Malak couldn’t erase the permanent smile plastered on his face. He had been on cloud nine for weeks. His life was filled with rainbows and unicorns. The only thing he could think about was Kian. All the other things were pushed away. After their second meeting, everything happened so smoothly. After each day they spent together, their relationship became stronger and stronger. They went to the cinema, to play glow in the dark mini-golf, ate at different restaurants and so on. They did what normal friends would do. And only after a short month, they are now both so comfortable around each other that any outsider would think that they were childhood friends or lovers. 

When they were not together, they were constantly texting and calling each other. And that also means when Malak was supposed to concentrate in class. Not only would this impede his studies but also his entourage’s curiosity. The more he sheepishly smiled at his phone while texting, the more they had the conviction that Malak was in love. 

“Hey, I heard that the teacher is giving our exams back,” Kayla sat next to her friends while nervously playing with her hair. 

“Oh, shit!” Enrico exclaimed as he also looked nervous. “Damn, I hope I did well.” 

“Me too,” Malak mumbled as he suddenly realized that he didn’t study as much as he wanted because he always went out with Kian. 

“What? You always have good grades. Why do you think it would be different this time?” Enrico brushed Malak’s comment as the teacher entered the classroom. 

The news must have travelled fast, as the room quickly settled down. “Good morning, everyone,” the teacher greeted as he put a stack of paper on the table in front of him. “As you already know, I have your exam here. But you’ll only get it at the end of my class. So, open your books on page seventy-six.” 

Most of the students groaned as the teacher ignored them and started to talk and write on the board. Once everyone was convinced that he was serious, all the students diligently opened their books to take notes. After almost two hours of class, the instructor called out names, so the students could fetch their corrected exams. Soon enough, Malak’s name was called. He stood up and nervously went to fetch his copy. Although he had it in his hands, he didn’t dare to look at his grade. He had a bad feeling about it. 

“I’m so relieved,” Malak faintly heard Enrico sigh. “I got a 74. It could have been worse. What’s yours?” 

Kayla grinned before dropping her exam in front of the boy. His eyes bulged out when he read her grade. 

“96.” 

“I wish I could have this kind of grades… You’re so lucky,” Enrico pouted before giving her back the sheet of paper. 

“This has nothing to do with luck, but you studied well even if it was only a phase,” she answered proudly. “What about you, Malak?” 

When both teenagers turned their attention to him, they were both surprised at what they were seeing. Malak kept staring at his copy as his face drained from all colour. 

“Hey, are you alright?” Enrico gently bumped him with his elbow. At the impact, he let go of the paper as his result was shown to his friends. 

“62?!” Kayla loudly whispered in shock as she immediately grabbed it to examine it from a closer view. “This doesn’t make any sense. You never had this kind of grade! I’ll go see the teacher.” 

Before she could walk away, Malak quickly grabbed her arm. “Don’t. You don’t need to. There’s no need for it.” 

“But there must be a mistake!” 

“No, no mistake. It’s my fault. I should have studied more.” 

After a moment of silence, Kayla respected her friend’s wish. It wasn’t as if she could do anything. It wasn’t even her copy, and the teacher didn’t unfairly give Malak a poor grade either. He was simply negligent in his studies while going out with Kian and daydreaming too much. For the rest of the day, they continued to receive their corrected exams and unfortunately, Malak received similar results for most of his classes. Seeing how dejected he was, his friends tried to cheer him up. Their encouragement usually worked for Enrico, but it didn’t for Malak because he felt guilty and disappointed in himself. 

At home, he was silent unless he needed it. Thankfully, his parents didn’t ask what was wrong or about his grades. They trusted him. After a delicious dinner, Malak escaped to his room. Finally alone, he cupped his face in his hands. He let out a long sigh before lying on his bed. For a few long minutes, he stared at the white ceiling until a text notification pulled him out of it. 

“Are you alright?” Malak read the short but comforting message on his phone. Involuntarily, multiple tears dripped on his phone’s screen. Quickly, he used his hand to wipe it away. 

Just before he could write anything, his fingers froze. Malak was hesitating on how to answer Kian. Will he be honest and confess everything, or keep him in the dark? After a moment of reflection, Malak decided to be sincere. It didn’t feel right to lie to Kian while he always had been honest with him. 

“No ( ´•̥̥̥ω•̥̥̥` ) …” 

“What happened?” Kian immediately answered as Malak could feel the man worrying through the screen. 

“I didn’t do well in my exams… I passed all of them, but I’m not proud of the results,” Malak sniffed as the tears stopped falling. “I was so happy to go out with you, I neglected my studies.” 

“I’m sorry. This is my fault. I shouldn’t have been so inconsiderate…” Kian quickly answered as guilt invaded Malak’s heart. 

“No, don’t say that. It wasn’t your fault. I should have been the one to say sorry. It’s my responsibility to organize my time better. I didn’t mean to blame you!” Malak replied while chewing on a nail. 

“Do you have more exams or were they the only ones?” 

“I’ll have more, but only in a month or two.”

“If you like, I could help you study.”  

Malak wanted to immediately accept Kian’s offer, but his fingers froze before he could type in his answer. The offer was really tempting, and he believed in Kian’s abilities, but Malak didn’t know if he could concentrate with him being so close. He could already imagine the scene with both of them sitting next to each other as Kian explained a subject. Because of the short distance between them, Malak could feel Kian’s gentle breath on his cheek and the same cologne he liked to use. 

“Thank you for the offer, but it’s alright.” 

“You don’t need to be shy. I don’t mind it.” 

Although they were talking through texts, Malak could see Kian’s smug smile. He always liked to tease him, especially if he felt embarrassed or shy.

With the old subject forgotten, they continued to discuss lighter topics. Although they both would have preferred to talk instead of texting, Malak didn’t want to raise suspicion or bother his family, since they usually talked until very late in the night. 

The next day, Malak and his friends spend most of their day at school. Since Malak was still always on his phone, Kayla and Enrico felt left out. They were dying to know who that person was but weren’t sure if they should confront him about it or not. After much not-so-subtle whispering between them, they decided to ask Malak about it. 

“Malak,” Kayla called him as he only hummed in acknowledgement while texting with Kian. “Who are you texting?” 

Malak's fingers froze for a second before quickly finishing his sentence. Then he put his phone face down. When he looked up, he noticed that both his friends were staring at him intensely. They were expecting an answer, and Malak didn’t know how to answer. He knew that if he answered, he would get flooded with questions. But he couldn’t deflect it. His friends won’t let him slide. 

“It’s a friend,” Malak answered, hoping they would let it go. 

“Do we know her?” Enrico asked without wasting a second. 

“Or him,” Kayla completed before kicking Enrico’s leg under the table. The black-haired teenager flinched and swallowed his pain.

With his hands on his lap, Malak played with his fingers nervously. “No, you don’t.” 

“So… It’s not someone from school?” Kayla inquired after taking a sip of water from her bottle. 

Malak’s throat got dryer and mimicked his female friend and grabbed his water bottle. His friends tried to be patient as he racked his brain for an excuse to avoid the subject. 

“So is it?” Kayla asked again as her curiosity took over. 

“No,” Malak whispered as his friends made the “O” shape with their mouths. 

“You said friends, so you guys aren’t dating?” Enrico quickly asked before Malak could find an excuse to escape. 

After hearing the question, Malak wanted to say no since it was the truth. Kian and Malak weren’t dating. But every time, the young adult thought about it, his heart hurt. He wanted to be more invested in the relationship he shared with Kian. He had thought many times if he should confess. However, Malak wasn’t completely certain if Kian was also gay. Therefore, he always pushed the idea away. He didn’t want to get rejected and hurt the relationship they had. At the moment, he was happy. 

When Malak heard the bell ring, he sighed in relief before quickly gathering his things. “Let’s hurry and get to class!” 

Before either Kayla or Enrico could stop him, he already left the table and walked toward the hallway. With so many students moving around and talking, it was impossible for him to hear his friend’s protests. Blending in with the other students, Malak let out a sigh of relief. When his phone vibrated in his pocket, he couldn’t stop the smile growing on his lips. 

Just before they could get into the classroom where Malak was waiting, Lesley intercepted Kayla while Enrico entered the room, leaving the two girls behind. 

“So, what happened?” 

“What do you mean?” the red-haired girl asked in confusion. 

“There’s no way my brother would be so flustered without a reason. Don’t tell me! Did you actually ask him??” Lesley almost shrieked out in excitement. 

“Yes, we did.” 

“And?” the twin sister urged her friend to give her more details, while she couldn’t stop grinning. 

“He says it’s a friend that is not from school,” Kayla exchanged information as Lesley’s smile dropped. 

“That’s all?”

“Unfortunately… The bell rang before he could answer if he was dating his “friend”,” Kayla quoted the last word with her fingers. 

“If it’s not a girl from school or from work, where could they have met? Now that you mention it, did you guys study together last Saturday?”

“No, we didn’t. Why?” 

Realization quickly dawned on both girls, but they couldn’t voice anything because of the second bell. They nodded to each other as Lesley mimicked the call me sign before they both rushed to their respective classes.