There was a kind of humor in the note that Ryan passed along with his work. He might have smiled or laughed, but he was too wary. Not when he was taking a risk like this.

Other students passed notes saying something like, ‘Do you like Sarah? Y/N’

The note Lloyd got was simpler. ‘Ernie. Joseph. Ms. Butler. Christina. Lloyd too? Y/N’

Minutes passed before Lloyd finished the work. The class was restless, people moving around and chatting more because most had finished. Ryan was very still.

The note was passed back. That was the first good sign. If Lloyd had thought to keep it and show it to anyone… but Lloyd hadn’t.

The ‘N’ was circled. The second good sign.

Two aces up his sleeve, if he ever had a cause to need them.

⊙

The slice of park ran between some houses that had seen better days on the left side, and the social aid houses that were all the same shape and materials on the right side. At the end of the park, things opened up into dense foliage and a view of water, more mud and fallen leaves than anything that could be enjoyed.

Hands in his jacket pockets, he kicked his way through knee-deep leaves, felt branches crack under his shoes.

He was making a lot of noise, which made for a bit of surprise when he caught Lloyd and Amanda, leaning into the recess where three tree trunks grew in together. Lloyd had a meaty hand just beneath Amanda’s shirt, against the flat of her stomach, his tongue in her mouth. Amanda, mouth acrobatics aside, had a very out-of-place serene expression on her face.

Ryan cleared his throat, and he saw them react like they’d been caught doing something wrong.

“You two have had a good summer, hm? Do you want me to go?”

“No,” Amanda huffed. She was flushed. “Sorry. You got here fast. I didn’t think the bus even came this fast.”

“Biked,” Ryan said.

“Is it a problem?” Lloyd asked. Guarded. Defensive. He was asking about him and Amanda.

“No,” Ryan decided. “No.”

“Do you want to sit? Picnic lunch as promised,” Amanda said.

Ryan nodded.

There was a picnic table, set out in the stretch of park, and they gathered there, with Ryan being mindful of Lloyd’s bulk and how it made the table with connected benches shift, before he finally sat down.

“Did you find your way here okay?” Amanda asked.

“I’ve been here before. Earlier this summer, even. I didn’t know you lived here.”

Amanda pointed to one of the brown social aid houses. She smiled. “We could have met.”

“Probably a good thing that we didn’t,” Ryan said. He took the offered food.

“Why?”

“An old homeroom teacher of mine put her address up online. She lives down there. The overgrown property.”

Amanda looked puzzled. Lloyd had a stiff look about him. That look had been with him for the last year of middle school and first year of high school. Like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.