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[sub]Featuring: [color=7eff9a]Noah Nichols[/color] & [color=ba314c]Katie Callaghan[/color]
Location: Homeroom, Monday Morning[/sub][/center][hr][hr]

Katie Callaghan wasn’t that hard to read, at least not to Noah. She was great at pretending around everyone else, but when it was just the two of them, her grumbles and sighs were like a giant neon sign that said “I’m Pissed Off!” She’d been like this since last Monday, walking around under a cloud. At first he’d thought it was about Scott, because it usually always was, but that notion was squashed when he came up to her at lunch and planted a kiss on her cheek. A kiss! That had been weird, and after she’d explained that they were dating now he’d been a little hurt. How could he just be finding out now? He supposed he couldn’t really be mad though. He and JD had been making out inside empty classrooms all week, and he hadn’t told her either.

He pieced together that Katie and Joy weren’t talking sometime around last Thursday. At first he hadn’t really thought much about their lack of interaction, but soon it became apparent that the two were avoiding each other like the plague. That was doubly weird. Katie and Joy never fought, literally never. He’d known them for years and he couldn’t remember the last time they’d had anything more than a slight disagreement. Finally, after days of tiptoeing around Katie’s melancholy, he popped the question.

[color=7eff9a][b]“Are you mad at me?”[/b][/color]

The question nudged Katie out of her listless daydreaming in the middle of homeroom. Her face scrunched into a look of mock confusion, as she shook her head in surprise. [color=ba314c][b]“What? No, wh-why would I be mad at you?.”[/b][/color] Katie asked, looking over at Noah across their empty table.

Noah shrugged, his eyes falling down to his sketchpad where Katie was sketched in graphite, her teenage angst captured on paper. [color=7eff9a][b]“I mean, I don’t know, you’ve been in a mood all week and Joy hasn’t been around either which at first I thought might be about Damian and then I thought maybe she was pissed at me and maybe that’s why you’re pissed at me and-”[/b][/color]

[color=ba314c][b]“Noah. I’m not mad at you.”[/b][/color] Katie sighed and rested her head in her hands, before looking back up at her friend. She’d wanted to tell Noah about Joy, but she wasn’t so confident he wouldn’t agree with her. She didn’t want to lose her two best friends to this stupid mess. Her hope had been that this would blow over before anyone even noticed, but Joy hadn’t spoken to her since their fight at the mall last week. Noah clearly knew something was up, and she couldn’t let the kid sit with his anxiety until Joy got over herself and apologized. 

[color=ba314c][b]“I went shopping with Joy a couple weeks ago, and she asked me what I thought about Jamie’s article, so I told her the truth. It was a fucked thing of him to do, but I would’ve done the same if I were him, and that he’s my brother so I’m going to stand by him. She threw a fit! Apparently I’m the bad guy for supporting my brother! That’s what family is right? You support each other! I know he’d do the same for me.”[/b][/color]

Noah nodded in response to Katie’s explanation. Hearing that this wasn’t all about some mistake he’d made took a weight off his shoulders, and now he felt almost dumb for not having picked up on it before. He should’ve known it was about Jamie. Joy was close with Owen, and Katie was obviously Jamie’s sister, and they both had a tendency to go to bat for the people they loved. Katie would sooner fight her brother’s battles than her own. Throw in their strong opinions and innate stubbornness and it seemed shocking that this hadn’t come up sooner. 

[color=7eff9a][b]“It’s kind of stupid, you know.”[/b][/color] Katie’s mouth opened to retort, but Noah beat her to the bunch, continuing. [color=7eff9a][b]“I mean, really, why does it matter? The article’s out, and it’s staying out. It’s not like either of you can take it back. No one else even really cares anymore. It’s all about the election now.”[/b][/color] Noah shrugged and looked back down at his drawing. 

The weight of Noah’s words hit Katie straight in the chest. She agreed, for the most part. No one did really care about Owen and Trixie, or Jamie or Hailey or any of them right now. All eyes were on the empty throne, and the sham of an election to fill it. However, she wasn’t about to just let someone trash her brother, even if that someone was Joy. She was well aware that he could be a nasty little snake at times, she’d grown up with him for fucks sake. They practically taught each other the tools of the trade. She knew that Jamie was a good person, and she wouldn’t abandon his side for one mistake.

[color=ba314c][b]“As far as I’m concerned, once she apologizes, we’re good. If she wants to hate Jamie, she can hate him in silence.”[/b][/color]

Noah sighed. He shouldn’t have expected anything less.