Walking to class I couldn't help but notice some plants in our planters were weirdly… dry. It has been raining almost the whole week and their soil was really wet, but for some reason they were almost dying.

"Are you going to stare at those plants forever or…?"

Jules was still not convinced anything weird was going on around town. Before I could point out to them that there was something wrong they were already gone. At the end of the hallway I could see them making their way to Lola. Ever since the shopping spree the two of them have been talking more. I couldn't even imagine about what.

It was getting warmer. Even though I was a bit self conscious about it Lyana somehow convinced me to wear some of my new clothes. I chose the easiest outfit to put on. A pare of jean overalls along with a white blouse with some puffy sleeves. It was comfortable and easy to move in. Lyana offered to style my hair and for some reason I agreed to it. She just did two side braids and then connected them at the back. Simple, but effective. Somehow the hairstyle "framed my face really well", or that's at least how she explained it. She also basically gifted me an entire makeup bag. Why am I being so descriptive with my look? Well, because of the thing that happened when I walked into class.

Nathalie was sitting scribbling away in her notebook. She always glanced up when I walked in but that day she didn't just glance, she watched as I walked over, sat down and got my things out. I almost called her out for it but remembered I wanted to be nice to her.

"Hi.", I smiled.

She was about to say something when Lola and Jules walked in.

"You look great!", Lola beamed without missing a beat.

Jules chuckled: "Right? I couldn't stop looking at her during environmental studies."

They quickly sat down at the table with us. Looking at Nathalie again it seemed like she gave up saying what she wanted to and just started writing in her notebook again. Sometimes I really wished to just be able to read her mind.

I looked back at the others and noted: "And the teacher called you out for it. I'm pretty sure she thinks we're dating."

"We aren't?", Jules cut in.

I couldn't help but scoff in a chuckles: "Shut up."

Suddenly Nathalie slammed her notebook shut startling us all. She smiled, although behind her smile you could tell there was something else besides happiness. "How about we start our meeting?"

I looked at the two empty seats in front of me. She would usually wait a few minutes when two members were running late. But I didn't say anything. Being nice means not questioning her judgment at every step she took.

"Fifi and Jules, you two completed your assignment early, so I got something else for you."

Once again I held myself back. It kind of annoyed me a little how she completely chose to disregard my story. But turns out I didn't even have to say anything, since Lola quickly jumped in: "Wait, didn't Fifi want to write an article about her story?"

Before Nathalie could say anything else she continued: "I was supposed to help with that."

Looking at Nathalie she seemed annoyed but still composted enough that it was almost unnoticeable. Even though I agreed with Lola I couldn't brush off an opportunity to agree with Nathalie.

I bit the side of my cheek before speaking: "Ba- Nathalie didn't accept my story, remember?" I added as everyone stared at me: "I can write about something else."

Nathalie blinked. She seemed surprised, just like everyone else in the room, but unlike everyone else she seemed almost relieved.

"…Alright.", she looked down at her notes, "The flower shop will be holding a special event this week. There will be some kind of special flowers to buy."

"I could write about the different flowers.", Jules jumped in.

Suddenly, almost unprompted, Nathalie smacked her lips while still looking down at her notes: "Of course, you can."

Wow, that was… that was something. Nathalie and sarcasm? It was like an introvert talking to everyone at a party. It felt alien. I was being nice to her so that couldn't be it. Looking at Jules and Lola they also seemed caught off guard. Normally I would comment on it, but not that day.

"I'll interview the flower shop owner.", I added.

Jules swiftly nudged me. "We could finally go to that book cafe you were talking about."

I smiled. Yeah, I guess Jules hasn't work at the book cafe yet. It could be kind of nice to take a break from everything and hang out with them.

Looking back at Nathalie she seemed to have a different plan. "On second thought I think I will write the article.", she paused, "You two should write two articles about something interesting separately."

That time I almost said something. Just as my mouth opened Rudoslav and Philip practically burst into the room like a bomb. Stumbling over each other hanging to their bags for dear life. We all just stared at them.

"Philip got distracted!", Rudoslav gasped.

Philip quickly hit him on the arm. "What?! Rudoslav couldn't help himself and had to chitchat with the cheerleaders."

Lola squeaked a laugh.

"It's not my fault they came up to me.", Rudoslav mumbled.

Nathalie tapped her pencil on her desk as she demanded: "Guys, sit down."

The meeting continued as normal. Nathalie said a few words before we all started working in our small groups. I decided to sit with Jules to brainstorm some story ideas. But I couldn't really concentrate. All that repeated in my mind was the moment before the guys came in. Was I going crazy or did she actually just separate me and Jules on purpose? It didn't even make sense for her to write the story since she still had to finish her project with Philip! Nothing made sense to me.

I looked over at Jules and it seemed like they also haven't forgotten about what Nathalie did. Their little glances towards her showed some… resentment, but mostly curiosity.

"…Did she…?", I mumbled.

They quickly nodded. "Oh, she totally did."

She just sat there with Philip. Happily working on her project without a care in the world. Okay, she was usually excited to work but not "let me smile the whole time" excited. She was faking it. Fake it til you make it, huh?

Jules leaned in towards me and whispered: "Seems like there are stages of grief when crushing on someone." They added: "She's at the jealousy stage."

"Bats…", I quietly grunted. Why was she being so difficult?

Jules and I looked at each other. They joked, hopefully: "You better talk to her before she reaches the stalker stage."

I glanced over at Nathalie again. She was now staring right at us whispering to each other. I quickly leaned away from Jules and pretended I was working. Yeah, she was definitely thinking… something. As much as I didn't want to, it was time I had a chat with her before she takes it all out on Jules.

When the meeting was over I decided to stay behind. Jules gave me one last nod for comfort and left with the others. Leaving me and Nathalie alone, for the first time in a while. She just ignored me and began packing everything up. We glanced at each other for a moment before she turned and started cleaning the blackboard.

I leaned on her desk, crossed my arms and just watched as she cleaned it. Just waiting, and well, thinking. I wasn't sure how to start the weird conversation that was about to follow. When it came to stuff like that it always felt so awkward to me. Especially since I was trying to be nice to her, so I couldn't step over too many lines.

I tried my best to sound as chill and nonchalant as possible: "You're jealous."

She suddenly stopped cleaning and slightly turned to me, not fully, but enough that I could see the side of her face.

"Of whom?"

I tilted my head, trying to figure out if she was joking or not. Once I realised she wasn't, I explained: "Of Jules."

She turned again and finished cleaning the blackboard. Once she was done she gently placed the sponge back and spun around to look at me.

"Why would I be jealous of someone who looks like they woke up in a forest?", she scoffed and walked to the desk I was leaning on to get her stuff.

That sounded pretty defensive to me. Especially since Nathalie didn't strike me as the judgmental type… well, not anymore. I didn't say anything back. I didn't really want to in case it would annoy her further. I hated feeling like I was walking on egg shells with her.

As she was packing up her stuff she mumbled, quietly enough that if I haven't been right next to her I wouldn't have been able to hear it: "Even you know you can do better."

Got ya. I immediately leaned to her and with a smug look, asked: "Who would be better?"

We both looked at each other for a long moment. Her expression told me she was starting to get annoyed at me. But before I could make another comment to try and calm the situation down something made me stop. It was so quick and sudden I didn't have to time to react.

For a split second she glanced down at my lips, before catching herself in the moment and looking away. She stumbled with her bag as she desperately tried to avoid eye contact with me. I just stood there like an idiot and watched her look down at the floor as she swiftly walked off and gasped: "See you tomorrow!"

As the door slammed behind her I was just left standing there, stunned. I gently touched my lips with my fingers while lost in my thoughts.

Not only did she just do... that. But I thought I already saw her flustered before. That was nothing compared to what just happened. She was truly, really flustered... and I would be lying if I said in that moment I wasn't either. Nathalie North wants to kiss me.

I scoffed to myself. Was that all it took? Being "nice" to her and wearing new clothes that fit me? My new lip gloss? Was that what made her do that? Or was there something else?

I quickly rubbed my fingers together to get the lip gloss off on my fingers.

Leaving the club room I noticed Lola and Tobias not too far away… fighting. I tried to sneak passed them but it was no use, Tobias immediately noticed me.

"Fifi, you're working on a new story?", he wondered.

Oh no. Don't tell me they were fighting about me. I nodded. Hoping that would be the end of the conversation but it wasn't.

He crossed his arms. "You know what happened last time you did that, right?"

Lola quickly grunted: "Toby!"

He added: "Besides, I don't think a few dead bushes will be good for a headline."

"I guess, we'll have to see.", I shrugged as I already started walking down the stairs. Just as I was about to run away from them he had to say something that snapped me back to it. "I'm serious, whatever is going on you shouldn't get involved in."

I quickly turned. "Ha! so you do believe there is something going on!"

He didn't say anything else just turned around and started walking away. Just as Lola was about to follow him she looked back at me, like she remembered something.

"Oh, you should totally talk to Ms. Emily about the decay.", she smiled before following Tobias.

Ms. Emily, the owner of the book cafe. I guess she would have a lot of records and reports in the archives. If anything like this happened before she would be the best person to go to.