WILL'S P.O.V.

When I saw those normally dull green eyes in the back of the room, I thought my mind was playing a cruel trick on me. Surprisingly it wasn't, and the girl I had just seen really was Ceres Spencer.

I didn't recognize her at first because of her hair cut but the uninterested look on her face when our eyes met was enough to make it very clear to me.

To think that we would meet again, it was as if fate had brought us back together again.

That's all it could be, right?

Thinking back to when we were at our old school was like reliving a distant memory now that Ceres has seemed to change so much.

~ Flashback Incoming ~

She was beautiful again today as always. The way she walked into the classroom without a single care in the world was so intriguing. She kept her eyes forward and no where else. It made me wonder, did she truly believe that others weren't good enough for her like the rumors said, or was this her way of protecting herself?

Whatever the reason, I admired her greatly for it.

"Will, are you listening to what I'm saying?" Some girl, I couldn't care to remember her name, whined as she tugged on my shirt sleeve. The pout on her lips made me frown in disgust as I took my arm from her grasp.

"All that falls from that mouth of yours is garbage. It's annoying which makes you annoying" I said in a voice that dripped with irritation because I honestly was.

Girls constantly fawned over me as if I were some trophy to have in their trophy case. If they were seen talking with me, then it was as if they had superiority over others. It was so damn annoying to have to listen to their whines about whatever problems they're going through.

I'm a student not their therapist.

Which brings me back to the beautiful specimen who was staring out the window with a faraway look. She was different from all of them. She hardly paid me, let alone anyone, any mind and always kept others at an arm's distance. I wanted to learn about her, and what made her this way. She was the needle in the haystack that I was eager to find.

I could somewhat gauge her personality from how often I've studied her. Although she disliked being around others, she wasn't rude or mean. She was polite even when being rudely insulted by the pitiful bullies this school had to offer.

But surely she had to have some kind of hatred towards them, anyone would.

"Oh, Will. I know you don't mean that" the oblivious twit said as she tried to grab my arm again but I gave her a sharp glare that made her freeze.

"You're such a nuisance. If you continue to harass people this way then no one will ever love you the way you want them too" I said and I felt a sense of satisfaction wash over me as her eyes watered at my words.

She was finally understanding that I had no intentions of giving her my attention.

When she moved away from me, I happily turned back to Ceres only to see her glancing my way. When our eyes locked, her dull green ones that bore no emotion stared right into my own blue ones.

I couldn't read her at all, and that was something I often tried hard to do. It was easy to read others, but Ceres was a closed book with a lock and seemingly no key.

~ Flashback End ~

I wanted to be the one to be able to break past that barrier of hers, to be the one to make her smile but it seems that task was already taken on and completed by another.

How annoying...

It made me regret waiting so long to talk to her but back then, if I had made a hasty approach then that would only scare her away. However, with this new reformed Ceres, it seems like I finally have an even playing field.

I just have to get rid of the other players...starting with those friends of hers.

~ Day of the Trip, Ceres P.O.V. ~

"Kade, she's going to the museum, not on a camping trip. What the hell does she need all this crap for?" Max said as he looked at the heavy bag that Kade had packed for me.

"Well, I packed her lunch. The umbrella just in case it rains, it is the rainy season after all. Some water bottles just in case she gets thirsty from walking. Some gloves just in case it gets too cold-" Kade was cut off by Ares who gave him an incredulous look.

"Gloves? Dude, it's April" Ares said and Kade frowned.

"So what? I have to make sure she stays warm. She's still recovering from her fever, I don't want her getting sick again" Kade reasoned and I just sighed.

If we continued to stand around here and listen to these two go back and forth, then I would surely miss the bus.

"Ugh, I'm gonna go wait in the car" Max muttered before leaving us and I decided that it was the perfect time for me to speak up.

"You guys, I'm going to miss the bus if we stay here" I said and just like that, the two of them stopped their bickering.

"Right, sorry. Come on" Kade said but before he could make a move, Ares snatched my bag from him and dumped everything out before picking up only my lunch and the writing utensils I would need.

"You barbarian!" Kade yelled and Ares rolled his eyes before handing me my backpack.

"Wouldn't want you to end up with a hunchback" Ares said and ruffled my hair.

"Thank you" I said before heading out to the car where Max was inside waiting for us. Once finally reaching school, I bid my brothers a farewell before heading to the classroom we were supposed to wait in until the bus arrives.

"Hey" I said as I met up with my friends.

"Morning!" Diana chirped while Hayden and Ross gave more calmer greetings.

"Jeez, I'm so tired" Ross said with a yawn and Hayden rose an eyebrow.

"From what?" He asked and Ross sighed.

"I was up late finishing overdue homework for science" he said and Diana shook her head.

"See what we told you?" She said and Ross rolled his eyes at her.

"Yeah, yeah. That reminds me, we should get together and study for the upcoming math quiz" He said as he gave us all a pleading look.

"I don't mind. There are also some areas that I don't understand" I said and Ross gave me googly eyes to which I just giggled at his silliness.

"Good morning" we all turned when hearing the sudden voice interjecting and it was Will who was giving us a polite smile.

"Oh, hey man. Morning" Ross said giving Will a smile of his own.

It wasn't uncommon for Will to come and greet us in the morning. He would even hold a few with conversations and it seems that he's warmed up to us pretty quickly. I tried to be active in the conversations but there were many times where I just found myself silent.

Soon enough, the teacher had came in and told us that the bus was outside.

"Okay you guys, grab a partner and head on to the bus" At the teachers words, my eyes were quick to flutter to Diana but someone else had already grabbed my hand and I turned back to see Will standing next to me.

"Let's be partners, okay?" He said and by then when I looked back to Diana, I could see Ross already dragging her into the bus and we both looked to each other. She just gave me a weary smile before heading off with Ross.

I looked for Hayden but to my surprise another boy was already talking with him.

"Sure..." I said seeing as there was no other options left and Will just gave me a happy smile before pulling us on to the bus. Once everyone was seated, our teacher had quieted us down.

"Alright, the partners you have chosen is the person you will spending the entire day with. Make sure to stay with each other so that if you somehow get separated from the group, you aren't by yourself. You guys will also work on this worksheet and it's expected to be turned in as soon as we arrive back here. Do I make myself clear?" A choruses of 'yes' rang out and the teacher nodded before sitting in his seat and the loud chatter of all the students resumed.

"So, how are you today?" Will asked and I was a little surprised at the simple question. It wasn't something I should have been surprised at but for some reason I was. Maybe it's because I wasn't expecting it from him?

"I'm fine. You?" I said and Will gave a sigh.

"A little tired if I'm being honest. I was up last night trying to understand some of the earth science questions but they just weren't clicking" he said with a soft chuckle.

I thought about offering my help since I wasn't all that bad at science, if anything I'd say it is one of my strong suits.

"I-I could...help you, sometimes" I muttered and Will's eyes widened a bit.

"Really? You don't have to do that" he said and I shook my head.

"It's alright, I don't mind. I'm kind of good at science anyways" I said and a grateful smile made its way on to Will's face.

"Well, if that's the case then thank you. Should we exchange numbers?" He asked and I let out a small 'oh' before taking out my phone. We exchanged numbers and afterwards continued to talk about small things for the duration of the trip.

If I had to admit it, speaking with Will wasn't so bad and I wasn't uncomfortable being next to him even though we had just met a week ago. He was very calm and that in itself made it easier for me to interact with him.

When we arrived at the museum everyone stepped off the bus and we were greeted by a tour guide who led us inside. I had made sure to keep an eye out just in case I saw Riki since this museum was indeed the one he worked at. Kade had mentioned it when signing my permission slip.

As the guide led us throughout the museum, I tried to shorthand notes and such so that I could fully answer the questions later but it was a little hard since the guide was moving very fast between exhibits.

"Since we're at a museum, what's your favorite animal?" Will asked as we were stopping in front of a statue to listen to the guide speak.

I thought to myself for a moment. While I love frogs because they're small and adorable, I also loved turtles because they're small and adorable.

That didn't help my case at all.

In some ways though, I felt like I could relate more to a turtle, so I decided to go with that.

"Turtles" I said and Will gave a breathy laugh,

"That's so cute" he said and I felt my cheeks heat up at his remark. When seeing my weak glare, Will let out another laugh with a wave of his hand.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't help myself" he said and I let my glare up after a moment. I had saw that we were moving again so I followed behind the others with Will by my side.

"What's yours...?" I said as we walked on. Will feigned a thinking look before opening his mouth to answer.

"I'd say spiders" He said and I couldn't help but laugh at his answer. Will rose an eyebrow at me.

"Sorry...it's just that my brother hates spiders so I guess it's a little funny to me" I said and Will's face was washed over with surprise.

"You have a brother...?" He asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, a couple" I said and came to a stop as we were now waiting for the guide to begin explaining some fossils to us.

"A couple? How many is a couple to you?" He asked and for some reason I felt a little embarrassed as I looked down at my paper.

"Six..." I said and I could've sworn I saw Will's face pale a bit but if it did, he was quick to bounce back from it.

"Six is quite a few. Are you the youngest?" He asked and I nodded.

"I see..." Was all Will said and for the rest of the time he was remotely quiet which felt like a first since he's been quite talkative since we've met.

As we entered the prehistoric sections, my eyes caught sight of a familiar face and I had to remind myself that I was still on a field trip and that I couldn't just leave and go say hello because I saw someone I knew.

Thankfully, Riki had turned and our eyes met with one another. I gave him a smile and a short wave to which Riki returned a grin of his own.

"Who are you waving to?" Will asked and I turned to him.

"My cousin. He works here" I said and Will nodded. I turned back to my group and followed them even though I wanted to strike up a conversation with Riki. He had promised me a tour after all, and I was hardly paying attention to this one with how many questions Will seemed to be asking me.

It was a wonder that I was still able to catch up on the notes.

Soon enough it was lunch and we all gathered in the cafeteria where there was also other schools eating their lunches.

"Like I stated several times before we came here, this is a boring trip" Ross said as he picked at whatever concoction his brother had made for him.

"Oh please, you got all starry eyed once we saw the dinosaurs" Diana said with a snicker and Ross pursed his lips.

"Did not" he grumbled.

As I ate the lunch Kade had made me, I tried to fill in the parts of the worksheet that I had missed and internally groaned when I saw that I missed a few.

"What's wrong?" Will said as he noticed my look of distress.

"I missed a few of the things the guide had explained" I said and surprisingly enough, Will was able to help me fill them all out. It made me wonder how he was so good but I also thought back to when he asked me to help him with his earth science.

Surely if he could answer these questions then maybe my help wasn't really needed after all?

"You answered those so easy...are you sure that you want my help?" I asked and for the first time, I saw a blush appear on Will's face as he averted his eyes.

"Yeah, it's always better for a second opinion y'know?" He said and I nodded even though I wasn't sure that I'd be of much help to him anymore.

Thankfully, for the rest of the trip Will kept the questions to a minimum and we were able to successfully fill out our worksheets.

"Okay, guys, we are about to leave. Please give a thank you to our tour guide" the teacher said and we all thanked the guide for being with us.

"Does anyone have to use the bathroom?" The teacher asked and Diana was the only one who raised her hand.

"Ceres, come with me?" She asked and I nodded.

"Here, we'll hold your stuff" Ross said and we both gave our bags to Ross before heading off to the bathroom.

"You know, I suspected that Ross only made me his partner for the answers. He was like a little kid the entire time and hardly paid attention to the tour guide's words" Diana complained as she did her business.

"Well, isn't it alright if he had fun?" I asked and after hearing the toilet flush, Diana came out with a frown on her face.

"I would say it is if we didn't have a worksheet that is due once we get off the bus" she said and we walked over to the sinks.

"Well, I don't mind letting you guys copy our answers" I said and Diana sighed.

"You really are an angel Ceres, but sometimes we have to figure these things out on our own. Hopefully this will teach Ross to pay attention next time" she said and once she was finished washing her hands, we both headed back to the group.

I saw that Will was now holding my bag and I thanked him once he handed it back to me and we all piled back on to the bus. The ride back was for some reason shorter than the ride there and I handed in my worksheet upon stepping off the bus.

We had gotten back just in time for dismissal and when I saw Max, I said goodbye to the others before approaching him.

"Hey" I said as I reached him.

"Hey. How was the trip?" Max asked as we walked to the car.

"It was okay. I saw Riki" I said and at the mentioning of Riki, Max made a disgusted face.

"That's really unlucky" he said and I just let out a laugh at his clear distaste for his cousin. Once getting in the car it was a short drive home and only Lucas was home when we arrived.

"Welcome home" he said but he didn't look up from the papers that were in front of him.

"Sup" Max said as he waved before going up the stairs and I did the same before heading to my room to start on my homework.

When pulling it out, I had remembered Ross' request for a math study group and I dug in the side pocket of my bag in search of my phone but when I didn't find it, I continued to search the entire bag until everything was spilled on to my bed.

Where did my phone go? I checked the pockets of my pants, the sweater I was wearing today, and even rechecked all the pockets of my book bag again just to be sure but my phone really wasn't here.

Where did it go? Maybe it fell out? But where?

I don't want my brothers to think that I'm irresponsible but I also didn't know what to do. If I had left it at the museum then it was long gone by now.

I sighed, unaware of just how bad losing my phone was going to be.