(thea's outfit for this chapter)

"...And thanks in advance for all your hard work." LaToya continues to say at the beginning of the community garden build. "Now, let's do this."

It was a cold day morning today so everyone was either bundled up or wore sweaters. Thea was one of the ones who wore a sweater, but she honestly wished she at least brought a coat just in case she would need one 'cause she didn't think it would be this cold out. 

There aren't that many people who showed up. Thea didn't blame them for not going. It was 8 in the morning. It was even a miracle that Thea showed up. She was not a morning person. She told her friends the only way she was going was if they got coffee before they showed up and they did so now she was filled with a bit more energy thanks to the caffeine. 

"Hey." Graham greets as he kneels beside Teddy where she was planting some flowers. "I didn't expect you to be here." 

"Yeah, well, my friends and I heard that LaToya needed all the help she could get so we're here." Thea explained, noticing Mandy getting help from Leo with how to use a power tool. She smiled a bit, happy that it seemed like the plan was working. 

Graham smiles slightly. "Cool." He then picks up a nearby shovel. "You mind if I work by you?"

"I mean, there's literally a whole garden where you can work anywhere but here, but if you have to work by me then I guess that's fine." Thea muttered, avoiding eye contact with him. She was a bit aggravated by the fact he could've chose anywhere else to work, but he decided to work by her.

"Thanks." Graham said began digging a hole in the dirt to get it ready for a flower to be plant. He chuckled suddenly, earning a confused look from Thea.

"What?" 

"You remember when Pascal ran over your mom's newly planted flowers?" Graham asked, referring to the male golden doodle Thea's family has. 

Thea chuckles at the memory. "Yeah, she was pissed."

"Especially when he started eating the flowers." Graham added with a chuckle.

Thea giggles and nods. "She chased him around the whole back yard and had to tackle him to get him to catch him."

"Man, I wish I got that on video. It was hilarious." Graham comments and Thea nods in agreement. "So, do you think we're ready to present our project this week?" Graham asked her.

Thea and Graham worked on the project over the weekend and there were at the point where they just needed to check some things before they could present it. "I think so." Thea responded, mentally scolding herself for shivering when a cold breeze blew by. She had to face the wind since she was going to be there for most likely another hour or so, but she couldn't help the shiver. The wind was brutal.

"You cold?" Graham raised his eyebrows at her, already beginning to take his denim jacket off before Teddy looked at him.

"I-I mean, yeah, a little, but I'll be fine." Thea reassures him. She chuckles. "I guess I underestimated the weather."

"Here." Graham draped his denim jacket over her shoulders, leaving him with just the black hoodie he had for warmth. 

Thea's eyes widen with panic and she shakes her head. She didn't want to take his jacket when he might need it. "No, no, no. It's fine. I'm fine." 

"I insist." Graham said in a reassuring tone. 

Thea sighs when she realized there was no point in arguing. "Okay." A small smile made its way to her lips as she puts the jacket on properly. "Thanks." 

****

"Hey." Mandy greeted as she and Thea walked over to Ben after the community garden build was done. 

"Yo." Ben smiles. "How'd it go?"

Mandy sighs. "Well, Leo Richards is the narcissistic tool we thought he was." She shows her phone to her friends, showing that Leo had took her phone when she wasn't looking and took a selfie of himself. She grins. "But I'm officially his tutor." 

"That's great!" Thea smiled widely.

"Yes!" Ben cheered and the trio did their secret handshake.

Mandy puts her backpack in the trunk that's open. "What about you?" She asks Ben. "You have fun with your new girlfriend?"

"LaToya Reynolds is not my girlfriend, okay?" Ben said.

"Kinda creepy how you say her full name all the time." Thea admitted, putting her backpack in the trunk, and Mandy nodded in agreement.

Ben rolls his eyes. "Besides, she barely even looked at me anyway, so..."

Mandy raises her eyebrows. "So, you noticed her not looking?" She exchanged a knowing look with Teddy as Ben stammered.

"No, I-Just-Well-Shut up." Ben then slammed the trunk closed.

"Hold up," Mandy furrows her eyebrows when she noticed the denim jacket Thea had on. "That's not your jacket."

"What?" Thea asks, confused for a few seconds before she glanced down at the denim jacket and nods in realization. "Oh, yeah. I was cold and Graham let me wear it. I forgot to give it back to him." After seeing the knowing look her friends shared, she looks at them with confusion. "Okay, what's up with that look? You guys did it at Kayla's party."

"You like him." Mandy smirked.

"What?" Thea scoffs. "No, I don't. Remember, we're not friends anymore."

"Not friends don't share jackets." Ben commented and Mandy pointed at him in a sign of agreement.

"Yeah, well, maybe...I just...We..." Thea stammers, feeling her face heat up as her friends kept sharing a knowing look. "Shut up!" She shouted angrily, walking over to the back door of Ben's car, ignoring her friend's laughter.

****

To get in some extra research the next day at school, Thea and Graham looked in the library to check to see if there were any books that could help them out with their project. When Teddy started looking at other books that weren't Chemistry textbooks, Graham caught her red-handed. He stood at the end of the aisle where she was at, raising his eyebrows at her and smiling with amusement.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just browsing." Thea replies, glancing at the many books in the fantasy section. She runs her finger along the spines of the books, reading the titles and doesn't stop until one gains her attention. "I mean, it wouldn't hurt to get a book while we're here, right?"

"Sure." Graham chuckles, walking over to her. "But remember what we're actually here for."

"Chemistry, blah, blah, blah." Thea rolls her eyes. "I know." As she looked around, she noticed Mandy sitting at a nearby table with Leo sitting across from her. Her attention was brought to the right side of the library when three guys jumped on a table and did the iconic dance move from the '80s movie The Breakfast Club. 

"Another promposal."  Thea sighed with annoyance.

"What's wrong with promposals?" Graham asked her, looking at her with confusion.

"Everything." Thea responds. As she began to ramble, Graham follows her while she began walking down the aisle to get back to where the books they needed to look at were. "I mean, do boys even know what girls like before they do the promposals? Like with Owen and Jodi, it seemed like Jodi didn't even care about Ghostbusters and was more excited about the possibility of you asking her out." She rolls her eyes. "I just think promposals would be much more enjoyable for everyone if the boys knew what the girls liked. I mean, promposals used to be a sweet romantic thing. 'Cause now it seems like promposals are just a popularity contest." 

Graham looks at her with surprise. "Wow. I didn't know you thought that way about promposals."

"Well, now you do." Thea shrugs. "We're not having any luck here so let's go."

****

(teddy's outfit for this part of the chapter)

For the next few days Thea and Graham have hung out together to work on finishing touches of their experiment. And yes, during one of the days they hung out that week Thea made sure to give Graham his denim jacket back. Now it was the day before they had to present the project. "Okay, let's try this out one more time just to be sure." Thea said. She and Graham were at her house, standing in the dinning room wearing lab coats, latex gloves, and protective glasses. 

They both had made the soap foam again to test it out one last time. Dish soap, bubble soap and water was stirred well in a bowl while hydrochloric acid was poured into a flask that had a few pieces of aluminum foil in it. Then there was a tube that connected the bowl and the flask. 

Thea held onto the tube, pressing it onto the tube at the bottom of the bowl which made bubbles appear and that caused a reaction in the flask, making bubbles in the bottom of the flask. 

"Alright, ready?" Graham asked, holding the fire starter in his hand.

"Yep." Thea nods. She smirks. "Light it up."

Graham turns on the fire starter and touches the fire on top of the big bubble that had formed in the bowl. Fire erupts for a few seconds along with a loud sound that was made when flammable hydrogen is combined with oxygen in air. But the fire and the sound went away after a few seconds.

Thea couldn't help but jump, startled by the sound. Graham chuckles and turns off the fire starter. "You always jump at the sound."

"I know it's coming, but I can't help it. It just startles me." Thea chuckles. She grins. "But we did it!" She cheered, carefully letting go of the tube and turning to face Graham excitedly to pull him in a hug.

Graham laughs, amused by how excited she was and he sets down the fire starter on the table before he wraps his arms around her in a hug. He picked her up, gaining a surprised squeal from her and he laughed as he spun her around. He then set her back on the ground, both of them smiling at each other as they pulled away. 

"I miss hanging out with you." Thea blurted out, looking at him with a shy smile.

Graham looks at her with surprised, but then he raises his eyebrows. "Yeah?" He smiles. "I miss hanging out with you too." He shrugs. "I know this is probably a long shot, but is this your way of saying you might want to be friends again?"

"I'm not saying I might." Thea admitted and Graham couldn't help the frown that formed on his lips. 

"Oh." Graham sadly said, taking the glasses off and put it on the table.

"I'm saying that I do want to be friends." Thea quickly added, taking her own glasses off as well to put them on the table.

"Really?" Graham looked at her with a hopeful expression.

"Yeah," Thea nods, smiling at him. "I miss you being in my life other than just for working on a project. So, yes I would love to be friends with you again."

"Best friends." Graham corrected her.

"Best friends." Thea giggled.

Graham smiles slightly upon hearing her giggle. He had to admit he missed hearing that. He nods. "Great." 

"But you have to promise me that you won't do something that makes me not like you anymore." Thea tells him. She shakes her head with a small frown on her lips. "I just can't go through that again."

"I can't exactly promise anything 'cause I don't know what will happen next, but I promise I will try my best to not to that." Graham reassured her, pulling her in for another hug, one where he wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on top of her head.

"Thank you." Thea smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest, feeling her heart flutter when he kissed the top of her head. He used to do that all the time and she honestly missed it.

"You're welcome."

"Hey, kids." 

They both pull apart from the hug, glancing over at Thea's mom at the doorway of the dining room. She smiles apologetically. "Sorry to interrupt, but Graham, you're welcome to stay for dinner." She grins. "It's pizza night."

"Oh, then I'd love to stay." Graham grins. "I'd never turn down pizza night." 

A/N yay teddy & graham are friends again!