The school bell dinged, interrupting Leona's train of thought. Looking away from the window, she noticed that everyone else was packing their things for their next class. Grabbing her notebook and writing utensils, she almost didn't notice her friend Stacey walk up to her from the back of the classroom.

"We have time to get to Ms. Richard's class, Lee," she'd say with a small chuckle. "You don't need to panic."

Leona rolled her eyes before putting her bag over her shoulder. 

"Do you remember what happened when we were late?" she'd ask. "We had to write a five-hundred word essay about the consequences of being late to things in life."

"That was a while ago," Stacey said nonchalantly. "And it wasn't even our fault. Tristan and Kaleb just had to start a fight in the corridor we usually go through to get to her classroom. If it hadn't been for those idiots, then we would've been fine."

"But you love one of those idiots, remember?" she'd say, following her friend into the crowded hallway.

"Don't remind me," Stacey groaned. "If he didn't have that face, I swear I would not have-"

"Fallen for a jock?" Leona teased.

"It's just a crush!"

"That's what they all say, Stace."

They fell silent as they made their way to their sixth period. The buzzing of students around them drowned out the rumbles of thunder outside, though Leona sensed that something was off. Why were there butterflies in her stomach? No, it felt more like a nest of wasps. The ones that were very aggressive in their natural setting.