twenty.

Sam and I are officially in the honeymoon phase of our relationship. Every day, we find some way to see each other, either in real life or between screens. My face hurts from the amount of smiling that I have done in the past week, and even my mother notices the change.

"Lisa, honey, you look happier." She pauses and hugs me. "I'm so glad."

That alone is enough to make me happier than I ever was.

At school, people have started to notice that I've been smiling more often than normal. Ali is more than happy for me and for once, I don't mind her excessive displays of affection with Ashton at lunch. I understand their exigent need to be close to each other all day every day. I can understand how their love for each other is more important than anything else around them. I'm glad that they've worked through their problems and have agreed to at least give long distance a try.

I only wish that Sam was here at school with me.

Greyson has quickly become a permanent part of our group. He needs to be here. It cannot be avoided. We've quickly become close friends, closer than we were before. I'm grateful to have a friend like Greyson to help me through the challenges of my life. Best of all, he's accepted my relationship with Sam, despite his doubts and worries that I was going to get hurt again, and is happy for us, which is more than I could ever ask for.

School flies by and soon, it's time to take our midterms. I am burdened by studying and trying to remember everything for every class. Sam comes over to try to help me study but ends up being more of a burden than anything, to which he apologizes profusely for. I tell him it's not his fault, but he tells me he isn't going to come over anymore because he doesn't want to be the reason that I fail.

I'm grateful for his thoughtfulness but I find myself constantly missing Sam. As I'm struggling to read the book that our final essays are going to be on, it gets to be too distracting, and I call him up and tell him to come over, to which he finally agrees to reluctantly. Around fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rings and my mother answers it. Soon, I hear footsteps on the stairs and I turn to the door, smiling widely as his head pokes in.

"Hey!" I say. His face breaks into a smile at the sound of my voice and he comes inside, closing the door. He sits behind me and wraps his arms around me, kissing the side of my head, and leans back against the side of my bed.

"Hey, Lee, how are you?" he asks.

I sigh loudly. "I'm so tired. I've been studying for the past three hours and my head feels like it's going to explode." I motion to the book I was reading. "Does anybody really care about The Old Man and the Sea?"

He reaches around me and grabs my math textbook. "How about we change subjects, then? Need some help with calculus?"

I nod eagerly. "Thank you so much, Sam." I turn to him anxiously. "I don't want you to think that that's the only reason why I called—"

"Stop," he says gently. "Of course I want to help." I smile and we start to study together. My mom comes up soon and brings water and snacks, smiling at our productivity, though she tells me to leave the door open next time. Finally, I can't study anymore and Sam has to leave.

"Bye, Lee," he says, stretching and standing. He reaches over and pulls me to him, kissing me gently before smiling widely. "See you soon." I nod and watch as he leaves. I stand there with a dopey grin on my face. I've never been happier over a study date.

The next day is the first round of midterms. They're in my easier classes, with history and art. I finish both of them quickly, and take the remainder of my time to study. The history final was harder than I thought but I'm sure I didn't do too badly. I have no idea how I'm going to get through the week. That night, I'm studying for the next day's finals when I hear the door open. Sam comes in, smiling, holding two Starbucks cups. "White chocolate mocha for you, Lisa," he says, handing me a cup. My heart swells with love. I don't deserve this boy.

"Thank you so much," I say, taking a sip. The chocolate from the mocha expands across my taste buds and I've never felt more content. Sam laughs at my facial expression and sits down next to me, taking a sip of his own coffee. We start to study for math and physics, my two hardest finals, but the studying soon evolves into textbooks being thrown aside in exchange for kissing and cuddling and watching Netflix to help me de-stress. I envy Sam, as his finals were last week at Hudson, and they're done and over with. When Sam stands up to leave, I smile at him gratefully and he promises to be back the next day.

I get through my finals with the help of Sam. If I didn't have him, I would have passed out of exhaustion and frustration.

Finally, after one of the longest weeks of my life, everything is done and I can sit back and relax. I have never felt happier. Sam visits and instead of studying like we have been for the past week, he asks me on a date. It's actually one of the sweetest gestures he could make. "I'll pick you up tomorrow," he says, with a smile on his face. The next day, he takes me to a fancy restaurant, and we gorge on steaks and expensive Brussels sprouts. Then we go to a movie and end the night with a kiss and a promise to see each other again soon.

The next week of school, my teachers look exhausted from all of the grading that they've done, and I mirror their expressions, exhausted from the amount of studying that I did. We get back into the curriculum for second semester and my brain feels bogged down from the new information. Our teachers are happy to be done with finals and this excitement that it's finally over fuels something that possesses them to teach us more in a shorter amount of time than anything we've done so far.

On Thursday, we're all bored out of our minds, and I suspect the teachers are as well. Nobody is up to doing anything and we're all sitting in our desks mindlessly taking notes, when all of a sudden, the principal walks in, a tall boy following behind her with his head down. The principal walks over to my teacher and they exchange a whispered conversation while the strange boy stares awkwardly at the floor, not making eye contact with any of us. After a few minutes, the teacher nods and the principal leaves, this time without the boy. My teacher clears her throat and surveys the class, standing.

"It appears that we have a new student today," she says, smiling warmly. "His name is Jared—"

The boy interrupts her, though not in a rude way, more like he's awkward and shy. "Excuse me, ma'am, my name's actually pronounced 'Jared', with the emphasis on the 'red'." He says it like 'Juh-RED' and I hear a girl laugh at the way he says it. His face reddens and he looks away again.

She nods and corrects herself. "Jared Harbor." I stare at the boy, wondering why he seems so familiar, when all of a sudden, something clicks into place.

Harbor.

"Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?"

Jared clears his throat. "Ah, well. You might know my uncle? Kellan Harbor. Used to date the singer, Lukeanne." My heart stops. Uncle? Kellan Harbor? Lukeanne? Here?

Some girls start immediately fan-girling and one girl almost passes out. I, on the other hand, sit motionless, unsure of how to react to this news. How can this boy, this strange brown-haired, bright-eyed boy, standing in front of me, be related to the once-rumored ex-boyfriend of Lukeanne?

I can't believe it. There's no way it's true. But why would he lie? To gain popularity at a new school? To stay apart from the less-than-bright stereotypes that comes with being a new kid at a strange high school?

He's not lying, I decide, and that scares me. How is he here?

My teacher smiles widely at the class and tells Jared to pick any seat he likes. He scans the room slowly as girls subtly adjust their clothing and their hair to look as inviting—or seductive—as possible as he chooses a seat. He bypasses the most sultry of the girls and walks past all of us to take a seat in the far back, just a few desks away from mine. I can't help but turn around and look at him, locking eyes with his for just a moment before I turn away, cheeks flushed and heart beating rapidly. I sneak a peek again and watch as he puts his backpack down and takes out a stark black notebook and a pencil and starts writing notes, as I should be doing.

I turn back around and take notes, but my mind wanders to the new boy sitting somewhere behind me for the rest of the period. After class is over, I walk out and find Ali and Greyson waiting for me to walk to our next class, the only one we all share together, and although my lips form a smile, my mind is still back in that classroom, thinking about the new boy.

I turn to Greyson and Ali and clear my throat when there's a lull in the conversation they're having about the options for lunch today. "There's a new kid in my class." They turn to me, intrigued. "Yeah, his name's Jared Harbor." I stare at Greyson, curious to see if he'll put the pieces together, though it's a fairly average last name. Ali continues walking as he stares back at me, his face showing no sign of recognition. I'm surprised Ali didn't say anything about the strange coincidence. "He says his uncle is Kellan Harbor."

Ali stops short in the hallway, and Greyson lets out a sharp breath of surprise. "Woah..." he says. "Really?"

I nod. "That's what he said. And I don't think he would just lie about something that big, right?"

Greyson nods slowly. "Oh, wow. Do you know what this means? He must have known Luke and about everything that happened to her." He pauses. "He might even know what happened towards... her end."

I stare grimly ahead of me, letting those ideas sink in. We still don't know the true details behind her death: the origins behind the tragic, twisted accident. "Maybe. But I don't think he's going to want a bunch of questions from random people about his uncle's girlfriend. Or ex-girlfriend," I amend. Ali nods slowly, though she looks like she has an idea.

"Still, don't you guys think we should become friends with him? I mean, like, wouldn't that be cool? Not just because of his uncle, obviously. Haven't you always just wanted to befriend the new kid?" She smiles to herself and lets out a breath as she loses herself in a daydream. I smile as I remember her old fantasy of being friends with a new student who knew nothing about her past or who she was. She always wanted to date a new kid before she met Ashton. Greyson stares at her oddly, though, and slowly shakes his head.

"No...? I have to say that I've never had that dream," he says and we both laugh simultaneously at his confused expression. Ali reaches over and pats his shoulder.

"It's okay, Grey, I'm just weird," she grins. She turns back to the hall and opens the door to our next classroom, holding it open for us as she ushers us in. Greyson nods his thanks as she continues talking. "Anyways, aside from that, I personally think we should become friends with him."

I shrug. "I mean, sure, but he doesn't seem like the biggest social butterfly. He took one look at the girls like Sasha Mitchell and Lucy Baylor and walked right past them to a seat in the back without a second glance."

Ali grins. "So he's a challenge, then. I'm all for it." Greyson and I roll our eyes at the same time and then look at each other and laugh. We take our seats as the bell rings. Seems Jared isn't in this class with us, which is a shame.

However, five minutes in, the door opens and in walks Jared, looking slightly harried, as if he jogged here. He clears his throat and the teacher turns around. "Hi, I'm Jared Harbor? Sorry I'm late." After a moment, he adds, "Sir. I didn't know where I was going." Mr. Gabriel nods.

"No worries, Jared. I know how hard it can be to find places in a brand-new school. Go ahead and take a seat over there, next to Lisa." He motions to me and I visibly jolt in my seat, to my utter embarrassment. Greyson and Ali snicker next to me and my cheeks redden as I raise my hand half-heartedly so that Jared knows who I am.

He looks as if he recognizes me from earlier and takes the seat next to me, unpacking his stuff. He turns to me. "Hi, Lisa."

I forget for a second that he knows my name since Mr. Gabriel said it about five seconds ago and am confused. I shake my head to clear it though and plaster on a smile. "Hi. Jared, right?" As if I don't know. He just nods and turns to his notes. It seems as if that's the most our conversation will amount to this period. Ali was right: he will be a challenge.

When the bell rings, signaling that it's time for lunch, I stand up and turn to Jared, who's hastily packing. Before he can walk away, I speak up. "Hey, do you want to eat with us for lunch?" I ask. I don't know where this newfound confidence came from but I'm grateful for it as he smiles, just a little.

"'Us'?" he questions, looking around. I grin and motion to Greyson and Ali, who are talking a little bit away from us with each other and don't seem to notice our conversation. He nods. "Ah. Well, sure. Thanks for asking."

I smile. "Lunch can get kind of hectic around here but luckily this classroom is close to the cafeteria so we can get there quicker. I mean, obviously not today since we're pretty late now, but normally." He nods as if he understands my babble. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my friends." I lead him towards where they're standing and clear my throat. They break away from each other and Ali smiles widely as she sees who I've brought with me. "This is Aliyah, but she goes by Ali." She waves. "And this is Greyson Carter." He nods at Jared, who nods back. It must be some guy thing. I shake my head. "Come on, let's get to the cafeteria so we can actually get food before it's all gone."

Jared follows my group and I fall back in step with him. "So where are you from?" I ask.

He looks at me. "Missouri, actually. My uncle was born there and I was too."

I nod. "That's cool. Your uncle is Kellan Harbor, right?" He nods, almost suspiciously, as if he believes that I have nefarious ulterior motives regarding his uncle. I laugh a little to ease the tension. "Hey, it's fine. I just think it's cool, since Luke was... my favorite singer." I don't elaborate on that and he nods.

"I actually don't know my uncle too well. My father and he have a huge age gap, like twenty years. They're actually half-siblings and they've never been that close. But I've met him, obviously, at like family dinners and stuff. He's still pretty young, almost like a teenager, really. He never talked about... her, though. If that's what you're asking."

I nod, though my heart sinks. I watch as he looks straight ahead and walks with an air of confidence that I wish I had. "Oh no, no worries, that's not what I was asking. I just think it's cool that your uncle is basically a celebrity." I nudge him and then instantly regret it. I don't want him to think of me in any way other than an acquaintance and hopefully soon-to-be friend. "You're like the closest thing to a celebrity that I know." He laughs a little at that.

"Yes, I'm so famous," he says with sarcasm. I grin. "So what do they have for lunch at this school?"

As I fill him in, I find myself wondering where Ali and Greyson went. They seem to have disappeared somewhere. I don't think too much about it, though, as I grab a tray and lead Jared down the lunch line, pointing out the best and worst items. He laughs as I wrinkle my nose in distaste as he piles on an entire plate of our school's version of chili, my least favorite food in the whole world. By the time we've paid for our food, we're laughing like we've been friends forever and I can't help but feel happy that I've managed to make a friend this quickly, especially one like Jared. His uncle doesn't even cross my mind as he tells me about his old school in Missouri and we pass the lunch away embarrassing ourselves with the most humiliating stories that we have. The old Lisa would never have been able to share these things with a boy she just met, but this new Lisa laughs and smiles and is as normal as she can possibly be.

We find that we have two other classes together and we walk together to them so that he isn't late this time. We walk into our classroom gasping for air as he tells me about the time his pants ripped during his math midterm and everyone swivels to look at us. Some girls visibly sneer at me when they see who I'm walking with and the boys just smirk at us, and one boy even wolf-whistles, making me uncomfortable. As I find my seat while Jared goes to the teacher to introduce himself, I hear the whispers around me.

"She's always making friends with the new boys. Under all those clothes and goody-two-shoes act, she must be a whore. Who knew?"

"It's always the innocent ones."

"It's always the ones you least expect."

"Slut."

"They'll get tired of her soon."

I sit down with my entire expression changed from what it was just two minutes ago, close to tears. How can my own classmates say these things about me, just because I've managed to make a friend? I've never been hated by anyone. I've managed to stay under the radar and leave the rest of our student population alone. And now, suddenly, because I've made friends with a new boy, I must be a slut. That doesn't even make sense. He just got here today. Even if I wanted to do something with him, which I most definitely don't, there hasn't been time for it to happen!

I take a deep breath and wipe away the tears with my jacket sleeve, looking away from everyone around me. Jared takes the seat next to mine and nudges me with his foot. "Hey, Lisa, are you okay? What happened?" I look up at him and give him a watery smile.

"I'm fine," I say. "It's fine." He looks like he wants to say more but class starts and he turns back to the teacher. We don't speak until the end of class and I've managed to somewhat compose myself by then. Jared doesn't look the most convinced but I take what I can get and leave it at that.

By the end of the day, I'm back to my normal self. I part ways with Jared with a smile on my face and look for Ali, who's supposed to give me a ride today. However, I can't find her in the crowd and I take out my phone to call her. As I'm looking for the contact, I hear a deep voice call my name and turn to the source, my face lighting up as I spot Sam waving at me from his car. I walk-run over there and jump into his outstretched arms as soon as I reach him. "What are you doing here?" I ask, breathless as he spins me around a couple of times. I look around, catching the stares and whispers of some of my classmates, but unlike earlier, nothing feels safer and more protected than being Sam's arms and I ignore them. Let them talk about me for all I care. My boyfriend just came to pick me up.

"I thought I would surprise you today by picking you up. Don't worry, I already called Ali and told her not to bother today." He's smiling as he lets me go and I can't erase the matching one on my face. "What were you smiling about earlier?" he asks curiously, looking behind me. "I saw you walking out with a huge smile on your face. Did you have a good day at school?"

Guilt washes through me like a knife. I didn't think about Sam even once today as I was talking to Jared. I forgot all about him. I muster a smile, but the genuine emotion behind it earlier has vanished, like smoke curling up and disappearing into the air. "Oh, there's a new student at West Lake today. He was in a bunch of my classes and—"

"He?" Sam cut me off. His expression was bland but the way he said the words sounded odd, not like his usual jovial self.

"Yes, he," I say slowly. "Is that a problem? I'm friends with other boys too, you know. Like Greyson—"

He cuts me off with a harsher tone than I would have expected from him. "Not boys who make you smile like that. You only ever smile like that for me and now I see that some new boy, some strange boy that you just met today, has made you smile like that." He must see my expression change because he takes my hands all of a sudden and sighs. "I'm sorry. I trust you, obviously—"

"Do you?" I ask, cutting him off. As soon as the sharp words are out, I wince. I didn't mean for them to sound that way. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I trust you, too," I say, trying to mend the rift that has grown between us in such a short amount of time.

Sam musters a smile, and I honestly don't know how he does it. He takes a deep breath. "No. I'm sorry. It was just a bout of jealously. It was bound to happen." He reaches out to me and his hand traces the side of my face lightly. "I just don't want to lose you."

I shake my head vehemently. "You won't. Jared is just a friend. And besides, we only met today. You have no reason to be jealous, none at all. Don't you know by now that I love you and only you?"

He smiles genuinely this time. "And I love you. Now, tell me all about this Jared character." We get in the car and start driving. I don't ask where we're going because I trust this boy and I'm sure that wherever it is, it'll be superb.

I tell him all about Jared and who he is. Sam's eyes light up in surprise and perhaps something else as I tell him about Jared's relation to Kellan and Luke. After I've exhausted everything that I know about Jared, I turn to Sam, a thought suddenly striking me. "Don't you have work today?" I ask. His shift is usually right now.

He grins. "Not today. I now officially have all Friday's off, in exchange for some extra shifts on some other days. I thought it would be nice to spend some time together at least once every week, if not more. I could pick you up every Friday and we can do something fun together and just spend time with each other." We reach a stop light and he stops and turns to me. "I love you."

I have a strong inclination to burst into tears. My heart can't take much more of this boy before it will explode with love and gratitude. "I love you too, so much."

And no words have ever been truer. 

what do we think about jared?

malaynaturally xxx