As captain of the football team Johnny had a very important role to play at school. He had to keep his boys in line and was like a second father to all of them. Over the summer he started to get a lot more muscles and even worked out more than before. It was weird to look at himself in the mirror sometimes. He didn't want anyone else to look differently at him, although it did probably give him more power over his boys at the football team. Which was good to keep them in line even more. They needed someone to look out for them. 

"Wanna catch a ride?" Johnny asked while passing his neighbor Ten. Ten was a skinny kid that loved dancing a lot. So much he even became the head of the cheerleading squad. He also had a club named "Mean Girls" and man were they the top of the school. 

"Sure, thanks!" Ten got in and looked at Johnny. "Have you been working out??" He asked, almost not closing his mouth while looking at those arms. Ten was seriously confused by the way Johnny looked now. They hadn't seen each other all summer because of family and going on vacations, but this was a total transformation. 

"A little bit", Johnny said, scratching his neck because he was insecure about it. If one of his best friends already noticed it and looked at him like that, what would the others at school do? At least he could count on Ten to be honest with his, he'd always been honest. "Is it weird?" 

Ten touched his biceps for a second and turned a little red. They were real... He couldn't believe it. "You look amazing", he blurted out and turned even redder. At that, Ten looked out of the window. He was too embarrassed to even look at Johnny now. Why did he react this way to him? 

"Thanks, I was worried it looked freakishly..." Johnny was relieved and didn't even notice Ten's face. Thank god, Ten thought. On the other side he was a little bit disappointed because maybe he wanted Johnny to notice. 

The rest of the ride to school was full of banter and laughing like they always do. The only difference is that when they get to school, they act like total strangers. It's all because of the clique system and because they are in totally different worlds compared to each other. If Ten showed any sign of weakness, the other "Mean Girls" would get him down and thrown out. And Johnny was kind of his weakness. Their friendship had stood the test of time. They'd been friends since they were kids. Of course that would happen if you lived next to each other and your parents were good friends. Ten couldn't remember a time when Johnny had not been there, and neither could Johnny. It's something that has just always been. 

"I'll see you after school?" Ten asked nervously. He really wanted to catch a ride home, but they both had practice. Football try-outs for Johnny and cheerleading try-outs for Ten. They should be done at the same time. 

"Fine, I'll wait for you by my car", Johnny winked and then walked off. Johnny didn't know what it was, but something did feel different about Ten. Did he get more handsome over the summer? What was it exactly that had changed? Ten also did act a bit strange before, but Johnny decided to let it go and focus on his team mates. Speaking of which, he had to go help Yuta with his sister issues. Man did that guy focus too much on his sister and her admirers... He even scared off everyone at school. It was ridiculous. 

Meanwhile Ten's group had gathered around. They were looking for new recruits. And it just so happened that their eyes had fallen on someone in the crowd. He had a fierce walk and everyone was looking at him. Ten just knew he had to get that guy. No freshman would ever walk into school like that with a lot of confidence. 

"Hey you!" Ten said while approaching the guy. "Pretty confident step you've got there!" The boy nodded with a lot of confidence and Ten liked it a lot. He did not seem phased or afraid of him. That was just the type of boy he needed. 

"My name's Haechan", the boy stuck out a hand to shake. Ten took it and smiled. 

"I'm Ten, and you are now on trial to join the "Mean Girls", let's see if you last", Ten told the boy and Haechan smirked. It reminded Ten of himself. 

A lot of recruits had not succeeded last year and some of the old members had graduated. That's why Ten needed to expand his posse this year before he could really make his mark on this school. This boy had a lot of potential. Maybe if Ten graduated, this boy could take over. Haechan was the most promising new recruit they had. 

The entire day they took Haechan around the school as if he was already part of their gang, but they kept on getting looks because of the boy. He was just shining. It did concern Ten a little, but he didn't think much of it since it was the first day of school. When lunch came around they had a few more members and it made Ten smile to see a full table. Ten really loved being around people and this just made him happy. They were also all getting along pretty well, which made it even better. 

Meanwhile Ten could not help himself from looking at the jock's table. They were being loud, as usual and there was something going on. A scrawny guy was sitting with him and Yuta was paying a hell of a lot of attention to the boy. It made him frown. Johnny was smiling because his boys were happy, which made Ten's heart skip a beat. Wait, what? Skip a beat? Can't be.. 

Johnny just agreed to having Sicheng as their mascotte. They'd even given him a new name: WinWin. It was cute, but Yuta seemed way too invested in all of this. It was like he wasn't even doing this for his sister anymore. Johnny then looked over at the "Mean Girls" table. He caught Ten looking at him and winked at the boy. Ten turned red for some reason and just averted his gaze. Weird. It never used to be like this between them. Something is shifting and Johnny started to notice, but he couldn't figure out what. 

After school try-outs were being held. The cheerleading ones were right next to the field where the football ones were being held. Ten had a lot of new recruits to think about, but all he could look at were the guns Johnny was stretching on the field. Of course he did not have to prove himself, but he kept on tossing that ball around, it made Ten go crazy. 

"You okay?" Chenle asked him after a while since he noticed Ten was not paying attention at all. 

"Yeah, I'm fine", Ten smiled and refocussed. He could not keep on staring at Johnny, eventually Johnny would catch on and it would ruin everything. It would ruin their friendship and would take away his rides to school. 

Johnny was focussing on the new recruits on the team. There were some good guys along them. Like Jeno. That guy could really make it big if he only lost that attitude, but Johnny was sure he could work with that. The boys chose him as captain again and it made him really happy. For some reason, after he was chosen as captain again, he looked at the side of the field and the one who was always cheering him on during games. Come to think of it, Ten had always been there to cheer him on. Johnny did not know when it started, but it had always been like that. Just like they had always been friends. A life without Ten was just so hard to think of. 

Now Johnny was looking at Ten, he realized how much he appreciated the boy. Ten always gave his absolute 200% when he did things, even though they were for his friends. He did pretend to be mean, but inside he was just a goofball with a lot of feelings. Feelings he did not show often, but always showed to Johnny. It made Johnny very sentimental to think of. He should show his gratitude towards Ten some more he thought. Johnny was taking Ten out for ice cream when they got home, to show him he cared. 

Practice ended and everyone went to shower. Even the "Mean Girls" took a shower because it was especially hot outside that day. It was like the weather was showing them how painful it could be to go back to school. Ten finished up and made sure his hair was in place again before walking towards Johnny's car. He was already waiting for Ten. 

"Wanna go for ice cream?" Johnny asked as they drove along the city. "I know a good place." 

Ten was surprised by the sudden invitation and felt like he needed to take it. He didn't want to go home and leave Johnny just yet. So they went for ice cream. Johnny even paid for them, making it feel like they were on a date or something. 

Most of the time, when they hung out, they would not leave the house. Either it was Johnny's or it was Ten's. It didn't really matter. They never went to do something. This felt so foreign and different. It was like Ten didn't know how to act. But Johnny more than made up for that because he kept on cracking jokes. When they got out of the ice cream parlor, Ten wanted to cross the street, but didn't see the car coming for him. Johnny did see and pulled Ten back as fast as he could. Ten ended up in Johnny's arms, who was holding on a bit too tightly for just being friends. And a bit too long too. Ten looked up at Johnny while he was distressed. 

"Don't even do that again, okay?" Johnny growled at Ten while he looked down at the smaller boy. Ten was so fragile and precious, he could have been killed, Johnny thought. Meanwhile Ten could feel Johnny's biceps tensing all around him and it made him feel some kind of way. 

"Uhm, you can let go now?" Ten said, nervously, because he was starting to feel more than something. It was very awkward to say the least. 

"Let's get you home", Johnny said after clearing his throat and walking towards the car. What a very confusing day it was indeed.