"You aren't riding with Billy and I?" Max groans. "Dude, it's our first day of school! As far as I'm concerned, you have no other friends but me! So I don't see why you don't just get a ride with me instead of wasting your mom's gas!"

"I'm not getting a ride with my mom," Goldie laughs, fixing her hair while looking the reflection of Billy's car window.

"Well...well, then who are you riding with?" Max questions, gripping her backpack straps.

A car pulls up to the curb of the house, both girls look up. Max looks a little shocked at what's she's seeing, and maybe a little betrayed. First, Goldie wouldn't be riding with her, and Second, she'd be riding with a cute high schooler!

"No way," Max mutters.

"Yes way," Marigold laughs, turning to Max. "Look, we'll meet in the office."

"You suck," Max grumbles.

"Love you, too," the brunette laughs, rushing off the parked car with her skateboard under her arm.

She gets in and fastens her seatbelt just as Billy exits the house. Immediately, Billy glares at the car parked in front of them. He seems annoyed at Steve, and annoyed by Steve giving Marigold a ride.

"Good morning, weirdo," Steve greets, driving away from the house and towards the school.

"Mornin', oh look, I got you something," she reaches into her front shirt pocket.

Steve glances towards her as she slowly pulls out her middle finger, rolling his eyes at her large amused smirk.

"Ha. Ha. You're the best," he snorts. "You know, I've only known you for a day, and something tells me you don't have many friends."

"Pfft, I have plenty of friends! Like three if you count my teddy bear, Tony," she defends.

"Sounds about right," Steve chuckles, pulling up to the school.

As he parks, Marigold looks out, suddenly nervous by all the unfamiliar faces and strangers swarming the area. Clearly, she isn't as confident as she lets on, and Steve immediately notices.

"First day jitters?" He hums, stepping out of the car.

"Yeah, I guess," she states. "I think it's more of a PTSD flashback from remembering how much I hate school."

"You'll be fine, kid. You got a ride after school?" He questions.

"Yeah, thanks, Harrington," she grins, noticing Billy's car pull up.

Over course, he gathers all the female attention, just as she'd expect. He's always been a very spot light sort of person. She keeps her eyes focused on Max though, noticing how she peers around in search of her.

"I'll see ya around, Steve!" She waves, jogging towards Max.

"Bye, kid!" He calls back, still focused on Billy.

As soon as Max catches sight of the girl, she crosses her arms over her chest and glares. She finds it completely ridiculous that they rode in separate vehicles to the same place.

"That was the worst," Max grumbles. "No more rides from that guy! You're totally saving me from Billy next time."

"Maybe," Goldie grins. "Come on, lets go."

The two drop their boards and push themselves towards the building with a sense of dread and small excitement.

The office ladies are nice enough, handing the girls their schedules and making it so they share all the same classes. They don't really do much else though, being too busy talking about some drama amongst themselves, which leaves Goldie and Max to locate their classroom on their own.

"I'm sure it'll be just fine," Goldie lightly states, hiding her nerves.

"Goldie, I knows you're scared," Max states. "You don't have to be. We have each other all day, okay?"

"Yeah," she nods, "Okay."

As they get to the classroom, the principal seems to come of nowhere. Before he can accuse them of skipping class, Max explains their situation, handing him their schedules, and never once smiling. Goldie, on the other hand, does her best to be polite and smiles at his attempt and kindness.

"Alright then, into the classroom," the man states.

Max rushes in, rolling her eyes a bit. Goldie is taken by surprise at her quickness, and rushes in after her, bumping into Max's back when she comes to a stop in the middle of the classroom.

"Sorry," Marigold whispers embarrassedly, fidgeting under all the stares.

"Calm down, Goldie," Max whispers back.

"Ah, this must be our new students," the teacher smiles kindly.

"Indeed they are. All yours," the principal hums before seeing himself out.

Max goes to sit down, and Goldie nervously stumbles after her, only to be stopped by Mr. Clarke before they can even reach their seats. Max let's out a soft sigh, already tired of this all.

"Alright, hold up there," Mr. Clarke calls. "You don't get away that easy. Come up, don't be shy!"

He two waddle back to the front, standing awkwardly.

"Dustin, drum roll."

The kid in the front begins to tap his fingers against his text book, and Goldie immediately recognizes him from the arcade. In fact, she recognizes all the four boys! They seem to have noticed her too, doing their best not to stare.

However, Goldie does quite the opposite. She stares at them all with a bright warm smile.

"Class, please welcome, all the way from sunny California, the latest passengers to join us on our curiosity voyage, Maxine and Marigold!" Mr. Clarke performs.

Max remains cold, but Marigold smiles brightly.

"I have to ask, are you two related? You came from the same place, and both start with an M?" Mr. Clarke kindly asks.

"Nope," Max simply states, "and its Max."

"Sorry?" Mr. Clarke questions.

"Max! Don't be rude!" Marigold defends, stepping in front of the girl and smiling kindly at the teacher. "We aren't related, it's purely a coincidence that we're both from Cali. Super rad though, now we're best friends. She prefers to be addressed by Max. I go by—"

"Goldie," Steve's head peaks through the classroom door, interrupting her before she can finish. "You forgot your lunch bag— Uh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt— I have permission to be here, I swear!"

The brunette blushes, rushing to grab the bag and shutting the door. Mr. Clarke seems more amused than upset.

"Well, uh, Max and Goldie, was it?"

"Yes sir," the girl nods softly. "That'd be me."

"All aboard," Mr. Clarke nods, allowing the two girls to take their seats.

As they sit down, Max turns to her friend with a small smirk.

"You have a knack for getting interrupted, don't you?" She chuckles.

"It's a curse," Goldie sighs, sinking into her chair while glancing up.

She's met by the set of four eyes on both her and Max. She isn't exactly comfortable with male attention, but she can sense it's harmless and simply waves at them before he turn away pretending they weren't looking.

"Do you know them?" Max questions.

"Not really."