Drew stared off into space. The teacher said something, presumably in Spanish... but she had no clue what it meant. The summer of English had taken away any fluency Drew had previously possessed in the foreign language. A glance over to Avery informed Drew that she wasn't the only one struggling.

Just then, everyone in the classroom began to stand up. Drew looked around, confused. What are they all doing? she wondered.

The boy on her right caught her eye and whispered, "We're all supposed to get up and find a partner who we don't know to do an activity."

"Oh, thank you..." Drew blanked on the boy's name. She had known him since the seventh grade. Frankly, I'm disappointed in her.

The boy smiled. One dimple appeared on the left side of his face. Drew found it oddly distracting. "I'm Nathan. You're Drew."

Drew blushed. "Sorry for forgetting. I'll remember next time."

"I do hope there will be a next time," Nathan said with a wink as they walked in opposite directions around the classroom.

A tall, dark-haired boy caught Drew's eye and headed in her direction. Drew met him in the middle of the room. "Hi--I mean, hola," she said, keeping a few feet of distance between them. This could be the soulmate she was trying to avoid.

"Hola. Me llamo Marc."

"Me llamo Drew," she replied. Drew tried to recall the words for "where are you from" or "how long have you lived here" but she was at a loss.

The teacher, one Señora Dontez, clapped to get the class' attention. She explained the conversational activity they would be doing with their partner and put a slide on the board with questions to ask each other.

Drew looked helplessly at the board. The letters were swimming before her eyes and she couldn't read a word.

"I'm going to be honest," Marc whispered. "I don't remember any Spanish words other than "taco" and "hola" at the moment."

Drew sighed with relief. "Me neither. Thank goodness we're in the same boat."

He smiled at her. What a nice smile, Drew thought. Just enough teeth without appearing predatory.

"Let's just have a conversation in English and hope Señora whatever-her-name-is doesn't notice?" Marc suggested.

Drew gifted him a smile of her own. No teeth. Drew thought she looked weird when she smiled with her teeth. Then she took a second to wonder why she cared if she looked weird for this stranger. Attractive stranger, but still a stranger. Anyway, she didn't want a relationship. (uh-huh) They'd made a pact.

"When did you transfer to South Plains High?" Drew asked Marc.

"It's my first day, actually," Marc explained. The rest of the period passed in animated conversation and Drew found herself disappointed when the bell rang.

"Well, adios I guess." Drew waved as they parted ways outside the classroom. "Very good to meet you."

"Adios."

Avery caught up to Drew. "What was that?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Drew questioned in return. "What was what?"

"You were totally flirting with that dude!"

Drew covered her face with her hands. "Oh no. I was, wasn't I?"

Avery nodded. "That's what I saw."

This was not an uncommon issue. Drew had a problem. She would think she was being friendly, but actually, come on to people. That's why the gang couldn't even have other friends--Drew would still flirt.

"This is bad, this is bad." Drew began to freak out. "That guy, he might have been the soulmate I kissed. That might be why I can't help flirting with him!"

The two walked towards the car as the conversation continued.

"You didn't touch him, right?"

Drew vigorously shook her head. "I've been careful all day!" Flashbacks came to Drew's mind of the awkwardness she'd gone through to avoid touching anyone. My favorite of these moments was when they were supposed to do partner work in Ballroom. Drew pretended to be getting over a serious illness. It was hilarious (for me).

"Alright then, as long as you quit flirting with your possible soulmate we shouldn't have a problem." Avery's tone made it clear how ridiculous of a problem this seemed to her.

Drew blushed as she said, "I'll try, but he's really nice and cute... sometimes I do just want to date someone. I know we have the pact, and--"

"You want to break the agreement?" Parker yelled from behind them. He'd only heard the last little bit of the conversation.

"No, let me finish what I was saying!" Drew shouted back.

Parker stormed past them and got into the driver's seat of the Bug, slamming the door.

Jack, who was already by the car but had been waiting outside, winced. "Be gentle with Betty," he whispered.

Avery shot a glance at Drew. "You don't actually want to break your promise, do you?"

"No, I wouldn't do that. It's just, I'm not like the rest of you. I want more interactions and relationships--but I remember why the agreement was made and I won't break it."

Her sister side-eyed her a second time, then wordlessly got in the passenger's seat.

Jack raised his eyebrows at Drew. "What exactly is going on?"

"They're being ridiculous!" Drew answered. "Why can't you just listen and believe me?"

"Um, I didn't do anything..."

Drew pinched the bridge of her nose and rolled her eyes. "Parker and Avery are both technically older than us, but they sure aren't mature."

"Maybe we should get in the car?" Jack asked as Parker honked the horn loudly.

Drew and Jack climbed into the back of the car, where the four of them sat in heavy silence for the entire drive.

***

Drew hopped out of the car as soon as it had stopped. She rushed into the house, down the stairs, into the bedroom she shared with Avery and plopped herself down on her bed. Well, she would have plopped if she could. Unfortunately, she was on the top bunk. That made ploppage impossible for all but the most experienced, and Drew was off her game.

I'll tell you a secret if you promise to keep it. You promise? Pinky swear?

Alright then, Drew cried. She was a terribly ugly crier. It was loud, blubbery, and very, very wet. The rest of the siblings weren't home yet (the high school got out earlier than the middle school and elementary), so just the quadruplets were left to ignore the sounds of wailing coming from the basement.

Drew was overwhelmed by the incidents of the day. An event occurred that should have been one of the happiest moments of her life, but instead it caused all sorts of problems. And now, her only support group didn't even trust her.

Five minutes passed in tears and self-pity. Then Drew pulled herself together. Her little siblings would be home soon, and she absolutely had to be there for them on their first day of school. She didn't trust the others to even make an after-school snack.

After a quick stop to the bathroom (to wash away most of the evidence of her crying), Drew sped upstairs and started to cut fruit and lay out peanut butter, cheese, and crackers. The other three stood by in stunned stillness at the sheer speed at which Drew prepared the snack. That girl was usually a sloth, but at this moment we all learned she had the capability of whirlwind pace.

The door opened to reveal five more Wilson siblings in the doorway. They spilled in one or two at a time.

First was Lotty. That girl had an attitude. She was in the eighth grade and going through a bit of a rebellious arty phase. Currently, her hair was tipped in blue, her nails were black, and she wore a scowl and a glare as accessories.

Following Lotty came Justin and Addie. The two were in the fifth grade. Justin was a mini-Parker who just wanted the time and attention of the older boys. His passion was Pokemon, and his Charizard shirt was only one of the obvious signs of his obsession. Addie, on the other hand, was dressed like a businesswoman in her thirties. Her blazer and booties were immaculate, though not everyone took her seriously.

Tristan was just behind the fifth grade two. He was in the seventh grade, but he'd skipped a grade so it really should have been sixth. His glasses and skinny frame denoted his nerd status. Tristan pushed said glasses up his nose as he entered the home, asking "Can I have food?" (That might as well have been his catchphrase if we're being honest)

Lagging a bit behind, Bree was the final sibling to enter. Despite her cheerful name, blond hair, and propensity towards pink, sixth-grader Bree was not some peppy cheerleader--okay she might have been a cheerleader. But not a peppy one! Bree was moody and introverted in a different way than Lotty, though they both loved to draw.

Drew, Avery, Parker, and Jack welcomed their siblings in and nodded them towards the food after making sure backpacks were hung up and shoes put away.

"Thank you for the snack!" Justin smiled at Drew. They all knew it was her who'd prepared the nibbles for them.

The others chimed in with thanks, except for Bree (who'd disappeared to her room) and Tristan (whose mouth was full).

The next hour was spent hearing about each sibling's first day of school. Highlights included:

"We have a tortoise in our class! Her name is Petunia and she's huge." - Addie

"I couldn't find my fourth period but it was fine because I went to my friend's class instead. His name is Calvin and I met him at lunch." - Lotty

"My class already has a throw-up kid" - Justin

And, last but not least:

"The teacher pronounced my name try-STEN" - Tristan, obviously.

Finally, Parker shooed them all away to do homework or hang out. He and Jack joined the other boys in a Super Smash Bros. tournament. Avery sat down with a page of vocab words. Ordinarily, Drew would help her review them, but she was still upset. Instead, Drew joined Lotty and Addie in watching Ocean's 8, their favorite girl-power heist movie.

All evening, Parker and Avery avoided eye contact with Drew.

***

In an apartment on the third floor, a group of boys discussed their own first day of school with their guardian.

"Axel, I found my soulmate and I already lost them!" Raven explained.

Their guardian sighed. Nineteen years old and already in charge of a rag-tag family of broken boys--I feel bad for him. "How did you lose a soulmate?"

They explained the whole story to Axel, whose expression looked something like a confused tiger who recently hunted an antelope only to realize it was a baby tiger and now his responsibility to care for.

At the end of the story, Axel sighed. "Somebody talk about anything else for a second while I think about this."

"Ooh, I have something!" Marc exclaimed. "I met a cute girl in my Spanish class."

"The Spanish class you got put into accidentally?" Brandon asked.

Marc nodded. "Yes, that one."

Corey raised an eyebrow. Marc was jealous. He couldn't do that.

"Yeah, yeah, guys," Marc informed them. "I don't belong in an AP Spanish class, but this girl is really something. I kinda want to take the class just to see her more. I mean, it's not like she's my soulmate or anything but she's pretty."

"Did you get her number?" Axel questioned.

Marc slapped his forehead. "No! Why didn't I do that?"

"What a limp noodle," Raven laughed.

"Don't worry, Marc," Corey comforted. "You're in her class; you'll see her again."

Raven looked pointedly at Axel. "Got anything to help me yet?"

Axel shook his head. "Apart from hacking the security footage, I really can't-"

Raven interrupted. "Perfect! We hack footage, find Soulmate, I go tell her happy news."

"-that was not an actual suggestion, Raven. I got you out of prison; I'm not letting you get yourself back in."

"Only problem if caught. Corey, love, will you please hack the cameras?" Raven turned his Puppy Dog Eyes™ on his boyfriend.

Corey let out his breath in a whoosh. "This is a terrible idea."

"That's what I said." Axel nodded.

Brandon agreed, "Absolutely illegal."

"I really hated prison," was Marc's contribution.

Corey looked at his brothers, then at his boyfriend. "I'm still going to do it, aren't I?"

It wasn't really a question.