The cultural festival arrived with predictable chaos.

  Leon and Marcus set up their photo exhibition booth early Saturday morning, before the crowds arrived. The school gymnasium had been transformed—decorations everywhere, booths lining the walls, a stage set up at the far end for performances.

  "Okay, hand me that corner," Marcus said, balancing on a stepladder.

  Leon passed up the poster board. Marcus secured it to the display frame, stepped back to check the alignment, and nodded. "That's good. Now the next one."

  They worked methodically, mounting each photo in the arrangement they'd planned. Twenty images of student life—people studying in the library, athletes at practice, the art club painting a mural, candid shots of lunch periods and hallway conversations.

  "It actually looks professional," Sophie said, stopping by to inspect their work. Her face painting booth was two spots down, already set up with chairs and supplies.

  "Don't sound so surprised," Marcus said.

  "I'm just saying, for two guys who complained the entire time—"

  "We did not complain."

  "You absolutely did."

  Leon smiled, adjusting one of the photos that had tilted slightly. As he reached up, his elbow caught the edge of their supply box. It tipped, markers and tape rolls scattering across the floor.

  "Leon!"

  "Sorry." He crouched down, gathering everything quickly.

  "This is why we can't have nice things," Marcus said, but he was grinning.

  By 9:00 AM, the festival officially opened. Students and parents flooded in, moving between booths. The noise level rose steadily—conversations, laughter, music from the stage where the band club was setting up.

  Their photo booth got decent traffic. People stopped to look, commented on photos they recognized themselves in, took pictures of the display. A few teachers came by, including Mrs. Peterson who gave them an approving nod.

  "This is quite impressive, gentlemen. I'll make sure to note it for your grades."

  Around noon, Leon volunteered to do a food run. He navigated through the crowded gym, dodging a group of freshman carrying what looked like a poorly constructed cardboard castle, and made it to the bake sale booth.

  "Two brownies and a—"

  Someone bumped into him from behind. Hard. Leon stumbled forward, catching himself on the edge of the table. A tray of cupcakes wobbled dangerously.

  "Watch it!" the girl running the booth yelped.

  "Sorry!" Leon steadied the tray, heart racing. "Sorry, I didn't mean—"

  "It's fine. Just be careful."

  He paid for the brownies and a bottle of water, then carefully—very carefully—made his way back to their booth. Marcus took one look at his face and laughed.

  "What happened?"

  "Almost destroyed the bake sale."

  "Classic Leon."

  The afternoon continued. More visitors, more compliments on their display. Daniel stopped by around 2:00 PM, face painted with an elaborate tiger design courtesy of Sophie's booth.

  "Looking fierce," Marcus said.

  "Sophie's really good at this. You guys should go get something done."

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  "We can't leave the booth."

  "I'll watch it for a bit. Go."

  Marcus dragged Leon over to the face painting booth despite his protests. Sophie's eyes lit up when she saw them.

  "Finally! Sit down, Leon. You first."

  "I don't really—"

  "Sit."

  He sat. Sophie studied his face for a moment, then started working. The brush tickled. Leon tried to stay still, very aware of Marcus filming this on his phone.

  "What are you doing?" Leon asked.

  "A constellation," Sophie said. "Stay still."

  Five minutes later, she handed him a mirror. Small stars and connecting lines decorated his cheekbone, surprisingly delicate work.

  "That's actually cool," Marcus admitted.

  "Your turn."

  The festival wound down around 5:00 PM. They took down their display, packed everything away, and helped with the general cleanup. The gymnasium slowly emptied, returning to its usual appearance minus the decorations that would take another day to fully remove.

  "That went well," Marcus said as they carried boxes to the storage room. "We definitely passed that assignment."

  "Yeah."

  "You okay? You've been quiet."

  "Just tired."

  "You're always tired."

  Leon couldn't argue with that.

  Monday morning, Marcus cornered him at his locker with Sophie in tow. Both were grinning in a way that immediately made Leon suspicious.

  "What?"

  "So, funny story," Marcus began.

  "We may have done something," Sophie added.

  "What did you do?"

  Marcus pulled out a paper from his backpack. "The sports day event is in three days."

  "Okay?"

  "And we may have... signed you up for the relay race."

  Leon stared at them. "You what?"

  "In our defense," Sophie said quickly, "Along with me, Marcus & Tyler, a rally team of four needed one more member, and the sign-up sheet was just sitting there with your name fitting perfectly on the empty line—"

  "You signed me up without asking?"

  "Yes," Marcus said, not looking remotely apologetic. "Because you would've said no."

  "Of course I would've said no! I don't run track!"

  "It's not track, it's just a relay. Four people, one lap each. It's fun!"

  "For you maybe!"

  Sophie crossed her arms. "Leon, you need to do something physical. You're always either at school or work. When's the last time you exercised?"

  "I walk everywhere. I'm on my feet for eight-hour shifts—"

  "That's not exercise, that's just existing."

  "She's right," Marcus said. "You're going to turn into a boring old man by twenty. Girls don't like boring old men."

  "I'm not trying to—"

  "You'll die a single virgin at this rate."

  Leon's face heated. "I work out enough juggling between job and school!"

  "Juggling responsibilities isn't a workout," Sophie said. "Come on, it's one race. It'll be good for you."

  "I'm going to die. I'm going to collapse halfway through and die."

  "You won't die."

  "You don't know that."

  Marcus threw an arm around his shoulders. "Look at it this way—it's already done. Your name is on the list. You can't back out now without looking like a quitter."

  "I hate both of you."

  "You love us."

  Leon groaned, letting his head fall back against the locker. "Fine. Fine! I'll do your stupid relay race."

  "Yes!" Sophie high-fived Marcus.

  "But if I die, I'm haunting both of you."

  "Deal."

  Tuesday after school, Leon found himself on the track with Marcus, actually preparing for this thing. A few other students were practicing too, mostly people who actually did sports regularly.

  "Okay, so the relay is pretty simple," Marcus explained. "You run your lap, pass the baton, done. We're team four, so you'll be third leg."

  "Great."

  "Don't sound so excited."

  "I'm thrilled."

  Marcus made him run a practice lap. Leon made it about three-quarters of the way before he had to slow down, breathing hard.

  "Okay, we'll work on your endurance," Marcus said, looking slightly concerned.

  "I told you this was a bad idea."

  "You just need practice. Come on, one more."

  Wednesday, they practiced again. Leon's legs ached. His lungs burned. But he did complete a full lap without stopping this time, which Marcus counted as progress.

  Thursday after his shift—which he'd managed to switch to morning so he could practice—they did a full team run-through. Their fourth member was a guy from their English class named Tyler, who was actually fast. Sophie came to watch and offer encouragement that mostly consisted of laughing at Leon's pained expressions.

  "You're doing great!" she called as he jogged past.

  "I'm dying!"

  "You're not dying!"

  "My legs are dying!"

  Marcus jogged beside him. "Just think about all those non-existent girls who will be so impressed by your athletic prowess."

  "Shut up."

  "They'll be like, 'Wow, who's that guy? He's so fast and definitely not dying.'"

  "I said shut up."

  But despite himself, Leon was smiling. His legs hurt and his lungs burned and he was definitely going to be sore tomorrow, but there was something almost fun about this.

  Almost.

  Friday afternoon, the day before sports day, they did one final practice. Leon managed his lap in a respectable time. Not fast, but not embarrassing either.

  "See?" Marcus said afterward as they cooled down. "You're ready."

  "I'm going to embarrass us all."

  "You're going to do fine."

  "You have way too much faith in me."

  "Someone has to."

  Leon looked at his friend, at Sophie sitting on the bleachers waving at them, at the track stretching out in front of him. Tomorrow he'd be running this in front of the whole school.

  He was definitely going to regret this.

  But for now, surrounded by friends who cared enough to force him into doing something outside his usual routine, Leon found he didn't mind so much.

  "Thanks," he said quietly.

  "For what?"

  "For signing me up without asking."

  Marcus grinned. "Anytime, man. Anytime."