Beep. beep. Beep. beep. It's 6:30 a.m, Gertrude slaps the top of her alarm clock and springs out of bed. She takes off her pants and replaces them with an equally baggy pair of sweatpants and slips into the baggiest hoodie she can find, she tucks her notebook into the front pocket of her hoodie, she takes her copy of Going Postal out of her schoolbag and puts it on her shelf. “Maybe if i make two sandwiches he won't feel as bad for eating one”, she thinks to herself while walking to the kitchen, “or maybe he’ll feel more bad”. She opens the press, she pulls out the baguettes and toasts them, “fuck…were out of dill pickles, ive fucked it, the perfect sandwich, he’s gonna fucking hate it”. She makes the sandwiches without the pickles, she spreads the cream cheese across the baguettes, carefully places lettuce and tomato and chops up some refrigerated partridge breast and puts them in the sandwich, along with a handful of other ingredients. 

She looks at the clock, it's 7 A.M, shit, Ethan's probably already at Miss Jackson, waiting for her. She tucks her lunchbox under her arm, grabs her schoolbag and runs out the door. She runs straight past Murphy's quick pick, the streets are empty, she needs not worry about her speed. She gets to the school gate, she walks towards Miss Jackson, he's laying under the tree, reading the same book he was yesterday. “What do I say?” she thinks to herself, making a swishing noise, “do I say hi? Do I just sit down next to him? Away from him? Oh god, I’m such a fucking mess” without realising it she had sat right next to him on the floor. Shes blushing, so is he, he shoots upright swiftly. “Oh…h…hey Trudy”, he says awkwardly. She drops her lunchbox, she plunges her thumbs violently into her throat, but theres still an effort. “Hey Ethan”, she responds quietly. Ethan scooches away from her slightly, her thumbs loosening on her throat, she smiles. “So any plans for the weekend Trudy?”, Ethan asks in a friendly manner. Gertrude bites her bottom lip, she looks down, “oh umm nothing really…no real plans”, Ethan responds surprised, “so what? you’re just going to sit there for two days waiting for school to start again?…sounds pretty sad”. Gertrude gets mock defensive, “oh and what is it you were planning on doing? Mr interesting”. “I’m gonna do a marathon of all the outkast albums and explore the city a bit, y'know new kid stuff” he responds. She looks surprised, wide eyed, why is she so surprised, “Fire Force”, she says shyly, “I’m gonna catch up on Fire Force, then I’m gonna play Nine Sols”. Ethan smiles warmly, “see…what harm was it in telling me that? I’ve never heard of Fire Force or Nine Sols though”. “Fantasy” she responds with a slight sparkle to her eyes, her hand move away from her throat, “they’re both fantasy stories” ,she smiles, “what’s outkast?”. “Theyre a rap duo, they come from Atlanta, they make music about self expression and standing out”, Ethan responds excitedly. 

“I’ve never really been into music”, she says, to which Ethan responds, “to each their own I guess, I've never really been into fantasy Trudy”. “Why do you call me that anyway?”Gertrude says curiously, “nobody calls me Trudy, everyone calls me Gertrude”. “I dont know” he responds, “Gertrude never really suited you, Trudy seems a lot more like you, a lot…sweeter I guess”, Ethan’s breath catches, “why the fuck have you said that” he thinks to himself, “ooh its so much sweeter, sweet little Trudy, you fucking prick, now it really sounds like you have the hots for her”. Then Trudy does something truly unexpected, she doesn't make any noises, she doesn't hurt herself, she doesn't even blush, she smiles. “Thanks Ethan, that means a lot to me” she says softly. Ethan goes completely red, Trudy’s smile slowly falters the more she anxiously shakes, she pulls her notebook out and starts drawing, she's trembling again, Ethan has a look of guilt on his face

The bell rings, the day has started. “I’m going to just wait here for you”, Trudy says, her nervousness betraying the confidence she had earlier, “I’ll see you at lunch Ethan, right back here”. Ethan drags his feet away from Miss Jackson, his head full of conflicting thoughts, most of which he himself can't even identify.