The classroom buzzed with the usual chaos of a middle school afternoon. Mr. Brown droned on about fractions, but Yuwen wasn’t listening. His leg bounced under his desk as he stole a glance at Taylor, who sat a few seats away, focused on her notes. She hadn’t looked at him all day. Not since yesterday, when he made that stupid joke about her and Tom. He hadn’t meant it—he never meant half the things he said. But it had come out wrong, and now she was ignoring him.

Across the room, Rochelle scribbled something onto a folded piece of paper and slipped it to Tom. Probably another answer key. Yuwen wasn’t about to rat her out, but he wondered how long she could keep it up before someone noticed. Laurie, sitting near the window, had her head down, biting her nails. She looked tense. Probably thinking about practice later. If she missed another hit, Coach Dan would tell her to “shake it off,” but Yuwen knew she wouldn’t. She never did.

Kai nudged him with her elbow. “You should just talk to her,” she whispered, barely moving her lips.

Yuwen scoffed. “Yeah? And say what? ‘Sorry for being a jealous idiot’?”

“Exactly.”

He sighed, tapping his pencil against the desk. He knew Kai was right, but it wasn’t that easy. Every time he tried to fix things, he ended up making it worse.

Ira, slouched in the back, snickered with Rinna and Brian. They were probably planning another trip to the Snack Shack. Yuwen ignored them. They weren’t his problem. Right now, his problem was Taylor, and the way she didn’t even glance at him when Mr. Brown assigned partners for the next project.

This was bad. Really bad.

And, as if the universe knew he was already suffering, Mr. Brown’s next words sealed his fate.

“Yuwen, you’re with Taylor.”