Her day was starting out good, it seemed. The weather wasn't too hot or sunny and it was a Friday. Not to mention, she got to walk with her friends to school instead of her usual lonely trek.

Unlike Min, who was bellyaching.

"Ugh, my head hurts," Min whines, "I think I have a hangover or something."

Is that even a thing? They should really have done research on weed before trying it.

Min brings her fingers to her forehead and attempts to massage her pain away. "God, I'm definitely not gonna do weed again. Or any other drugs for that matter if this is what I get afterwards. Telling us about shitty hangovers is a better PSA than DARE."

"Sucks for you, it felt really good for me," Natalie says in a much happier tone, but to appease her friend, she says, "we can try alcohol next time or maybe the guy gave us a bad batch."

Kelly, ever so worried, shushed them. "Guys! What if someone overhears us?" she whispers loudly.

Normally, Natalie would be just as worried as her friend, but for some reason, she was on a cloud nine. Maybe it was some after effects of weed.

"Relax, Kelly, how are you still so uptight after smoking pot?" Natalie attempts to mediate between the two contrasting girls.

"It's been like over 12 hours, any effects we had from smoking have definitely faded."

Natalie rolls her eyes, "well, duh, I was exaggerating. And Min, maybe you should take an Advil or something."

"Oh! Don't forget to drink tons of water. I read that somewhere," Kelly cheerfully adds.

"That's definitely true," a deep, masculine voice intrudes their conversation. Natalie tracks the voice to a tall boy walking alone behind them. He had a backpack, but she didn't recognize him.

New guy. She thought at first.

And also. Hot damn. Why is everyone so goddamn attractive?

Then, what a weirdo, walking so close to us.

Kelly's mind, it seems, was concerned on another matter. She gasps and nervously looks behind her.

"Don't worry, I won't tell," the hot stranger waves his hand as if to dismiss her worries. Though it wouldn't likely help much to ease her mind.

Min, distracted by the hot stranger, forgets about her headache and stops walking. Her eyes narrow and lips pursed, "were you eavesdropping on our conversation?"

"To be fair, you guys were pretty loud."

It was true, but Natalie wasn't too worried. Hot stranger didn't seem like a conniving, little snitch.

I should probably ask his name.

As usual, she got intimidated and nervous by people too attractive for their own good.

"I'm Levi, by the way."

Well that solves her problem of being too nervous to ask.

"I'm a new student and I saw one of you guys wearing the school sweater, so I figured I should say hi," he explains.

Min seems mollified by his explanation and drops her hostility. "I'm Min." And looks to Natalie and Kelly to introduce themselves.

"Natalie," she waves like an idiot as if he couldn't figure out who was talking.

"I'm Kelly."

"Well, now that we're all acquainted and all, we should keep walking or we'll be late again," Min voices.

"What's your first class?" Natalie asks him.

"Umm, if I remember correctly, English with Mr. Ruth."

"Good, you have it with Natalie and me," Min comments.

"Are you a transfer, I don't recognize you from English class?" Natalie questions him.

Because I'd definitely remember that face.

"Yeah, actually, I transferred from West Prep."

A private school kid. Must be rich or really smart.

After several minutes, they reach the school.

"C'mon, class is this way," Min herds them away while Kelly breaks away from the group.

"See ya guys!" Kelly yells out.

The rest of the group enter the room just before the bell rang. As usual, despite being almost late, there's always an empty table.

"Alright, folks, I hate to do this you all, but we're starting a project," Mr. Ruth begins the class.

And just like that her day is ruined.

"I know you folks are seniors, but this project is mandatory to graduate, so we might as well get it over with as soon as possible." Mr. Ruth explains.

Immediately, the class erupts in anger and complaints.

"Why does he say 'we' like he's doing the fucking project too," Min mumbles.

"But," the teacher interrupts loudly in an attempt to drown out the class, "on the bright side, it's a group project, no more than 4 people though."

Thank god, Mr. Ruth was really nice and understanding.

Min makes eye contact with Natalie, then briefly looks at Levi, silently asking her if they should group up with him. Natalie just blinks and tries to mentally weigh the pros and cons.

On one hand, Levi seemed kind of nice. But on the other hand, she'd get distracted and nervous easily.

Natalie tries to mouth her response quietly so Levi wouldn't hear, "I don't know, it's your choice."

Min nods in understanding. She turns to her left, where Levi sat, and whispers, "do you want to work with us."

He smiles gratefully and nods.

Mr. Ruth continues explaining the project, but most of the class is already zoned out. But he always made a paper copy guide, anyways.

~~

After several hours, school finally ends, but Natalie has to stay behind for her volunteering club. She sits in the art room with a handful of other students, waiting for their sponsor, Ms. Belmont.

Ms. Belmont, while very nice, isn't usually known for her punctuality, so Natalie pulls out her phone to occupy herself with her phone when someone sits in the seat next to her. Natalie figures it's probably a friend until he coughs and goes "ehhmm." A sound that she doesn't recognize from any of her friends.

She looks to her side and is pleasantly surprised, "Jace? Since when were you in the volunteering club?"

"I've actually been in this club since freshman year, but I only go to the Tuesday meetings."

Ohh. Wait, isn't today Thursday?

"Then why are you here today?"

"Uhh, I guess I just felt like it," he shrugs casually.

Maybe he had a change of heart. Tuesdays were usually for those who preferred to volunteer in school only as opposed to Thursday people who could volunteer outside of school.

Weird, but okay. She wasn't gonna question his decision.

He leans conspiratorially towards her and whispers, "how did your thing go?"

Woah, his cologne smells really good. Not too strong and not too faint either.

Natalie's mind spaces out until she notices Jace continues to stare at her.

Huhh? Is Natalie's first thought then she promptly remembers. Right.

She whispers back, even if there was really no need to, "really good, but Min didn't react to it as well as Kelly and I did."

"That's too bad," Jace responds.

"That's exactly what I said!" Natalie excitedly replies

Before either of them could say another word, Ms. Belmont walks in and begins profusely apologizing. She not only had horrible punctuality, but she also had terrible timing. She just had to walk in as she and Jace began talking.

"Anywho, did y'all get your permission slip signed?" Ms. Belmont addresses the small group, who begin to pull out their papers and pass them to the front. "I'm going to do a headcount then we can head out y'all."

"Do you have yours signed?" Natalie asks Jace, who nods.

"Alright, let's go y'all!" Ms. Belmont herds the class out of the room, "don't forget your things if you don't want to walk back to school!"

They walk out of the building and head to the food shelter several blocks away.

"So you guys get to do this often?" Jace questions her.

"Yep, it's way better than staying in school and cleaning after students or picking gum off the desks," Natalie voices, but quickly retracts, "not that there's anything wrong with that, I just prefer doing different things like the food shelter or picking up trash on the streets."

Jace nods along and they continue walking until they reach a small building with several nearby tents of empty tables. Ms. Belmont walks inside and the students follow obediently like little ducklings.

"Ok, kids, remember the drill. Wash your hands, put on your aprons, and claim a station," she instructs them and they do just that.

Jace, unused to the food shelter, follows Natalie, who decides to help cut the vegetables.

"You can wash and peel the vegetables and I'll cut them," Natalie orders him.

"Got it."

For about half an hour or so, they're able to talk effortlessly as if they were long-time friends. Jace was surprisingly much more easy-going than he let on. She learned alot about him in the short time of cutting vegetables. Like how he had two annoying sisters and knew a lot about cars.

Soon after, they finish cleaning and cutting the vegetables, which they pass on to another duo to season before baking.

"Let's go wash our things. I'll clean and you dry them up and put them away."

Jace replies, "aye aye, captain."

"So are you staying behind?"

Confused, Jace asks, "what do you mean?"

"The shelter doesn't open for another hour or so. Are you gonna stay to help them hand out the food?" Natalie explains.

"Oh, I don't think so. Are you leaving soon?"

Natalie responds with "in a couple minutes."

"You need a ride?"

"I was just gonna walk, but if you're offering a ride in your very comfortable car, I wouldn't say no."

"I don't mind," Jace says.