Algebra dragged by, and then I was off to meet Mark and Clara at lunch. I went through the line and picked up my tray of pizza and sliced peaches. When I got to our table, my friends were already waiting for me.

Clara was bouncing with enthusiasm and talking before I could even sit, "Oh my gosh! Mark said you fell in front of HIM! He is so freaking hot! I would have died! Have you seen him since this morning? He's in my 3rd period. I didn't talk to him, but I did stare at him!" She giggled and wiggled her eyebrows at me.

"Yes, I fell in front of him. Thanks for sharing that with everyone, Mark," I said in a jokingly annoyed tone.

"I didn't share it with everyone, just Clara. I'm sorry, but that mess was hilarious," he laughed, and I did too.

"You guys are just jealous of my grace and amazing luck. But yeah, I've seen him, he's in my horticulture class. We talked kind of a lot; he seems really nice."

"Gorgeous and nice? I wonder if he's also single and rich?" Clara laughed, but she was practically panting.

She was pretty with her naturally blond hair and petite build. She could've easily fit in with Samantha's group if she was a terrible person, but she wasn't. She was funny and sweet; she could also lean toward being ditzy and a little boy crazy. She was the third in our little trio of friends, and we loved her.

"Calm down, Clara, he's just a guy," I rolled my eyes.

"Oh well, I'm glad he's no biggie because here he comes." She made her eyes comically huge as my face turned red.

Looking over to see him only a few feet away, headed toward me, made the butterflies in my stomach go crazy.

"Hello, Jolie," he was standing there, holding his tray, smiling at me.

"HI!" Was that loud? Did I just yell? Judging by the snicker coming across the table from Mark, I definitely did. "I meant, hey Ash," in a friendly but totally normal tone. "These are my friends, Clara and Mark."

"Hello, Clara and Mark, it's nice to meet you both," he said with that husky voice.

Clara had the biggest grin on her face. Mark chuckled at her and said, "Hey, it's nice to meet you too."

When Ash looked back and caught me staring, I said, "You can sit here if you want to."

He looked disappointed, "Thank you, but I can't. I already told Samantha I would sit at her table. I wish I had known that you would be here. Maybe next week?"

Before I could say anything, Samantha came walking by. Touching his arm, she said, "We're over here." Ash waved to us and followed her away.

I pulled my gaze off him and back to our table. Clara was staring at me with her eyes bugging out. "Holy cow! Jolie, he likes you! I mean, likes you, likes you! How did you not mention this?"

"Yeah, right,"  I scoffed.

"Mark, tell her! You saw it too, right?"

"Yeah, I'm with her; he's definitely interested."

I rolled my eyes, "He was just being nice, you guys, cut it out."

"OK, if you don't want to talk about him, did anything else interesting happen today? Some hallway drama, maybe?" Mark asked.

I chewed my pizza slowly while I tried to read his face to see how annoyed he was. It really hurt him that I got attitude from people because of our friendship. I've told him that he's worth it, and they don't bother me, but he doesn't listen, and of course, anything that happens at school is talked about by the entire school.

"I know you're mad. I should've just kept walking."

"Stop manita, you know I'm not mad at you," he shook his head. "I'm just tired of it. I wish everyone could keep their opinions to themselves."

Clara smiled, "I wish I could have seen her tell him off. It sounds like it was awesome! Did he really say he'd been thinking about asking you out?"

At my nod, Clara laughed, "Yuck! You dodged a bullet with that one. It's too bad. I remember when he used to be cute. Now, I swear, he gets less attractive by the day. All that ugly attitude isn't good for the skin."

Mark and I cracked up as the bell rang, and the three of us headed to History, the only class we had together.

As soon as class started, I got a text from Clara on the group chat the three of us shared.

Clara: What are we doing tonight? I heard there's a new singer at Coffee Shop; she's supposed to be awesome. You guys want to go?

Me: Sounds good!

Mark: Can't. I'm helping Bea close the store. Do you mind if I use the car?

Me: No problem! And if she's good, then the three of us can go back next week, right?

Mark: Works for me. Thanks for the car. It's going to be too late for a long walk by the time I get off.

Me: That's what it's for! Coffee Shop isn't too far from the house anyway.

Clara: The show doesn't start until 7:30. If you want, I could pick you up around 7. I want to get there early enough to get a table.

Me: Yeah, that'd be great! I have a couple of extra dogs to walk for a few days while their owners are on vacation, so it'll take a little longer than usual.

Clara: More dogs?! How many does that make now, about 23?

Me: No, goober. It's just my regular 6 plus the 2 extra. I'll just have to do the walk twice.

Clara: You're like the dog whisperer.

Me: I'm more like the dog poop picker-upper.

Clara laughed, and Mrs. Barlow took notice, "Is there something funny you'd like to share with us, Clara?"

"No, ma'am, sorry," Clara smiled sheepishly, and Mrs. Barlow softened.

"Alright girls, please try to pay attention to these last 20 minutes."

I tried, but it was hard. Being out for spring break and then bringing us back on a Friday felt pointless. The bell finally rang, and I was off to marketing, my favorite and last class of the day.

When we got home, Mark went upstairs to get ready for work. He loved his job at Bea's Books, but he especially loved the owner, Bea.

Mom and Bea have been friends since we moved here when I was a baby. She's like a grandma to me, and Mark's known her almost as long as I have. He's worked for her since he was 15, and she decided she was too old to do everything by herself.

After his parents' reaction when he came out, he was afraid he would lose his job. I went with him when he told her. She hugged him and said, "Quit looking so worried. I don't care who you love; I love you."   

He'd stared at her like he couldn't believe what happened until she handed him a few books that needed to be put back and said, "Are you ready to work?" He nodded and gave her another hug before walking off with the books.

I hugged her too before I left. I'd always loved Bea, but I loved her even more after that.

Mark came downstairs and caught me with my head in the pantry, eating peanut butter from the jar with a spoon. Mom didn't like that, so he gasped like he'd caught me kicking puppies.

"What? I wanted a snack, and there's no good food in the entire kitchen. Mom's buying all this healthy stuff again," I pointed at the offending bowl of fruit with my spoon.

"Yeah, a pear would be terrible; she's a monster."

He was joking, but I don't like pears, it would be terrible. I leaned on the counter and got another spoonful before putting the lid back on.

"That's gross, Jo."

I wrinkled my nose at him, "Pears are gross, shut up."

He laughed, "That's a lot of attitude when I was just about to give you a present."

"A present for what?" He just stared at me with a blank face waiting. "OK, fine. Give it to me. I love presents!" I stuck my hand out and wiggled my fingers at him.

"Well, don't get too excited, it's clothes. Two shirts and I left them up on your bed."

I tried not to look disappointed, but I was hoping for a book. "You better not have spent much. You shouldn't waste your money on me, and the clothes you pick out for me are always way too girly."

"You are a girl, and I know you like that stuff even though you insist on trying to hide it." He shrugged, "You're a pretty badass. Show it off. Don't roll your eyes. They were cheap. That little boutique, next to Bea's, is going out of business."

"OK, I'll check them out when I get back. Maybe I'll wear one tonight," I smiled.

"Cool! If you do, send me a pic," he grabbed a pear and headed for the door.

I drank some water to wash down the peanut butter and left a couple of minutes after him. It was a nice day, with my favorite kind of weather, cool but not cold. There was a little breeze rustling the bright green leaves on the trees; it was pretty.

Not as pretty as the green of Ash's eyes. They were darker, more emerald than bright, and there was something so kind about them. The back of my neck tingled at the thought of Ash.

Wait. His eyes are kind? What am I thinking? Am I going to write a poem now? Geez, I need to get it together.

Taking a deep breath of cool, clean air, I started down the street. Within a few minutes, I had the first four dogs ready to go. We walked around the half-mile circle that made up the neighborhood. It was a nice quiet walk; even the dogs seemed happy with the weather.

When we were done, I dropped three of the dogs off with Mrs. Janie, the sweet old lady they belong to. She said the same thing she says every time, "Thank you, Jolie! These dogs of mine look forward to seeing you all day! I wish I could walk them, but the way they pull is too much for these old hips."

She was already smiling and waving bye as I answered her, "It's no problem. I'm glad to do it! I'll see you guys next week!"

A few houses away, I used the key hidden in the pot on the porch to let Maggie in. Replacing the key, I was on my way to pick up the two big boys. They lived one street over, so I got a couple of minutes to walk alone.

My thoughts immediately went to Ash. What was going on with me? I wasn't usually like that about a guy, especially one I didn't even know. I couldn't remember ever being so instantly fixated on someone.

There was something different about him. Of course, he was beautiful. No, not beautiful, that sounds too feminine for someone with arms like that. What's more handsome than handsome? Whatever he is, he makes my toes tingle.

OK, enough of that. No more thinking about Ash. He's not thinking about me.

I finished with the rest of the dogs and went home to get ready to go out.