February 1st

Dear Future Me,

Do not freak out as I say this, but I'm in love with Levi. Like, absolutely positive. I have fallen for Levi Daniels without a doubt. After what happened at the dance there is no denying the way my heart races around him almost all the time. Who am I kidding, we almost kissed! And this isn't the first time it's happened either! Plus, he kissed me on the cheek before saying goodnight last night. That alone drove me crazy.

I swear god I am such a clown. I can't believe I used to say I hate this guy! I literally said (and I quote from a previous entry), "You almost got hit by a car and your bike got ran over, but none of that can amount to the annoyance that is Levi Daniels. You'll definitely remember that name in the future, and I just know you're gonna look back in disgust."

Look back in disgust? There's no way I can ever look back in disgust now! All I can do now is think about his cute, stupid face. Oh my god, is something wrong with me? Something has to be wrong with me. Skye Simmons has officially gone insane, people! Why have I fallen for Levi out of all people?

You know what, I know exactly why. He's great, he's so nice, he's caring, and he treats me so well. Also, being tall is a plus. I don't know why, but tall guys are my weakness. Except for my dad, yuck! You get what I'm saying though. Actually, let me reiterate; tall guys my age are my weakness. There we go.

I don't really know what I'm going to do though. For all I know I'm just confusing platonic feelings with romantic ones. I'm not exactly a relationship guru! I'm probably better off just not saying anything at all and seeing if my feelings happen to be real. That's probably the best bet, right? Besides, our friendship is too good and it would absolutely suck if I completely ruined it.

Let's hope I don't regret that. I tend to make stupid decisions. I must drink dumb bitch juice or something.

Sincerely,

Past Me.

•••

"You guys almost kissed?"

The question came out of Xavier's mouth as he walked through the halls, his phone held up to his ear after hearing details from Friday's winter formal. He didn't suspect a thing, even when he was there to interrupt the moment. All Xavier knew was that they slow danced, so hearing that Levi believed they almost kissed at that moment was a shock to him.

"Seemed like it. Well, until your dumbass interrupted to show us the fight." Levi scoffed, a little bitter about what happened. Sure, he did get to kiss her on the cheek at the end of the night, but it wasn't so pleasant knowing Skye's dad was watching.

"Why am I not surprised?" Danny rolled his eyes. He was in on the conversation as well, also hearing this information for the first time. Luckily for Danny, he wasn't an idiot like Xavier.

"Wait, what?! I had no clue!" Xavier protested. "Besides, there was drama either way."

"Well, it seemed like she wanted to kiss me," Levi said, replaying the moment in his mind again and again and again.

"And you would have kissed her back of course." Danny, being the relationship connoisseur, knew exactly how Levi felt. He could remember the early days of his relationship with Nini, also recalling the feelings he had before making it official. When you're in love like that, of course, you can't help but think about kissing the person you're falling for.

"Obviously!" Levi exclaimed. "I can't even remember how long I've thought about this."

"Too long, Levi, too long," Danny replied.

"Yeah, but that just means we have another problem on our hands." He frowned. What seemed like an almost kiss would definitely bring in some awkwardness for Skye and Levi, but when did they ever not push through awkward moments? Sure, they've done it time and time again, but with the severity of this instance, Levi didn't know if things would stay awkward like this forever.

But while the three boys spoke, Xavier ruined the moment, blowing their cover that they had been walking side by side this whole time, pretending as if this were the movies, like in those scenes where the screen is split during a phone conversation. "Wait, why are we acting like we're on the phone even though we're walking side by side again?"

"This is my rom-com moment, leave me alone." Levi pouted, putting his phone down and shoving it in his pocket. He almost made a reference to Mean Girls, tempted to recite the famous "boo, you whore" line, but the opportunity was lost when they walked past Skye waving to them in the hall, also standing outside her homeroom waiting for Danny.

"Hey!"

"My lips are sealed." This was Danny's due to leave, so he had to ensure that he wouldn't utter a word to Skye about this conversation, knowing Levi wouldn't want him to. "Hey, Skye!"

Levi waves as he walks past the two, his smile fading as he turned his head, letting out a groan as he thought to himself about what he was doing. It seemed like Skye was going about her day as if nothing happened, but Levi didn't think he could do the same.

"Man, what am I gonna do?"

After the homeroom bell, Skye met up with Levi in chemistry like normal, walking into class with her binder pressed to her hip as she showed off her pink sweater that was covered in hearts. While she looked calm, cool, and collected on the outside, Skye was practically screaming her head off on the inside, telling herself she had to resist Levi.

"Hey, you." She said as she sat down next to him, setting her backpack on the floor and her binder on the blacktop table.

"Hey. Nice sweater." Levi grinned. The hearts were really the cherry on top of all of this, but the way his heart was thumping was like the chocolate drizzle on an ice cream sundae.

"You like it? I figured since it's the first day of February that I'd wear it. Plus, I doubt I'll be needing it for Valentine's Day or anything." Skye replied, immediately hating herself for that last part. Why did I just say that? If only Levi knew she was feeling the same way he was feeling right now.

"It's adorable." He said, only making this even worse for the two of them.

"Thanks." She blushed, looking around the room as she grew flustered and noticed their teacher wasn't even in the room. "Where's our teacher, by the way?"

"We got a substitute coming apparently," Levi informed her.

"Really? Sweet!" Having a substitute was always the best, and after what happened on Friday, starting the school day with a substitute teacher was just what Skye and Levi needed.

"Yeah, we basically have a free period since we're definitely all caught up." And hearing that was even better. The two always stayed on top of their assignments, keeping up with their status as being tied for number one in their chemistry class. If they thought that one of them would come out on top by the end of the year, then they would be very, very wrong.

"And the best lab partner in the world award goes to?" Skye asked, raising her hand up for a high-five.

"You?" Levi replied, confusingly high-fiving her.

"No, us!" She sassed. "Duh."

"Oh, of course."

As Levi awkwardly retracted his hand, their substitute teacher walked into the room and greeted them. "Hello, class."

"Shh, the sub's here," Skye whispered to Levi as she turned her attention to the sub.

"As you can tell, I'm not your actual teacher." The woman said, introducing herself to the students who didn't really care that much as they just wanted their easy period already. "I'm Ms. Douglas and I'll be your substitute for today."

The substitute went on about the note their teacher left, giving instructions for what each class period would do. Seeing that this was an AP class, they had more of a workload compared to the others, so the teacher instructed that everyone just catch up on any makeup work. As mentioned before, Skye and Levi were on top of everything, so they didn't have any work that needed to be done. "Those who have work to catch up on, get to it."

"Free period for us," Levi said, making up for the poorly done high-five from before.

"Such a main character moment." Skye high-fived back, holding back on wincing a little as her hand stung a little after the second time.

"Totally."

"Also, Danny kind of told me something in homeroom." She mentioned, holding onto information that Levi had to know about ASAP. Oh, dear.

I'm going to kill him, I'm going to kill him, I'm going to kill him, I'm- "What did he tell you?"

"Well, first of all, it's about Hunter," Skye said. At first, Levi immediately assumed it was going to be about what he said earlier, specifically that he was under the impression they were going to kiss Friday night, but he was proven wrong, not expecting the majorly unexpected.

"Huh?"

"Danny told me he heard Hunter and Victor got suspended over the fight and that Hunter's parents sent him to rehab because he was drunk at the dance." She continued.

"What?!" Levi exclaimed. According to Danny, the rumors had been swirling online and in real life. Skye didn't really spend much time focusing on what her fellow classmates were posting about, so when Danny told her about the rumors earlier in homeroom, she let out the loudest gasp in her life, one that made heads turn.

"Mhm." Skye nodded. "If it's true, I hope he's actually getting help."

"Wow, I can't believe it. I mean, I knew he drank and I never condoned it, but wow." Levi couldn't really believe it, but he hoped Hunter the best no matter what terms they were on.

"Yeah." She sighed. "I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you about it. I know you guys were friends for so long before all that stuff happened on New Year's."

"Hey, you were just telling me what you heard. I think I'd rather hear it from you or Danny than some total stranger." He assured her.

"Well, believe it not, I hope for the best despite everything." Skye meant it when she said she was hoping for the best for him. She did feel a little weird rooting for Hunter considering their past, but she wouldn't express how weird she felt about it out loud. All that mattered was Hunter's recovery. It didn't mean that she wasn't mad at him anymore though. She was still hoping for an apology in person whenever that could manage to happen.

Knowing that Danny was the one to tell Skye all of this, Levi wondered if Xavier knew about it as well. It could be possible that he didn't know considering how they spent their time this morning, so he just had to ask. "Does Xavier know?"

"I have no clue." She replied. "Sorry."

"I'll text him about it just in case," Levi said as he pulled out his phone to text Xavier. "Thanks for telling me about it though."

"No problem."

While some students worked on worksheets and packets and others chatted with their classmates, Skye glued her eyes to Levi without questioning it, finding herself staring at him while he wasn't paying attention and admiring his facial features. She could stare at him all day, even if she knew she'd become flustered in a case of being caught staring. But no matter what, Skye had to hold herself back before she said or did the wrong thing.

I'm fine with the way things are. Skye thought. But I wouldn't mind if things were to change for the better.

•••

It seemed that the rumors were true when Hunter was noticeably absent in Spanish class. Skye still did worry for Hunter's well-being and hoped he could come back a better person overall, but she had her own worries regarding herself and her seemingly developing love life. Even when trying to focus in class, Skye found Levi on her mind practically all the time. She may be content with their friendship, but Skye kept on wondering what would happen if it turned into something more. It didn't matter how much she resisted, Levi could never escape from her head.

Focus, focus, focus. Skye said in her mind as she violently tapped her pencil against the desk. She was currently trying to work on a test, one that she had studied for, but Skye found herself absolutely struggling right now. She even wondered if thinking about Friday night but in Spanish would help her case, but it proved to be useless.

As the students around Skye seemed perfectly focused, she looked around to see that she was the only one going through it right now. Usually, she'd zoom through quizzes and tests like it was no big deal. Skye even wondered if her teacher was concerned that she didn't turn in her test already as she was usually the first to finish. Something had to help her focus and get through this test, and that something came along and stood at six foot three.

To Skye's surprise, a sweaty Levi knocked on the door with a textbook in hand, telling Mrs. Michaels that someone had left it in the locker room and it didn't seem to belong to anyone. All that was written inside was her name in big, bold letters, and when Levi's gym teacher asked for a volunteer to return it, he immediately said he'd do it knowing Skye was there right now. As he handed her the textbook, Mrs. Michaels quietly thanked him for giving it to her and said she'd ask her other classes if someone lost their textbook.

Skye immediately turned her head to see Levi standing there, and when he laid eyes on her, Levi waved to Skye with a wide grin on his face and whispered "hey". She waved back, a soft smile creeping up, but that smile turned into a frown when she saw everyone looking at her, feeling like their states spoke a thousand words.

She turned her attention back to her test, forcing herself to push through it while Levi left the classroom. Before she finally gave her undivided attention to her test, Skye thought to herself one last thing; maybe it was better if things stayed the same no matter how much she wanted change.

The world simply wasn't ready for Skye and Levi just yet, but they would be soon enough.

•••

MARIA TALKS!

can you tell i put in effort

i had been reading a lot at the time of writing this chapter, so i started to catch onto things i should incorporate in my writing, and i hope it sticks tbh LMAO

maybe it's also the fact that chapter 45 onwards is like what i've been looking forward to this whole time because i've had this story mapped out AGES ago. but also skye has finally acknowledged how she feels for levi!! if only she had the heart to tell him 💔 the ceo of angst always prevails

also please note that hunter getting help for his drinking problem isn't a way to sympathize for him and excuse his actions. his friends are allowed to root for his recovery while also holding him accountable for what he did to skye. you as readers are allowed to hold him accountable still. mind you he's a fictional character. obviously his actions can't be reversed and nobody is just gonna act like nothing ever happened, but i would like to think that his character going to rehab is steering him onto a better path if that makes sense? he's not the most evil person in the world, but he definitely did a shitty thing.

and i know i just recently got back into updating, but i will be visiting family for about 2 weeks (which will basically consist of just staying at my aunt's house and swimming in her pool), so you probably won't be hearing from me until i come back home. mayhaps the next update will fall on my birthday? idk 👀

i'll stop rambling now, but as always, don't forget to vote! let's push through these remaining chapters xx