THIS IS SO HARD HOW THE HELL DID I WRITE A CHAPTER WITH FOUR THOUSAND WORDS THEN?!!?!?!?!?

"Why do women always call Japan after their sacred monthly wastes?" Ashton asked, throwing a disturbed look over to Sunny. I just got back and they're already fighting.

She poked her tongue out, grabbed a towel nearby, and wiped it across her forehead. "Well, you know, because of the big red dot in the middle. I thought it was obvious." Carefully placing the bottle of paint on the spot right beside the door, I walked backward, my arm still holding it open.

Just a little more...

"Oh! Nevaeh, there you are." I sighed, looking up to see a Sunny walk over to me, the side scowl on her face gone in a flash. It really was scary how her mood changes when it comes to Ashton and to other people.

"You know how creepy our school is at this hour, right?" I asked her, arching an eyebrow when Aiden and Sam were nowhere in sight. Where could they be? More importantly, what are they doing?

"Why Japan though," Ashton continued, "If you think about it, there are many other flags that make most of red."

"Why are you so pressed on this topic?" Sunny stared at him in a bored manner.

"Because," He answered. "Whenever I hear the name Japan, I think about Shawn Mendes getting stuck on periods."

Just then, the door creaked open and Logan stepped inside, dressed in a white shirt and oversized joggers. He looked marginally surprised to see company inside the room, acknowledging us with faint nods. "How's the case with Harlow going?" He asked Sunny, and both Ashton and I shared a glance. We didn't know what they were talking about.

"What about Harlow?" Ashton piped up, curiosity clear in his eyes. I moved to the side of the mirrors where I left my bag, hooking a finger, and lifting it up to fish the strap of my camera.

Harlow

Harlow

Harlow....

Nope, I don't know who that is.

Sunny tensed up and faced us, one arm pin straight at her side while the other had a finger hooking up the front part of her hair. She pulled at the dark curly string and kept her eyes switching to the both of us, then to Logan who remained non-chant beside her.

"She's moving out of the country, moving to Bolivia or Peru if I remember properly. Told me just this morning it's urgent and that they already arranged passports and moving papers." She said, conflict bouncing throughout her face.

I didn't understand what was going on. "Who's Harlow?"

Ashton answered, "She's a senior, the only senior who's part of our club, actually. Remember when we needed to find someone to fill in the position of vice president? We were asking random people in the hallway to join when she approached us. You might have seen her a few times since she's the kind who goes in and out of class in every discussion."

"I don't think so, what does she look like?" This time I turned to Sunny, who settled on the floor and took off her shoes.

She looked up at me. "Well..." Her head tilted faintly to the side, "Dark hair, short above her shoulders and round brown eyes."

I thought about it. Was there anyone like that in our school? There were so many faces that blended in the crown that pinpointing one was exhilaratingly hard. Come on brain, do your thing.

"Oh! And she's tall. Like taller than you and she's thin."

I shook my head. I didn't know anyone like that.

"You're forgetting something." All of our heads turned to Logan when he spoke, and I swear I could see Sunny daring him to say whatever he is about to say.

"She and Lila are really close. They eat lunch and spend breaks together." I saw Sunny open her mouth from my peripheral vision, but Logan beat her to it, and it surprised me when he looked squarely at my face. "Aren't you making someone wait for you?"

"Shit, I forgot. I'll catch you guys later. This'll be quick, I promise." I started walking hastily with my arm waving behind me.

I bit my lip when I caught sight of the face Ashton was making. Conjuring up an invisible teacup, he pretended to sip it. Rolling my eyes, I motioned to the door, and he nodded, throwing a wink my way and made kissy faces.

What a douche.

I slipped out of the room and closed the door. I turned around and jumped in shock when I saw Blake standing directly beside me. His eyebrows rose, blinking rapidly in response to my action.

I placed a hand on my chest, or the lack of a particular part in there, and scowled at him. He only smiled in reply, and suddenly I was hoping the next few minutes wouldn't be quick as time would make it be.

------------------

"Why can't you be the one who orders," I whispered hastily, letting out a sound between half a squeal and grunt as the wind kept pushing my thick hair into my face.

Blake playfully rolled his eyes, then narrowed them into slits as his gaze zeroed on my hand where the massive ice cream cone had an abundant amount of cookies and cream. "You want me to buy you another ice cream while you haven't even touched half of that?"

I licked the side of the waffle when it started dripping. One thing early autumn and summer had in common is their ability to ruin my time as I savor the delicious frosty cake.

"It's for future purposes, better safe than sorry."

He scrunched his nose. "That sounds like a sex ed advertisement."

"You're right." It was my turn to scrunch my nose. "Now that I think about it, I never encountered a sex ed commercial."

"No?" His eyebrows raised

"Never." I shook my head, taking a big bite on the top of the treat. Too caught up with the flavor, I hadn't noticed him momentarily pausing. And when I noticed, his eyes strayed away as he leaned back on the chair, focused on his phone suddenly.

"Momma, what's a sex ed?"

I froze, risking a glance at the ice cream truck with all the courage and dignity I have left, and immediately turned around again once I caught Febby's surprised eyes at her little boy.

Zach, who was coloring a book with his broken crayons, was now patiently waiting for a reply. Febby dropped the plate she was washing and forcefully smiled.

It pained me to see another situation that my blabbermouth caused. I heard a snicker beside me and just as I was about to kick Blake; I saw that he wasn't laughing at me. He was chuckling at something on his phone.

I don't know if I should be glad or annoyed, but the feeling that hit a sore spot at the pit of my stomach was awkwardness.

I rubbed my feet together, scanning my surroundings while taking bite after bite of my ice cream. No one said anything in a while and when I checked again, he was still on his phone. I was curious about whatever he was doing because his center of attention was solely on it. Clearly, it was something important, or entertaining, or maybe even amusing.

Mind your own business you creep.

The next few minutes comprised of me chomping on the cone like a Piranha while a movie played through my head. It was when a leaf of the gradient green-gold almost landed on it, that I remembered where I was and where we were.

I looked at Blake to catch him already looking at me, glancing away when the second I noticed. I averted my gaze too. I peeked at him. I looked away. I peeked at him again, this time both of us catching the other at the same time.

And then I couldn't keep it in.

A chuckle escaped first, then before I knew it I was laughing my ass off. He rolled his eyes and looked away, "I expected a reaction like that, honestly ."

I regained my composure. "And why is that?"

He licked his ice cream, briefly taking his eyes off at me. "There's not much to it. You're just...you."

My face scrunched up."You always say that" I unconsciously leaned forward, narrowing my eyes to gauge what he said. "I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult."

"I'd say the chances of an insult are seventy percent and the compliment thirty." A lazy smile hung on the tip of his lips, my eyebrows going up when he suddenly stood up and walked away, saying something to Febby. When he came back, he was holding another ice cream, this time in a cup with a spoon sticking diagonally on one side and chocolate drizzle at the top.

He sat down beside me and I opened his book that was previously laying on the ground and opened it, skipping right to the last part so I could experience what it felt like to spoil yourself the ending you waited for. "You did that on purpose to make me jealous, didn't you?" I asked.

"Yep," He answered, extending his legs and leaning back on his hand. "Did it work?"

"Nope,"

"Hm,"

"What do you mean hm, I'm not lying." I dropped the book and ate the tip of my cone, finishing my snack.

"Why are you still here? It's late." He asked.

"Oh, dad's picking us up."

"Us?"

"Yeah," I affirmed. "Xav has a game today, and the gang wants to tag along. We're mainly going to be there to shout till our throats turn sore. Or till an authority shouts at us for being too noisy." I crossed my legs and turned to him, but stopped halfway when he started tucking my hair behind my ears.

Oh, God, no. Not again.

"What are you doing?" I tilted my head slightly and started a cursing ritual as he leaned closer, hair tickling the side of my face when the breeze picked up. When he moved closer, his right hand came to touch the soft spot in my ear while the other was holding the cup. I squirmed, my weak spot being exposed like this. I quickly grabbed the spoon and shove it into the ice cream, taking the biggest bite possible.

Blake retracted the cup. "I never should've let my guard down."

I smiled and covered my mouth with my hand. The liquid almost melted right out of my mouth the same time I tried to speak so it ended up being muffled. "Mph!"

"Mph? Miles per hour? You could've warned me that we would be dragging Physics into this."

I smiled blankly.

"Alright, get up." He stood up, dusting off his uniform, and never letting go of the ice cream. Come on come on come on come on. He turned around to face me. "Your earring is missing. On your left, I mean."

I grazed it and sure enough, it was true. The little blue gem was gone.

Raising my arms out I flashed him the most innocent smile I could muster. "Really Nev?" I grinned. He grabbed both my hands with only one of his and pulled me to my feet. "Jeez, someone's heavy."

I gaped, "Apparently not heavy enough. I think I could still eat ice cream. You know what I mean." I nudged him and turned around, bending to pick up the book.

That was the same time the wind decided to play hip hip hooray with my skirt because before I knew what was going on, my skirt was in the air and my butt was being shown to half the population of ants at the corner. "Shit,"

I turned around to see a wide-eyed Blake. "You saw nothing," I said.

He met my eye and nodded. His blonde hair seemed wilder than before. "I saw nothing."

Silence.

"We should try scouting around to search for your, um, earrings." He rolled on the balls of his feet, avoiding my eyes at the same time.

"Yeah, we should," I affirmed.

"Here," He extended the ice cream cup to me. "You should have it."

"Are you sure?" I asked. He nodded. "No take backsies," I exclaimed and had my first bite. We started walking, entering the school mainstream, and then I remembered I hadn't waved a bye or say my thanks to Febby nor Zach, so I handed my camera to Blake and sprinted back out, waiting for the time they would notice me.

I waved.

My cheeks were flushed as I ran back inside, the sting of the wind slapping me front on. The numbing sensation raked recklessly through my body that I didn't feel my ponytail coming undone. I passed a set of lockers and stopped a space beside Blake, my hands on my knees. My back leaned on the cool metal and I questioned again what was going on in my mind when I took off my jacket.

"Why do you always do that?"

I looked up at Blake, eyebrows crinkling in question. He looked at me like what one would do to a book. "You always do little things that even the most attentive people wouldn't glance back at. You'd pass these little smiles, and waves and then you go ahead and steal ice cream."

I think about the nods I give to people I recognize, of the awkward smiles I do when the situation calls for it. Or how my hand automatically waves a goodbye whenever we leave a place; be it temporarily or permanently. I start walking.

"Why don't you?" I shot back.

He was momentarily surprised, and then he looked at my camera that he's holding. It took him a second to find the power button. "I don't know. If you're not aware my family isn't exactly keen on manners. We were taught the basics and everything else from there is solely based on ourselves."

"That's probably why," I took a bite. "Mom and Dad are really strict on morals. They raised us with pure intentions and beliefs always on the white side of the world. If they messed around when they were younger, they never showed us."

"Is that why Ashton and the others told that you never went out to the city on your own?"

"Yep," I mumbled, scraping the plastic spoon against the cardboard cup to have an excuse to not look at him. It was embarrassing. I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed about something that isn't supposed to be embarrassed about.

"Do you like movies?" He looked at me from the corner of his eye.

I thought about it. "I don't hate them."

"What genre do you mostly watch?"

"Rom-coms. Definitely romance and comedies. Oh, and action movies too. And tragedies."

"Horror?"

I shook my head. "Nope never will like those."

"Aha, now I know one of your weaknesses." He jumped in front of me, waving a finger mockingly. In normal situations, I would have smacked him or inflicted pain somewhere in his body right now but the way the room seemed brighter with that infectious smile on his face made me stop.

And it was pathetic, but the way this moment felt so genuine made me want to cry out of delight.

"So...," I looked at him. "If I were to hypothetically take you to the movies, and it's hypothetically romantic, would you be happy and satisfied to the point that you'd buy me ice cream?"

Perhaps horror movies aren't my only weakness.

"Depends on the quality of the movie," I cast him a look. Like I was surveying him and on the bridge of disgust. "And the company."

"Horror movies it is then,"

I sneered. "Horror movies with 'true story' at the ending credits scared the hell out of me as a child so I never bothered with the genre ever since." I side-stepped and went toward the corner to throw the cup away, eyes still searching the endless white tiles of the hallway. "What about you?"

He shrugged, hands still toying with my camera. "I never liked the movies. The only times I would watch is when it's family night or if I'm forced to it," He licked his lips. "Oh--we should look here,"

I was a couple of strides ahead of him making him reach over. I prepared myself; for a touch on my shoulder or a tap in the back. Huh? I turned around and didn't expect to see Blake with a hand raised, my ponytail melting into a circle around his finger.

I felt my hair weigh its length down my back, no doubt transforming into the frizziest balloon the world has yet to see at the moment. Hurrying, I opened the door leading to the balcony of the school and clambered up the stairwell. When I was on the top, I turned to look back and raised an eyebrow at the boy who kept blinking, looking to be in a daze.

"You alright?" I asked.

"Huh?" He looked down for a moment, then back at me. "Yeah, yeah."

"You should stay there, I'll be quick," I said, remembering his fear and the way he froze up. I pulled open the door, using my strength when the ledge wouldn't budge. After a sweep across the grainy concrete floor, I sighed and gathered my hair, tucking it inside my uniform so that the wind doesn't keep dancing with it.

I made a move to go back down but was surprised when I spotted Blake sitting cross-legged on the floor, just on the other side of the door and scrolling endlessly through my gallery with his nimble fingers. I chuckled at the idiot, perching directly in front of him and copying the way he's sitting. "Howdy stranger,"

"You know I read something once that if you want to know what someone is afraid of losing you look at what they take pictures of," He started, "Funny how I don't see a single one of you in here."

"What, that's not true." I snatched the camera from him, placing the strap on my neck as a force of habit, and started scrolling. "I take pictures too you know,"

I was lying.

But he didn't need to know that.

"It's probably because I just deleted the files last night. There's not even a hundred shots here yet."

He grabbed it back and brought it closer to him. I gasped when I went with it, the strap choking the back of my neck in the most irritating way. "Hey!" I exclaimed and grabbed something of his; his necktie--and pulled.

The sound in the back of his throat made me burst out laughing as I bowed my head to release the strap and leaned back, sighing half-heartedly when a ray of sunshine hit my face. Oddly enough, it wasn't hot like it ought to be.

Another thing I loved about Autumn was the mood swing of the weather, yet it was better than the mood swings when it's summer.

I saw Blake pointing the camera toward me and before he could take a picture my hands were already shielding my face. "Damn your cat-like reflexes." I poked my tongue out. "Seriously are you secretly a superhuman from an ancestral lineage of DC comics. You tire out quickly but your instincts never let you down. Come on it's my first time using your camera, do it for the memory."

"Hell no."

"Think of the stories this picture would have,"

"I'll save the words on my brain thank you."

"Fine...do it for me?" It was slow, and I knew if I spared him a glance he'll somehow persuade me to take a picture, even if I don't want to.

Even though I secretly yearn for a silly thing like this but pretend I don't.

I peeked.

Well hello, stupidity.

His golden hair kept moving like a hand kept ruffling on it due to the wind, and his eyes danced with mirth, a rainbow reflect slashed on the side of his eyeglass. Then his dimples came out to play. "Fine,"

"Okay, so stretch your feet and smile here." He did this thing with his hand, turning, pointing, and directing.

A bubble of laughter escaped my lips. "Wow, I didn't know I was in the presence of a professional photographer."I stretched my feet and because of our position, it ended up on top of his right lap.

"A professional photographer in the presence of a model, it's supposed to be that way."

It took everything in me not to stand up and yell a thank you to the wind because this way the red flush on my cheeks seem ordinary.

He paused, narrowing his eyes and pretending to think, "Maybe the model went missing,"

I smacked him.

"That hurt significantly less." He flicked my forehead. "Okay, lights, camera,actio-, come on stop laughing and focus." His whiny voice made the situation much funnier. I kept laughing-- and after ten minutes I was still proven to be lacking the sense of seriousness.

"This is not working." He declared, taking his glasses off and placing it on the floor, and setting the camera down on his lap.

"What do you mean it's not working? My laugh was fabulous, can't you see?" I teased him, grinning from ear to ear at the annoying tick of his jaw.

"Yes," He said, "I can see that along with a few other things."

"Fuck you." I crossed my arms.

"Fuck you too," He replied.

I ignored him.

"Come one Nevaeh, you can't say it first then ignore me when I say it back," I was actually panicking at my foul use of language at him. He didn't need to know that though, and I was about to ignore this past twenty seconds when the idiot actually had the decency to sit beside me, not a space between us and looking the opposite way so he was overlooking the edge of the balcony. I pushed him away.

He caught my hand on his chest. "Are you ignoring me? I'm sorry Cloudy. You're not even talking to me. Cloudy. Cloudy. Cloudy. You're not mad, are you? Are you mad? Nevaeh Nevaeh. Nevaeh. Talk to me."

Then he did something idiotic. Like Blake the idiot idiotic level. He pushed my head with two fingers so that I laid my head on his shoulder. We were close-too close, and as a reflex, I elbowed him on the side to which he flinched back. "You had me there for two seconds,"

I hugged my knees to my chest and laid my forehead on it as Blake continued talking. "I learned another thing about you."

"And what is that,"

"That you can't not stop laughing whenever someone is taking a picture of you." He leaned back so that I can see his face up close. "It's not a big deal but you'll be at a disadvantage when they make us do self-portraits at art class."

"Speaking of art, how do you make yours so detailed." I turned my body to face him, tucking my hair into my blouse again.

"That's just how I express myself I guess." He said, toying with my ponytail as he leaned by the ledge of the door. "It's nothing compared to yours though," I snorted. "I'm serious. Your type of art style is messy."

"And how is that better?"

"It gives more personality to your paintings you know. Sometimes it looks like it's moving. What do you do when you paint?"

"Curse," I answered, laughing at the face he made.

"Curse?" He echoed. "Why would you curse while painting?"

"Because," I nudged him with my foot, a yawn escaping me. "It's relaxing."

Now he seemed more pained than intrigued. "How is cursing yourself relaxing?"

I got up and jumped, running around the balcony to bring heat into my body. I rubbed my hands together, resting beside him. "Okay, imagine this. A big bad monster is chasing you, and you, a person who isn't born to be a runner start cursing out and the monster would just magically poof, gone." I made a disappearing motion with my hands.

"You're crazy," He started to get up, extending a hand and looking down at me with a smile. He has his glasses on now.

"At least I don't say random words like a dictionary," I smirk. I took his hand and after a struggle of rising, he lifted his hand. His fingers spread open and bent forward as my hair tie compressed them.

I shaped my hand into a fist, watching his pale hand close and swallow mine, the elastic transferring to my wrist with a loud slap. "At least I don't go calling people at 3 am mistaking them for pizza."

My hand instinctively hit him on the arm making him rub the spot. He did this cross-eyed thing, "Brutal Nevaeh, brutal."

I rolled my eyes as we made our way back to the room, a mutual understanding that the chance of finding my earring is closer to a negative number than positive. "Alright, you win this round," I closed my eyes, willing the memory to go away. "But seriously, it's been a while since you said some unusual word that I haven't known off yet."

The walk back passed by in a blur of yellow lockers, the twitch of the lights, and the flutter of Blake's necktie when he tried--and failed-- multiple times to slide on the floor. It settled itself still on his shoulder. We reached the room, and I didn't open the door because I was afraid of what my friends would do if I did.

His lips curled, plucking the book from my hand and handing me my camera back by looping the hole through my neck. "I'll think of something, and you'll be the first one to hear."

He waved and turned around, away from me. A few minutes later, I heard the sound of an engine, no doubt my father is here.

The journey to the car proved to be more difficult than one would normally experience because Ashton kept putting his weight on my shoulders. And because Sam and Aiden were silent throughout.

Hey you, stop depriving yourself of sleep, it's not poetic.

Well, it is tragic.

Anyway, hello, hi, goodbye, yellow, red, orange, iguana, butterflies, goodnight.

If you made it here, I owe you a whole cart full of chocolate for even reading this so thank you and chin up darling, life's gonna get a whole lot easier.

-me, a high school student who's currently battling a tiny lizard because it won't get off my bed.

sidenote that's in the middle but still a sidenote: The music is chill and relaxing as hell so if you wanna take a breather or if you can't sleep, I suggest listening to it. 

Preferably with earphones cause reality sucks.