SENIOR YEAR WAS, SURPRISINGLY, GOING WELL. Two weeks after hanging out with Calum's friends, I found myself enjoying their company, even Ashton's. I also found myself having new friends, like Brian. He was cool, but his handsomeness didn't leave me starstruck anymore.

          Having more friends this year wasn't something I predicted to happen, but I didn't seem isolated anymore.

          As for Mom and I, we were currently on bad terms. I'd been spending my time out with Calum to avoid her because my knuckles were already bruised enough from punching the walls numerous times.

          It was a Friday, and the final period of the day, which was Culinary. The class was small, only about eleven students, so everyone was buddy-buddy with one another. Though, the new girl, Dana, was my partner in crime. This was her first year at Wayfield High.

          Dana's character was the bold, badass type of girl. Standing at around five-foot-four, her enormous persona made up for her height. Her jet black hair was cut into a bob, which complemented her round, pale face.

          While getting in brigade, Dana came rushing into the room. "I've got news!" she announced loudly, which made everyone turn towards her. "I've found love!"

          Being a good friend, I clapped and cheered for her, and then everyone turned towards me. "Yay, Dana!" Confidence was something I had every now and again. When everyone went back to their own tasks, Dana sauntered up to me.

          "So, what do you think Chef is going to bitch about today?" she asked while I enclosed my hair in a hair net. She never stayed in one conversation for more than two seconds.

          I shook my head at her change in thought but still shrugged. "Probably because we might burn some cookies," I said, and she laughed.

          "Right! I don't even know why we're baking cookies for prisoners," she said. "It's like saying, 'Good job, you've killed someone.'"

          "Wanna cookie?" I added, and we both burst into fits of laughter.

          Strolling into the kitchen now, we made our way to the sinks. I waited for Dana after I was finished, and then we glanced at the board for our assignment. Luckily, we were on the same team.

          "Snickerdoodle," I read out loud. "Aren't those Christmas cookies?"

          "So now they want to be reminded of Christmas?" Dana said with a shake of her head. "They are treated too well there."

          I agreed while pulling out a full sheet pan. Prepping the food was always the hardest part. At home, reusing items didn't matter, but in Culinary, everything deserved its own bowl. Dishwashing was stressful.

          "Could you get the butter?" Dana asked me, and I nodded, wiping my hands on my side towel. I'd always liked going into the fridge; the cold soothed me. When I found the butter, I realized that it was in the wrong spot. Who in their right mind put it on the top shelf?

          Too stubborn to ask for help, I decided to get it on my own by climbing the shelf or trying to. When I heard the fridge door open, my foot slipped. Before I hit the ground, I landed in someone's arms, but not just anyone's—Ashton's. Sign us up for a cliched story, and, no doubt, we'd be hired on the spot.

          "That could've been a nasty fall," he said, once my feet were back on the ground.

          I could've said something rude, but when I looked up at him, I paused. He had flour on his cheek, and it made me laugh. He looked at me, puzzled, and I simply reached up and wiped it away with my sleeve. I saw him crack a smile, and that was when I noticed how close we were. I backed up, flustered.

          "Sorry, I-I shouldn't have done that," I said. Why was my heart beating so fast?

          All he did was reach around me, not bothering to move from his spot, which almost made me trip over my feet. He then took my hand and placed a stick of butter in it. "Try to be careful next time," he said. Then, he flashed me a smile before leaving.

          What was that? I was still stuck in place with the stick of butter in my hand. I shook my head, ending my trance, and rushed out the fridge. Back at my station, I handed Dana the butter.

          "Jeez, what took you so long?" she asked, and then she saw my face. "You okay?"

          "Hm? Oh yeah, yeah," I said, processing what she said. "I'm okay." The speaker above us whirred in, and my name was summoned to the office, from the principal. Dana glanced at me, and I shrugged. "I'll be back."

          I arrived at the office, and my heart finally stopped acting like it was in a hurry. The lady at the front desk nodded towards the principal's office, and I tried not to look shocked. Was I in trouble?

          I peeked into the office. "You wanted to see me, Mr. Lovette?"

          He glanced up from his laptop and ushered me in. "Ah, yes, Ms. Nauru. Come in and shut the door behind you, please?" I did as I was told, and he pointed to the chair in front of him.

          "Am I in trouble?" I blurted out, immediately after taking a seat.

          He laughed. "Why would a top student, like you, be in here for trouble? Unless there's something, I don't know about."

          I shook my head frantically. "No, of course out."

          He nodded. "Good. Now, back to business. I actually called you here for a proposal."

          "A proposal?"

          "Yes," he replied. "See, Ms. Nauru, you are one of our top students in your graduating class, along with Randy Williams, Mandy Harmon, Luke Hemmings, and Lucas Braswell. As you know, every year, our school has the Spring Festival, which is popular in this area."

          The Spring Festival was a student-run event that people came to, regularly, school associated or not. It was said that the founder of our school Marcus C. Wayfield's favorite season was spring. He was all about the students, so it was the tradition that the top five seniors host various segments of the event. I assumed that this was what I was called in for.

          "Yes, I've been twice."

          "Good. So, you know how it works," he said. "Your task is to take your pathway and make it into the experience for this event. Not on your own, of course. Choose whoever you like; everything is up to you, Ms. Nauru."

          "I understand," I told him.

          "Keep me informed when you've chosen your partners, and what all you will be doing, so I can run through it," he told me, and I nodded. He smiled and reopened his laptop. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Naruru. You can head back to class now, and tell Chef that I'll buy extra for Bistro on Monday."

          I gave him a closed-lip smile. "Will do, Mr. Lovette." I hurried back to the kitchen, knowing Dana was going to want details.

          "So, how was it with Mr. Hotstuff?" she asked.

          I rolled my eyes. "You're the only one who finds him attractive." Although Mr. Lovette wasn't a fat old, scraggly-beard man, he still didn't spark any interest in me. Sure, he was only in his early thirties and was always well-tailored, but, frankly, old guys weren't my type.

          "Wrong," she replied to my comment. "You're the only one who thinks he's not cute. He's a fine man."

          "He's like thirty-something," I stated, slapping her with a side towel.

          "Age doesn't define gorgeousness, sweetheart," she said, pointedly, and then slapping me on the arm. "Now, spill the deets!"

          "It was just about the Spring Festival," I told her while flattening the cookies with a fork. "I'm going to show them the Culinary Experience."

          "Exciting," she replied grinning. "That's so cool that you're in the top five. Who else did he mention?"

          "Um, Luke Hemmings, Randy Williams, Lucas Braswell, and Mandy Harmon," I restated.

          "Ugh, isn't she that chick who doesn't like you?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

          "That's an understatement," I muttered to myself. Then, to her, "Yeah, but it's whatever. She's smart, so she's there."

          "You're not doing this on your own, right?" she asked.

          "Nope, he said I get to choose my own team," I told her with a smile. "And, of course, you're my right-hand woman."

          "Yes!" she cheered. "Who else are you choosing?"

          I shrugged. "I'm not sure yet," I said, glancing around the room. "I might get Jason and Mack to help us. They're really good."

          "Hm, what about Mr. Stares At You All Day?" she smiled while nudging me. I raised my eyebrow at her, confused. She nodded her head behind me. "Ashton's been looking over here all day. You should choose him. He's cute, and he seems to like you."

          Hearing his name, I instantly became flustered again. I almost forgot about our little encounter in the fridge. My face began to warm up, but I just laughed it off. "No way," I told her, but then I checked for myself. He was chatting with Mack.

          "Okay, he might not be looking now, but he totally was before," she said. "He's definitely into you."

          I hit her shoulder and changed the subject. "Stop playing, and let's get these dishes done." We loaded the bus bucket and took them towards the dishwashing station. She continued to talk about how handsome Mr. Lovette was while I just shook my head.

          While we waited for the cookies to cool off, Dana tapped my arm. "He's staring again," she said.

          I aimlessly turned, and she was right. Ashton was staring, and my face erupted in fire. I locked eyes with him for what felt like years before he casually grinned and looked away.

          Dana's small gasp made me turn back to her, and she was looking at me, all-knowingly. "Your pupils are so dilated. You like him."

          "What," I said quickly. "No, I don't."

          She crossed her arms in disbelief. "Fine, you may not like him, but you're definitely attracted to him."

          "I—" I couldn't come up with a response, and I cursed myself silently. "We're just friends," I finally said. Even that was something new. I never addressed Ashton as a friend before.

          She booped my nose. "You guys looked at each other way too long to be just friends." Before I could respond, she took the cookies and walked away.

          Dammit.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

          My locker was covered in sticky notes by the time I got there, no doubt from Mandy. Her perfect handwriting was still in my memory. I set my books down and removed them, tiredly. I knew she wasn't bold enough to face me at the end of the day because she didn't know what my current mood would be. She knew that from experience.

          I shoved the notes all in my bag and continued retrieving my things. I didn't know how much of this I could take. I just sighed and started to the front doors.

          "Val, wait up!"

          I turned to see Calum, moving through the crowd. "Oh, hey, Calum," I said once he caught up with me. "Aren't you supposed to be going home?"

          "The bell rang like seven minutes ago," he said, playfully. "Do you hate me that much?"

          I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Anyways, why aren't you with the guys?"

          "Just wanted to see my bestie," he beamed, throwing his arm around my shoulder.

          I looked at him, skeptical. "What do you want?" I asked, crossing my arms. "You can't fool me."

          He laughed nervously. "So, I'm kind of failing math," he revealed, and I slapped him on the shoulder. "Ow!"

          "We've been in school for a month!" I exclaimed. "What do you mean you're failing?"

          "It means that I've got lower than a seventy."

          This time, I hit him upside his head. "Don't get smart with me."

          "So abusive," he mumbled. He opened the door for me, and I walked out. It was still pretty warm, even in the early days of September. "Anyways, I already told the guys to go ahead without me. You can help me with my work, and we can go to that cafe you like."

          "Fine, but you're paying," I told him.

          "Okay," he said, and then he took my bag from my shoulder. Calum always carried my bag for me, even when we were just starting out as friends. It just added to how kind of a person he was.

          We continued walking, and I told him about the Spring Festival. When he asked about who I was choosing for my team, I shrugged.

          "You should choose Ashton," he suggested, and I turned to him, curious. I could finally hear Ashton's name without my heart bursting through my chest. "He's a pretty good cook, and he follows instructions well."

          "But why him?" I asked.

          "You guys would probably get along well."

          "You and Dana have the same mind," I said, thinking out loud.

          He turned to me. "Who's this Dana you speak of?" he asked, jealousy evident in his tone.

          "Just a new friend I've made," I told him, which he gasped dramatically at.

          "You're not thinking of replacing me, right?" He put his hand over his chest, and I laughed at his stage play. He was a piece of work.

          "Don't worry, Calum. You're irreplaceable," I promised him with a smile.

          As I helped him with his math while he tried to distract himself with other things, I couldn't help but smile. I didn't want to think of losing Calum as a friend, and I knew he felt the same way. It was better for us to not have an intimate relationship because if we were to break up, we wouldn't know how to live without one another. And I didn't see that as a bad thing.

          Of course, I wanted a boyfriend. Everyone wanted someone to love, but I was happy at this stage. I had friends, and if someone came along the way, then I wouldn't push them away like I promised Calum. Some things came later in life, and the more I waited, the more opportunities I would miss. There's a great big, beautiful tomorrow. Who said everything had to happen today?

: : : : : : : : : : :

This took foreveerrrrr! Anyways, here's chapter 6 :)

This was a long one, and now my neck hurts from looking down at my screen. I've haven't eaten all days and it's now almost 2 a.m. #skinnylegend

Also, I put time stamps at the top because I tend to skip months sometimes lol. Don't want y'all to be confused.

And tell me why I bought some hot fries today from Walmart, and when I got home, a sixteen pack of batteries and glue-on nails were in my bag. I was like what in the hAiL. I don't even know how they got in there and how I got past the security alarm. They wouldn't believe me if I said i didn't know where it came from *cries* I hate it here.

Anyways, I hope you liked this chapterrrr. Stay safe through this not-so banana times!