I breathe in relief when the school bell finally rings at the end of the day. The class is already rising and rushing toward the door, but I take my time stretching out my arms and back before I put my books into my bag. Another day of painful tests, quizzes, and a workload that's so heavy I wonder if that's why my back has been hurting these days.

"You focus on school too much," Hazel often tells me.

It's true. I know. My parents tell me the same, that I should be exploring the social aspects of high school rather than focusing all my attention on my grades. However, I've never been very social-oriented, which explains my rather small friend group, and as colleges grow more difficult to get accepted into, I want to focus all my time and energy these last two years of school on perfecting my academic skills.

After days like today, however, I wonder if it's possible I could just hit the lottery when I'm eighteen and not have to work a single day in my life.

I walk slowly to my locker, the heavy books of my bag weighing me down. If someone were to bump into me, I'd topple over like a turtle with this shell on my back. I'm so busy thinking about the pain in my back and the assignments I have to do when I return home that I almost fail to notice Isabella Sandoval in the proximity of my locker.

"Shit," I mutter, quickly backing up against a corner. Her locker is across the hallway from mine, though we do not often cross paths. These days I've been so afraid of seeing her, so afraid of talking to her, because I'm afraid it will stir up these feelings that already exist inside of me. I fear each day that I won't be able to move past her.

I'm lying to myself. If I had already moved on, gotten over this silly friend crush, or whatever it is, then I wouldn't be hiding in the corner, waiting to see her black locks of hair disappear into the crowd. My nails dig into my skin as I try to free her from my mind. I need to keep maintaining my distance. I need to focus on what every other teenage girl that attends this school focuses on—boys.

I peek once more, noticing she's gone, and I sigh with relief. There's a pang of loneliness within me though. A part of me wants to talk to her, just to have a friendly conversation, but I act so strange around her these days that I don't know what words will spew out of my mouth when I speak to her. My mind is battling itself often these days, and focusing on school is the only thing that tames these feelings for now. It distracts me enough.

"Hey, Callie, what are you staring at?" someone says behind me.

I turn around, jumping at the sight of Aurora Gray. How long has she been standing there? Did she notice me staring at Isabella? Clearly not, if she seems confused as to why I'm looking at her as if I've just seen a ghost.

"Was waiting for the hallway to clear out so I could get to my locker," I explain, beginning to make my way there now. I expect Aurora to leave, but she follows me, beginning to ask how my school day was.

"Long," I answer.

"I feel that too. Midterms and all," Aurora states. "Are you heading home?"

I nod as I zip my backpack closed and throw it on my back. I begin walking out toward the front of the school, expecting Aurora to change direction, but she keeps walking my way, even as I start to move past the parking lot.

"Aren't you going to drive?" I ask.

"Oh, I don't have a car. I walk to school," Aurora answers. She blinks, then stares at me. "Wait, don't you drive to school?"

"No. I live close by. Why'd you think I have a car?" I wonder.

"Oh, I see you with your friends in the parking lot sometimes in the morning and after school, so I just assumed..."

"I do have a car, but it's not worth it for me to bring it since I'd have to pay for parking," I explain. "How close do you live?"

"On Manchester Street," Aurora answers.

I nearly stop in my tracks. "No way! That's only a few blocks down from my house. I live on Evergreen Road," I tell her.

"Oh, with all the fancy houses?" she teases.

"They're not that fancy," I mutter, pulling my backpack closer.

"I'm surprised I didn't realize we lived so close. Well, maybe we have both walked that route at the same time before. I've just never noticed, I guess," Aurora thinks. "Want to walk home together, then?"

I pause. Walking home alone in silence after a long day is usually a relaxing part of my day, but saying no would make things awkward, especially if I started speedwalking to create distance between us. After all, I've already told her I'm going home, so I can't start spewing out excuses. I nod and crunch a few leaves beneath my feet as we start heading away from school into the more residential area of town.

"So, do you have a big house, then?" Aurora asks.

"It's not that big. I mean, I don't share a room with my siblings, so I guess it's a little big, but..."

"Oh, you have siblings? How many?" Aurora asks.

"Two. Olivia and Oliver. They're twins. And they're in seventh grade," I answer. "Olivia will come to St. Joseph's when she graduates middle school."

"Cute!"

A pause settles between us. I realize I have to keep the conversation going, so I ask, "Do you have any siblings?"

"No. I wish I did sometimes. It was lonely growing up. But I have my cats to keep me company, so that's nice at least," Aurora answers.

"Oh, that's too bad," I murmur.

"My mom had a tough pregnancy with me. Made her never want to go through that again," Aurora explains, as if she knows I'm curious. "But that's okay. I used to have imaginary siblings when I was younger. I think it concerned my dad, but my mom thought it was cute."

"You can have mine," I offer, which causes her to giggle.

"Tempting, but I think I'll pass for now," Aurora says.

The breeze blows past us, ruffling my hair and hers. She spends a moment fixing her hair, and I realize I've been staring too long at the naturally blonde highlights in her hair when she looks at me confusedly.

"Ah, sorry to stare!" I exclaim. "Your hair is pretty. Are any of your parents redheads?"

"Nope. Skipped a generation," Aurora says as she walks along the sidewalk. "But the green eyes come from my mom."

"I wish I had pretty hair. It's always been a pain," I explain. "I was thinking about getting highlights, but my mom doesn't want me giving my sister any idea about messing around with hair."

"You should. It would look good," Aurora encourages. "Not that your hair now isn't fine!"

"I know what you meant," I assure her. "So, uh, how are college applications going? It's still application season, right?"

"Almost done," Aurora answers. "I applied to ten."

"Ten?!"

"Well, I'm not so set on where I want to get yet. Maybe California, or somewhere on the east coast. I've mostly been looking at private colleges, though it'll cost my parents a bit more than they hoped. I have the grades to get good scholarships though."

"You won't stay in state?"

"I don't think so," Aurora says. "It gets kind of boring here. I've grown up here all my life, and I'd like to go to some different places."

"What do you want to study?" I ask.

"Literature," Aurora answers.

"Really? But you're smart at every subject," I say. "Or...I've heard that, I mean. I didn't get a look at your report card or anything."

Aurora giggles. "I enjoy writing the most though. Liberal arts have always been my home. My parents aren't too thrilled because they're thinking about after I graduate and such, but I'm going to make a career plan once I get into college."

Of course she is, I think. I'm sure she has a laminated timeline of the next ten years of her life in a binder somewhere, judging by how put together she is. I would say I'm mostly organized, but nowhere near as precisely as her.

"What about you, Callie? What do you want to study? You're good at Calculus, so you must be good at other subjects, right?" Aurora asks.

"I want to major in Chemistry actually," I answer.

"Makes sense why you're good at Calculus, then. That's cool. Have you thought of colleges?"

"Probably the state college nearby. My parents have to pay for college for Olivia and Oliver too, so I don't know if I can afford going anywhere else. I'm okay with staying close though. I don't know if I'd be ready to move away so far," I explain. It's partially true. My mother and I made plans years ago for me to attend state college. As for whether we can afford Olivia and Oliver's education...that may be a bit of a fib. I've never been good at making decisions, which was why I let my mother decide my future for me so long ago.

"Good for you. I think so many girls rant about how ready they are to leave home, but when it comes down to it, most of the graduated seniors I've talked to feel homesick by week three. I'm sure your parents will be happy to have you nearby too. That's why my parents aren't so sure about me leaving. I'm not so sure they're ready to be empty nesters yet," Aurora states. She pauses for a second, then stomps her foot down on a leaf, smiling as it crunches beneath her foot.

"What's your favorite season?" Aurora wonders.

"Autumn, I guess. I like seeing the leaves change color. The walks home from school are pretty, especially with all the trees lining the streets," I explain. "What's yours?"

"Winter. I love the Christmas lights," Aurora states.

What a wholesome reason to like the season, I think. My eyes fall on the street sign up ahead, realizing this is where I'm going to have to turn. A part of me strangely wants the walk to continue, but I've already been walking slower than normal, and my parents are probably wondering where I am. Once, when I was a freshman, I stopped for a coffee and forgot to tell my mom, and she thought I had been kidnapped by the time I had gotten home.

"Um, so this is where I turn," I tell Aurora.

"Oh, wow. We really are only about a five to ten minute walk away. Strange. I've never noticed before," Aurora says. "I'll see you around later, then. Have a good evening. Let's do this again sometime."

"Okay, bye!" I say, giving her a slight wave as I turn. I realize I did not once think of Isabella Sandoval during the entirety of our short walk, and I feel relieved at the thought, that I'm getting over her after all.

I hate myself for accepting that I didn't mind walking home with Aurora, but I don't expect it to be a common occurrence now that we've realized we live so close. I like the silence of walking home alone most of the time. It's nice letting my mind wander.

I let out a sigh as I unlock the front door and step inside, finding that my siblings have already been picked up from school by my mother. Olivia and Oliver are munching on various after-school snacks, all healthy, of course, with my dad's strict eating regiments implemented. My mother is busy rummaging through the fridge, trying to prepare tonight's dinner.

"Callie. You're home later than normal," she remarks with her back still hanging out of the fridge.

"Yeah," I say as I place my backpack down near the kitchen table. "I walked home with someone today."

"A boy?!" Olivia asks.

"Yes, Olivia. There are countless boys at school for me to walk home with," I nag at her. Her comment irks me slightly, but Olivia's boy-obsessed attitude always tends to irk me these days.

"Who did you walk home with, then?" Oliver wonders as he munches on a stick of celery.

"A senior in my Calculus class. We just realized we live pretty close," I answer.

"How'd you do on your Calculus test last week?" my mother asks. My heart sinks. She never asks much about my social life, mostly just how school is going.

"I got an A," I tell her as I grab a handful of nuts and pick up my backpack to go study in the privacy of my own room.

"Dinner in two hours. Hopefully your father will be home by then," my mother says as I begin walking away.

"Kay," I grumble, throwing a handful of nuts into my mouth. Amazing how my family is so quick to throw off my mood, especially my mother. I suppose that is the nature of family though. They always aggravate you one way or another.

"You don't want to study with us?" Oliver asks. He gestures to the empty seat at the table, but I shake my head. I've had a long day, and frankly, I'm tired of social interaction after walking home with Aurora.

"Maybe tomorrow. I have a lot of work to do," I state as I ascend up the steps. I throw my bag down and collapse on my bed, letting out a sigh. Today feels different for some reason, even though it's a normal school day afternoon. I feel strangely anxious, like my heart is beating too fast, and I feel awkward and embarrassed when I think about my afternoon walk with Aurora. Did I keep up the conversation okay? Was it too strange? Was I rude?

I clutch my pillow to my chest before throwing it to the side and heading to my desk to work. Some difficult chemistry problems and reading will be enough to deter my mind from thinking about any anxiety-inducing thoughts. I don't have time to think about Isabella or Aurora or anyone. Right now, it's best I just keep my thoughts on academics. Whatever else can come later.