She frowned. "I don't WANT any other guy. I want YOU."

I held my hands up helplessly.

Exhaling, Naimh folded her arms over her chest. "Fine. We're broken up.

I'll give you the space you need.”

I arched an eyebrow. "I smell a ‘but' coming."

My now ex-girlfriend smirked, and her eyes narrowed.

“But I AM going to prove my Love to you. Count on it."

I smiled. "I look forward to it."

Our conversation had taken up half of our Lunch break, but was actually shorter than some of our sex sessions out in the minivan. Naimh and I arrived at our regular table with enough time to actually eat our lunches, had the girls actually let us eat our Lunches, that is. As it was, we got peppered with questions that occupied all of the remaining time.

Well, I ate most of my lunch. From my perspective, all I really had to say was, ‘We're taking a break. We're still friends. But we need time and space to figure out our feelings.’ Concise and to the point, right?

Wrong. That wasn't good enough for the girls, and they kept talking and talking and TALKING. It felt very similar to the scene post-Code Blue and I suddenly wished I had a hoodie jacket and a nice walking trail.

On the bright side, the incessant chattering kept me distracted from thinking too much about how Naimh and I were going to move on from here. Saying that we would remain friends and work things out was one thing. Actually doing so without becoming awkward was something entirely different. But fortunately, that wasn't an animal I would need to tackle today.

In the end, I drove home after school with Belle. She headed over to her own house to study with Mari. And I went into my own house to wait for Alice. It was still Tuesday, after all.

At her usual time, the doorbell rang, and without even checking the peephole, I opened the door and extended my right fist.

Smirking, Zofi reached out her own right fist and bumped me. "Well, hello, boyfriend."

I blinked in confusion. "Zofi?"

Wearing a familiar trucker hat, baggy jeans, and nothing but a black sports bra beneath the same hoodie jacket she'd worn on Saturday, Alice suddenly popped into view, having been hiding just a few feet over to the side. "Surpriiiise!!!"

“What... how?"

The girls giggled together as Zofi stepped through the door, wrapped me up in her arms, and gave me a passionate kiss. "Mmm... I missed you, boyfriend."

Moments later, Zofi stepped aside as Alice wrapped me up in her arms and gave me a fierce kiss.

“Mmm... I missed you too, but don't ever expect me to call you ‘boyfriend’.

I blinked twice. "What's going on?"

Alice smirked.

“Whatever else is going on with you and Neevie, it's still ‘Alice Tuesday’. And before you stress, I already asked Neevie if she's cool with us smashing. She said she wants me to enjoy this time after just losing my virginity, and she's also happy to know you're being taken care of."

“And I'm just along for the ride," Zofi added helpfully from right beside us. "I was just telling Alice I could barely wait until '‘Zofi