huy,” Andrew said, his voice filled with sadness. “You just seriously wouldn’t understand. You’d probably end up taking it the wrong way. Trust me; you’re much better off not knowing anything.”

“Andrew, you can’t say that,” Huy replied. “Andrew, I’m your best friend. You can’t just go and say that I won’t understand what you’re trying to get at.”

“Yeah I can, because I know for a fact that in no way will you ever understand me about this,” Andrew said. “And if I were to tell you, you would probably end up forever hating me because of it.”

“I wouldn’t hate you,” Huy said. “I can’t hate you Andrew, you’re my best friend. There’s nothing you could ever do that would make me hate you.”

I’m pretty sure I can think of a thing or two that would make you forever hate me if I told you about them, Andrew thought.

“I’m sorry Huy, I just can’t tell you,” Andrew said. “I’d like to, but I can’t. I just can’t tell you.”

“Andrew you can tell me anything, you should know that by now,” Huy replied in a tone that fully implied he was willing to beg to find out. “We’ve been friends for how long now and you still believe that we can’t trust each other with everything?”

“Huy, this is the one thing I just can’t tell you about,” Andrew stated in a voice as harsh and unforgiving as a snow storm in the dead of winter. He glared at Huy with his empty black eyes. “So please, just drop the subject now.”

“Fine then,” Huy gave in, “I’ll stop bugging you about it. I understand that you don’t want to tell me.” Huy looked at Andrew with icy blue eyes that were full of knowledge. It seemed that maybe Huy was finally beginning to understand when enough was enough.

Andrew stared up at the board, the teacher had already filled up most of the board with notes, and was quickly finishing filling in the blank spots. There was no way that Andrew could take down all the notes at this rate so he didn’t even try. He looked over at Huy’s notebook. Apparently he was paying attention to the class as well as their conversation for he was quickly writing down notes, and had quite a few done already. Maybe Huy would let him copy his notes later.

Andrew glanced at the clock, but was too lazy to actually read the time. He had a feeling that class would continue to lag on for a while.

Damn you Huy, Andrew thought, you’re so lucky and yet you don’t even know it. You have the most beautiful girl in the world as your own. The girl I’ve been in love with since I was in third grade. She’s all yours. No matter how hard I try, she continues to fall in love with you. I push myself to the point of total exhaustion, to the point where I might actually pass out at times, because she notices when I win the gold. And yet, even though I do all that for her, she still loves you. You’re so lucky Huy, to have a girl like her at your side. I hate you Huy.

Andrew glared at Huy with eyes as black as the midnight sky. Huy didn’t even take note of Andrew’s cold eyes digging into the back of his head. You don’t even know how much I hate you right now, Huy. You never will.

Andrew hated Huy at this moment. He hated him with the fury of one who hated their worst enemy. And yet Huy was supposed to be his best friend. Andrew wasn’t exactly sure when this had happened, this sudden hatred for his closest friend, but it must have been recent for him to have not have noticed before. He didn’t truly understand why all of a sudden he was so jealous of Huy. Huy and Kaily had been together for almost a year, so why now of all times would he suddenly be jealous and mad at his best friend for being with the girl he loved?

“Damn you Huy,” Andrew mumbled under his breath, inaudible to even his own ears. He glanced at Huy, making sure that, even thought it was nearly impossible for Huy to have heard what he said, Huy indeed did not hear a single word.

Andrew looked at the clock again. It read 10:33 AM. He tried to calculate how much longer they had in their head, but his brain was in too much of a state of dysfunction to be able to even do the simplest of math problems. He sighed. All he knew was that there was still forever until class ended and he would be free Huy’s presence for a while. Or at least until break ended.

Andrew rested his head on the table, using his arm as a pillow and gently drifted into a half conscious, half unconscious state. He drifted back and forth in the void between awake and a sleep until the bell rang. The moment the bell rang, he pulled himself out of his semi-conscious state, gathered his things, and rushed out the door as fast as possible, trying to get away from Huy as fast as he could.

Chapter Two:

Huy quickly walked with Kaily to her class before he headed back to the north hall for his own. He had piano first period. It wasn’t exactly a boring class, it did pass by quickly for the most part, but it was quite repetitive. Lucky for him, they had a substitute today so they could play whatever he wanted.

Huy searched through his backpack, trying to find his sheet music. Maybe I should organize my papers later, Huy thought as he shuffled through the many folders, notebooks, and loose papers that filled up his backpack. After searching for a minute or two, he pulled out a stack of papers which were covered, front and back with music scores. He set the music upon the stand and opened the smaller pocket in his bag, taking out the headphones to plug into the keyboard.

After setting up for the day, Huy quickly began playing. At first it was a melancholic tune, saddening and deep, but as the song progressed it became happier and much more cheerful. His hands gently glided along the keys, gracefully playing each note very dramatically. He rarely looked up to read the sheet music, for he had to song memorized. He could never forget this song for it was Kaily’s favorite.

He let the rhythm flow through him, gently pressing the keys in time to the beat. He didn’t even have to think to remember the notes; they just naturally came to him. One note after another, the song slowly came together, like the pieces of a puzzle falling into the correct places. The tune changed, from sad to happy, and at times, questionable and random. It was a song that once one heard it, they would never again forget it.

When Huy reached the end of the song, he smiled to himself. He had finally done it. He finally remembered the 18 page long song, beginning to end, perfectly.

If only Kaily could have seen me play that, Huy thought to himself, she would have been so proud of me. If only she could have seen me, if only…

He flipped through the music, trying to find another song to play, but they were all beginning to bore him. He had played them all one too many times to be considered difficult anymore. Huy checked the time, to see if it was even worth starting a new song. The clock read 8:37 AM, meaning there was only about eight minutes left before the bell would ring, dismissing the class for the day. Huy decided it would be best to just pack up then, considering all the songs he had then took over 15 minutes to play and he hated to stop playing half way through a piece.

He grabbed the sheet music off of the stand and put it away in his backpack. He then unplugged his headphones, being careful to not tear the cord, and wrapped the cord around itself so it wouldn’t unwind and placed them back in the small pocket of his bag. He glanced across the room; the substitute was busy reading the newspaper, so Huy took out his phone and checked to see if he had any messages. His phone read that he had two unread messages. One was from Kaily, the other was from Annabelle. He decided to read the one from Kaily first.

‘What’s wrong? You and Andrew seem to not be getting along. Are you two okay?’ the message read. Huy sighed. He wasn’t exactly sure when or why it had happened, but him and Andrew seemed to be growing farther apart.

‘I’m fine, nothing’s wrong. Andrew seems distant, that’s all. I’ll figure it out, this will all be okay, I promise. Love you.’ I replied to Kaily with.

Huy opened the other message, which was from Annabelle. It read ‘Something seems wrong. Be careful, I just felt the need to say that.’

He didn’t feel like Annabelle really wanted him to reply to her so he closed his phone and shoved it into his pocket. Today had just barely started and yet it seemed so confusing. Maybe Annabelle was right, something was wrong, he just didn’t know what.

Huy stared at the clock for the rest of the period and the moment the bell rang he was the first one out the door. He walked down the north hallway until he reached the library. There he met up with Kaily.

“Are you ready for calculus?” Kaily jokingly asked.

“Calculus, gross,” Huy replied, sticking his tongue out. “By ready for calculus, if you mean ready to take a good long nap in calculus then the answer is a definite yes. If you meant otherwise, then no way am I ready for calculus.”

Kaily giggled in response to this. She took hold of Huy’s hand. He gently squeezed her soft hand, making her squeeze his back. They walked off toward the south hallway to their class.

Upon entering the classroom they took their usually seats at the round table located at the back of the classroom. Kaily quickly pulled out her notebook and pencil while Huy sat there and rested his head on the table.

“Maybe you wouldn’t be failing calculus if you actually paid attention in class for once,” Kaily said, knowing that Huy wouldn’t take her seriously.

“I’m not failing calculus,” Huy stated. “I’ve come to know that an A- is not a failing grade.”

“Huy won’t fail, he never does,” Andrew said as he took the seat next to Huy. His voice had a dark tone to it.

“You never fail either. Nope, Mr. Perfect Andrew Thanh never fails. Not a single mistake ever. He’s got the best grades and never misses even a single day of school. Record breaking times in track and perfection in his strokes at swimming. Add in his awesome looks, or so all the girls in school say, and you’ve got yourself the world’s most perfect human ever. How lucky he must be,” Huy said sourly, talking as if Andrew wasn’t even there.

“I can hear you, you know,” Andrew stated, his voice was chilling. “And I’m not perfect, Huy, no one is.”

“Well then, if you’re not perfect than you’re the closest thing to it,” Huy replied. “You never make a single mistake, never. Perfect grades, perfect looks, and you get anything you want. You’re life is perfect.”

“That’s not true,” Andrew stated. “I make mistakes, my grades are good because I actually pay attention in class and do my work. As for how I look, I have no control over that, I was born like this. And trust me; I don’t get everything I want.”

Huy stared at Andrew in disbelief, not saying a single word. Andrew not getting what he wanted was impossible. He had everything. He had a perfect family, one that actually talked to one another and tried to spend time together. He had perfect grades, straight A’s, always. And he had every single girl in the school crushing on him. He had to be the luckiest guy on the planet. What in the world could Andrew want that he couldn’t have?

“You’ll never understand,” Andrew stated just before the bell rang, signaling that class had started.

The teacher greeted the class and got to his lecture. Kaily and Andrew began to take notes, making sure to write down everything on the board while Huy just sat there, half spaced out. He couldn’t think of a single thing that Andrew could ever want that he couldn’t easily obtain. The way Andrew had said that he didn’t get everything he wanted made it sound like Huy had it. But he couldn’t think of a single thing that he had that Andrew couldn’t get.

There wasn’t a single thing that Huy could think of that Andrew could want. Could it have been his driver’s permit? No, Andrew would be getting his in a month or two. Everything else Huy had Andrew already had. PS3? Check, Andrew had gotten his for Christmas last year. Could it be his first edition Ibanez 5-string bass? Forget that idea, Andrew had no intentions of ever playing bass; Andrew was strictly a lead guitar type of person. Huy sat there, staring at Andrew. There was nothing Huy had that Andrew didn’t already have or couldn’t get his hands on.

“Andrew,” Huy whispered, “could you hang out with me after school for a bit? It seems like forever since you came over to just waste the day playing video games.”

“Can’t, I’ve got track practice today,” Andrew replied in the emptiest voice Huy had ever heard. “Maybe some other time,” he added in a tone that implied he wasn’t going to ever take Huy up on the offer.

“Whatever,” Huy stated. He laid his head on the table and listened to the sound of the clock tick the seconds away. He let himself drift slowly into unconsciousness.

Huy’s thoughts of Andrew and him growing farther and farther apart followed him into his subconscious state. In his dream he was sitting in the library. Andrew was sitting beside him. They were both focused on the books that lay before them. As hard as Huy tried, he couldn’t make out the words upon the pages. All of a sudden, Andrew closed his book and stood up.

“Goodbye, Huy,” Andrew said, walking away. From the way Andrew had said his farewell, it had sounded as though it was the final goodbye, that they would never see each other again; at least not on good terms.

Huy woke up at that moment, frightened that we would forever lose his best friend. He looked up to see Kaily smile down at him. He forced himself to smile too, even though he was scared. He looked over toward Andrew, who totally ignored his gaze.

Huy grabbed his phone from his pocket, and searched through his contact list. He quickly found Kaily’s number. He selected the messaging option and quickly began typing his thoughts.


‘Andrew seems to be distancing himself from us. I feel like if we don’t do something about it now, we’ll lose him forever.’ He typed into the message box. When he was done, he hit send.

Kaily looked down at her phone, already knowing that it was Huy who had sent her the message. They always talked like this during class, especially when they didn’t want others to hear. In this case, she was guessing Huy didn’t want Andrew to know what they were talking about.

She glanced at the message and quickly read it. As she had thought, this was something that they couldn’t let Andrew know. She quickly responded.

‘Wait it out for a day or two more, to see if he’s just going through a phase, or being serious about ditching us.’

Huy read Kaily’s message as soon as he got it and nodded to her. He closed the phone, checking the time on the outside screen which read 9:41 AM. He then put his phone away and rested his head on his arm, waiting for the bell to ring.

When the bell rang everyone quickly packed up and left the room.

“Andrew, are you okay?” Huy asked, as they both walked to chemistry.

“I’m fine,” Andrew said.

Chapter One:

“I’m just wondering, but when exactly did this little love triangle begin?” Annabelle asked, curious about her friend’s dilemma. The two girls continued to walk to school.

“You already know everything about how Huy and I got together so I’ll skip right on past that story and just tell you about my mysterious secret admirer,” Kaily giggled softly.

“You mean not-so-secret secret admirer?” Annabelle joked. “We both know that sexy Mr. Andrew Thanh has been eyeing you all week.”

“Of course, and that boy’s not only the star of both the track and swimming teams, but also a total cutie,” Kaily said. “Oh, and don’t forget he’s also a total gentleman.”

“And he’s also Huy’s best friend,” Annabelle said bringing the conversation back to reality. “You do understand that if Huy gets word of this that it could, scratch that, would ruin their friendship? Right?”

“Do you always have to ruin all my fun? I was just beginning to think of myself as important. Now I feel like the bad guy, when this is all Andrew’s fault,” Kaily complained as she played with the zipper on her jacket.

“Kaily, it is probably best if you just ignore Andrew. Then this will all go away. He knows better and he will understand that you’re not interested,” Annabelle said, hoping to help Kaily out.

“That’s the problem, I am interested,” Kaily barely muttered. She hid her face from view.

“You do not even dare think about dumping Huy. Yeah, sure he’s not the star of the track team, or the best swimmer around. And he might not be nearly as tall as Andrew, but that boy loves you. He loves you a lot, more than you probably believe. And I’ve come to know that you love him too. You guys are so perfect for each other that you guys must be soul mates,” Annabelle yelled at Kaily, trying to bring her back to her senses. For a second, Kaily just stood there, playing with her jacket’s zipper. The girls continued to walk on.

At 5’7” Huy was a decent height. His medium length brown-black hair was always gelled in a way that made him look like he’d come straight out of an anime. He had the most beautiful deep brown eyes that were the shade of rich molten chocolate, although he commonly hid them behind mesmerizing colored contact lenses. Plus he also had a light tan and a smile that could brighten even the darkest of days. Overall Huy was indeed pretty cute.

“As if I’d ever dump Huy. Actually, truth be told, in his own way, he’s way cuter than Andrew,” Kaily said, hoping her lie wasn’t obvious.

“Don’t lie to me bitch,” Annabelle stated in an icy voice. “You’re a terrible liar, I’m sorry, but it’s true. Now tell me, are you seriously thinking about dumping Huy for Andrew?”

“I’m not sure. I’m totally lost, I have no idea what I should do,” Kaily said, as they almost reached the school grounds.

“Do what you think is right, and I highly suggest you don’t dump Huy. That boy’s been in love with you for as long as I could remember, and if you dump him, sure he might take you back again later, but I highly doubt it if you dumped him for his best friend,” Annabelle stated, “but if you truly believe that Andrew is better than Huy, than go ahead, by all means, go out with Andrew. But remember, Huy loves you for who you are, and we don’t even know if Andrew is even serious about you.”

“I’ll think about it,” Kaily said. “Come on, we have to go meet the guys before school so we can finish putting together our history project,” Kaily added as they entered the gates to the school ground.

Saint John’s Academy was a private Catholic high school, one of few remaining private high schools around. Most kids went to public school because it was free and easier to get transportation to. Also, against popular belief, private schools and public schools didn’t have much of a difference in their education. In either school, students learned the same things. Although, many Catholic schools, like Saint John’s, had classes that public schools didn’t have, many of them related in some way or another to Catholicism or the bible.

Saint John’s Academy wasn’t a very big school, but it did tend to be a bit confusing with all its crisscrossing corridors and random room numbers. But once you realized that the north, east, south, and west halls pointed in their designated direction and all met in a center, which was the library, it was easier to figure out. Kaily and Annabelle were able to get to the library with time to spare. For a few minutes they sat there in silence, but then Huy entered the room.

“Hey girl,” Huy said as he took a seat next to Kaily. “How have you been?” He smiled, and instantly Kaily felt better.

“I’ve been just great,” Kaily giggled, “but as you must know by now, no day feels totally complete without you my dear.” With that said, Huy gently hugged Kaily, calming her a bit.
“I love you,” Huy whispered into her ear, making Kaily remember what Annabelle had told her. Kaily squeezed Huy tightly, absorbing his warmth.

“Break it up you two,” a voice said. The group turned around to see their friend Alex standing near the wall. “Or else I might have to call campus security on you two little love birds.”
“Oh, no need for that Alex,” Huy stated, “we’re not doing anything against campus rules right now. So how about we get started with that history project already?”

Everyone sighed at Huy’s suggestion. “It’s seven in the morning and you want to work Huy? Are you crazy?” Alex and Annabelle said in unison, making them laugh.

“Hey, I don’t want to work either, but if we don’t get this finished by fourth period, Mr. Davis will have our heads. So we might as well hurry up and finish,” Huy explained before they continued to complain.

“Whatever, let’s see what you all got,” Kaily said as she searched through her backpack for her history paper. Everyone quickly pulled out their papers. “Andrew has all the pictures, doesn’t he?” Kaily added. Huy nodded, reassuring that if their friend didn’t get there soon they would end up failing this project.

The group sat at the table and quietly worked on the papers, editing and rewriting things. Every so often they checked the clock, hoping Andrew would get there so they could finish, because he had the pictures that were worth nearly half of the report.

“It’s already past seven-thirty; class is going to start in about another 20 minutes or so. Where in the world is Andrew?” Huy asked, impatiently. “If he doesn’t get his ass over here in the next three minutes, I promise you that I will kill him in the most painful way I can think of.”

“Then I’m pretty sure it won’t be too painful at all then, since you’re too stupid to even look behind you,” Andrew said as he walked toward the group. “So tell me Huy, why exactly were you looking for me?”

Huy stared at Andrew with cobalt blue eyes that were as cold as ice. “You’re late, and we need to finish the history project. And you’re the one who has all of the pictures we need.”

Andrew rolled his eyes and searched through his backpack that was hanging from one shoulder. After finding what he was looking for, he handed Huy a thin stack of papers, each page was covered in vivid pictures, combined together into a complex collage. “Are you happy now?” Andrew asked, sarcastically.

“What took you so long to get here? You’re always here early,” Annabelle questioned, curiosity colored her voice.

“My mom’s sick today, so I couldn’t get a ride from her, and dad had to leave for work early this morning, so I ended up having to take the bus and walk to school. And considering how the bus stop is half a mile from my house and the closest stop to school is about a mile from school, yeah it kind of makes sense how I ended up late today,” Andrew explained.

“You should have run, you would have gotten her at least twice as fast, Mr. Track superstar,” Kaily taunted. “Maybe then we wouldn’t have been freaking out for so long about failing the stupid history assignment.”

“Well, I’m sorry, it’s not like I planned on being late this morning,” Andrew stated. “But at least we’re done now, right?”

“Yes we’re done,” Huy replied sourly. “Not much thanks to you.”

“Come on you two, no fighting,” Annabelle said, hoping to end this before it got too serious. “You guys are best friends, and friends aren’t supposed to fight with each other.”

“Oh, we’re not fighting, Huy here just got a little too worked up over nothing,” Andrew stated, fixing the tie on his uniform. “Besides, Huy, I wasn’t that late, you just got here way too early. I mean, look at yourself, what, did you get in a fight with a lion or something? You’re a complete mess.” Huy looked down at his rumpled jacket, messily buttoned shirt, and half undone tie. “Do you not know how to dress yourself anymore?” Andrew taunted, a sarcastic tone haunted his voice.

“Oh, shut up Andrew,” Huy said as he unbuttoned his shirt, lined the buttons up to the correct holes and buttoned it again. “We’re not kids anymore; I don’t need your help for everything.” Huy smoothed out the wrinkles in his jacket, hoping that if he got them out now he wouldn’t have to iron his jacket again tonight.

“Whatever, I’m out of here, got other things to do,” Andrew said as he exited through the west corridor.

“Huy, you woke up late again, didn’t you?” Kaily asked as she undid Huy’s tie and gently wrapped it around his neck, making sure to tuck it under his collar.

“Yes, I woke up late,” Huy replied.

Kaily continued to work on Huy’s tie. She carefully folded the tie in on itself, wrapping it into the correct shape. She then slid the end through the loop and pulled it down until it was tight. “There we go, now you look half decent,” Kaily joked.

“I take that as an insult you know,” Huy replied. “I don’t have to time to get dressed perfectly like you do.” Huy ran his fingers through his hair.

“Well of course, straightening your hair and putting in your contacts is much more important than making sure that your shirt and jacket are on correctly,” Kaily said sarcastically.

Huy stared at her with bright blue eyes. “I thought you said I look hot when my hair’s straight. And I’ve been lead to believe that you can’t keep your eyes off my mine when I wear my contacts.”

“Whatever,” She replied. “I love you no matter what.”

“I love you too,” He answered.

The bell rang, sending everyone to their first period class.