"Hypothetically speaking," he whispered and she stopped in mid-bubble, glancing to her left. He was leaning across his desk towards her and when he had her attention he continued, "I have this friend who has this exam in math today, but he forgot to study last night, and this is kind of a make-or-break grade for him. What should he do?"

She looked to the front and when their teacher was busy reading (or sleeping; both were one in the same) she looked back at him. "It's his fault he didn't study," she hissed.

"But he was busy rehearsing for the play!"

She smirked. Hypothetical her butt. "Does it look like my problem?"

He shrugged and busied the end of his pencil with his teeth, his eyes darting between their desks. Honestly, he didn't really need her help for the test. This material was already disciplined into his mind, but he liked acting otherwise. She was always a good audience for him when it came to acting dumb and insignificant; her attention was worth the acting. He wasn't the lead role in the play for nothing.

She knew that as well. Why she removed her arm off the desk and moved her answer sheet towards him, there won't ever be reason enough to explain.

- - - - -

"Hypothetically speaking," she said as she slumped into the seat next to him, "my friend was in a rush to get to school on time today and she forgot her wallet. Now she has no money for lunch and she also forgot breakfast. What should she do?"

"She could starve," he offered and laughed at her pointed look. "Well, has she asked anyone else?"

The girl shook her head dejectedly. "Today's apparently 'Forget Your Change Day.' No one else has money to give her."

He looked down at his sandwich and frowned. He was two-thirds done with it, so he couldn't offer her any. And he knew that she needed the money for her, because their relationship was based on all things hypothetical.

She sighed and bit her lip, leaning her elbows on the cafeteria table. They were sitting alone at a table, but she was amazingly nervous to be around him. Maybe because she knew that he knew that she had no friend who needed lunch money; hypothetical questions are always direct.

Before she could say anything else, or rather, beg for money, her stomach made a noise that caused her to blush and cover her midsection.

He laughed and dug around in his back pocket before producing his wallet.

- - - - -

He was chasing her.

Well, that's what she assumed when she looked in her rear view mirror and saw him running after her car. She slammed on the brakes and realized that he wasn't really when he almost collided into her trunk, swerving to avoid it. With his equilibrium tipped, he fell onto the sidewalk.

She got out of her car and ran towards him, kneeling down beside his body.

"Are you okay?"

He sat up and ran a hand through his hair, tousling it. "You stopped in the middle of the road," he pointed out, further causing her to blush. Again.

"I thought you were chasing me," she said. When he looked at her weirdly, she shrugged. "But then I realized that you weren't. You were running behind me. It looked like you were chasing me."

She helped him get off the sidewalk and watched as he dusted off his clothes. At least he wasn't bleeding anywhere.

He looked at her, then to the road, then back to her questioning look. "Hypothetically speaking," he started and smiled as she rolled her eyes. "My friend missed his ride to school for rehearsal, and I saw him running after it, so I was going to tell him that he could ride with me. I was running after him."

She narrowed her eyes a little. Of course, the fact that she saw no one running past her car belied his hypothetical explanation. In any case, she never believed anything hypothetical out of his mouth.

"Your friend's gonna be pretty late if he has to walk the whole way there, huh?" she asked and he nodded, pulling at the hem of his shirt, scowling at the grass stain soiling the fabric.

"Well, school is five miles away. It'd take me that long to chase after him just to tell him that I can bring him," he said lamely.

She shook her head and started walking towards her car, not wanting to cause a scene in the neighborhood. It was the least she can do, seeing as his friend had an important part in the play and would delay rehearsals longer if he had to walk the whole way.

"Get in."

- - - - -

He stood at the far end of the parking lot, feeling awkward and out of place despite his appropriate attire. He slightly pulled at the tie around his neck, the only accessory to the black four-piece suit. He seriously thought that wearing a tux was very cumbersome. If he were president of his class, he would have made sure that the dress code to prom was changed.

He didn't really have a reason for being here. He hadn't asked anyone, and no one had asked him. As he looked towards the illuminated building with music humming out the doors and people mulling around the entrance, he tried to find a reason for walking across the parking lot and into those doors feeling very awkward and out of place in the midst of all those people.

There was none.

He had been there early, at the start of the evening, watching and hoping that she would come, so he had an incentive for walking in.

Now, an hour later filled with neck-constrictions and itchy pants, his imploring eyes beheld nothing that gave him enough reason, and he at last settled on the hood of his car at the far corner of the parking lot. Thirty minutes more, and then he'll leave.

He didn't know how he ignored the soft clacking of heels, but he jumped at the sound of someone clearing her throat.

"Hypothetically speaking," she said with a voice that was soft, unsure yet steadfast. Her heart was beating at a mild pace, but she disregarded that fact due to the sheer realization that would inevitably be made. "My friend was going to go to prom with someone, but that someone backed out at the last minute leaving her to go by herself. I mean, she already had the ticket, and there was no point in not going and wasting the money she spent on this night. Right?"

He slid off the hood and turned to look at her. The frown set on her face slightly hardened her appearance, but he thought her beautiful nonetheless.

He gave her a crooked smile and held out his arm for her to take.

- - - - -

She knew that she was waiting for it, but she wasn't expecting it. She figured that it was one of those things that you had to forget about, just so the element of surprise was true.

She didn't really need the flapping wings of those darned butterflies to tell her otherwise.

"Hypothetically speaking," he started and she smiled this time, welcoming his easy and attractive smile. "There's this guy that I know who has this problem."

She furrowed her brow slightly. "What's his problem?"

He sighed and looked away focusing on the grass at their feet. "There's this girl that he likes. Actually, it's probably verging on love, but he's too stubborn to admit it. But this girl . . . they have an unconventional relationship and he doesn't know what to do."

She bit her grin back and pretended to look uninterested, but his apparent flustering and dismay was enough to make her stop trying.

"May I suggest something?" she asked and he looked at her, nodding with confusion in his eyes. "Why don't you tell your friend to be direct for once? I'm sure this girl has had enough of ambiguous and ridiculous statements."

His astonished look kept her confidence up. "Besides," she added with a twinkle in her eye, "are hypothetical questions ever hypothetical?"

And then he kissed her soundly, concluding all things hypothetical between them.