In the Name of Love by Tchy

Stage One: Intelligence

Warning: Male/male romance. Don't like? Please avoid.

"Hello, halls!"

The crush of students milling around in the front lobby of the school turned in confusion, looking down the hallway for the owner of that loud and conspicuous voice. The student in question ignored the sudden attention directed towards her.

"Hello, classrooms! Hello, noise! Hello, school!" she continued to call.

Those who were closest to her caught a flash of rainbow and turned away, smiling and telling their more distant companions what was going on. The whisper spread through the lobby, followed by a smile and a shake of the head, as if to say, there she goes again.

"Hello! I missed you all!" the voice concluded.

"Hello, Zora," yelled a few of the assembled students.

A girl bounded out of the hallway down which she'd previously disappeared, rainbow scarf flying, dyed black and pink hair fluttering beneath her rainbow hat; rainbow gloves, socks and suspenders brightly visible against her otherwise black clothing. She bowed grandly to the crowd, sweeping her toque from her head; some students bowed back. Then, jamming the hat back over her hair, she raced into the lobby to an area where a large group of students were clustered around the wall.

"Zora!" another voice yelled plaintively. A tall blond boy, hair falling to his waist, shoved his way through the crowd towards the other side of the room. "Zora, get back here! Don't leave me with your luggage!" He dropped a suitcase and two duffels in frustration. "Rrrgh!"

"I'll be back, Jaimy!" came Zora's voice, "I'm checking the rooms!"

"Fine," Jaimy muttered, "Just dance off and abandon me, why don't you." He sat down on the duffels, both Zora's, of course, and crossed his arms.

A slim girl with Jaimy's blue eyes and blond hair, hers streaked with orange and up in a messy bun-turned-ponytail, emerged from the crowd and dropped her suitcase beside her brother's. "Lighten up, Jaimy. This way you and I don't have to get through the crowd around the room assignments."

"Yeah, I know, Chris, I know," Jaimy replied, still grumpily, "She didn't have to race off and leave me, though."

"You raced off after her and left me," Chris reasoned.

"Shut up."

At that point Zora bounced back into their line of vision. "Right, Jaimy's in 547, I'm in 529, and our lovely new recruit is in 126."

Chris made a face. "Why am I so far away from you guys?"

"Because we're in grade twelve and you're in grade nine. Jaimy, get off my duffels, let's go."

Mouth twitching into a tiny smile, Jaimy stood up and picked up his suitcase. Zora slung one duffel over each shoulder and set off down the hall like a determined packhorse. Chris glanced at Jaimy, and, together, trying not to laugh, they followed.

That afternoon found Zora sauntering down the hall towards Jaimy's room. She opened the door without knocking--after all, she'd known Jaimy since he was three--and found him sitting at one of the desks provided in the room, paper already spread out in front of him, his pencil flying as he sketched something.

"Hey, Jamester."

"Hey, Zor'. Come to pester me again?"

Zora flopped inelegantly on Jaimy's bed. "I am insulted! When have I ever pestered you?"

Jaimy looked up from his drawings, raising one graceful eyebrow. "Do you actually want me to answer that?"

"No, it was a rhetorical question. Your roommate arrived yet?"

"Nope, but he's still got this evening and tomorrow morning before orientation."

"And tomorrow evening before class actually starts," Zora added.

"Well, yeah, but you're not supposed to skip orientation."

"I know that. I'm here, aren't I?" Zora asked, shaking her head, "But a lot of people skip out anyway, especially the older students. I mean, we've lived through it before."

Jaimy shrugged and returned to his drawing. Zora lay on his bed in silence for a while, then sat up to peer over his shoulder. "What are you drawing?"

"The view," Jaimy replied quietly.

"Right, your tradition." Zora bounced up and walked over to the window to look out. "You got a nice one this year," she observed, looking out at the vines that framed an image of the school gardens, "Better than the highway you had last year."

"Hey, I liked that highway. It was fun to draw."

"You and your drawings."

Jaimy's reply was cut off by a knock on the door. Zora bounced over and opened it to reveal a tall Asian boy in a muscle shirt. He frowned slightly when he saw her, eyes flicking to Jaimy, who had turned around to see the new arrival. His frown deepened.

"Have I got the wrong room? I'm supposed to be with someone called James..."

Zora glanced from him to Jaimy. "Uh, yeah..."

"Zora, he thinks I'm a girl," Jaimy said dryly.

"Oh!" Zora burst out, snickering, "Well, if you'd keep your hair at a manageable length, you wouldn't have this problem!" she teased, flipping her shoulder-length hair extravagantly. "I mean, I know you look feminine, but you don't have to help it along."

"The nail polish and eye shadow don't help much, either," put in the boy from the door, mock-helpfully.

"Yeah, well... oh, just shut up, both of you," Jaimy moaned, turning back to his drawings and away from Zora's giggles.

She turned back to the still slightly perplexed boy standing in the doorway. "I'm just kind of chilling here, this isn't my room."

"Oh, okay. That makes more sense... I think."

Zora snorted. The boy grinned at her and stepped into the room, yanking a suitcase with him. "I'm Keiji Miyamura."

"Zora Carleton, and that's James--Jaimy--Eckener."

"Nice to meet you," Keiji said, offering his hand, "And you too, Jaimy. Sorry for heckling you."

"Not a problem," Jaimy admitted, standing up and walking over to the door. "I get it from Zora and my sister all the time. Want me to take that?" he asked, gesturing to the suitcase.

"No, I'm good," replied Keiji, easily swinging the heavy luggage onto the vacant bed. Muscles rippled briefly in his arms. Jaimy's eyes widened slightly.

"Yeah, okay," Jaimy breathed, slipping back over to his desk.

Something in his tone made Zora look over. His eyes were fixed on Keiji as the dark boy opened his suitcase and started dumping things out. Keiji caught his eye and smiled, and immediately Jaimy looked down, turning back to his drawings. Zora could see him biting his cheek on the side away from Keiji; she knew from long experience that it was one of his nervous habits.

Curiously, Keiji wandered over to Jaimy's desk and leant over his shoulder, looking at the drawings. Zora watched a tiny spasm cross Jaimy's face as Keiji's toned stomach brushed his arm. It was unlikely anyone else would have seen it; but she knew Jaimy very well and could almost sense a change in his mood.

Well, well, she mused to herself, looks like Jaimy's got a new crush.

"These are really good," Keiji said admiringly, picking up a finished sketch, "You're a visual art major?"

"Thanks," Jaimy got out, "Yeah, I am. You?"

"Music. I play drums."

Jaimy nodded, casting around for something to say. "Zora's in drama. You could probably guess."

Keiji turned away to look at Zora, who had taken the opportunity to strike a dramatic pose; Jaimy's shoulders relaxed slightly.

"Had to be something like that," drawled Keiji, smirking. Zora caught a slight shiver and a slow, yearning blink from Jaimy. She resisted the urge to grin at him.

If Keiji keeps up that drawl, Jaimy may give his own game away, she snickered mentally.

"Although you never can tell at this school," the Asian boy continued, voice levelling out.

"Too true," Zora replied, dropping her arms to her sides, "I'm gonna head off now, give you guys a chance to get acquainted. See you around, Jaimy."

"See ya, Zor'."

Zora left, closing the door and smirking slightly. This calls for some plotting.

By breakfast the next morning, Zora had formulated her plan. It would require a few days of waiting before it could be started, but she had to do this properly, especially after what had happened with Jaimy's last boyfriend; she didn't want a repeat. She could be as patient as the ocean when she needed to be, though she usually hid it well.

At orientation that afternoon, she and her new roommate, Melanie, mutually ditched each other, and Zora proceeded to hunt down Chris. She found the younger girl with Jaimy and Keiji. Chris seemed oblivious to Jaimy's attraction to the other boy.

Maybe I shouldn't tell her yet, Zora decided, I'll get the plan in motion first, then ask for her help. That decided, she settled into a seat with her friends to get through orientation.

The school principal walked out onto the stage and held her arm up for silence. Gradually the auditorium quieted.

"Welcome, students of 2007, to Alexander Colburn High School. I am your principal, Mrs. Donnelley, and I want to take this opportunity to welcome all our new students to our school."

"Is it all like this?" Chris muttered in Zora's ear, rolling her eyes.

"Pretty much, I'm sad to say."

"... our students are a credit to our school and our arts-enriched program and we hope you'll do well here..."

"Is she going to change it up this year and tell us anything we haven't heard from every other principal in the world?" Keiji whispered to Jaimy, stirring restlessly. Jaimy gulped almost imperceptibly as warm breath ticked his cheek.

"I don't think she's going to break her pattern," he murmured in reply after a slight hesitation.

"Aw, too bad," Keiji mock-sighed, slinging a casual arm around Jaimy's shoulders. Jaimy stiffened, then made himself relax. Keiji was just being friendly.

"... we have several teachers and student representatives willing to show newcomers around if anyone needs help..."

"Oh, gee, Chris, I don't know who you're going to get to show you around," snickered Zora quietly, poking Chris lightly in the ribs, "There's such a shortage of people-who-know-their-way-around in the group you're hanging with."

"You may have to go ask one of those principal's pets for help," Keiji chimed in.

"Hey, be nice," Jaimy scolded.

"Yeah, I have some contacts with those people, they're useful," Zora added, deciding it was time to stop poking Chris and start poking Keiji.

"Contacts? What are you, a business executive?"

Chris and Jaimy snorted simultaneously.

"Of course," Zora whispered loftily, "My business is, to put it bluntly, fucking with the system... and people's minds."

"Always an excellent industry to get into," Keiji murmured, bowing his head with as much dignity as he could muster while sitting down, trying not to draw the teachers' attention, and sprawled with one arm up on the back of the chair next to him.

"... all students mix the standard curriculum with selections of classes from their chosen art major..."

"At least we can amuse ourselves during orientation," sighed Chris.

The next morning heralded the start of classes for the year. Zora, being a person who preferred extra sleep and a rushed morning to an earlier awakening and actual time to prepare, was understandably startled when an alarm clock that was very obviously not hers awoke her three quarters of an hour earlier than anticipated.

She jolted up in bed, ready to smack whoever was playing tricks on her, and located the source of the insistent beeping: her roommate's bedside table. The obnoxiously cheery object, which was covered all over with cute stickers, was blinking a bright blue light in time to "Frère Jaques."

A cocoa-coloured hand slid out from under the blankets, hitting the top of the alarm clock in order to shut it off. Groaning, the owner of the appendage in question sat up, swinging her long legs over the side of the bed. She stretched, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Zora glared at her.

"Melanie."

"Hm?" Melanie looked up, obviously surprised to see that her roommate was sitting up and very awake already.

"Is this the time I can expect to be woken up every morning?" Zora demanded acidly.

"What?" Melanie slurred, confused by the antagonism, "Is it too late?"

Zora sighed, rubbing her temples with her fingertips. "No, Melanie, it's too damn early. Not everyone needs over an hour to shower and dress."

"What about makeup and hair?"

"Not everyone needs more than five minutes for that either," Zora sighed. Of course Melanie would bring up makeup and hair.

Melanie sighed tragically. "I'm not a morning person," she moaned, "I do."

Zora smacked her forehead, growling. "Well, I'm going back to sleep. I will be getting up fifteen minutes before breakfast, which is plenty of time for me." And with that, she flopped back down, burrowing comfortably under her quilt.

Melanie shook her head in perplexity. "How does she have time to do her hair?" she muttered to herself, standing and gathering her stuff to head for the showers.

Zora was understandably surly in the breakfast line, but that quickly passed as she piled bacon, toast, fruit, and eggs onto her plate. Jaimy and Chris were accustomed to her eating habits, but Keiji watched, bemused, as she filled her plate until the ceramic was barely visible. "You're fucking crazy," he informed her succinctly as the four of them sat down at a vacant table.

"How so?" Zora asked around a mouthful of bacon and eggs.

"I play sports. I know how important it is to have a good breakfast," Keiji elaborated, waving his hands at their respective plates, "But even I think that's a bit much."

"Zora's a food monster in the morning," Jaimy chuckled, eating his cereal with far more decorum than Zora.

Chris nodded. "You get used to it after a while."

"Maybe I'm just weird, but I always need a lot of food in the mornings," Zora explained, pausing to take a bite out of her toast, "My lunch is more like a snack, and my dinner's not nearly this big, but as long as I have a big breakfast I'm fine. It's like I coast on this food the whole day."

"You're still crazy. How can you eat all that food in one sitting?" Keiji said, "Now I'm jealous."

The other three occupants of the table snorted with laughter.

"You're a moron is what you are," Zora decided.

"Shut up."

Zora's only reply was to throw a grape at him.

"What sports do you play?" Chris interjected before it could turn into an all out food war, head tilted slightly to the side as she examined Keiji.

"Soccer and basketball," he replied, "I was on both teams last year. Had a great time."

"If you're a jock, what are you doing hanging out with us weirdoes?" Zora drawled.

"It's a long and crazy story," Keiji sighed, "The short version: I figured out that they weren't as great friends as I thought they were. We didn't have a major falling out, so they're still not sure why I don't spend all my time chilling with them any more, but I wasn't as happy as I could have been." He grinned, sombre mood vanishing abruptly, "Besides, you guys are so much more entertaining," Keiji continued, throwing his arm around the person beside him, who was, of course, Jaimy, the latter having situated himself there on purpose. Jaimy blushed lightly. Zora watched with a detached amusement as he struggled to get his face under control.

Luckily for Jaimy, the bell signalling the end of breakfast, and therefore ten minutes to classes, chose that moment to ring. Zora shoved her last slice of toast into her mouth whole as she stood.

"Meet at lunch?" Chris confirmed.

"Sure, see you guys!" Keiji called, already leaving for his music theory class.

"I'll save you a spot in English, Jaimy," Zora mumbled through her toast.

"Thanks! Okay, come on, Chris, I'll show you were the art room is," her older brother said.

"Right, thanks."

The four of them hurried off to their respective classes. And thus, the school year begins, Zora sighed contentedly, As soon as clubs start up again, I can find Stel and complete the first stage of the plan.

On the Monday of next week, the school held its annual clubs day. Zora browsed with Chris, Jaimy, and Keiji, trying to conceal her sudden impatience. She couldn't do anything about it now; the plan had to remain secret from Jaimy and Keiji in order to work, and ditching them right now would be conspicuous and fruitless. Sometime after classes finished that afternoon, she would slip off to talk with Stel away from curious ears. For now, she would have to simply bide her time.

"How many people are going to say hello to you?" asked Keiji, after the fifth club representative of eight had greeted Zora in passing.

"Probably a lot. I told you, I have contacts," Zora shrugged.

"You were actually serious?!"

"Yes."

"Zora knows everyone," Jaimy supplied.

"What the hell do you need contacts for?" Keiji demanded, waving his hands over-dramatically.

"I already told you that, too," Zora said absently, waving in response to another greeting.

"Fucking with the system?" Keiji said incredulously.

"You honestly have no idea how useful it can be to know people who are in charge of stuff."

"You are completely perplexing, you know that, right?"

"It's part of her charm," Chris laughed, throwing an arm around Zora's waist.

"Damn straight," Zora crowed.

"Chris, stop feeding Zora's ego," Jaimy ordered, "It's already overstuffed."

"No ego is too large!" Zora protested, "Unless it's not mine."

"That's my point exactly, dear," Jaimy sighed, letting his snickering best friend and younger sister move ahead of him and Keiji. "Are you in any clubs?" he asked, deliberately changing the topic.

"Not really," Keiji admitted, "Last year it was all sports for me, or hanging with my buddies. I never really had time for anything... or even bothered to think about it."

"Well, now is a great time to start."

"Okay, so what clubs are you in?"

"Me?" Jaimy blinked, "Well, I'm the artistic supervisor for the school paper, and I'm part of the group that does those paintings all over the school walls... why?"

"Because I'd have more fun in a club if there was someone there to hang out with," Keiji explained, ruffling Jaimy's hair and laughing at his astonished expression, "And at the moment, that means you."

Jaimy's cheeks flushed red; Keiji only laughed, enjoying the play of colour on the younger boy's cheeks.

"You'd better stop blushing like that, or someone's going to think you're adorable enough to steal away."

Abruptly, Jaimy jerked back.

"Yeah... something like that," he muttered bitterly, stalking off and leaving Keiji to stare after him in astonishment.

"What did I say?"

As soon as her last class let out, Zora was off; her target, the newspaper office. It would be mostly empty of students; the official first meeting was scheduled for Wednesday after classes. However, Stel, being the reliable, organized editor-in-chief she was, would certainly be there preparing for the meeting and the year ahead.

Sure enough, when Zora swung the door open, there she was, sitting at a computer with a clipboard on her lap, red glasses firmly in place on her nose, not a single straight brown hair out of place, not a wrinkle in her professional pinstriped jacket. Zora approached her quietly, stopping in front of her desk and placing her fingertips gently on the edge.

"Good day, Ms. Wellerman. I wonder if you could answer some questions for me?"

"Drop the phoney reporter act, Zora, it's never worked on me and it never will," Stel instructed crisply, without even looking up from her clipboard.

Zora shrugged. "I figured it was worth a try," she said, sitting on the edge of Stel's desk.

"Don't knock over the mug of pencils," was her only reply.

"Stella Wellerman, I am insulted! Would I ever knock over your mug of pencils?" Zora demanded, mock outrage creeping into her voice.

"You have before," Stel said, finally looking up. There was a grin on her face, "I've missed you, Zora."

"As you should!"

"So what scheme have you got in the works this time?"

"Well, at the moment, I'm looking for information on Keiji Miyamura," Zora explained, manner changing abruptly, "But that's only a small part of the scheme. It's much bigger than my usual ones, and much more worthwhile."

"I see. So of course, you expect me to drop everything and come to your aid?" Stel asked, raising her elegant eyebrows.

"Pretty much, yeah."

"I figured as much," Stel sighed, "At least I'm not doing anything I can't interrupt."

Zora watched in silence as Stel's long fingers tapped away on her keyboard, accessing articles from years past. "Keiji Miyamura, you said?"

"That's the one."

More tapping as the name was entered into her search engine. "I'm mostly getting hits under sports," Stel informed her.

"He told me he used to be a jock. Anything in there about his character, his friends... human interest-type stuff? That's what'll be useful to me."

"He's mentioned in some of the band articles... Oh, here's something," Stel said, "One of his coaches is talking about him, read this."

Zora moved around the desk to lean over Stel's shoulder. "'Keiji's a great team player,' Coach Morris says of this year's MVP," she read aloud, "'Always looking out for everyone, always there to support his team mates, on and off the field. I was very pleased when his team voted him MVP. No one deserves it more.'"

"So what do you think?"

"Sounds promising," Zora mused, "Did the article quote any of his team mates?"

"It looks like more of what the coach said," Stel replied after a moment of searching, "Great guy, supportive friend, fun to hang around with."

"Of course, that would have been before he stopped hanging around with them all the time..."

"Oh, is he not running with that crowd any more?" Stel inquired.

"No, he sort of backed out of it around the end of last year, I think."

"Any idea why?"

"No, but I'd really like to find out," Zora said, frowning, "It would give me more of the kind of insight I need."

"Well, it looks like you're in luck," Stel said, "That article came with a photo of the team, look."

Zora peered over Stel's shoulder again, examining the photo of last year's boys' soccer team in their purple and white uniforms. It wasn't a formal photo; it looked like the whole team had just crowded in front of the goal post, laughing and joking around. She quickly located Keiji; arms slung around the people next to him, as he was so fond of doing, charismatic grin on his face, a sparkle in his eyes. His team mates were clustered happily around him, shoving and teasing good-naturedly.

"I know most of those kids," Zora observed, "This is perfect. Thanks a lot." She stood up to leave.

"I expect my customary repayment by the end of the week."

"One box of Lindt Chocolates on your desk at lunch," Zora quoted back, "I'll remember. You're stellar, Stel."

"Just go, and take your horrible puns with you."

Chuckling, Zora obeyed, closing the door behind her. Now, if I were a soccer jock, where would I hide?

Zora's first impulse was to check the field; upon arrival, she discovered a small group of boys were already there, kicking a ball around. She sauntered up to them confidently, trusting that her rainbow-decorated ensemble would make her somewhat hard to miss. As she approached, the kicking slowed as the members of the group turned to look at her.

"Afternoon, boys."

"Zora. What do you want?" demanded one of boys, Bryan.

Zora sighed. Morons. Just because I'm not part of their clique, they think I'm automatically an enemy. "Cool it, Bryan, I'm just here to talk."

"What do you want to talk to us for?" put in Bryan's right-hand man, Jeffery. Similar muttered queries passed around the assembly. Zora ignored their suspicion.

"You guys were on the team with Keiji last year, right? He was part of your group?"

"Yeah," admitted Bryan after a moment's hesitation, "He doesn't hang with us any more."

"Why not?"

"Why don't you ask him?" inquired someone else, "You've been chilling with him and his faggot roommate."

Zora instantly rounded on the offender, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. "You do not talk about my best friend like that," she hissed ferociously, "Understand me?"

The boy nodded hesitantly, startled in the face of such wrath.

"The rest of you got it?" Zora snapped, glaring around at the rest of the group.

Mumbles of assent.

"Good. Now, I want to know if there's any reason you can think of that Keiji would have walked away from your friendship. Anything, I don't care if you think it's stupid or if it's not a big enough deal; tell me."

There was silence around the circle.

"Oh, come on. Can't any of you think of one thing?"

"He used to get annoyed at us, sort of like that..." someone finally began, "He'd snap at us when we laughed at someone... That was just right before he stopped coming around."

"Yeah, you're right," agreed Bryan, somewhat startled, "I never noticed before, but... he used to be with us on everything, and then suddenly he started drifting away... it happened really fast."

"So he didn't like being part of an elitist society," Zora said, "Good. Anything else?"

"Part of a what?" asked several voices at once.

She sighed. "Part of a group that doesn't accept anyone they don't think is good enough."

"Was that an insult?" growled Jeffery.

"No, it was a fact. Anything else?"

Another resounding silence.

"Nothing?" Zora sighed, exasperated. He didn't like them making fun of people who were different, she pondered, tuning out their mumbling, Maybe he got sick of having to act a certain way around them. She flashed back to the offhanded comment about Jaimy's sexual preference. Perhaps he wanted friends who would be accepting of something like that... Oh yeah, that's another thing...

"Did he date a lot?" she asked suddenly, snapping the boys out of their puzzled murmuring.

"Date?" Bryan asked, clearly confused by the seemingly sudden change in topic, "Not a lot... he went out with a couple of girls, but it wasn't a big deal to him."

"I see," Zora murmured. So that means one of two things; either he just didn't care about dating, or he was gay and didn't realize it or was trying to hide it, and went out with girls because it seemed like the thing to do. Only one way to find out. "Could you give me the names of his old girlfriends? I'd like to talk to them."

All that earned her was a round of suspicious glares. "Why do you want to know all this stuff about Keiji?" Jeffery finally asked.

"It's a long and crazy story," Zora replied, quoting Keiji's remark about why he left his old crowd, "But if it works out, it will benefit him. Are you going to tell me or do I have to go find out from someone else?"

"Why don't you just ask Keiji?" repeated the boy who'd asked her the same question before.

"Because he'd want to know why I was asking, and that would give the game away," Zora snapped back crisply, "Now. Names, please."

The boys drew back, discussing quietly under their breaths. Folding her arms, one foot tapping impatiently, staring off into the distance, and generally doing a good impression of a businesswoman with places to be, Zora waited. Finally, Bryan walked over to her, sighing.

"Well, you going to tell me or not?"

"Yeah, we decided to tell you, but only because we don't have a good reason not to," Bryan grumbled, "He went on a few dates with Angela Hawthorne last year, and with Jennie York before that. Is that all? Can we go back to our game now?"

"Yes, you can go back to your game," Zora sighed, "I know those girls, I won't need help finding them. Thank you."

She received a grunt instead of anything resembling a "you're welcome," but she let it pass. She had what she needed to know. Now it was time to find the girls.

I've been doing a lot of running around today, she observed, Oh well, a bit more won't hurt.

It took a lot more running around before Zora found even one of the girls. Neither one was in the cafeteria, and Zora didn't find them as she was prowling the halls. She checked the common rooms; she found Jennie there with some of her friends.

"Hey, Jennie, could I talk to you for a minute?" she asked as she approached the girls.

Jennie looked up from where she was sprawled comfortably on a couch. "Zora, right? Yeah, okay."

Nodding her thanks, Zora stepped back out of hearing distance. Jennie followed her, eyes curious.

"This won't take long, I promise. I was told you dated Keiji Miyamura a while back?"

"Keiji? Oh, the soccer boy," Jennie said, "Yeah, that was a while ago. Why?"

"I just want to know, how did he treat you while you were dating?"

"How did he... that's a really weird question, you know."

"Please," Zora begged.

"You're lucky he's the type who sticks in your memory," Jennie observed, "Well, let's see... he was nice, but in a fun kind of way. Sort of like he knew what he was supposed to do with a girlfriend and he did it because he was supposed to, but he cared more about having fun like friends."

"Why did you split up?"

"That was me," Jennie said, "It was great at first, really nice to not be under any pressure... but it kind of got boring after a while."

"You wanted to move ahead and he didn't?" Zora surmised.

"Yeah. I think he was kind of relieved, too. I mean, he liked me, he was really flirty and friendly, but he seemed more comfortable just as friends."

"Any idea why?" Zora inquired curiously.

"I'm not really sure, actually," Jennie replied, "It's not like he was shy around girls or anything... he was the kind of guy you'd think would want to date. He just... didn't."

"Hmm," Zora mused, "Thanks. That was really helpful. You wouldn't happen to know where Angela Hawthorne is, would you?"

"Not sure, try the dance studio."

"Okay, thanks. Bye!" Zora tossed over her shoulder, skipping out of the room.

"Bye," Jennie called, still slightly confused by the questioning. She shrugged and put it out of her mind. It wasn't her problem.

True to Jennie's prediction, Angela was in the dance studio. She was stretching on a ballet barre along the side of one wall. Zora approached her happily; as soon as this was done she could go back to her room and flesh out her plan.

"Hey, you're not a dancer," Angela said when Zora stopped in front of her, "Why are you in here?"

"I just wanted to ask you a few questions," Zora soothed, "Would that be all right?"

"Okay, I guess. You don't mind if I keep stretching?"

"No problem. You dated Keiji Miyamura last year, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Angela muttered, lifting her leg over the barre and bending her forehead to her knee.

"What was he like while you were dating?"

Angela snorted. "Just the same as before we started," she complained, "Only we went out on our own instead of in a big group. He treated me like his girlfriend, but I'm pretty sure it was only because I expected him to. I don't think he actually liked me."

"But if he didn't, why go out with you?"

"I don't know," she snapped, "Maybe he thought he liked me, and then figured out he didn't. He never tried to kiss me or anything. We only ever kissed once, and he didn't even try to get into it." She paused, considering. "I think it might have freaked him out a bit, even."

"So you broke up with him?" Zora said.

"No. He broke up with me. He said he didn't want to lead me on, and that it was never going to work out. I wanted to give it another chance, I mean, you can always try, but," she shrugged, "He said there was no point in trying, that no matter how much he wanted to he could never fall in love with me." She huffed angrily. "And then he told me not to take that as an insult, that it wasn't something anyone could change. Right after that, he stopped hanging out with our group."

"Do you think that was your fault?" Zora asked gently.

"Well, I don't know," Angela said, "What else could it have been?"

"I wouldn't worry about it," Zora advised, "He told me it had to do with his friends. From what I've figured out, I think something might have happened that changed him, and he knew it was something his friends wouldn't accept. He never mentioned anything about ex-girlfriends."

"Really?" asked Angela hopefully, "Okay, thanks. That's nice to know."

"No problem. And thank you, too." Zora walked calmly from the dance studio, but as soon as the door swung shut behind her, she began running and skipping gleefully. All the puzzle pieces are coming together! Time to put it into action.