To Zion

2

As soon as the bell rang, I bolted straight up from my seat, scanning the faces behind me, m trying to recognize as many as I could. The problem was...I knew almost all of them. The letter said that they had met me. Well, I'd probably met everyone in this whole classroom.

"Let me see that again." Cooper snatched the paper from me, rereading the words he hadn't stopped staring at since we read them the first time.

"This sounds like a nerd to me."

"What does that even mean?" I sighed. Stereotypes just bothered me. Like why made a nerd a nerd anyways?

"It means that I, as a total nerd, smell a nerd."

"So who would you call a nerd out of these people?"

We both stared after the students as they packed up their bags, Cooper adjusting his glasses to get a closer look at everyone.

"Oh, it could totally be Taylor. He's such a nerd and he's always messing around with paper." He pointed out the scrawny boy, who I knew from calculus, and I had to laugh.

"You think Taylor admires me? Sure he might think I'm ok, but he also thinks I'm an idiot."

He suggested at least five others, convinced each time that he had found "the one", only to forget about them completely when a new face grabbed his attention.

"Oh! What about Anne? Weren't you guys, like, friends last year?"

"Well, we saw each other more often, but that's just because I played football last year, and she was a cheerleader. I think she still is."

My gaze lingered on her as she packed up her bag. A strand of black hair fell into front of her face, and she brushed it away impatiently, muttering something under her breath. Anne had a habit of talking under her breath a lot, and rambling on even when people had stopped listening to her. I liked Anne, but I'd never even considered her as—-

"Oh, maybe it's Luke!"

"Luke?" I gave Cooper my most incredulous eyebrow raise. "Are you dumb or something? He and Nolan have been together since June?"

Nolan had never been what I would call a best friend, but I had known him since grade school, and couldn't have been happier for him when I saw him and Luke at the Pride parade in June. It was obvious for months that Nolan liked Luke.

"What?" It was clear Cooper didn't believe me. I merely pointed towards Luke, who had been sitting next to Nolan the entire class, and was now sharing a whispered conversation with him. Cooper still wasn't convinced. That is, until Nolan pulled him into a kiss.

"Oh...ok, so it's probably not Luke." Cooper decided, packing up his books, and following me as I started walking towards the door.

"You know, Coop, you're pretty smart sometimes."

Cooper made a noncommittal noise, grumbling as we passed the desks that Nolan and Luke were sitting at.

"Well, maybe it wasn't him, but maybe they saw who it was."

"Cooper! You're a genius." He smiled despite his attempt to look offended, and we stopped in front of Nolan's desk.

Apparently that wasn't enough to catch their attention, and the two continued to be completely wrapped up in each other. Didn't they realize this was a school? I coughed, and Nolan pulled away from Luke, turning his head to look at me.

"Zion, it's been a while! How are you?" He disentangled himself from Luke, who gave me a rather disgruntled look.

There was no denying that Luke was pretty. I'd seen him at the parade, and knew he was trans, but if I hadn't seen him there, I might not have known this year. He passed for a beautiful boy. Exactly what he was. I wondered if Cooper even knew or would care. He wasn't much taller than Luke, and was pretty himself.

"Good. Listen, Nolan, I need your help."

"What is it, Zee?" He looked up helpfully. It was our last class, and I knew I had time to explain.

"Read this." I placed the paper down on his desk, and he and Luke read over it quickly.

Luke was smiling when he looked up at me, and Nolan raised his eyebrows as he passed the paper back to me.

"Sounds like you've got a secret admirer."

"Obviously." I threw my hands up in exasperation.

"Where did you get this?" Luke asked helpfully.

"Someone threw it at the back of my head during this very class. It was folded into a paper airplane."

"Aww!" Luke grabbed Nolan's arm in his excitement. Nolan smiles at him for a moment before glancing back up at me.

"Any idea who it was?"

"That's what I was going to ask you. You guys are in a pretty good spot to see almost everyone in here."

"Oh..." He glanced back down at Luke, who blushed, and rested his head on Nolan's arm.

"Well, we weren't really paying attention." Luke giggled, and Cooper groaned in exasperation.

"Sorry, man." Nolan added, and I sighed.

"It's alright."

"But we are totally into helping. Maybe this person will try and send another not next class? We'll keep an eye out." Luke added helpfully, and I sent him a quick smile.

"Any idea who it could be?" Nolan asked, and I tried my hardest to think back on anyone it could possibly be. I mean, I know I'm not even good looking. Up until now I didn't think it possible that someone would have a crush on me, much less...love...me.

"I have no idea."