Soccer isn't hard if you're good at it, and I like to think I am.

After another long practice, I'm left hungry and sweaty. A few of my teammates seem to feel the same, so we go out to our favorite Mexican grill right after. My best friend Leah sits in the passenger seat, and three other girls on the team all pile into my car.

"What'd you get on the math test, Case?" Leah asks almost as soon as I start the car. I groan internally.

"Does it matter?" I argue. "You know it's not an A." I pull out of the school parking lot and join the main road.

Leah gives me a look, and I sigh.

"I got a C," I say. She doesn't say anything, so I side-eye her. "What? A 'C' is average."

Leah shakes her head slowly. "Casey, what did I tell you? It would help if you put more effort into your schoolwork. I'm serious."

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, whatever. You're not my mom."

"You know I love you, Case. I'm sorry your mom doesn't care about your future, but you must get your act together."

"I know, I know," I say.

It begins to rain, and the atmosphere inside the car becomes calm and peaceful. I love the rain, especially the smell, the silence, and the coziness of being forced to stay inside.

We arrive at the restaurant, and I step out of the car. Because of the weather, I wasn't expecting many people to be there. Me, Leah, Emilia, Taylor, and Maddie step carefully out of the car and enter the restaurant. Leah and I decide to order for everyone and we approach the counter. Leah is the team's 'mom,' and although I feel bad she has to take on so much responsibility, she enjoys it. So we let her.
As I predicted, nobody is inside except for three employees wiping down the counters. The nice owner appears out of nowhere and smiles when he sees us.

"You guys coming from practice?" He asks. His eyes crinkle at the corners.

I nod. "Yeah. Only two more years of this, then I'm gone."

He takes our orders, and we go sit at the table the girls picked.
There are big windows surrounding the walls of the restaurant, which emphasize the rainy day experience. My gaze shifts to the other side of the restaurant, where a girl sits quietly, typing on her laptop. She doesn't have any food in front of her, but Mr. Gerald, the owner, is probably still cooking it.

She has brown wavy hair that reaches past the middle of her back, and I watch as she lifts a hand and sweeps it all over one shoulder. I guess I was wrong about it being empty.

"Coach said this season we're getting all new gear," Emilia says excitedly. I raise my eyebrows.

"Yeah, but I doubt it'll be any better than last year's," Taylor says.
Leah stands up to grab our food.

I missed the rest of the conversation because I zoned out halfway. I didn't sleep well the night before, which was affecting my focus. I glance at the girl sitting next to the window. What is she even doing here, if she isn't getting food?

She seems entirely unaware of our presence. Why does she seem so familiar?

I drum my fingers on the table, and my gaze shifts outside. I recognize Mr. Gerald's car and the ones from the other employees, but aside from theirs and mine, there are no cars in the parking lot. Did she walk here? If she did, I should offer her a ride. Walking alone in this weather isn't safe. And besides, she doesn't even have a jacket.

Leah comes back with the food, and we start to eat. The conversation shifts to a discussion about which of our classes is the hardest, and Leah elbows me.
"Remember your math grade, Casey. You have to raise it to at least a B before finals." She studies my face for a moment, then she squints. "What are you busy staring at?"

I nod in the direction of the girl sitting alone. "Her. She's been sitting there for the past thirty minutes."

Leah raises her eyebrows. "So?"

"And her car isn't here."

She squints at me. "Maybe she took the bus. Why do you care, Casey? Do you know her or something?"

". . . No," I answer, turning back to our table.

*****

The next day I sit lazily at my desk in math class, impatiently waiting for the day to end. My math teacher drones on about the next random thing we're supposed to be learning this week, but I pay no attention to him.

He asks a question and hands immediately shoot into the air. I twirl my pen around my fingers, looking up for the first time this whole class.

"Hazel." He points to a girl sitting across the room from me, but somehow directly in my line of sight. I jolt upright, paying attention for the first time this quarter.

It's the same girl from the restaurant. How did she even get home?

"It's a geometric sequence because it doesn't have a common difference, but it does have a common ratio." The girl, Hazel, says calmly.

She doesn't say it in a snobbish or know-it-all way. She simply answers the question and turns back to her notebook.

The rest of class rushes by much faster than it had been going at the start, and I kept stealing glances at this 'Hazel' girl. The bell rings, and I've looked at her at least six times and accidentally caught her eye once.

I get up from my seat immediately, annoyed that I'm forced to sit through such a boring class, but once I reach the door, somebody calls my name.

"Miss Winters, are you not planning on doing the homework?" My math teacher, Mr. Cromey asks in his monotone voice.

I sigh and turn around, walking back to his desk and picking up a page from the stack of homework. "Sorry, I forgot to grab it," I say. That was a lie.

"And, Casey, you're aware you need to bring up your grade in this class to be able to continue being a student-athlete?"

I nod. "I'm working on it."

"I hope so." He says, then gives me a dismissive nod.

Turning around, I see the Hazel girl slipping her homework into her backpack. She meets my eyes after she zips up her bag, and then throws it over her shoulder. I give her a small smile, but she looks away, her expression unreadable.

As the nice person I am, I make it to the door before her, pushing it open and stepping aside to let her through.

"Thanks." She mutters and passes me. I stare at her. Why haven't I noticed this girl before?

I had soccer practice immediately after school, and Leah would not stop bugging me about fixing my grade.

I change the subject.
"Remember the girl from the restaurant yesterday?" I say, passing her the ball. "She's in my math class."

Leah raises her eyebrows disinterestedly. "So did you ask her why she didn't eat or drive there?" She says, sarcasm apparent in her voice.

I shake my head. "No, but she's smart, I think."

Relief crosses Leah's expression and she passes the ball back. "That's good. If it means you'll get at least a B on your next test, I'm all for it."

"I'm not using her to get good grades," I say.

Coach blows the whistle and we start walking toward her.

Leah leans into me. "You could benefit from a smart new friend."

I eye her. "I already have friends."

"They're not the best." She says.

Leah acts like my big sister because she's a year older than me. We're close, but our friend groups aren't. She thinks mine are bad influences.
I think hers are snobby.

*****

It's cloudy outside, and it smells like it might rain again. The sun isn't even visible anymore, which makes everything look gloomy and damp, something that I love.

I'm driving kind of slowly because I have nowhere to be, and my heart flips when I see someone familiar walking along the sidewalk. I slow down even more, rolling at about 3 mph to the person's walking pace. I'm surprised to see that it's Hazel.
She glances at my car and looks alarmed. She speeds up, so I speed up. She keeps glancing at the car as she increases her speed.

She probably thinks I'm a creep, I think, so I roll down my window.

"Hey! Hazel, right?" I call out.
Her eyes widen, and then she stops.

Narrowing her eyes, she says, "Why are you following me?"

"I'm not following you, I'm on my way home and you just happened to be going the same way."

"Who even are you?" She says.

I'm taken a bit aback by her hostility. "I'm Casey. We're in the same math class. I saw you at Antojito's yesterday."

She looks confused. "Cool?"

I blink. "It is cool." I say. "And it looks like it's going to rain again. You shouldn't be walking home in this weather."

She doesn't say anything, merely frowns.

"I'm serious," I continue after a couple of seconds of silence. "I could give you a ride?"

She shakes her head. "I'm good."

"Suit yourself," I say, and drive off.