“Do, too,” Jefferson said. He pushed himself off the wall they were leaning against and swung himself to face his friend directly, folding his arms across his chest with a triumphant grin. “And you always chew your lip like that when you’re caught at it.”

Nat swore and folded his arms across his chest, frowning deeper. “Fine,” he said. “I lied. I don’t have a crush on Mina.”

“So…?” Jefferson prompted, grinning broader. He waited, but was met only with a silent frown. “Who do you have a crush on?”

Nat grumbled and slouched a little lower against the wall, his scarlet eyes breaking away from Jefferson’s blue ones to glance over the other boy’s shoulder. “Your sister,” he grumbled, unfolding his arms to allow his left hand to creep up the side of his face.

Jefferson reclaimed his previous spot against the wall and glanced out at the benches lining the edge of the playground. Sure enough, he spotted Ellie sitting on the closest one, her nose stuck in a book. “My sister, huh?” he asked, turning his head to give Nat a pointed look, but his friend was determinedly looking in the other direction.

“Yeah, your sister.”

“Uh-huh… well this—” Jefferson reached up and grabbed Nat’s hand, pulling it away from his ear. “—says you’re still lying to me.”

Nat dropped the hand to his side as his bottom lip found its way between his teeth. He looked down at the hand his friend was still holding, his gaze following the length of Jefferson’s arm until he was looking at the other boy’s face. He let his fingers slip between his friend’s and gave his hand a squeeze. “Okay,” he said. “Maybe not your sister.”

“Yeah, didn’t think so,” Jefferson said, and leaned forward, pressing his lips to his friend’s. As quickly as the kiss began, Jefferson pulled away, keeping a firm grip on Nat’s hand. “Ellie!” he yelled. “I was right! It’s me! You owe me twenty bucks!”

His sister responded with a rude hand gesture without glancing up from her book.

Jefferson turned back to Nat, grinning, only to be met with an incredulous look from his friend. “You two had bet going on who I liked?”

“Yeah, ‘cause I knew I was right,” he said. “‘Sides,” he went on, “this way I’ve got cash to buy popcorn on Friday.”

“…popcorn?”

“Didn’t you wanna go see Spider-Man? I was gonna take you — I mean, if you wanted to.”

Nat grinned at Jefferson as the bell rang, signaling the end of their free period. “Sounds great,” he said, and the two walked back to class, hand in hand.