When Tate's alarm blared, she groaned, rolling onto her side to smack the snooze button. Who even decided school should start this early? If she ever found them, she'd have a long, angry rant prepared. But she reminded herself—this year was supposed to be different. She had promised herself she would at least try.
With a deep sigh, she forced herself out of bed and got ready.
When she got downstairs, she noticed a note on the kitchen counter.
"Had to leave early for a big presentation. Your lunch is in the fridge. Have a good day!"
Tate grabbed the small lunchbox, stuffed it into her bag, and headed outside, locking the door behind her. She still had about an hour before school started, so she decided to walk. Her school was a 30-minute walk away—something she didn't mind when she had the time. Sometimes she took the shuttle, but today, she wanted to enjoy the fresh morning air.
As Tate walked, enjoying the peaceful morning, she caught a glimpse of Allen heading in the same direction.
Her stomach dropped.
Immediately, she looked around, scanning for an escape route. A side street? A random store she could duck into? Maybe she could just vanish into thin air? Anything to avoid thinking about high school right now—because seeing Allen wasn't helping.
Then their eyes met.
Allen changed direction and started walking toward her.
She whispered under her breath, "Shit."
This was not how she expected her morning to start. What if he wanted to talk about the whole "I like you" thing? What if he was going to ask her out in person?
Her thoughts spun wildly until—
"Hey, Tate," Allen greeted casually.
Her brain short-circuited. "Hey, buddy."
The second the words left her mouth, she cringed. Buddy? She had never called him that before in her life. What was wrong with her? Now he was going to think she was weird.
Allen, either ignoring or not noticing her awkwardness, just nodded. "I'm good." Then he added, "Let's walk together since we're both heading the same way."
Tate hesitated. She was expecting something to be different—some kind of shift in how he treated her. But there was nothing. He wasn't acting nervous, awkward, or like a guy who had sent his friend to confess his feelings on his behalf.
Instead, he was just… Allen. Cool, relaxed, making small talk about random things.
As they walked, Tate found herself wondering—was Landon playing some kind of prank? Had Allen even sent him in the first place?
They both fell into a comfortable silence. Tate convinced herself that Landon must have been playing a prank on her. When they got to the school, they exchanged goodbyes and went to their respective classrooms.
When Tate arrived at her classroom, it was empty. She wasn't surprised. She was extra early and didn't expect anyone to have arrived yet. She sat down and closed her eyes, trying to enjoy the peace until she heard someone walk inside.
It was Martha.
Tate didn't expect her to be here this early in the morning. "Good morning," Tate greeted her.
Martha replied, and Tate realized this was the first time they had ever said a word to each other.
"How was your night?" Martha asked, catching Tate off guard.
"It was okay," she replied.
Martha then asked if she was prepared for the upcoming test Mr. Matthew had mentioned the day before.
Tate couldn't help but think that Martha was trying to make small talk with her. She was surprised but went with the flow. While they were talking, other students started coming in, ending their conversation. Tate was still surprised that Martha had even tried to talk to her.
As the students were settling in, she noticed her seat partner walk in—Damien. She had already decided she didn't like him. He sat next to her and didn't even acknowledge her presence.
Screw this guy.
The way he ignored her made her self-esteem drop lower and lower. Was she not worth saying hi to? Screw this guy.
But she couldn't help but notice—he smelled nice. Like a mixture of fruit and wood. She didn't know how to explain it. At least one good thing came from him—his smell.
After that, she spotted Landon entering the classroom. She decided she would have a conversation with him during lunch to figure out what was going on between him and Allen.
Mr. Matthew walked in and started the class for the day.
When it got to math, she was struggling. She didn't understand a single thing. How was she supposed to do the test when she couldn't even comprehend today's lesson? On a normal day, she would have just given up and wallowed in her failure, but she wanted things to be different, and she was going to work toward that.
Damien suddenly asked, "Do you have an extra pen? Mine just stopped working."
She looked at him with a blank stare.
He couldn't acknowledge her existence before, but when he needed a pen, he knew she existed?
She had an extra pen in her bag, but she wasn't in God's hell going to give it to him.
"No," she replied in a stoic tone, then focused back on Mr. Matthew's lesson.
After class was over, it was lunch break, and everyone went outside. Tate thought to herself that she would go out and eat her lunch today—and also talk to Landon.
As she was heading outside, she met Landon on the way.
Before she could speak, he said, "We have to talk. Let's go back into the classroom."
Before he could continue, Tate interrupted. "What is going on, Landon? Were you messing with me yesterday? I saw Allen on my way to school this morning, and he didn't look or act like someone who liked me, like you said."
Landon sighed. "I told Allen to act casual. I didn't want him to make you uncomfortable."
He explained that Allen was waiting for her response, and that's why Landon had approached her yesterday.
Tate wasn't in the mood for all this back and forth. She told Landon she wasn't interested in anything romantic with Allen. She didn't see him that way. And if Allen wanted to talk to her about it, he should walk up to her himself.
Then she walked away.
She just wasn't ready for all of this. She wanted to be noticed, to have new friends—but she didn't want any high school relationship drama.
Tate walked back into the class a few minutes later and saw Damien having conversations with their other classmates. She sat down in her seat but couldn't help overhearing his stories about his former high school—how he was the captain of the football team.
The guys listened with admiration. The girls were watching him with googly eyes.
The only person who didn't seem impressed was Martha.
She didn't even seem to be listening. She was in her own world, reading.
Tate thought to herself—her life must be so perfect.
And something clicked in Tate. She wanted to get to know Martha. She wanted to befriend her. She wanted to know the things Martha knew, live like Martha, be like Martha.
And that could only happen if they were friends.