All riiiight, I'm done updating the old chapters! And that's all I'm doing for today, because it's 2 AM and I've got more important things to be doing. Namely sleeping. So hopefully I'll be able to get into writing new chapters just as much as I did for revising old ones.

After the previous day's field trip and an evening of careful thought, Keesha returned to school with a spring in her step, and… a rather intriguing plan in mind. But first, she had to speak with Wanda.

"Hey, Wanda!" she called, when she spotted her Asian friend in the halls between classes.

Wanda turned to see Keesha and smiled. "Yeah?"

Keesha ran to catch up with her at their lockers. "I just wanted to ask you something. It's about…Well, it's about you and Ralphie."

Wanda tensed for a moment, then she loosened up and prepared herself to lie effortlessly, as usual. "Keesh, we're just friends. He drives me crazy sometimes, but there's nothing different between us."

"You're sure?"

"Yes!"

"All right." Keesha finished at her locker and made her way to her next class, gym, which she had with Ralphie, Carlos, Phoebe and Tim.

"OK, kids. Your last class went pretty well… though I could name a certain few of you who excelled…" Here, Ralphie and Carlos exchanged competitive glances. "But today we'll turn it up a notch. We've practiced some individual and paired soccer techniques already, so now we'll split into teams and play a real game. All right, let's go!"

The two teams were sorted out and they played three games (Carlos's team winning two of them). They even played one quick girls-versus-boys game at the end of class―the boys won, but only barely, for however much sportive skill Carlos and Ralphie had, it turned out Phoebe was a pretty mean soccer player.

The students then prepared to leave for their next classes. After Keesha changed, she waited for Ralphie to come out of the gym.

This was the day she would tell him, she told herself. Over the Summer, she'd realized she liked Ralphie as more than a friend. He was funny, athletic, and a trustworthy guy when the going got tough. She'd always thought whatever was between him and Wanda wasn't serious, and now Wanda had confirmed it herself. All that was left to do was let him know.

Ralphie was the last to leave the gym, and as the two walked toward the cafeteria, Keesha struck up a conversation.

"So, Ralphie, did you know there's a dance happening at the end of this month?" she said casually.

"Really? That's great! I can go with―um, never mind." He looked away quickly. Keesha took this to mean that he was too shy to tell her, and she could only assume one thing. It encouraged her considerably.

"Well, I… I thought you and I could go together," she said quickly.

Ralphie looked at her in surprise. He'd had no idea Keesha felt that way about him. Or maybe she just meant as friends?

"Look, Keesh… I don't know if that's―"

"Ralphie, I know that you're just feeling shy and don't want to admit your feelings, but I can still tell you about mine! I've liked you since July, and… I…"

She trailed off, and Ralphie looked at her in quite a bit of shock. However, Keesha was still caught up in the moment.

While Ralphie stood frozen in place, Keesha leaned forward, put her hands on his shoulders, and kissed him… ignoring the fact that he was still not reacting.

At this very moment, Wanda came around the corner, also on her way to the cafeteria. She saw Ralphie with Keesha, locking lips. She came to a hault and stared, unable to turn away―she'd believed Ralphie when he told her that she meant something to him.

Ralphie finally managed to pull away from Keesha, and they both saw Wanda. The look on her face told Keesha that she'd made a huge mistake.

Wanda turned and ran down the hall.

"Wanda, wait! Come back!" Ralphie called, finally realizing what was happening, but Wanda was already out of sight.

Ralphie and Keesha trudged into the cafeteria and sat with the rest of their friends for lunch. When Wanda's absence was pointed out, Ralphie mumbled something about her not feeling well. Though the other five didn't know what had happened, they could tell it was something not to be pressed, so there was considerably less conversation. Ralphie and Keesha barely spoke to anyone, and not at all to each other.

Wanda didn't come back for class. She didn't even show up for roll call at the end of the day. The seven remaining friends left the building in rather low spirits, two in particular wondering how high school could have gotten so complicated already.