"Something brought you here, Flynn Ryder. Call it what you will...fate...destiny"

"A Horse"

***

One Month Later

"Anak, can you get my car keys? I have to go to work."

I peered up from the counter to the sight of Mom rushing into the kitchen. Like before any shift, she was quickly tying her pin straight hair up into a messy bun before leaving to go to the hospital. She grabbed her worned out bag from the counter, and pointed to the keys that were inches away from me.

I grabbed the keys and toss them to her.

"Here you go," I said, focusing on the leftover egg, rice, and tocino that was left on my plate. Lola was in the kitchen, cooking fresh food for Mom to eat like always while Mom was working an overnight shift. She busied herself in the kitchen, focusing on food and humming herself.

Mom reached for random objects to shove in her bag. She turned her head in my direction, her hands slowing down as her eyes narrowed at me. She walked over, licked her thumb and began to rub it over my cheekbone.

"Why do you have that stuff on your face?" she asked, her accent thickening when she was annoyed. "Don't you wash your face?"

Realizing what she was doing, I jerked my head back.

"That's there on purpose." I protested, swatting her hand out of my face. "Cut it out." I opened the camera to inspect the blue and white paint I meticulously placed on my face. I wiped off the smudges that appeared before putting my phone back down.

"Tonight is the night of the playoffs. I just put paint on my face for school spirit," I reminded her. "Archy has been talking about it all week remember?" 

My mother nodded, also recalling the extensive conversations Archy shared with all of us about the playoffs. If the team wins, then they win in our regional division and then would compete for state championship for New Jersey.

"Oh yes," she recalled. Her face suddenly lit up. "Is Claire coming? I haven't seen her around the house a while."

I froze mid-bite at Mom's innocent question. My heart stopped along with the air that was attempting to fill my breathless lungs. My body jerked to focus at my mother's friendly face. The delicate smile that was on her face made my heart heart.

"I don't know. We are not really together anymore," I answered awkwardly, looking at the food on my plate. My mother's smile dropped at my answer. My appetite for this food and conversation shriveled.

"That's sad. Nice girl," she commented. "Then we should talk about colleges later-"

"Already applied." I put a smile on my face to reassure the look of surprise that sprung on her face because I knew she wanted to be a part of the process. But like many things, working as a full-time nurse has been preoccupying her time. 

"Already? But I didn't even get to look at your essays-" she began.

"Lola checked them with me."

She froze, slowly nodding. Lola turned up from the kitchen with a first time, watching the interaction between us. She gave a short nod to acknowledgement of the hours I spent into essays and reading out loud to Lola. 

Mom opened her mouth before she looked down at her watch. Her eyes widened at the time and she clamped her mouth shut. She picked up the plastic bag of food Lola packed for her, and pointed a finger at me.

"I need to go, but we will talk about this weekend. You have to tell me these things."

She said her goodbyes before shuffling out the door. The minute the door shut, I used the brief silence to finish my plate.

"When is Akito coming to pick you up?" Lola asked, taking my empty plate from me.

"Actually Alex is picking up. Akito is going with Asami, Devon, and Francesca," I correct Lola.

"Francesca," she said slowly, nodding her head. She looked back at her food, pouring the leftover food she made for Mom in a container. "Pretty girl."

My head jerked in her direction.

"Do you know her?" I asked her. 

She nodded her head, lifting the containers to place on the counter.

"Akito tells me what is happening. He still talks to me. That is more than you could say. You are always in your room all day doing who knows what," she gave me a look before shaking her head, her nose wrinkling with disgust. She looked at me, her brown eyes were critically looking at me.

"You're just mad that I don't watch your filipino dramas," I bit back.

She paused for a minute before pointing her finger at me.

"Not the point. What's your deal with the girl?"

I shrugged.

"Nothing. I barely know her," I responded. "Akito hangs out with her so you should ask him."

They have gotten close since she joined our school. Because of her friendship with Asami and Annabel, she was always around and I have not tried to approach her since. 

Considering the havoc I brought into her life, I thought it was better to take a step out, watch the world pass by. Something about that was bothersome to me, but I knew it was better than asking Akito about her. 

Lola stepped away from the counter and came to me and pat my cheek hard.

"Don't worry about Akito and her. You still have time to find a girl. When Lolo was your age, he was already married to me and I was about to have your father," she tsked at me before returning back to her handiwork.

Before I could correct they aren't dating, she walked towards me and jammed her finger into my hair.

I jerked my head back, my eyes watching when her fingers curled into my roots.

"What is that for?"

She made a noise.

"Hair is so messy," she lectured me.

"Chill, Lola. It's suppose to look like that."

My phone vibrated on the table, the rattling noise against the counter. Alex's name appeared on my phone. I grabbed the phone and shoved it into my pocket.

"Alex is outside, so I'm going to go," I told her as I stared to prepare to leave.

"Hoy! You didn't eat enough."

I held my hands up.

"I'm full. You gave me enough food," I protested, dodging her hands to grab me. She started to mumble heard her breath her annoyances about me never eating enough. 

"You are too skinny," she protested, flipping her hand at me with annoyance.

"You always say that," I countered. I rushed towards the entrance and grabbed the closest pair of shoes I could find. "See you later, Lola."

"Don't be late this time. No late parties since it's a school night. Come straight home without getting hurt this time," she yelled, following behind me.

"You've been quiet," I said out loud in the car. I turned my head to look at Alex, who glanced at me for a second before returning his eyes on the road. "Did someone finally make a bet to see how long you can shut up?"

We had not said anything since Alex picked me up from my house. I was watching Alex's features. His eyebrows were furrowed and his hands were constantly grabbing and adjusting on the stirring wheel.

He shook his head.

"No, but I have been thinking-"

"Wow, that must've taken a lot of energy for you."

I smirked when he shot me a dirty look. I laughed.

"Surprised you are even hanging out with us. Last season, you usually hung out with whichever cheerleader girl caught you eye." 

This time, he didn't joined us in this football season like he normally did. Especially with Archy as team captain, I knew he wanted us to come though he never clearly expressed that desire out loud. I could tell after every victory he saw us on the stands.

"Speaking of which, I haven't gotten any action recently," Alex muttered, rubbing his eye absentmindedly.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," I said dryly.

He looked at me. "You also need some. You've been so wound up lately," he pointed out. 

My eyes widened.

"How would you know that? You barely see me. Where the hell have you been by the way?"

Senior year was taking a hit on all of us. While we met to do homework, our general hangouts became less frequent.

He shrugged. He turned into the school campus and parked in one of the few remaining parking space yet. This year, the parking lot was filled with array of cars as this was the closest Teaneck High School has been to winning our football divisions. If the football team won, then they would have to play to win for state championship, a first for the high school.

"Homework, college essays, and life.Senior year has been killing me. Get off my back about it. I don't need to hang out with you guys all the time," he said loudly, running through his dark brown hair recklessly and rubbed an eye. He turned to me with a look. "Anyways, who cares about that? Let's get pumped for this freaking game."

Before I could say anything, he got out of the car and slammed the door shut. I followed behind, weaving through the crowds of blue and white, screaming with school pride. Alex was shouting cheers as he walked towards the stand before I could say anything.

Nothing could compare to the chaos that was happening. The cheerleader team from both sides were doing their cheers while fans from both schools were cheering and screaming. It was so crowded, I wouldn't have been able to find seats if it wasn't for Asami waving for us, gesturing to the space near her. Alex and I climbed the stairs to be greeted by Asami, France, and Devon.

"Hey," Asami said with excitement, launching herself and wrapping her arms around the both of us. 

We both glanced at each other before hugging her and at Devon, who was behind us with an apologetic look on his face and a wave. She pulled back, her ponytail hitting me in the face.

Another person approached us before waving excitingly.

"Hi," Amira cheerfully greeted us.

Alex gave a pained smile before shoving his hands into his pocket.

"Hey," Alex and I both said to Archy's sister.

Like Asami, Amira was also showing school spirit. Her face was painted with blue and white. She was wearing her high school t-shirt that was cut into some design. Her shoulder length hair was pushed back, making her wide brown eyes prominent. Only two years younger than Archy, she was aware of the craze of the football team this season in our high school.

An older man reached out and waved. He reached out and gave a wave. He smiled at us. Alex took a step back, the cool air from his movement brought goosebumps over my arms.

"Hey Mr. Mansoor," I greeted.

"You ready?" he asked, his accent laced in every word. We all knew he was the most eager, which was obvious with the poster with the team on it. Like us, Asif Mansoor was just as excited as the rest of us.

We all nodded.

I glanced at Francesca, who was watching the conversation. Our eyes landed on each other before I looked at them, ignoring the urge to look back at her. I knew she was going to be here, but like every conversation, I tried to remain cordial and not a weirdo that will turn her away.

"Let's watch the game," Alex suggested, turning to watch the game before we could all say something. He watch our high school greet the football team, who gave their grand entrance onto the field that led to cheers and boos from the stand.

The hair on the back of my neck pricked up when everyone shuffled around to sit, I was sitting next to her.

I focused on the game, avoiding the fact before I do something stupid.

The game started off with intensity. It started with a few rounds of them tackling each other with little movement. The team against our school was getting closer to their goal post.

Then it changed, after the ball was hiked to the quarterback, Archy raced down the field. The quarterback threw the ball to Archy and he ran down the field. The crowd cheered with joy and cheers as Archy ran down the field, dodging the other players with moves he practiced for hours off the field. When he ran down to the end of the field, the crowd erupted into pride, cheering for the school name.

"He's amazing," she spoke for the first time that wasn't cheering.

I turned at her when I realized she was talking to me. She looked at me, a smile on her face. She looked at the team, clapping and cheer.

"He's really good," I agreed. "He loves it."

She nodded.

"This game is very fun." 

"I can tell. You're in school spirit," I observed, gesturing to her blue crop top that showed off her mid-driff and white jeans. Her hair was styled with blue ribbons and paint was smeared on her face.

She looked at the clothes and shook her head.

"Asami made me dress like this. I feel like those girls in the 90s chick flick movies." She looked at my face. "I like the blue paint. Reminds me of the bruise you had."

My words faltered when I studied her reaction. Tendrils were poking out despite her tight ponytail. She was wearing some glitter behind her eyelid that loosely fell towards the corner of her eye. Some of the glitter fell over to her cheekbones so loosely I bet I could brush it off with my finger.

Was she joking?

"Thanks. You left a killer bruise," I responded dryly , shifting to alleviate the queasy feeling. "It took ages to heal. I think if you look close enough, you can see it's still not fully healed." 

"You were trying to steal from my house. What was I suppose to do?"

I chuckled. "Touché."

We both booed when the team who just scored a touchdown. Our team was leading the score with fourteen while the rival time only has seven points. Archy was watching them, jogging back to the rest of the team.

"I heard if our team wins then some guy named Jack hosts a party," she mentioned. 

I nodded.

"Jack's the quarterback. He made a deal freshman year with his parents if their team won divisions then he can host a victory party at their house with them gone. The high school hasn't won in our division for years until three years ago," I explained.

Everyone knew about Jack's party. They were legendary. His parents are both lawyers so he has a large home and resources to his disposal. Archy dragged all of us to the first one three years ago, which was the day we learned that Alex and I  were lightweight, Archy parties hard, and Devon stood out as the Dad of the group.

"I think I can guess why that's happening," she said, looking at Archy bolt down the field, jerking a sharp left to avoid a player before tackled by another.

"Are you going to Jack's party?" I asked.

She shrugged and looked at me.

"Parties aren't really my scene."

"Didn't you host a party couple of months ago?" I asked.

"Touché," she echoed my word from earlier. She shrugged. "That's different. I wanted to do something different. Try new things you know?"

I tried that and it resulted with you.

She shrugged again. Some of her enthusiasm that was on her face disappeared. Her claps and cheers were more quiet.

"You know, some people just take up a hobby, Franny."

She eyes narrowed when she glared at me in regards to the nickname. I couldn't help but grin. Something about it annoying her made me feeling something that I couldn't hide.

"I now almost don't want to tell you we got an A on our assignment," She responded with a glare.

I smiled, pleased with our grade. I didn't know if she really changed anything in our assignment since I sent it off to her without even a glance on the assignment since, she could have changed the entire paper and I would not have known about it.

Regardless, the essay did well.

"I guess our two brain cells coexist well together," I said optimistically.

She frowned.

"Who said I have one brain cell?" she said, pretending to be offended. 

I rolled my eyes.

"Fine. You have a million brain cells, and I have only one. Happy?" I corrected  before she gave a satisfying smile.

"That's sounds right," she said with a smile. "Our million and one brain cells should probably talk about how we want to do the next assignment due next week."

I knew that I wanted to get to know her better. Remove any awkwardness that was in my head and actually try to be friends with her.

"Do you want to maybe-" I began.

"I got the food! Here you go," Akito came back with a handful of hotdogs and candy. He went around to give Asami candy, Devon two hotdogs, and a hotdog for Francesca before he opened his and immediately took a first bite.

He took one of his hotdogs and put it on my lap.

"I assumed you wanted one so I got you one as well. Glad to see you here, buddy," Akito said with a grin before taking another bite from his hotdog.

"Thanks," I said, looking down at the food, taking the warm hotdog from my lap. 

"Thanks, Akito. This is what you missed so far," she chimed in, gesturing to the game in front of us before explaining what has happened. 

Akito and Francesca started to chatter, and that was the end of our conversation.

Author's Note: I know this was a filler but I just wanted to introduce France's family more and add some details I wanted to put. I think now you guys now know the dynamics. There will be two more chapters before Part 2 starts (and the real fun will begin hehe). Also apologize this is unedited. I will edit it more this weekend after I complete my midterm. 

Hope you enjoy this chapter!