Dye | Tyrus/Ambi

Part 1: Prologue

Andi's POV

"When are Cyrus and Jonah getting here?" Bex asks.

She comes over to lower down into the chair adjacent to the couch where Buffy and I sit. I'm having all my friends over for a movie night, so a bowl of popcorn waits patiently on the coffee table for my other two friends to show up.

"They should be here any minute," I answer.

"Awesome," my mom responds. "I can't believe tomorrow you'll be a high schooler. Are you excited?"

"Yeah," I say. "I'm also a little terrified, but that's water under the bridge."

Buffy chuckles a little, saying, "It'll be great."

If Grant were a normal high school, I'd stand more with Buffy on this opinion, but it's not. Grant is a self-directed school, which basically means that there are no classes. The students just show up for the school day and do their work as they wish, learning from textbooks and paper guides put together by the teachers, who are also there to help answer questions. But the general idea is that the students get to decide what subject to work on, when to work on it, and in what room. Then once one is finished a unit, they can take the test in the testing centre or hand in the assignments in a drop box, the only due date being the end of the year. An upside of a school like Grant, and the reason why my mom let me go there, is because the students there tend to get higher marks than those at regular schools. But my friends and I chose Grant mostly just for the freedom it gives us.

"But it's going to be so different," I refute. "We have to learn how to do things in a completely new type of school system. Plus there's just the typical teenage drama, which, frankly, I could barely deal with in middle school."

"First of all," Buffy begins, "we'll figure out how things work. And second, we got through all kinds of drama in middle school. We can definitely handle high school."

"Buffy's right," my mom agrees. "High school is fun. You just have to watch out for the kids who are into the wrong stuff—like the edgy girls in Doc Martens. They're trouble."

"Weren't you one of those girls?" I ask.

"Well, yeah," she admits. "I was trouble."

Buffy and I both laugh.

"You don't have to worry that," I say.

"Definitely," Buffy attests. "As her best friend, I'll make sure she doesn't fall in with the wrong crowd."

Bex gives Buffy a smile before standing up. She knows that as long as my friends are by my side, we'll always be okay. So if Buffy is confident that high school will be a breeze, then I trust that she'll make it work, no matter what happens. Even if things don't go her way, she's far too stubborn to give up. That's one of her best qualities in my opinion.

Cyrus' POV

Jonah and I walk together down the street. The sun is setting, causing our surroundings to have an orange tint. Our feet patter on the concrete as we stroll toward Andi's house. Jonah's been away for the whole summer and just got back to Shadyside yesterday, so I'm eager to catch up with my friend and hear what I missed out on while he was gone.

"How was ultimate camp?" I ask.

"It was fun," Jonah answers. "I think I'm getting a lot better, and I might make that team this year."

"That's great," I respond. "Did you make any friends?"

"Yeah, a ton."

"None better than me, Andi, and Buffy, though, right?"

Jonah smiles. "None better than you guys."

I feel relieved to know that he didn't leave and find newer, better people to hang out with. He's been a part of our friend group for almost two years now, and I definitely see him as a member of the Good Hair Crew at this point.

"I'm sorry I couldn't see you guys sooner than the day before school starts up again," Jonah says. "But let's catch up now. Did you do anything cool over the summer? Did you make any friends? Did you meet any boys?"

He gives me a nudge to the shoulder, and I laugh.

"Nope. No boys," I reply.

"Yeah, I figured you would've at least texted to let me know if you did," Jonah responds. "Maybe you'll meet someone in high school."

"Maybe."

As we turn to walk up to Andi's door, the girl swings open the door. She immediately goes in to give Jonah a hug.

"It feels like I haven't seen you in forever," she says as she lets him go. "How was camp?"

Jonah and I step inside and walk over to join Buffy on the couch. After closing the door, Andi takes a seat on the chair next to it, leaning her elbow on the armrest.

"It was good," Jonah replies. "I'm not ready for the summer to be over."

"Neither am I," Andi concurs.

"Come on, guys," Buffy says from the couch. "It'll be fun. There will be be tons of new people to meet."

"Yeah," Jonah agrees. "I was just telling Cyrus how he might find a boyfriend in high school."

Buffy and Andi flick their heads to me, both grinning at the idea, causing my face to heat up in the embarrassment of this attention.

"He definitely will," Buffy says. "You're too amazing to be still be single in high school. We all are. In fact, that should be our goal: we will all get boyfriends in high school. Well, except Jonah."

Jonah lets out a chuckle as he nods, but I give him a glance, saying, "You never know."

"I'm pretty sure I know," Jonah counters.

The girls laugh along with him. Of us all, only Andi and Jonah have ever been in relationships before, but I'm sure Buffy will find someone. But me? I'm not sure. I would love to find a boyfriend, but I don't know how I'd find a guy I like who likes me back, let alone get the courage to talk to him. But I'm not going to kill the mood by sharing this perspective, so I just laugh along with my friends.