Quetzalcoatl, always the teacher’s pet, stayed after in Miss Floros’s class to help tidy up her room, and apologize for Tezcatlipoca’s behavior. Besides, it let him put off tutoring Poseidon during lunch. Sure, the boy was talented at sports, and was popular, but his inability to solve even the most basic of mathematical equations—it was frustrating, to say the least. Unfortunately, even teachers get tired of brown-nosers after a while and he was forced to leave.

Quetz stared at his plate of food, but refused to eat it. He was having troubles with eating, recently. He felt fat whenever he ate, now. Especially school food. He focused his attention on Poseidon’s struggles over the calculus book.

“So, when I derive it, I should get this?” Poseidon looked at him expectantly.

“No, this is the answer.”

“And this one?”

“Like this.”

“And this one?”

“Same way, here, let me show you—“

“Thanks. I needed someone to do my homework for me. You’re a doll.” Quetzalcoatl sighed, but he was used to it. Poseidon was all charisma and no brain. Oh, well. At least being Poseidon’s tutor got him invited to parties.

“What do you think of Tezcatlipoca?” He asked Poseidon, suddenly. Poseidon raised an eyebrow and laughed.

“He’s a f*****t. Why?”

“No reason.”

“Has he been talking to you? He probably wants your d**k.”

“I said ‘No Reason’!” He exclaimed, glowing bright red.

“Yeah, sure. I’m gonna go sit with Ryujin. We have to talk about the meet this weekend.”

Quetz only vaguely cared about his leaving.

*~*~*~*~*

Having successfully opted out of Phys. Ed. for a small-group yoga class, Quetzalcoatl found himself next saluting the sun between Guan Yin, Garuda, and Ayida Weddo.

“Yin, I have a—nnh—question.”

“Yes, Quetzal?” Guan Yin was sort of Quetzalcoatl’s go-to for advice. She always knew what she was talking about, even if she did tend to use clichés like ‘follow your heart’ and ‘trust what’s inside’.

“Do you think Tezcatlipoca is such an inane jerk because—ow ow ow-- his parents didn’t love him, or because they loved him too much?”

“You have been asking about that boy quite a bit recently.” She responded smartly, ignoring the question itself.

“I know. He’s just been more irritating than usual recently. I don’t really know why.” There was a pause of a few seconds, as everyone took a deep breath.

“If you ask me,” Garuda butted in, “He just wants your d**k.”

“Shut up!”

“I’m serious.” Quetzalcoatl sighed.

“I’ve been hearing that a lot today.”

“Perhaps it has merit,” Guan Yin offered, cautiously.

“What?!”

“I mean, he does seem to have an…elementary school maturity level. Didn’t we all used to pick on each other if we liked each other?”

“…I guess.”

They were finished with the salutation set, and they all stood up and relaxed. The bell rang, and Quetz left quickly, bothered. Ayida caught up with him in the hallway.

“Quetz!” She exclaimed, to get his attention. He had been sort of walking down the hall mindlessly, and his head snapped over to look at her.

“Huh? What do you want?”

“…Okay, nevermind, if that’s the way it is—“

“No, I mean, you’re usually silent, or just really condescending. And kind of a b***h. Why are you talking to me?”

“Prom’s coming up, and…”

“Yeah?”

“I think maybe we should go together. I mean…we’re really similar, you know? We have a lot in common. We’d look good. Prom king and queen candidates, we match so well.” She nodded, firmly. Quetzalcoatl snorted.

“Nah, it’ll totally be one of the Greek couples. But—thank you for the offer. Uh…I’m not sure, though, okay? Can I get back to you on it?”

“No problem!” She smiled, and waved as she swerved off to another class. She was actually pretty cute, he thought. It might be a good idea. But he was still hoping, in the back of his mind…

*~*~*~*~*

Tezcatlipoca was walking over to his locker. Quetz’s heartbeat went up probably fifty beats per minute, but he did his best to look cool and aloof. This was Tezcatlipoca, anyway. The scourge of the school. A waste of breath. A useless nobody with no drive and no future. A dark beauty. A rugged look about him—and those muscles…

“Your sister was great last night.”

WHAM!

Quetz did the first thing that came naturally—a punch square to the nose. He sort of regretted it a moment later, but no one talked about Xolotl that way. Just because he was slightly effeminate and wore a lot of dark clothing didn’t make Quetz's twin brother any less of a man. Though, that haircut didn’t help his case. Regardless, Tezcatlipoca was absolutely, definitely to blame for getting punched in the face. He brought it on himself.

“You might want to go to the bathroom and clean that up,” he spat at the boy on the floor. “You wouldn’t want it to get infected.”

*~*~*~*~*

Back at home, the phone finally picked up, after several rings.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Ayida? This is Quetz. Meet me at the mall, Saturday. We need to pick out my tux.”