Mr. Donaldson is as chill as Anna had described on the walk over and, as she predicted, he seated me in the empty desk next to hers. We technically have assigned seats but, as Anna explains in a hushed whisper, people swap all the time. She'd had class with him since she entered the school and all her older siblings had as well. "He's older than time," she whispered conspiratorially to me. To me, he looks like he's maybe in his 50's. Paunchy and balding, but seemed to know that his class was a good way for students to pull up their GPA and taught with that in mind.

"What do you have next?" We're packing up our bags to go to our next classes.

"Applied Maths."

"Dang. I was hoping we'd have our next one together too. Lemme see your schedule." I pull it out and hand it to her. She grabs a pink gel pen from the side pocket of her bag and starts comparing our classes, outlining the ones we have together. English, Home Studies, and Free Period. I can't decide if I'm happy or disappointed that we don't have more together. On the one hand, she has a lot of personality. On the other, I kinda liked knowing at least one friendly face in my classes. "I'll walk you to math though. It's on my way." And just like that, her arm is linked with mine again and she's dragging me along. Anna must be why tropical storms are named after women.

Anna left me at my classroom door and, as she walked away, she turned to blow me a kiss. "I'll come back to get you for home ec!" All I can do is give her a tight lipped nod before I entered the room.

I'd nearly flunked pre-calculus last year and decided that I wasn't really planning to pursue a math or science related degree so I didn't really need to be taking such serious math classes. Applied Maths was more my speed. Mortgages, functional finance, polynomials, etc. Stuff I would actually use eventually.

The seats for this class didn't seem to be assigned and I was glad to see an open desk in the back row. Not that there were many rows. Three rows with 6 seats per row seemed to be the norm if the two classes I'd now been in were anything to judge by.

I'd been seated for about 30 seconds when a familiar face appeared. George is talking animatedly to another guy a bit taller than him when he spots me. A huge grin spreads across his face and he pats the others guys shoulder and makes his way back to where I'm seated. "Move," he says to the kid sitting next to me. The kid throws him a dirty look, but goes to find another seat anyway, George quickly dropping down next to me. "How's your first day going?"

"It's... Definitely something... Did you seriously just make that kid move?"

George shrugs, his grin morphing into a smirk. "What can I say? I'm kinda a big deal. When I say move, people move."

"Yeah ok. Sure." I roll my eyes, but can't stop my mouth from pulling into a smile. As the teacher, Ms. Spencer, calls attention to the class, I can still see him chuckling to himself. I guess that's two friends I have in this school.

If I'm being honest, and I always try to be, I didn't think George particularly liked me initially. Something had warmed up about him during the dinner with Craig and his mother. We'd bonded a little. Maybe. I don't know. I'm not a great judge of character. I used to think I was but... Well, look at what happened with Darius. I'm trying not to get too swept up in people.

The class was predictably easy. Not as easy as English, but not really a challenge. I can probably get a B+ in the class if I put in at least a little effort.

As soon as the bell rings, George is out of his seat. "See you around, Emmy," he calls over his shoulder as he takes off with the guy he'd entered with.

"Yep. Ok," I mumble to myself in reply. Home Studies is next. I assume it's basically home economics. Anna is on me in a flash when I step out into the not-so-bustling hall. For how spacious the halls are, there aren't a ton of students to occupy them.

"Ready to get cooking?" she asks, sidling up to me. I'm glad she doesn't grab my arm again. I think I've had enough dragging around for a lifetime.

"Umm... Sure?"

"Good! Home studies is the easiest A you'll get here. Saunders lets us pick our own teams too. Are you a good cook? I used to be shit, but Saunders is a good teacher. Stick with me and you'll definitely get an A." Does this girl ever stop talking?

The Home Studies classroom is predictable. The teachers cooking station at the front of the room, a few long tables, and the back was all set up as 5 little kitchens. Ms. Saunders is already at the front prepping her ingredients for the lesson. Just jumping right into it I guess.

Anna leads me to a seat at the end of the row of tables and throws her backpack on with a sigh. "The only bummer is this class never gets the cute boys," she grumbles. As more students stream in, I can see what she means. "Oh! Maybe not so much this year. Danny!" She sits up in her seat and waves to the guy that's just walked in.

Hello mister tall, dark, and handsome!

Just kidding. Kinda. The description fits.

"Hey what's up?" he greets Anna, coming to sit next to her. His voice isn't at all what I expected. He's built like a lumberjack but his voice is soft and a little gravelly. I feel like I need to lean in to hear him, but somehow his words reached me.

Anna leans on her elbow to look at him. "What's up yourself? What are you doing here?" Ok so she's definitely into him.

"I like food and needed to fill an elective." He barely glances at her. He's pulled out a blue notebook with My Little Pony stickers all over it. My eyebrows arch up and my eyes flick up to his face just as he notices me. "I have a little sister," he says, lifting the notebook a little.

Mhmm. Sure.

"I don't think we've met." He's looking me in the eyes now and leaning around Anna. Needles of heat prick at my cheeks and I turn away from his clouds-right-before-a-huge-storm eyes.

"What? You mean you haven't met my best friend, Emmy?" Anna feigns shock, lifting one hand up to her brow in a faux faint. "How dare you!"

He laughs and it's melted butter on homemade bread. "Nice to meet you, Anna's Best Friend Emmy. I'm Daniel."

"Ok," is all I can say. What the heck is wrong with you? Why are you so weird? The little voice in my head chastises me.

"Glad we've got that sorted out I guess?" Now it's his turn to raise an eyebrow at me. He doesn't look put off, but definitely a little confused.

I want to reply, but I don't know what to say and Ms. Saunders is tapping on her desk for our attention. Saved by the teacher. "We have a small class this semester, so you'll be in groups of 3. Please sit with your group and let's get started. We're making crepes this morning."

Anna snatches Daniel's arm and I can't see her face, but I'm 100% sure she's giving him that massive Cheshire cat grin she wears so well. He smiles back at her, maybe a little uncomfortably. "You're in our group too?" he asks me.

"Yeah. If that's ok?"

"It's definitely ok."

The rest of the class is uneventful, but fun. I can no longer tell if Anna is flirting or if she just really likes making Daniel uncomfortable. Either way, she's pretty aggressive about it. Scratch that. She's aggressive about everything. 3 crepes make their way onto the floor in her attempts to flip them. Daniel has to wrestle the pan out of her hands and banish her to my side of the kitchen where I was cutting strawberries and bananas for the filling.

"I don't see why he should get all the fun," she pouts.

"Why don't you whip the cream?" I offer.

Anna pouts for a moment longer, watching Daniel's back as he flips another crepe. "Fine," she says finally, "but you're eating at least as much of this as I am."

Easy peasy. I love crepes. And Daniel does look pretty good flipping them.