"Just kiss already."
The words were so casually delivered that, for one strange second, nobody reacted.
Then the entire rooftop seemed to seize up.
Tyler's hand stopped halfway toward his lunch. Across from him, Clara's faint smile vanished, and the color that had already been lingering in her cheeks began climbing toward her ears. Eris slowly turned her head. Chris stopped chewing. Noah froze with his drink still raised. Kai lowered his fork and stared across the table as though he'd just witnessed someone set off an unexploded bomb.
Aaron looked at Sofia.
Sofia looked at Aria.
Amaya blinked between them, clearly trying to determine whether she had heard correctly.
Only Luna seemed completely unaffected by the disaster she had created.
She was still holding her novel in both hands, eyes fixed on the page.
Then, as though nothing unusual had happened, she turned it.
Tyler slowly looked toward Clara.
Clara was already looking at him.
Their eyes met.
Both looked away so quickly that it was almost synchronized.
Eris stared at Luna for several seconds before speaking.
"Luna."
"Hm?"
Luna didn't even lift her eyes from the book.
Eris leaned across the table.
"What did you just say?"
Luna turned another page.
"I said something?"
"You just told Tyler and Clara to kiss."
That finally made Luna look up.
"What?"
Tyler nearly choked on his food.
Clara covered part of her face with one hand.
Eris narrowed her eyes.
"You literally said, 'Just kiss already.'"
Luna blinked.
"I did?"
"Yes."
Luna looked from Eris to Tyler, then to Clara.
Only then did she seem to notice the strange collection of faces staring back at her.
"I didn't tell them to kiss."
Eris stared.
"What?"
"I was talking about the characters."
There was a beat of silence.
Chris's lips twitched.
Noah immediately looked down, apparently realizing that looking at anyone would make him laugh.
Tyler covered his face with one hand.
Of course.
Of all possible explanations, of course it was the book.
Luna, oblivious to the damage, continued.
"The protagonist and the girl he likes."
She held the novel up slightly, as if the cover itself should settle the matter.
"They've been avoiding each other for half the story. They clearly like each other, but neither of them will say anything. Every time they finally get close to having a proper conversation, something happens."
She flipped through several pages, irritation growing as she found the scene she wanted.
"Then they get upset, misunderstand each other, and start avoiding each other again."
She frowned.
"It's annoying."
Eris stared at her.
"So you said that out loud."
"Yes."
"Without realizing everyone would think you were talking about Tyler and Clara?"
Luna tilted her head.
"I didn't know everyone was listening."
Eris slowly looked around the table.
"Everyone was listening."
Luna followed her gaze.
Chris was visibly struggling to contain himself.
Noah had already lost the battle and was shaking with laughter.
Kai was rubbing his forehead.
Clara's face was still bright red.
Tyler was staring at the table as though concentrating very hard on a particular spot might allow him to disappear into it.
Luna looked at all of them.
Her eyes widened.
"Oh."
Then, after another second of processing:
"Ohhh."
Chris burst out laughing.
That was all Noah needed.
"Wait—wait," he managed between laughs. "You actually thought she was talking about you two?"
Tyler slowly turned toward him.
"Shut up."
Noah laughed harder.
Chris wiped at the corner of his eye.
"I can't believe this."
Clara lowered her hand from her face just enough to glare at them.
"This is so embarrassing."
Tyler glanced toward her.
"You're not the only one."
"I know."
Luna looked between them.
"Why are you both embarrassed?"
Tyler stared at her.
"Because you said that at the worst possible moment."
"What moment?"
Eris answered before Tyler could.
"They were having a serious conversation."
Luna's expression changed.
"Oh."
She looked between Tyler and Clara again.
"About what?"
"Nothing," Tyler said immediately.
"Nothing," Clara echoed.
Luna frowned.
"That definitely looked like something."
Eris gave her a tired look.
"Don't worry about it."
She reached across the table and calmly took the novel from Luna's hands.
Luna immediately leaned forward.
"Hey!"
"No."
"Give it back."
Eris held it just out of reach.
"Why?"
"Because apparently you can't be trusted with it."
Luna looked genuinely offended.
"What did my book do?"
"Nothing."
"Then why are you taking it?"
Eris opened the cover.
"Because romance fiction has clearly damaged your ability to speak responsibly."
Luna's mouth fell open.
"That's not fair."
Eris flipped through the pages.
"Let's see."
Luna sat forward, watching anxiously as Eris scanned the chapter.
"Wait."
A moment later, Eris found the passage Luna had been reading.
Luna pointed triumphantly.
"See? I told you."
Eris read the page, then looked back at her.
"You really were talking about them."
"I told you!"
Eris closed the book.
"Fine."
Luna held out her hand.
"Now give it back."
"No."
"Eris."
"No."
"I want to finish the chapter."
"You can finish it later."
"But I need to know what happens."
Eris raised an eyebrow.
"You're acting like your life depends on it."
"It does."
Chris laughed again.
"It's a book, Luna."
"You don't understand."
Noah leaned toward Chris.
"She's serious."
"I can see that."
Luna finally turned toward Tyler.
"Tyler, tell her to give it back."
Tyler looked at Eris.
Then Luna.
Then Clara, who was still trying to recover from the embarrassment.
He decided immediately that this was one battle he wanted no part of.
"I'm staying out of this."
Luna looked betrayed.
"Traitor!"
Tyler smiled.
"You started this."
"I didn't start anything!"
"You literally told us to kiss."
"I was talking about the characters!"
"I know."
Luna folded her arms.
"Then why are you blaming me?"
"Because you caused a misunderstanding."
"I apologized."
Tyler waited.
Luna hesitated.
"...Sorry."
He nodded.
"Accepted."
"Good. Now tell Eris to give me my book."
"No."
Luna stared at him.
"You just accepted my apology."
"I did."
"Then help me."
"I can accept your apology without helping you steal a book back from Eris."
Eris smiled proudly.
"Good answer."
Luna groaned and slumped back into her seat.
"This is unfair."
That finally broke whatever seriousness remained around the table.
Chris was openly laughing now. Noah had abandoned his lunch completely, leaning back in his chair as he tried to catch his breath. Even Kai, who had spent most of the exchange looking exhausted by everyone else's behavior, had a reluctant smile on his face.
Amaya quietly laughed into her hand while Sofia turned away, unsuccessfully trying to hide her amusement.
Clara eventually lowered her hand from her face.
She was still embarrassed.
But now she was laughing too.
"This is ridiculous."
Tyler looked at her.
"Yeah."
She shook her head.
"Of all the things that could've happened right now."
Tyler looked around the table.
"At least it made things less awkward."
Clara glanced at him.
"You think so?"
"Definitely."
She thought about it, then smiled.
"Maybe you're right."
Eris finally relented and handed the novel back to Luna.
"Fine. But no more comments without context."
Luna immediately took it.
"Okay."
She opened the book.
The entire table watched her for a few seconds, almost waiting to see whether she would accidentally create another disaster.
Luna ignored them and returned to reading.
A few seconds passed.
Then her eyebrows drew together.
"No..."
Eris looked up.
"What?"
Luna frowned at the page.
"They're doing it again."
Eris closed her eyes briefly.
"Luna."
"They're avoiding each other again."
Eris pointed toward the book.
"Just read."
Luna muttered, almost entirely to herself, "They should just talk."
Tyler heard her.
A quiet laugh escaped him.
"She's not wrong."
Clara looked toward him.
"No, she's not."
Their eyes met.
This time, neither looked away.
It was such a small thing that neither of them commented on it.
But they both noticed.
A few minutes earlier, they had been sitting across from one another with three years of awkwardness hanging between them, carefully choosing every word.
Now they were laughing over a misunderstanding caused by a girl who hadn't even realized she was interrupting their conversation.
Tyler glanced toward Luna.
She was completely absorbed in her book again, one hand holding the page open while the other rested against her lunch.
He shook his head.
"Unbelievable."
Luna didn't look up.
"What?"
"Nothing."
She continued reading.
Clara clapped twice, drawing everyone's attention back to her.
"All right, guys. Let's finish lunch before the bell rings. We've already wasted enough time."
Noah looked down at his lunch. "Wasted? I've been eating the whole time."
Chris snorted. "You spent half of it laughing."
"I can do both."
"With food in your mouth?"
Kai glanced between them. "You both were."
Noah pointed at him. "You're supposed to be on my side."
"I'm on the side of basic manners."
Chris laughed. "Good luck surviving this group."
Clara shook her head, smiling. "You three really never get tired, do you?"
"Nope," Noah said proudly.
"Unfortunately," Kai added.
Amaya giggled. "At least they're entertaining."
Aria immediately corrected her. "She said entertaining, not useful."
That set everyone off again.
Tyler watched them for a moment. The rooftop no longer carried the awkward tension from earlier. He glanced toward Clara. She caught him looking and smiled instead of looking away.
Tyler smiled back.
Eris noticed but wisely said nothing.
"Come on," she said, picking up her lunch. "If we don't finish now, we'll be running downstairs when the bell rings."
Noah looked horrified. "Running? Why?"
"Because you'll still be eating."
He held up his lunch box. "I can finish this."
Chris leaned over. "You've barely touched it."
"I was distracted."
"By what?"
Noah pointed at Tyler. "Him. He turned lunch into a drama series."
Tyler sighed. "I apologized."
"And Luna nearly turned it into a romance series," Noah added.
Luna finally looked up from her book. "I wasn't talking about you."
"We know."
She immediately returned to reading.
Eris stared at her. "You're really going to keep reading?"
"Yes."
"The bell is almost going to ring."
"I can read while eating."
Clara laughed. "Just let her."
Eris gave up. "Fine."
The group returned to their lunches, the rooftop filling with casual conversation again. Tyler leaned back for a moment, letting the afternoon sun and cool breeze wash over him.
For once, he wasn't thinking about the past or what came next.
He was simply sitting with his friends.
It felt good.
Clara closed her lunch box. "Before we go, let's make sure we actually have a party plan."
Chris raised his hand. "I have an idea."
Kai groaned. "That sentence worries me."
"We need games."
Noah nodded. "Definitely."
"What kind?" Amaya asked.
Chris considered it. "Something everyone can join."
Aria smiled. "That's surprisingly reasonable."
"I can be reasonable."
"Occasionally," Kai said.
Clara laughed and opened her notebook. "We'll work out the details after lunch."
Tyler watched her for a moment. She looked completely comfortable now, and there was none of the hesitation that had followed them for years.
"Tyler."
He looked up.
Clara was standing with her bag.
"You coming?"
He glanced around. Everyone else was already gathering their things.
"Yeah."
Noah shook his head. "You've been staring into space again."
"Have not."
"You absolutely have."
Tyler picked up his bag. "Maybe I'm just smarter than all of you."
Kai answered immediately, "That's not how thinking works."
Tyler grinned. "Still sounds good."
Clara laughed as the group headed for the stairs.
Eris fell into step beside Tyler.
"You look better."
Tyler glanced at her.
"I feel better."
"Good."
As they left the rooftop, Tyler looked back once. The tables were messy, sunlight stretched across the concrete, and crumbs were scattered near the benches.
Nothing special.
Yet he'd remember this place.
Not because anything dramatic had happened, but because three years of awkwardness had finally begun to disappear.
Behind them, Luna was still reading as she walked.
"Luna, watch the stairs," Eris warned.
"I am."
"You're not looking."
"I'm using peripheral vision."
Two steps later, Luna nearly missed one.
Eris caught her arm.
"I told you."
"I was fine."
Chris laughed. Clara shook her head, and Tyler smiled as their voices followed him down the stairs.
The lunch break was ending.
The party still needed planning, exams were approaching, and plenty of things waited ahead.
But for now, they were simply classmates returning to class together.
And Tyler was happy with that.