Senior year, the last year of high school. This is supposedly the best year of your entire life where you'll become who you're meant to be and make friends that will stay by your side forever. My journey as a senior started with AP calculus so I'm not sure that what I've been told is true. Starting the 'highlight of my life' with the worse lesson in the whole of history doesn't sound like a very good start to me.

"Brody's waiting for us outside," Penny hooks her arm in mine as she drags me towards the exit. She notices my weariness and reassures me, "don't worry, you'll love him." I nod my head in acknowledgement.

There's a slight breeze when we step outside. I'm thankful that I chose to tie my hair up today. The last thing I need is to have to go the rest of the day with windswept hair that resembles a bird's nest. We walk over to a couple of benches and she plops down on one of them.

"Brody this is Madison, Madison this is Brody." Penny introduces us. I smile in his direction and take a seat opposite them, dropping my bag onto the grass next to me.

Brody sticks his hand out for me to shake and I stare at it for longer than necessary. His puzzled eyes shift to his hand, then back to my face. "Oh, sorry." I apologise, finally placing my hand in his.

"You'll have to get used to it around this guy," Penny elbows him playfully, clearly sensing my surprise at his handshake. He yelps. "Don't be a wimp, that didn't hurt." She deadpans with a roll of her deep-set eyes.

"Of course, it didn't. You couldn't even hurt a fly." He jokes. He raises an eyebrow, challenging her to deny it. She scoffs and shakes her head in amusement. I can't help but laugh.

It doesn't take long for him to throw us into a conversation about a new recipe he wants us to try. The passion that he has for it is evident as pride dances around his blue eyes, his face lighting up. That could just be the sun shining down through the trees but I'm choosing to believe it's his natural glow.

His blonde shaggy hair sways slightly as he laughs at something Penny said but I fail to hear it, my attention snatched away by a boy. A boy who could control everyone within a ten-mile radius by simply snapping his fingers.

A black t-shirt is sitting on his shoulders and it doesn't take me long to realise that he's wearing the same thing as yesterday. Is he one of those boys whose closet is full of only black shirts and jeans? Archer stuffs his hands into his pockets as he walks alongside his friend, Tyler.

Penny gave me the lowdown on everyone that I need to know. She mentioned that Archer only has a few people he considers to be friends. Tyler, the school's quarterback, is one of them.

As if feeling my eyes on him, his gaze meets mine as he turns towards me. My breath hitches in my throat and I swallow hard. Before I can process anything, he starts making his way over.

I panic, my eyes wide, and rummage around in my backpack for a distraction. Nervously, I grab the first thing my hands come into contact with before placing it on the table, making it look like I wasn't just watching him. I look down to see a calculator laying in front of me, but don't have time to put it back as he's already sliding onto the bench next to me.

Cringing inwardly, I will my face to become expressionless. I'm not affected by his presence, definitely not.

I push random buttons on the calculator as the rich smell of pine and mint fills my nostrils. Archer stops chewing his gum and turns to Penny. "I need a favour." I shiver when his gaze meets mine only for it to return to his twin sister moments later.

He clasps his hands together when she gives him a bored look. "What is it this time?" She asks, resting her head upon her hand as she waits for his answer.

Brody furrows his eyebrows at the calculator that I randomly threw onto the table and I pray that he doesn't mention it. I rest my hand on my leg to stop it from bouncing underneath the table and grit my teeth.

"I'm busy tonight, tell mom I'll be back late." Penny's solemn expression tells me that she isn't shocked by his words.

Their parents, Sophie, and Henry decided that we should celebrate our first day as seniors. They're going to make their 'heavenly lasagne'. Their words, not mine. They wanted to make it up to me for not being able to be there on Friday when I arrived.

"Tell her yourself." She counters with a huff.

I can't help the pang of disappointment that creeps in, but I know that him not coming isn't his attempt at trying to avoid me. It's just what he does, right?

"Why can't you just come instead of choosing to hang out with those moron friends of yours?" She folds her arms over her chest, glaring at Tyler. I think he made the right decision by choosing to wait a safe distance away. By the looks of it, she would rip his head off with her teeth and feed it to the neighbour's dog if he came any closer.

His lips tug up into a smirk which only causes her glare to harden. I wouldn't be surprised if she jumped up out of her seat and ran over there to give him a piece of her mind.

"Can't you just do this," Archer pleads but her cold stare doesn't change, "for me?" These two words cause her arms to fall to her side. Her face softens a fraction.

She closes her eyes momentarily as if weighing up the pros and cons before finally giving in. "You owe me for this." She grumbles.

Archer gives her a small smile before getting up and returning to Tyler's side. My eyes follow them until they walk around the corner of the building.

"Remind me why I put up with him again," Penny says, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Brody throws his arm over her shoulders with a chuckle. "Because he's your brother."

*

"Brody," Sophie choruses, "it's great to see you again." She pulls him into a hug and Henry gives him a slight nod of acknowledgement.

She gives her husband a tight-lipped smile, grabbing the lasagne, before setting it down on the table. This is the only action that gives away how she truly feels about Archer not being here.

By the time I take my seat at the table, Brody's already shovelling food onto his plate. I end up sitting opposite Henry with Penny to my right. I can't help the nerves that creep in when he asks me if I'm liking Portland so far. This is my first proper conversation with them since I got here, and I want to make a good impression.

"It's been great," I answer, twiddling my thumbs under the table. "Everyone's made me feel so at home." When I say everyone, I mean everyone apart from Archer.

Brody continues to shove food into his mouth faster than I've ever seen before. Penny nudges him slightly. He seems to get the message and eats slower. "We're sorry we weren't there when you arrived. We've been so busy with work and-" Sophie starts to apologise for the fifth time this week but I cut her off.

"-It's okay, I get it," I reassure her. She gives me a grateful smile. My dad is at the office a lot of the time too.

It doesn't take long for everyone's plates to be empty. Brody slumps back into his seat with a lopsided grin plastered on his face. Sophie's quick to collect the plates, taking them over to the sink.

I stand up, my chair scraping across the wood as I do so and offer her my help. "You're our guest," Sophie says but once she sees that I'm not backing down she accepts my offer.

Penny and Brody aren't so happy when she forces them to help me, but they start loading the dishes into the dishwasher anyway.

"Is this my punishment for not having seconds?" Penny asks her mum.

"Quit complaining." She chuckles.

Her parents leave us in the kitchen as they go into the living room. I can hear the TV in the distance. "This is definitely a punishment," Penny grumbles. She almost drops one of the plates but catches it at the last second.

All of our eyes widen. She plays it off, whistling a tune as she peers at her parents to check if they saw anything. The relief is evident on her face when she notices their eyes glued to the screen. "Thank God for that."

A few hours pass and I'm now in bed, squeezing my eyes shut in the hopes of falling asleep. I could hear the low hum of Penny's music for the first hour but now I am surrounded by silence. My room is submerged in darkness. I have to keep reminding myself that just because it's dark doesn't mean that a serial killer is waiting in the corner of the room to kill me in my sleep.

Footsteps outside of my door cause my eyes to shoot open. I look around sceptically before throwing the sheets off of me and tiptoeing towards the sound. I know that if someone is breaking into the house then going towards them probably isn't the best idea, but my curiosity gets the better of me.

I slowly open my door, popping my head out into the hallway. Archer's door closes and I allow myself to relax, it was only him coming back.

I lean my head against the door as I place my hand on my chest to slow my racing heart. What was I expecting to do if there was a masked figure outside? I don't think I'd have had time to run back into my room and climb out of my window. Someone would have probably woken up, but I could have been on the floor before they even left their room.

"Are you spying on me?"