The bell rings, it’s lunch time. Trudy grabs her lunch box, opens it and pulls her sandwich out of it, then she holds the lunchbox in front of Ethan. He looks in the lunchbox, then looks up at her, his mouth opens slightly and he looks up at her softly, his eyes glistening. “Take it”, she says, “I made you an extra one…honestly if you dont take it i’ll be offended”. He carefully takes the sandwich in his hands, holding it with both hands, carefully. He takes a careful bite, then another, and another. Trudy smiles proudly, she begins eating her sandwich. There's a silence present, a more peaceful silence than usual for the pair. “I’m not going back to class” Ethan says, breaking the silence, “everybody thinks I'm gone home”. “Yeah I don't really plan on going to any classes today”, Trudy responds, “you gonna stay here much longer?”. “Might as well, nobody knows im here anyway”, Ethan says.

Ethan watches Trudy eat, his expression soft, slightly analytical, her eyes squint with every delicate bite. She leaves roughly half the sandwich and throws it into the lunchbox, Ethan averts his gaze from her. “I got put into a group project with Kyle", he says, “I gotta go to his house for a bit during the weekend”, “well he’s not going to hit you” she retorts, “dont worry, he’s a nice guy so he wont do anything unless he thinks me and you talk”, “thats not the point” Ethan responds aggressively, “he’s still the enemy”, he punches the ground, “he still goes on like you’re the fucking devil…he’s not a fucking nice guy he’s a prick, they’re all pricks how are you so fucking naive”,Ethan looks up, his face scrunched, breathing heavily, then it drops to a more concerned look, why? He saw her, her face, a face that’s scared, she looked back at him, tears running down her cheek, her fingers digging into her thighs. Ethan's chest aches, he clutches it with his right hand, “s…sorry”, he says apologetically, she chuckles, through tears she chuckles, the chuckling serving to deepen her tears, he’s crying too, “its ok…nobody’s ever stood up for me before, thanks guts” she says, “guts?” he responds, “yeah”,she says,”it suits you y’know…you’ve got guts”, he smiles through tears, “thanks Trudy”.

The pair take a few minutes to calm down, then,still sat under Miss Jackson, they begin talking. Hours pass, bells ring around them, they just keep talking.

Trudy: So if you don’t mind me asking, what made you move schools?

Ethan: I got transferred, the principal said that my presence was too much of a risk

Trudy: *eyes widen, brings her knees to her chest and hugs them* Were you some sort of delinquent or something?

Ethan : Oh no not at all…I was bullied

Trudy: Oh god that's awful…and you were the one transferred not them?

Ethan: Yep

Trudy: Fuck

Ethan:  Ah its all good, I prefer it here

Trudy: That's good then,  was your old school far?

Ethan: Next city over

Trudy: So you didn't have to move?

Ethan: I moved into my uncle's old one bedroom, he died with thirty-six months rent prepaid.

Trudy: A one bedroom, so you live alone huh?

Ethan: Yup, it's not that bad though

Trudy: I guess you can play your music at whatever volume you want

Ethan: Well not really, it’s above a shop

Trudy: oof…is that why you’re always hungry, because you got no food?

Ethan: *chuckles* no not at all…I have an old Irish grandmother who’s always sending me food…I just forget to eat *his expression softens* Is that why you made me a sandwich?

Trudy: I mean yeah kinda *blushes*

Ethan: *smiles* Thanks Trudy that was a really kind thing to do

Trudy: So if you have to go to Kyle’s this weekend you won't have time to listen to your outburst music or whatever its called and explore the city

Ethan: *chuckles* Outburst?

Trudy : Outburst?

Ethan: Outkast

Trudy: Ah sorry

Ethan : You are right though, I’ll have to leave one of them to next weekend

Trudy: *gulps* Maybe if I showed you around town over the weekend it might speed it up a bit? Then you have time for everything else

Ethan: I would love that

Trudy: *blushes harder* Great, chalk it down

The pair smile. They smile at each other, they do nothing but watch each other smile, the slightest up turn of the corner of their lips. Ethan looks away, embarrassed, Trudy follows suit, she fidgets with the hem of her hoodie. “I …I think I’ll go home now” Ethan says “you wanna meet at the school gates tomorrow morning? You can show me around the city”, “yeah…is 10:00 ok?” she responds. “Perfect,” Ethan says. He gets up and dusts down the back of his legs. “See ya guts” she says, “later Trudy” he responds he walks away from the school gleefully, Trudy remains for about half an hour under Miss Jackson, writing something before heading off home as well.