My second-, third-, and fourth-period classes were quite boring. I had a drawing class period two, and the instructor just told us where everything was located in her room. Period three was my study hall and seeing as it was the first day, the teacher told us to just go on our phones or read. Period four was health, which consisted of the elderly woman chattering on about each unit we would do and why she enjoyed teaching the class so much.

Eventually, lunch came. I quickly paid for some food and sat down at an empty table in the corner of the cafeteria. As I munched on my salad, I look around the room, trying to spot my sister.

Olivia was a senior and was generally popular. She was sitting at the most crowded table in the whole cafeteria, with a large chunk of both the football team and the cheer squad. A large smirk rested on her lips as a boy beside her pushed her dark hair behind her ear and whispered something to her.

My sister was definitely more outgoing than I was. She was on the cheer squad, went to every party, attended every school event, and had a new boy on her arm every other week. She was making the best of her high school career, given the circumstances.

I, on the other hand, liked to be by myself. That's why when a figure walked towards my table, my immediate reaction was to scowl. Once he lifted his head and I recognized his features, however, I was surprised.

"Asher?" I asked.

He passed me a soft smile, sitting across from me at the table. "The one and only."

I rolled my eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Sitting with my new friend," he drawled as if it were the most obvious thing ever.

I gaped at him. "Friend?"

Asher frowned. "Did I misread you?"

"I don't think so," I assured, "but I wouldn't call us friends. I hardly know you."

He rolled his bright eyes. "That means nothing. We've bonded quite a bit, Linds."

I opened my mouth, about to retort that we'd barely bonded at all, but another person sitting beside Asher caught my attention.

Asher was the king of our school. Everyone knew who he was and respected him. He was very extroverted and open, but there was only one person that knew seemingly everything there was to know about him. That was his best friend, Christopher Parker. Christopher was the king's jester. He was a troublemaker and quite mischievous, always pranking teachers and causing problems. There wasn't a day you wouldn't find him in the detention room after school. He had brown hair, brown eyes, and an all-around attractive face. He wasn't as tall as Asher, but pretty close.

Said best friend sat beside Asher and gave me a quick wave. "Apparently we're switching things up this year," Christopher commented.

I pursed my lips. "Apparently."

Asher nudged Christopher's arm. "This is Lindsey," he introduced. "She's in my English class."

The brunet smirked. "Nice to meet you, Lindsey."

"Likewise," I muttered.

He gave his best friend a look. "She's social, huh?"

Asher smiled. "She's sweet when you warm up to her."

When Christopher looked at me for confirmation, I shrugged. "I don't try to be rude. I'm sorry if it came off that way."

He shook his head. "You're alright. So, Ash, are you ready for the game this week?"

"I'm so pumped," Asher answered, before delving into all the training their coach had made them do.

About five minutes had passed and I was just eating my salad while the two boys chatted about sports, school, and other stuff.

I locked eyes with my sister across the cafeteria. She cocked a perfect dark eyebrow at me and I shrugged. I knew what she was wondering: how had an introverted loner like me gotten the attention of the two most popular guys in school? I was wondering the same thing.

~~~~~

After lunch, I had U.S. history, a subject I had always enjoyed and excelled in. My mother was a U.S. history college professor and I loved to learn different facts about the topic from her. I reminisced on all the different occasions we had sat in her office and researched while I waited for the bell to ring.

I shared this class with Asher but seated myself away from him when he got distracted by two girls who had asked him a question. When they were finally done flirting with the guy, he looked around the room until our eyes locked. He frowned at the fact that I was sitting against the wall with some boy on my right.

Asher walked over and looked down at the boy. "Hey, Jake," he called.

The boy - Jake - looked up. "Oh, hey, man."

"Would you mind moving for me?" Asher asked.

And with that, Asher was once again sitting with me. "Look at that," he commented. "Two classes together."

I smiled half-heartedly. "And they're both my favorites."

He turned to face me fully. "Why are they your favorite?" 

I hesitated, contemplating whether or not to share some of my dearest memories with my mother with this boy I had only met a few hours prior. It's not like I was ever one to open up to others, but Asher was such a caring guy. I couldn't find any reason not to tell him my brief story, and it wasn't like it was a huge deal. I was just sensitive.

"My mom used to be a U.S. history professor," I stated. "She liked telling me about different facts. I like English because I like to read and writing has always been fun for me."

Asher furrowed his eyebrows and opened his mouth, but smiled instead of speaking. "That's really nice, Lindsey."

I nodded quickly and turned my attention to the front of the room, trying not to focus on the fact that Asher was surely about to ask me the one question everyone seemed to want to know the answer to.

The teacher began to talk about what we would be learning this year and his expectations for our behavior. As he did so, I thought about all the good times I had had with my mother, as well as the bad.

Suddenly, memories were flooding my brain like a movie. It felt as if I were in another place, not sitting in my high school. I was getting called down from my bedroom to have a family meeting. I was sitting in the hospital waiting room. I was crying in a doctor's office. I was slumped on a couch, listening to the monotonous beeps of a heart monitor. I was kneeling in the damp grass in front of a graveyard.

The jarring ring of the bell jolted me from my thoughts.

I blinked, shaking my head, and jumped up from my seat. I immediately began to search for my next class, trying to occupy my brain.

"Hey, Lindsey!" a deep voice called.

When a hand tapped my shoulder, I glanced behind me to see Asher's bright blue eyes looking at me with concern. "What?" I asked stonily.

He withdrew his arm and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his black jeans. "Are you okay? You kind of zoned out and your eyes got all watery."

I narrowed my eyes. "I'm fine."

Asher frowned. "Are you sure? I know we've just met, but you can tell me anything. I'd never tell anyone else."

I sighed. "Thanks for being worried, but I'm really fine. I've got to go to class, okay?"

He nodded. "Alright, have a good day."

I zipped down the hallway and to my next class. The rest of my day crawled by at a sluggish pace, all my classes consisting of the same thing: attendance, introductions, and a syllabus of the year. Once the day was finally over, I stopped by at my locker to drop off the notebooks that I wouldn't need until later the next day.

The second I shut my locker door and turned to leave the building, I walked straight into my sister. She was leaning on the lockers beside me, a bemused expression on her face.

"Oh, hey, Liv," I greeted.

She raised a hand before dropping it to her side again. "Hi."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Is something wrong?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I was just wondering what you did to get Mr. Golden Boy and his best friend to sit with you at lunch."

I chuckled a little. Her definition of Asher wasn't far off, from what I could tell. "I have no clue. I sit next to Asher in English period one and we had a conversation. He said he saw me alone so he wanted to join me, and where ever there's an Asher Wilde there's a Christopher Parker."

Olivia smiled, tossing her chocolate brown locks over her shoulder. "You've got that right. It just shocked me seeing as you never really hang around people at school."

"Trust me, it wasn't by choice," I told her. "They aren't bad company, but I prefer being alone."

She pursed her lips and turned, walking down the hallway. I walked by her side through the halls and out of the school. Once we passed through the doors, Olivia spoke up again. "By the way, I'm sorry about this morning. I was just tense and not really thinking about what I was saying."

I shook my head. "It's fine."

She grinned at me and threw an arm over my shoulder, squeezing me into her side. "Great. I'll see you when I get home. I might be late, I have plans with some friends."

I nodded. "Okay, I'll see you later."

"Bye!" Olivia called, waving as she sauntered over to her car.

I headed off in the opposite direction towards my hunk of junk automobile and hopped into the front seat. I put my bag on the seat beside me and maneuvered out of the parking lot.

The second I made it home, I threw my stuff on the ground, changed into a pair of sweats and a tee-shirt, and climbed into bed. I was exhausted. I laid on my stomach, blaring music from my phone, and tried to get a peaceful sleep for once.