LINK'S MOTHER DROPS HIM off at school the next day. He waits at the quad for Chris and Beckett, and more recently, for Venice and Jason.
He'd been reading something about how consciousness could be explained by quantum physics when Jason voiced his presence.
"Hey, gang," he slaps the wooden table, "whatcha readin'?"
"I'd explain but then you might not understand."
Jason squints at him, sucking his cheeks in, "low dig but I'll allow it." He takes his seat in front of Link, staring intently at him.
He chooses to ignore it. "Where's Venice?"
"Parking the car," and almost strikingly asks, "what's your cousin doing?"
He's visibly shook and Jason is marinating in Link's nervousness. His eyes jump from his computer screen to meet Jason's. "He went back home. He just dropped by for lunch."
"Oh, I thought you guys were family. Why didn't he stay over?"
Link stares him dead in the eyes and acknowledges, although subtly, the fact that Jason was onto him, "it's a school night."
Jason nods, mainly because from the side of his eyes he could see Venice approaching and behind him Ginevra Beckett, even though he doesn't seem aware of it.
Link looks at them and they look at each other, instantly entering this force field of mutual connection.
He smiles at Venice, "hey," and giddily turns to Beck, "I have an article for you to read." He pushes the laptop towards her, "so it's like about wave function and superposition and how that actually proves the existence of consciousness. They're sort of saying that you need the element of consciousness to resolve superposition that is posed by the entire Schrödinger's cat paradox—"
"Boy, don't get me started here," Beck had this irritated look that made you feel like arguing back. "The entire godamn purpose of the paradox is to refute the absurdity of claiming that the quantum state is dictated by the conscious observer, so literally how are you coming at me with this liberal agenda nonsense and acting excited about it?"
For a second, it felt like Venice, Link and Jason were equally lost in this conversation. Venice breaks the silence first, "okay, I don't know shit about quantum states."
Link glances at him and then back at her, "and supposedly neither do I."
"Link, just know that your article is wrong. The Geiger counter existed for a reason. The world doesn't need consciousness to run it. Don't take yourself too seriously." Beckett nods at him and walks towards the entrance even though they had around an hour before classes started.
Jason takes the bait, "Beckett, where are you going?"
She turns around, "I don't know, but it feels appropriate to walk away after that."
"Can you come back here, you info-slut?" Link chides with a roll of his eyes, "you don't need to be dramatic about every godamn thing, Ginevra."
"What's poppin'?" Chris strides in with a pair of sunglasses perched on top of his nose, "why do you all look dead?"
"Hard night, Chrisalingus?" Link asks, gesturing to the glasses, "were you drinking without us?"
"Yes, I was, if you must know. I was watching Lord of Rings and felt like a beer and then that just turned into many beers. I also got up early to replace said beers. That's why I look dead. What's your excuse?"
"Beckett roasted me first thing in the morning."
Chris nods understandingly, "that'll do it." He takes a seat next to Jason, sandwiching the round-faced boy between himself and Beckett. "So why didn't you come over yesterday, Link? I thought we were gonna do a sleepover."
Link opens his mouth, to gloriously lie, Venice assumes, when Beckett interrupts him. "Sometimes I wonder if y'all are sleeping with each other."
Chris squints at her, "you wish, you perv."
"He was with his cousin," Jason lets Chris know, rather casually.
Chris' eyes widen in recognition, "Oh, Byron came over?"
Venice shook his head, "nah, it was Luke," playing a subtle game of entrapment.
Beckett had been listening silently but now she offers, "he doesn't have a cousin called Luke though."
"No, he does," Jason insists, sweetly, "we saw him."
Chris shook his head, "no, Byron's his mom's brother's kid. Link's father was an only child."
Jason chuckles, "did you lie to us, Link?"
"You know what? Fuck all of you. I'm not answerable to anyone."
Venice tips his head towards Link, "I saw you making out with him."
While he'd considered Venice to be the more considerate one of the two brothers, he'd just proved his malice with a tip-of-the-head vigor.
"Interesting," Beckett nods at Link, "especially when we've asked you about it several times."
Link guffaws, expression bewildered, "what? I can't make out with people now? I've to get them approved first? From what, the astute and narrow-minded panel of Beck?"
Venice smirks, crossing his arms on the wooden slab, "she's joking, Link. You didn't have to lie."
Link turns to him in a whiplash, sneering, "and you didn't have to run your mouth. Guess we can't help it, yeah?"
Venice should be insulted, taken aback but his placid face makes Link feel like he'd played right into the guy's contortion.
"You know what? I think I'm gonna take a little time-out." Link stamps away, slapping the transparent glass doors open, startling the passerby and vanishing into the building.
"He's being a brat today. Good start, mates." Chris proclaims in a British accent. "Wanna get boba after school to spite him?"
"What's boba?" Jason wonders, remembering that he knows of a Balboa. Rocky, to be specific.
Chris pulls him close by the shoulders, "you'll find out. Won't you?"
Venice excuses himself soon after to go find Link. It hadn't sat right with him. The entire exit of his neighbor who'd given him such a warm welcome to Menlo.
"Hey, Link!" Venice catches him shoving books into the locker. Link consequently refuses to meet his eyes by walking in the opposite direction.
"Link, stop!" Venice pulls him into a corner stairway just off the right.
"Can you stop being a child for a second?"
Link's eyes scream murder, "you had no right, Venice. You just outed me to my friends. You're the child here!"
"I didn't out you," Venice defends, "there's no way they couldn't have known. Beck even said she'd asked you."
"Yeah, but they didn't know for sure and now, I'm stuck with this label. Thanks," he says, bewilderingly sarcastic, "you've put me into a box."
"You're overreacting."
"Fuck off. Stop gaslighting me. You did what you did and unless it's to offer an apology, don't talk to me again."
Venice is confused because he'd really thought that everybody knew. In fact, he knew the moment he saw Link and he's only reveled in the matter of fact.
He'd only meant to tease him. Like friends do, and to also find out if that boy, Luke, mattered, if anything.