After countless hours of pretending to learn, it was finally my favorite time of the day also known as lunch. When class ended, our teacher requested a few students to talk to him before leaving for lunch. Meadow and Catalina were a part of that group, leaving me to wait for them on a bench.

The morning sky is mostly cloud, deep steel blue-greys that mirrored the hues of the highway. Everything appeared muted, like a black-and-white photograph in dim lightroom. Rolling my shoulders back, I sighed, releasing the tense feeling in my chest. Slowly I reached into my bag, pulling out the red-colored letter with his name on it.

Seeing his footprint on it left a permanent scar on my heart. How could he be so rude enough to completely ignore me and the letter? Even if he had taken the letter; I would've felt much better. I poured my heart and soul into this letter to be discarded like the first piece of toast. Maybe Catalina and Meadow were right; I am too naïve.

"Lana!" Catalina screamed, catching my attention.

Quickly, I shoved the letter back into my bag. "What did Mr. Griffin have to say?" I asked, getting up and meeting them halfway.

"Nothing important." Catalina shrugged, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. "Now let's go eat," she added, imitating slurping sounds.

"The only thing keeping me from banging my head against my desk was lunch period," Meadow said, rubbing her belly.

Jokingly we forced each other into a race and I won as I should! Huffing and puffing, I had to catch my breath before attempting a full sentence. Days like this made me realize how unathletic I was. Good thing I never tried out for cheerleading. Catalina and Meadow joined the lunch line, and I accompanied them to avoid being left alone at the table.

"Is your new house ready to move into yet?" Meadow asked.

"Yeah, after months I think the constructors have finished building it," I answered.

For years, my father and I lived in our two-bed apartment, which was more than enough. My father worked years at his restaurant to save up a sufficient amount of money to buy a bigger house. Sometimes I wondered why; it was only the two of us and with a bigger house came loneliness. 

But I couldn't say anything without knowing it would hurt him. My mother always wanted a house but didn't last long enough to achieve that goal. To be honest, she didn't accomplish any ambitions because of me. In a way, I felt responsible to take on her goals and complete them for her.

"Think about it, maybe moving into a new house will bring loads of good luck," Catalina added, gradually moving up. "Something good is bound to happen to you."

"Ah, gee thanks," I sarcastically replied.

I softly smiled, staring down at my fingers, and felt hopeful again. So what if he rejected me! That doesn't mean my whole life was ruined. There were still so many things to do in life that didn't involve a boy-- like a sleepover with my girlies.

"You're right. I believe something great will happen to me." I joyfully smiled.

"I'm not busy Sunday so expect me there to help you move," Meadow offered.

"Oh yeah, me too!" Catalina raised her hand.

"That's awesome, I'll let my Dad know." I nodded.

Our lunch table was usually one of the loudest because of Ambrose and his group of boys. They spent most of the period play-fighting with each other or arm wrestling. Boys, right? Meadow, Catalina, and I sat at the far end so we could actually hear each other and not just the loud shouts coming from them.

"How's the burger?" I asked, eyeing the food even though I had a perfectly made meal in front of me.

"You want a bite, don't you?" Catalina laughed, raising her eyebrows before handing me the sandwich.

"I'm glad we're best friends!" I took a ginormous bite and rolled my eyes back in pleasure. I love food so much. Food would never do me dirty.

"Do you want a bite of my hot dog?" Meadow extended her hand.

"Yeah, if you didn't ruin it with mustard." I stuck my tongue out and swat her hand away.

"Fine, don't complain later when you're hungry." Meadow raised her empty hand in defense.

"I won't," I huffed, quietly slamming my hands against the table.

For some odd reason, my eyes drifted to the door, and it opened like the universe planned for me to look right that second. My heart plummeted to my stomach the second I saw his charming features beaming upon entrance. Today was the one day I was glad I didn't have any classes with the guy. So, I wouldn't have to see his smug face while I was here on the verge of breaking down.

Why was he even here? He never came to lunch in the four years of our high school career. I swear he wanted to torture me. Usually, he spent every lunch either helping his teachers out or in the library reading. I know this because I visited the library during lunch and saw his cute concentrated face while reading.

"You gotta be kidding me," I muttered, feeling the heat coming up in waves.

Both of them followed my gaze and noticed Declan confidently strolled over to his class tables. He slid into the table with his male classmates, who were also on his soccer team. It felt odd watching him interact with people since he rather hid in the classrooms before speaking to someone.

"That's hilarious." Meadow excessively laughed, clutching her stomach from the intense chuckles.

"I love that you're enjoying this." I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Good friends enjoy the other's struggles," Meadow argued.

"Just pretend he isn't here," Catalina mumbled through her bite.

"Gee, I wonder why I didn't think of that," I sarcastically answered, hearing my heart thump loudly in my ears.

"Bro! I heard you rejected Lana!"

"You're insane for rejecting Lana, she's pretty cute."

"Nah, I disagree, you dodged a bullet, imagine having to go on intellectual dates with someone like her?" yelled a random kid.

Someone like me? What was I, the freaking plague!? His soccer friends were being extra vocal today and kept glancing back at our table. It took everything to keep myself from squeezing the death out of my juice box.

"Can't believe you think she was pretty cute if anything she's pretty fucking dumb," one boy chuckled and received handshakes from the rest of the group-- besides Declan.

If they wanted a fight, they were going to get it. Anger boiled deep in my system, as hot as molten lava. The pleasure of this raging sea of anger took away my calm demeanor, and I was ready to defend myself. Aggressively, I sprung from the table causing my juice box to tumble over. I yelped, and quickly picked it up before any liquid escaped.

"Oh, no, Lana, what are you doing?" Catalina asked, shifting her gaze between me and Declan's table.

"To go defend myself," I sassily said, leaving my best friends in mid-chew at the table and was ready to battle them on my own.

Everyone's gaze was locked on me as I made my way to his table. The minute I got there, I placed my hand on my hip and watched his entire soccer team gulp in fear. The boy next to him-- Nate pointed at me and Declan nonchalantly turned around. He stared at me for a millisecond before returning to the boys.

Are you freaking kidding me! He's really ignoring me now! Wasn't this morning enough for this little jerk to torment me?

I loudly cleared my throat, hoping for a simple reaction.

Casually he turned around. "Yes?"

Red. All I see is red!

"Okay, I get that you don't like me, but can you tell your friends to stop talking about me?"

"You're already here. Why don't you tell them yourself?" he replied.

Fires of fire and hatred were smoldering as I narrowed my eyes, weighing the pros and cons of slapping him in front of everyone. Right now the pros were winning.

Suddenly, I felt two bodies against mine and I darted back to see my two best friends having my back.

"Why don't you choke on a pencil!" Catalina countered.

"Pencil, really?" Meadow whispered, not so quietly might I add.

"It was all I could come up with on short notice," Catalina awkwardly laughed.

"What are you guys? The Powerpuff girls?" One of the boys bravely joked.

Jokes on him; I love that show.

"What are you, the beanbag boys?" I countered, earning two claps for my lame joke.

"I suggest you sit back down before embarrassing yourself more," Declan chimed, flicking back and forth the wooden coming from the chipped table.

Ambrose roughly pushed us out of the way and was inches away from Declan. His chest was puffed and his hands were clenched at his side. Anger radiated off of him like it was from me moments earlier.

"Maybe you should stand up and pick on someone your own size," Ambrose fumed.

I appreciated his attempt to defend me, but I thought I was handling it pretty well. Still, I can't allow this to escalate because of me.

"Maybe you should crack open a book and learn how to speak properly for once," Declan retorted, standing up and staring down at Ambrose.

Declan was like a tower compared to him.

"Oh, fuck this!" Ambrose shook his head and started craning his arm back.

Quickly, I grabbed his skinny bicep and stopped his fist from connecting to Declan's perfect face. Ambrose shifted his gaze towards me and his brown-large eyes softened.

"There's no reason to start a fight," I whispered, hoping it was enough to soothe him down. 

"If I didn't know better, it seems like you two are dating." Declan cheekily smiled, pointing at both of us.

"Yeah, but we aren't," I smugly answered.

"I would be ashamed to admit it too." Declan rubbed his bottom lip.

The fury grew in Ambrose once again, but Catalina helped keep him from landing a punch on him. We were all better than that. I can't believe I swooped low enough to pick a fight with him. And I really hate how goddamn attractive he looked in the uniform! It wasn't fair.

"Miss. Hart, please come to the main office," the secretary's voice boomed from the announcer.

"Oh, thank god," I muttered. My cheeks were so freaking hot and my palms were sweaty from the intense situation I'm in. "Promise me, you won't do anything, Ambrose."

He glared at Declan.

"Promise me!" I demanded.

His body loosened against our defensive, and we set him free. "Fine, I promise," he grumbled, sticking out his pinky finger for us to complete the promise.

Rushing, I grabbed my bag from our table and pulled out my phone to see two new messages from Dad.

From- Dad

I'm picking you up early from school to get a head start on packing our items.

Be ready in ten minutes.

Well... Declan surely is something else ;)! We're you guys proud of Lana standing up for herself?
Strong women unite!
Hopefully, you enjoyed this chapter and I made you laugh because that was my goal!

Love you guys !!