Kaleb's POV

It was finally lunch and I had grown increasingly annoyed that I hadn't seen Layla yet. I've always had a couple classes with her, so it was weird that she wasn't in any of my first three classes.

By the time I make it to the cafeteria Connor is already sitting at our table. Shortly after I sit down Whitney, Summer, and Winter join us. "Already trying to get rumor started about us?" Daniel jokes as he sits down next to Whitney with Jake following close behind him.

I roll my eyes at him. I know that certain people will start to talk when they see us all sitting together but I don't care. I need to meet with everyone for a reason. "So, what's going on Kaleb?" Whitney ask while taking a biet of her salad.

No one besides Connor knows that I've been intrigued by Layla since freshman year. This is our final year here, and if I don't get close to her this year, I may never have the chance. "So, do y'all know Layla Davis?"

Everyone besides Connor gives me a curious look. "Are you talking about the girl who is always wearing a hoodie and barely speaks?" Daniel asks.

"Yeah, that's her."

"Most people know of her, but I don't think anyone knows her.  Is this about her?" Winter questions.

Rubbing the back of my neck nervously, I gulp. "I want to get close to her. I want to become her friend. She seems so lonely. I mean I've never seen her talk to anyone. She doesn't hang out with anyone, and I'm pretty sure she has never stepped foot in the cafeteria."

"Someone seems really interested in her." Whitney smirks at me. "Aww... I think my cousin has a crush on her." She coos

"I do not have a crush on her. I don't even know her. I just think it would be nice of us to make her senior year a little more enjoyable by becoming her friend."

"Sure." Summer giggles. "Just admit it. You have a crush on her. Why else would you want to become friends with her?"

I sigh in frustration. "Whatever. Y'all can think whatever y'all want to think, but I need y'all to help me."

"I don't know bro. She doesn't talk to anyone or have any friends. I've seen people try, but she completely ignores them." Daniel tells all of us.

I run my hand through my hair. "I haven't even seen her today. Have any of you?"

Whitney gives me a sad look. "She was supposed to be in my second period, but she didn't show up."

"That's weird for her to miss the first day of school unless she moved over the summer." Winter says.

"How about we go to her house after school?" My cousin asks.

"And how are we supposed to do that? No one knows where she lives." I spat.

Whitney rolls her eyes at me. "Duh..." She says like we should already know the answer. "We have ways of finding out." She smirks. "I also have my ways of changing her class schedule to were at least one of us will be in each of her classes."

Connor gives her a knowing look. "So, you can fix it where she has all of her classes with at least one of us?"

"Yep." She says popping the 'p'. "And as long as she is still attending this school, I think I have the perfect idea for her schedule. Meet me in the student council room during sixth period." She then stands up and grabs me by the arm. "Come on we need to go talk to the principal."

"I guess I will talk to y'all later." I tell everyone else at the table as my cousin drags me away. "Why are we going to talk to Ms. Graham?"

"To get permission for our plan. Why else would we go and talk to her?" She says with a smile on her face.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

We walk into the office and pass by the receptionist without even bothering to get permission to see the principal. Whitney opens Ms. Graham's door and we walk right in and take a seat in the chairs that are in front of her desk.

Ms. Graham looks up from her paperwork and beams at us. "Ms. Howell and Mr. Knightly to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"We need your help, Aunt Nicole." Whitney says while giving her best puppy dog eyes.   Another secret of ours is that our aunt is the principal. "Kaleb is wanting to make a new friend."

My aunt rests her chin on her hand. "And why are you needing help from me? The two of you have never had a problem with making friends."

I rub the back of my neck nervously. "The problem isn't as much with us as it is with the person I am wanting to befriend."

My aunt's curiosity  seems to peak. "Who is the person that you're wanting to become friends with?"

"I think he wants to become more than friends with this person." My cousin quickly buts in.

My aunt laughs. "Is my dear nephew having trouble getting the girl of his dreams?" She teases.

I face palm myself. "No. That's not the problem, and I don't have a crush on her." I groan. "It's Layla Davis. I just want to become her friend. Is that such a bad thing?"

At the mentioning of Layla's name my aunt stops laughing. "You're referring to the girl who is always by herself?" I nod my head. "What brought this on?"

"I don't know. I've wanted to approach her since freshman year, but I've never known how. She has no friends, and no one has ever seen her smile. I was hoping maybe we could change that. Everyone deserves to enjoy their senior year."

My aunt sits there thinking in silence. "This isn't for some type of cruel prank  or joke that y'all are trying to pull on her, is it?"

Whitney and I look at my aunt like she is crazy. We have never been the type of people to do something to someone as a cruel prank. "Why would you even ask us that?" Whitney hisses.

"Calm down." My aunt demands. "I know the two of you would never intentionally hurt someone. I only ask because as you may tell, Layla is different from most kids. She stays secluded and has even asked for special permission to do most group and partner assignments alone. I'm just thinking about her wellbeing."

"I am too. She doesn't deserve to go through high school without a single friend." I defend.

My aunt sighs. "Fine. Tell me what your plan is to befriend her, and I'll see if there is anyway I can help y'all out."

Whitney seems excited at first of the thought of our aunt helping us but then she frowns. "Aunt Nicole, Layla didn't show up at school today. Do you think you could give us her address so we could visit her?"

"She didn't show up for school today?" My aunt asks worriedly. "You know I can't out her personal information. The only thing I can say is that I'm pretty sure she's had a rough life. I don't know anything about her home life, I'm just guessing by the way she acts."

"If we can't have her address, can we see her schedule and maybe change it where she has all of her classes with one of us or our friends?" Whitney ask hopefully.

"It depends on what credits she needs." My aunt the glares at us. "And what do you mean by your friends? Are there more people in on this plan besides the two of you?"

I chuckle nervously. "Kind of. I might have asked Connor, Jake, Daniel, Summer and Winter for help also."

My aunt shakes her head annoyingly. "I hope y'all know what y'all are doing."  She points towards the door.  "Go and ask the receptionist for her schedule and tell her it's for me. Also ask her for all of y'all schedules and then y'all can compare them and let me know how to switch your classes."

"Thank you!" I hug my aunt.

"Just remember to be gentle with her. I don't know her story, but I feel for her to be as secluded as she is it can't be good. I'm late for a meeting, but don't go into the bottom two drawers of my filing cabinet. That is where I keep all of the senior's personal records that have their addresses." She winks before walking out of her office and heading to wherever she needs to be.

My cousin smirks at me. "So, do you want to get the schedules from the receptionist or go through the filing cabinet to get Layla's address?"

"What do you think?"

She laughs. "Okay Mr. Bad Boy I'll let you get the address while I pick of the schedules. It won't look as suspicious if I pick up the schedules anyway."

Once Whitney leaves the room and has the office staff distracted, I find Layla's file and snap a few pictures of it with my phone before placing it back. Now we just have to wait and meet up with our friends during sixth period.