It was the end of third period the very next day, and the bell was about to ring. I turned to Mr.
"I'm having lunch with Lu today to talk about the gardening club," I said. "If you want, you can come with me so you don't have to eat alone."
He shrugged. "No, you're fine. I'll just have lunch with someone else."
That was strange to hear—Mr isn't close with many people except for me. "Oh. All right. You sure?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's fine. We'll have lunch tomorrow," he said.
Ever since middle school we'd always eaten together. It felt weird not having him there, but he said it was fine. Anyway, I needed to focus on getting closer to Lu —though I did wonder who he was eating with if it wasn't me.
"That's the bell. See you in fourth," I said, heading for the cafeteria while Mr walks behind the cafeteria building.
"Hey, over here," Mr called.
"Hey, how have you been?" Sl asked, handing him a juice box.
"I've been fine. Haven't seen you in, like, a year," Mr said, stabbing the straw into the juice box.
"It's been half a year, not a full year," Sl corrected. "Why aren't you sitting with Ar ?"
"He wanted to sit with Lu," Mr replied.
"Why?"
"Because he wants to join the gardening club so he can get close to her and then ask her out."
Silence settled between them.
"He's cheating on me!" Sl blurted. "I can't believe this!" He buried his face in his hands.
Mr laughed. "My God, this is funny."
"It's not, though," Sl said, disappointment dripping from his voice.
"But you're not dating," Mr reminded him, still chuckling.
"I know, but still—he knows how I feel, and yet he goes on to liking someone else," Sl said.
"You know what you can do about it," Mr said, trying to hide the grin spreading across his face.
"What can I do?"
"After school, behind the soccer field—that's where the club's meeting for new members," Mr said, taking a sip of his juice.
"Oh, I see. That is pretty interesting," Sl replied, grinning as he took a bite of his sandwich.
"Yeah, isn't it?" Mr said.
"You know, for someone who's his best friend, you don't seem very much on his side," Sl teased.
"I'm on his side I'll like to believe," Mr laughed. "But I can't help giving you a hand sometimes."
"Well, I appreciate it," Sl said, smiling and glancing up at the sky. "Keep updating me on everything."
"I will—don't worry," Mr said.