"What the hell are you wearing Connor?" Kayla shrieks.

Connor looks down at his sweatpants and then back up at Kayla, "What's wrong with this?"

"It is Spirit Week Connor. Now, I don't know what you guys do back in Oakland, but here at Eastwood we take Spirit Week very seriously."

"No, you take this very seriously Kayla," Tony sighs.

Kayla scowls, "Look around. There are a lot of people wearing crazy pajamas, not just me."

I look around the lunchroom and notice that yes, there are a lot of people wearing pajamas, but it's not like people are carrying around pillows or anything like that.

"It is kind of hard to go crazy on pajama day Kayla. At least the rest of the days have more potential," I say.

Kayla just slumps back in her chair and picks at her food. I look over at Connor and give him a comforting smile. After the little conversation we had yesterday, he and Adam joined us at lunch today. It definitely took some adjustment, but I can tell that they will fit in just fine.

The bell rings, releasing us from lunch, and Connor and I walk to Creative Writing together.

"Do I really have to wear crazy outfits?" He asks.

"You don't have to, but if you don't want Kayla to kill you I would play along," I smile.

"But you're not wearing crazy clothes today."

I look down at my pajama pants and back up at him, "Connor, it's pajama day. I don't think I'm supposed to wear anything crazy."

He opens his mouth to say something but quickly closes it. With nothing left to say, we walk to class in silence.

The rest of the day I walk with Connor to our classes and we just talk about random things. I can tell that he is starting to get more comfortable around all of us.

At least that's what I thought.

On Tuesday he doesn't show up to school. I texted him multiple times to see where he was, but I got no reply.

When I get to lunch Adam is already sitting there, unbothered.

I quickly walk up to him, "Where is Connor?"

Adam looks taken aback, "He didn't tell you? He's fine. He just has some stuff to take care of."

"What kind of stuff?"

Adam looks around nervously, "It's not my place to talk about it. If Connor wanted you to know he would tell you."

I sigh and sit down in my chair. I guess he doesn't trust me enough, which is fine. We did just become friends like two days ago. I know that it can take time for someone to open up.

Wednesday is class color day, meaning us seniors have to go all out in the color pink. When I get to school, it is like a rainbow threw up. The school spirit seems to have taken it's full affect within the student body.

I am wearing a light pink skirt and a pink crop top. I also tied my hair back with a pink bandana. I thought that my outfit was pink enough until I saw Kayla.

She is wearing a hot pink dress, pink shoes, and has crazy pink makeup. I didn't think that there was that much pink in the world.

"I have been waiting for this color day ever since I was a freshman!" Kayla cheers.

"Oh, we know. I have not been looking forward to this at all. This is the most pink you guys will ever see me wear," Sabrina says.

She is just wearing a dark magenta shirt, I'm surprised she even wore that. I look around the rest of our group and am impressed with the amount of pink all of us are wearing.

Just as the bell is about to ring to get to first hour, I notice a little bit of commotion down the hall. I try to look over the crowd of people, but have no luck. Suddenly the crowd splits in the hallway making way for Connor to walk through.

When I see him, I understand why everyone was paying so much attention to him.

He was head to toe in pink. His shoes, pants, shirt, and hat: all bright pink. I can barely believe what I'm seeing and start laughing as he walks up to us.

He gives a slow twirl in front of us, grinning, "How did I do?"

Kayla jumps up and hugs him, "I'm so proud of you! This is school spirit!"

Jasper laughs and claps him on the back, "Welcome to Eastwood."

Connor just smiles and then turns to me. He holds his arms out and raises an eyebrow, "What do you think?"

Smiling, I say, "I think you could put Kayla to shame. I'm glad that you're back."

At the mention of his absence, his expression drops for a second but quickly returns.

"I'm glad to be back."

The bell rings and we all go our separate ways to class.

Later, when I get to lunch, I can tell that Kayla has something important to say. When all of us are finally at the table she starts talking.

"Alright, I gotta say that we did a pretty good job with our outfits today. Except for you Sabrina, but I didn't expect much from you. Anyway, tomorrow is our big day and I need all of us to participate."

The six of us all nod our heads in agreement, but Connor and Adam still look a little confused.

"What is tomorrow?" Adam asks.

"Tomorrow is our time to shine. It is group costumes day and because we obviously have the best group of friends, we have to win," Kayla explains.

Connor and Adam both nod their heads, now completely on board.

"So what are we going as?" Connor asks.

The six of us all look at each other with small smiles on our faces.

"The Avengers, man," Jasper grins.

Adam and Connor both light up when they hear this.

"So each of us are going as an Avenger? Who is everyone going to be? Can I be Spider-Man?" Connor asks.

Kayla looks at Connor with a smile on her face, "Yes, you can be Spider-Man. Actually, now that Adam is with us, he would be perfect for-"

"I know, Black Panther. I get to be the black avenger, I get it," Adam says a little disappointed.

Kayla looks at him with a confused expression, "I was actually going to say Thor. All of the other Avengers we have picked out, but because Sabrina wanted to be different and go as Loki, we never had anyone to be Thor."

This perks Adam up, "I like Thor. Thanks."

Satisfied, Kayla leans back in her chair. I look over at Connor and can see that he is excited about this too.

He turns to me, "Who is everyone else going as?"

"We tried to go with the characters that we were the most like. So Sabrina is Loki, Kayla is Black Widow, Jasper is Iron Man, Tony is Captain America, Allie is Bruce Banner, and then I'm Hawkeye," I explain.

"Yes, I am Bruce Banner, not the Hulk. There is a very big difference," Allie makes sure to add.

"Allie couldn't get angry even if she tried," Tony smiles.

"I can get angry," Allie says shyly.

"Whenever that does happen we should all be very worried," I say.

"Well, I am very excited for tomorrow then. I'm glad that you guys let us join in on your group costume," Connor says.

"Of course. You guys are growing in us," Jasper smiles.

We continue eating our lunches and talking about our costumes. Everyone is very excited and I'm glad to see Connor and Adam fit in so well.

Soon the bell rings and Connor and I start walking to our next class.

"So you never told me why you were gone yesterday. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I was just curious," I say quickly.

Connor stays quiet for a little bit and then turns to look at me, "I had some stuff to take care of in Oakland. All good things, don't worry."

Sensing that he doesn't really want to say anything else, I drop the conversation. I understand if someone isn't comfortable talking about something, especially with someone they barely know.

We just continue on our way to class and the awkwardness soon dissolves.

***

Thursday morning I wake up with a smile on my face. I quickly go downstairs and eat breakfast before I return back to my room. I grab my outfit for today which contains black pants and a sort of burgundy vest.

This is about as close to Hawkeye as I can get. I am missing one thing though.

I run over to Greyson's room and knock on his door. He opens up and reveals his own outfit for today which is a green Ninja Turtles shirt, black pants, and a red headband.

"Ninja Turtles?" I ask.

He grins at me, "You know it. What are you guys going as?"

"You can't tell? Probably not. That's why I need something of yours."

"What do you need?" He asks cautiously.

"That toy bow that you have. I'm supposed to be Hawkeye and I kind of need a bow for that," I explain.

"Ah, the Avengers. I actually can't wait to see all of you together, I'm sure it will be great. Maybe not Ninja Turtles great, but still good."

He goes into his room and comes back out with his bow. I quickly thank him and then go back to my room.

I check my phone and notice that I have one message from our group chat.

Tony:

- Avengers: Assemble

I smile when I read this and then grab my backpack for school. I call for Greyson to hurry up and we are soon on our way to school.

When I get there, I immediately look for my friends. I find them in our spot by the library and can't help smiling when I see everyone there.

Jasper is wearing a shirt which looks like it has the arc reactor on it and he has the classic Tony Stark glasses. Tony is wearing a Captain America shirt and also has a toy shield, which I know he did not buy recently.

Sabrina is wearing black leggings, black and green shirt, and she has a green cape. Kayla straightened her hair and is wearing an all black outfit. Allie is wearing a nice pencil skirt, a purple shirt, and a lab coat.

Adam is wearing a grey shirt with black pants and he also has a red cape. Connor is wearing a Spider-Man shirt and blue pants.

Our costumes are definitely not super crazy, but people can still get the idea. I think that they are all great and I'm just glad we found something that we could all pull off.

"Well, I think that we all look great. I'm really proud of all of you for putting some effort into your outfits today. I hope we get in the yearbook for this," Kayla says.

"You really think that we're going to get in the yearbook for this? We're all pretty much just wearing T-shirts," Tony grumbles.

"Oh, shut up. We look great," Jasper says.

"Can I just say something real quick?" Adam asks, "Thank you Kayla for organizing all of this, even though you look weird with your hair straightened."

"Thank you Adam. I'm just going to ignore your comment about my hair, I put a lot of time into it," Kayla says.

We all laugh at that and then the bell rings and we are all off to class. Before I start walking away, Connor pulls me over to him.

"I know that tonight is the usual group study night but I was wondering if I could actually meet your parents."

This takes me by surprise and I freeze. Noticing my change, Connor quickly says, "I'm sorry. I was overstepping. I shouldn't just invite myself over to your house, that was rude of me. I shouldn't have-"

"No, it's fine Connor. I was just surprised. I mean, you have already met my parents, I don't see why you would want to meet them again. We're just friends, it doesn't have to be a big deal," I explain.

Connor looks a little disappointed, "No, I get it."

Not wanting to disappoint him I say, "Look, tonight is going to be a great study night and of course you and Adam are coming. Saturday is Homecoming and we are all getting ready at Kayla's, but my parents will be there. You can say whatever you want to them when we are there."

This seems to work for him because he nods his head and gives a small smile. He turns away and starts walking towards his class.

Before he is too far away I call his name and he turns back towards me.

"My parents do like you, Connor. You don't have to worry about that."

Hearing this, he smiles and then turns back down the hallway.

I watch as he walks away and wonder why he cared so much about my parents liking him. I didn't think it was such a big deal that my parents liked my friends.

Maybe it has something to do with his parents which he never mentions. Maybe I should be the one more worried about parents liking me.

The minute bell rings and I quickly get to my next class, still thinking about the odd conversation I just had with Connor.

***

Thank you so much for reading!

This chapter was fun to write, I love whenever the whole group gets to interact with each other. What did you think? Let me know!

Love you all! ❤️