"... And that's what we call the Stevenson Algorithm."

Fred exchanged smile with Steve as Ari nudged at a him. He looked at his watch again for a moment. 

"Well the bell's late for the second.."

The bell interrupted him.

He smiled "Never mind. Have a great day class. Get to know your professors and if you need anything I'll be at the Exam Coordinator room. Adios."

Adios yooo.  Man this guy is cool.

Ari punched Steve. "Man,  you're uncle's so cool. That's the first time I understood physics in a while."
"Me too. I heard he's about to get a doctorate in psychology as well."
"No. Way. "
He raised his eyebrows and shrugged. 
"Who's the good looking handsome Steve over there?" asked Stacey from next to Raven.
"Honestly I've never meet him until this morning. His dad and my dad are apparently besties."
"So Steve, what you into?" Asked Raven leaning on Ari's shoulder.

"I uh..  Um..  I don't really know..."
Raven glared at Ari.  "Just like you."

"Which period is it by the way?" asked Stacey.

"Math." Ari said standing up.
"Where you going?" Raven asked.
She held up her pinkie.

Steve moved giving her way. Ari went down the stairs and went out of the room for while.

Steve didn't know anyone and he felt deserted.
"Hey Steve." Raven punched him.
"We're gonna be hanging out at Crust this evening. Wanna join us?"
"Sure...  I guess..."
A dark skinned kid came into class with a black white and gold lined bag. He wore a full sleeved   green no collar tee that hugged his body perfectly. Stacey got up and rushed to him.
He smiled and gave her hug with a quick kiss.
"That's Eric. Stacey's boy." Raven placed her arm over Steve's shoulder. She wore a black t-shirt and a netted full sleeve over it.
She had short hair with a little red streak that ran down the left of her hair.
"So you got a girl mister? "
"Not really Raven."
She smiled at him mockingly looking into his face.
"You're cute."
He smiled.
Stacey introduced Steve to Eric.

That's one hell of firm grip.

Eric looked built. He kept his hair so short he looked almost bald. He sat next to Stacey on the left. She leaned on his shoulder.
Aria came back and waved at Eric when she saw him.
She took her seat as the next professor followed her in.

Ms. Annie. Math professor at Garrick's for the past 6 years. Well reputed for her calculus skills.  People say there's not a single question she's left unsolved.

Time went on and it was lunch break soon enough. Everyone headed to the cafeteria except Ari. Mom usually packed her food and she wasn't a fan of the cafeteria either.
Surprisingly even Steve stayed.
Raven called out "Yo Steve! Mind giving me a little company?"
He looked at Ari as if in doubt.
"Go on. It's not like she's gonna eat you."
"She might." he smiled.
She flicked his forehead. "It's OK you can take me out later."
He smiled and put his books in his bag before he joined Raven.
Ari felt slightly uncomfortable leaving him out of her sight. She wanted him to stay.
She opened her lunch box and was dumbstruck.

Seriously?

There were literally three kebab rolls in her box. She loved her mom's cooking no matter what. There was a bottle of sparkling apple as well.

She almost forgot about Dani. She closed her box and carried it to his class. Daniel was a childhood friend who was shifted to another section after middleschool. 

"Dani? " she called entering class XV.
His face lit up when he saw her.
"Aria...  "
She went behind his wheelchair to hug him. He held her arm and straightened his Harry Potter glasses.
She held out her box.  " Here. Mom made kebab tortilla rolls"
"Thanks."
She sat next to him chewing on her food. "So howweyur  professors?" A habit of speaking with a full mouth stick to her.

"They're all great actually. Middle school was really different. Specially there was this physics professor...  His name... Was...  "
" Mr. Fred?! Oh my God he's amazing. "
" Yeah. He taught so well. "
" He's Steve's uncle."
"Who? "
" Oh.  Steve. I met him this morning. His dad dropped me off...  "

Their conversation went on until the break was over. Break was over.  And after a few hours school was over.

The Buses waited for all the students. Steve walked to the gate. She felt like she wanted to be with him for a bit.

"Steve?" She called out as he turned to look. "mind if I come with you?"

"Uh...  No. But I'm sitting in the back." He said.

"Oh that's okay. We can both sit in the back right? "saying that she climbs in the back seat of the BMW.

I totally meant that.

"Where to Steve?" the driver asked.
"Home. Drop off Aria first Dave."
"Hi Dave. " she poked her nose in.
" Hello miss. "
The BMW roared as Dave drove home.
" Steve? " she asked him as he kept looking out the window.
"We're going to nice pizza place this evening. You wanna join us?"
"Oh.  Crust? Yeah. Raven told me about it. Sure. "

Hhehehehhahahhaawww.  Her inner soul laughed.

They arrived at her place.
"Steve?" she asked. " Wanna go together? Since we just live behind each other?"
"I think I'm taking my bike so I don't.. Think so.. Sorry."

😐 fine then mister.

"Cool. I'm here if you wanna talk about stuff from class okay? "
He nodded.

Ugh. Stuff from class what were you thinking?

She rang the bell of her door as the BMW sped away.
"Hey Ari!" mom exclaimed from the kitchen. "How'd the day go?" she cleaned the kitchen table and sat down,  throwing the cloth into the washing machine. 
"It was great. What about you? What did you do here? The place looks amazing.  "
" Ari....  I just cleaned it. Nothing more.  "
".....  Okay..  I'll just go to my room. "
Mom smiled.  "You must be tired. I'm baking cake for the evening.  Which flavor you want me to?"
"Mom we're..  Going to crust this evening. "
"oh.  Well.  More for me and dada" she smiled
"Noooo don't do this to meeeee."
"Hahaha.  Don't worry.  We'll bake some other day."
"I love you too mom" she giggled and ran upstairs to refresh herself. She threw herself into a soft jersey and shorts.

The bed with pure white sheets said welcome after a long tiring first day at high school. 

She pulled out a book and started reading. 

'Tiny Traces'

She had borrowed the book from Raven and wanted to finish and return it to her the next day. So she sat and started to binge.

She read continuously for two hours and the next moment started to snore over the pages of the open book. Her dreams fused with the words of the book. The alarm clock let her sleep for an hour until it rang at 6:00. 

The street was wet from a slight drizzle. The sky was overcast and the orange streetlights lit up the wet black concrete as the snow melted. All this, seen through the drawn curtains of Ari's balcony.

She rubbed her face like a kitten and yawned. Putting the bookmark in she placed the book back in the drawer of the table beside her bed. The lamp looked like it was never broken. But...

Oh.  It's a new one.

The wardrobe opens revealing a few designers dresses on one side and some casual wear neatly stacked on the other. The casuals seemed pretty enticing.

Hmm.. Converse and ADIDAS?

She pulled on an Adidas top and jeans. The top was dark red put together with black patches and it matched her shoes which were black and red.

She washed her face.  Zero make up. Ari never liked the idea of covering up to be someone who we weren't.

The T.V was on and mom was snoring on the couch with a cup of tea that probably turned cold over the table.  She sneaked up in the remote and turned the TV off.

She decided not to disturb mom. The raincoat hung on the coat hanger by the door. Leaving a sticky note on the table she took the keys and locked the door as she left. 

The door clicked locked.