"Hey, you heard about the new kid?"
Lucas barely looked up from his drink. His tennis racket leaned against the cafeteria table, untouched. Kelv flopped into the seat across from him, tossing his windbreaker over the chair with his usual flair. With his messy blond curls, light brown skin, and a smirk that rarely left his face, Kelv always managed to look like he didn't care, even when he cared a little too much.
Lucas sighed. "What new kid?"
"The one in your class. Short. Kinda round. Keeps his head down like he's training to be invisible."
Lucas blinked. "Oh. Him."
"Yeah. Evan."
Robin, a tall boy with dyed silver hair and multiple ear piercings, leaned in with a grin. "He's been in three different colleges. Rumors say it's 'cause he kept getting bullied. Real easy target."
Chuin, the quietest of the group, just shrugged and munched on his fries. Lucas kept his expression blank, but something in him twitched.
"Don't tell me you're thinking what I think you're thinking," Lucas said, finally.
Kelv grinned wider. "Come on, Lucas. You need a distraction. Sandra dumped you, the tennis coach is riding your ass about practice, and you've been walking around like a ghost. I say… we have some fun."
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Fun… how?"
Kelv leaned closer, voice low. "Let's bring him in. Be nice. Friendly. Make him feel comfortable. Then… we flip it. You know the game."
Lucas didn't respond immediately. His gaze drifted toward the window, where he remembered Evan sitting quietly, scribbling notes during class, barely speaking to anyone.
"He's not doing anything to anyone," Lucas muttered.
"That's what makes it easy," Robin said with a laugh.
Kelv nudged him. "Just get close. Make him trust you. Let's see what kind of person he really is."
Lucas paused. His heart still felt heavy with Sandra's rejection. He didn't know why, but the idea of talking to someone who didn't expect anything from him felt… oddly appealing.
"Fine," he said. "I'll talk to him."
---
The next day, Evan was standing by the lockers, fumbling with his schedule when he heard a voice beside him.
"Hey."
He turned. It was him. Lucas. The school's star. The boy who smelled like pine and rain. The boy who hadn't even looked at him on the first day.
Evan blinked. "Y-yeah?"
"You're Evan, right?" Lucas asked, casually leaning against the locker beside him.
"Uh… yeah." Evan's voice was barely a whisper.
"You doing anything for lunch?"
Evan froze. "No?"
"Cool. Come sit with us."
Before Evan could ask why, Lucas was already walking, waving him to follow. Like a magnet, Evan followed, confused, nervous, but strangely hopeful.
---
The cafeteria buzzed as Lucas led Evan to a corner table where Kelv, Robin, and Chuin were already seated.
"Guys, this is Evan," Lucas said. "Evan, Kelv, Robin, Chuin."
Kelv gave him a flashy grin. "Sup, man."
Robin offered a playful salute. "Welcome to the chaos."
Chuin just gave a small nod and continued eating.
Evan sat down, unsure where to place his hands or eyes. But to his surprise, no one laughed. No one whispered. No one looked disgusted.
Instead, they talked.
About movies. About how the cafeteria's curry chicken tasted like sadness. About how Robin once got detention for dyeing the school's mascot pink. And somewhere in the middle of all the laughter, Evan laughed too.
It wasn't a forced laugh. It wasn't nervous. It was real.
"So," Kelv said, leaning forward with a sparkle in his eyes, "any plans this weekend?"
Evan shook his head slowly. "Not really."
Lucas smirked. "You do now. Movie night. We'll all go."
Evan blinked. "Wait, really?"
Kelv clapped him on the back. "Welcome to the team, Evan."
And just like that, the table burst into laughter again. For the first time in a long time, Evan felt… included.
But what he didn't know was this:
It had started as a game.