I strolled towards Mia's house that wasn't too far from mine with my travel bag in hand. She said we were going to have a sleepover of some sorts.

Yet, as her best friend I am obliged to attend even though she knows social gatherings are not my thing.

Reaching the bright pink colored house I grew up in, I pushed the white wooden gate open. I swung open the front door not bothering to knock.

Mike, Mia's dad was on the couch watching a telenovela as usual. I guess he found another one since The Lore had ended. Kylie, her mum on the other hand was in the kitchen, probably preparing the snacks.

"Good evening, Mike, Kylie."

Mike tore his gaze from the TV, getting the remote to reduce the volume. "Ah, Minnie, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine, thank you. I heard they allowed you a break."

Kylie appeared in the living room, "Yes, they did. Said he finally deserved it." She placed all the snacks in a big tray signaling me to carry them upstairs.

"That's nice, I hope I'm not late."

I gently took the tray from her and sniffed a whiff of the cookies as I climbed up the stairs. They smelled delicious. My mouth watered at the thought of popping these into it.

Her usual dose were vanilla flavored-chip cookies but I guess she did a switch today. Chocolate-chip cookies endowed a quarter of the tray, little sprinkles adorning them. Beside them were the ultimate Mat-Ice EX-treme Whipped Cupcakes.

I had to stop savoring the snacks since I had reached an all too familiar door. Mia's door. Her BTS poster was adorned with so many hearts it covered up their faces. I heard a loud thud inside and immediately pushed open the door. "What's going on?"

My jaw dropped and I stopped myself from letting go of the snacks. Mia was on top a boy, squishing him on the ground while another boy and a girl where helping them up. I placed the tray gently on the table beside me before moving out of the room.

Mia rushed towards me pulling me back. She had an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry, it was supposed to be a surprise. I should have told you first."

I sighed before walking inside and awkwardly waved at the three teens in front of me. The girl waved back, the guys with glasses gave a nod while the guy on the ground completely ignored.

The girl kicked him a little. "Aki! Say hi!"

He huffed glaring towards me. "Why should I say hi? She should be apologizing for what her friend did."

The other boy tried reasoning with him. "Aki, are you still angry about that? She already apologized."

I looked at them confused as to what was happening before deciding to consult my best friend. Mia looked at the floor avoiding my gaze as I turned to her. "Mia, what's going on?!"

Dark bags laced my eyes as I trudged lazily towards the oh so sweet haven called school. I probably looked like a wreck but I could care less.

My hair was neatly brushed, if you could even call it that, and I was in the most comfortable thing in the world.

Baggy clothes.

As I reached the crowded entrance, my hoodie had been flung up to cover my face, a tradition I was known for. As I weaved through the sea of brainless zombies, I spotted the one person I had tried so hard to avoid today.

Aki Izumi.

His eyes raked through the crowd as if waiting for someone, resulting in the both of us making eye contact. I instinctively scanned his features taking notice of his wavy auburn hair neatly combed, cute outfit and dark brown eyes that were glaring at me.

Wait, why was he glaring at me?!

My face contorted in confusion as I walked passed him, a frown evident on my face. Did he wake up on the wrong side of bed or what? His eyes trailed on me before his focus was broken by a cheery strawberry blonde running towards him, screaming his name.

"Aki! Sorry I'm late, I had to use the subway since Tana left me at home."

Heavy pants left her mouth as she held her knees, trying to absorb some oxygen. I could see her eyes sparkle in curiosity as she smirked at him. "Who were you staring at? A girl?"

"I wasn't staring at anybody, Nadia. Besides, you should be worried about Professor Rik's assignment. I'm pretty sure you haven't done it."

I walked away as I heard her complaining  about what she would do and begged Aki to help her. I shaked my head as I trudged towards my locker to begin my awful day. I took out the usual and put in the usual before heading to my first class.

Professor Rik. Literature.

I moved into the average-sized room, taking a seat at the back of the class only to be met with a blue-haired boy wearing glasses occupying my seat. I remembered he was a part of Aki's clique but couldn't pinpoint his name.

I stood there for a while staring at him as he scribbled on his notepad before his head moved up to look at me, sympathy invading his features. "I'm sorry, is this your seat?"

I nodded and he sighed before packing his things up and gesturing for me to sit down. "Are there any free chairs here? I really don't want to sit in the front today."

I bit my lip as I looked at him. He obviously didn't know there was an extra seat since one of our classmates had transferred last month. Personally, I liked having an empty seat beside me but I could also understand why he didn't want to stay at the front.

Today was Review Day.

Every month, a literature work was chosen for us to write a review on and we were to participate in an oral presentation of it. You were lucky if it didn't get to your turn for that period because Professor Rik never touched that work again.

My index finger pointed to the desk beside me making him sigh in relief and mutter a 'thank you'. I nodded my head before setting my bag down and bringing out my review from my bag. Aki walked in with Nadia on his tail still begging for his help. She gasped before rushing to where we were, getting on her knees and begging the blue-haired boy.

"Shawn, please can you help me. Professor Rik is going to kill me if I don't turn in any paper."

"I can't help you, Nadia. What do you expect me to do now?"

She clunked her head on the table, groaning in frustration. "I'm just gonna skip."

"No, you won't."

The expression on Nadia's face was incomprehensible as she turned to face our teacher that had just arrived. The room had become dead silent and she stood up and sheepishly skittered towards her seat in the middle of the class.

Professor Rik took two strides, plopped his bag on his desk, and pushed up his glasses clearing his throat. "Hello, students. I trust you all have your reviews for 'The Midnight Summer Dream' ready for me."

Most people paled which led me to the conclusion that only a few people had completed the assignment. Guess they shouldn't have gone to that sophomore party last night.

Everyone quickly took their seats and Professor Rik immediately called upon the first person. "Nadia. To the podium. With your review."

What she did next was shocking, to say the least. Nadia carried her chair, walked to the class's front, and knelt while holding the chair up.

"I didn't tell you to kneel, Nadia."

"Yeah, but I already know I'm getting a fat zero and some punishment. Might as well start now."

"Get up."

"No, you're just trying to test me, aren't you?"

He moved to his seat and smirked, ruffling his hair. "Fine, suit yourself. You'd want to be kneeling when Oxford's representative gets here."

"What?!" she shrieked scrambling to her feet and immediately running to her desk. "How come no one told us?"

"That's because you aren't meant to know. Now, sit."

She complied without hesitating, dusting her grey skirt. I noticed Aki took a glance at her before shaking his head and laughing.

"Don't do that."

I turned to look at Shawn who looked somewhat confused. "Hmm?"

"You just furrowed your brows. It doesn't suit you."

"Thank you?"

The door swung open and a middle-aged lady entered the classroom, with a young man behind her carrying a bunch of papers.

"Good morning."

"Good morning to you too, class. I hope your day has been good so far. Will you all step out, please?"

We all trudged to the front of the classroom as the lady stretched out her hand receiving a binder from the man standing beside her. "You all are going to do a project and you will be in groups of 3. This project is going to have 2 sections; Oral and Written. I will now call the names."

After a series of names, I was finally called with two other names I knew well.

"Minnie Rae Woods, Shawn Akota, and Aki Izumi."

I paled as the guy who I had so desperately tried to avoid was now going to be closer to me than ever. Curse you, Mia.

She finished calling the names and Nadia was in the same group as some extras. Immediately the bell rung, Shawn called out my name as I was advancing to leave.

"Minnie! Shouldn't we discuss the project?" he asked as I shook my head in response. Now was not the time. I heard an all-too-familiar giggle that stopped abruptly, making me turn around. Geez, Mia, you really had bad timing.

Her eyes glanced at the two boys that were following me before locking with mine. They screamed confusion and fear.