STRESS. MOUNTAINS OF STRESS. WE had only been back to school for two weeks, and I was already stressed. Tests were coming up in math and chemistry. My English teacher had decided to assign a test in the next two weeks. My art teacher wanted to assign a group project. A fucking group project! Do you know how much I hate people? Yeah. Sure. I sat with the “cool kids”, but only by being best friends with cheerleaders. I was supposed to be kicked out of the group when I left the squad. I didn’t need the added stress of a group project. I was too young for this amount of stress.

“Less than five months ‘til graduation!” Keirsten danced on our way to the library for lunch. Our trio would sometimes hide out in the library whenever one of us felt like being around the usual gang was too much, or if we needed to discuss something in private. Trinity was running late this time. “I can almost taste the freedom.”

“And then we’ll end up in another hell known as college. You might not even graduate on time,” I pursed my lips and clutched my things to my chest. The tips of my fingers were hot, but the rest of my skin felt cold.

“Oh, come on. College is going to be wonderful. So much free time and possibilities!” She swung her lunch box in the air.

“Yeah. So many exams and projects. Can’t wait.”

Kiersten’s features softened as we found an empty table in the back of the library.

“You’ll do fine. You’re smarter than you think you are.”

“You think way too highly of me, my friend.” I forced a weak smile and placed my head on the table, attempting to steady my breathing.

“You’ve got two weeks to study. You’ve got time. Just breathe.”

“I can’t.”

“You can’t what?”

My eyes found strong biceps, a strong neck, a nice jawline, and green eyes.

“Brandon!” I jumped in my seat.

“Hey.” He smirked.

“Um…Hi. What are you doing here?”

My stupid hands couldn’t seem to find a place to settle. I kept touching my hair like a ditzy cheerleader. His smirk grew. I clasped my hands together and straightened my back.

“Catching up on the reading assignment I missed over Christmas for AP English.” He lifted a thick book in his hand.

“When did you start reading?” I said and Kiersten’s mouth fell open. A smile tugged at my lips.

He spun a chair around and sat.

“I figured it would benefit me if I actually read the assigned books instead of guessing on the exam. Besides, I’ve read plenty of things.”

“You mean Sparknotes and the first paragraph of every book?” I folded my arms and tilted my head to the side. A playful smile sat on my lips.

He flashed a grin and chuckled. “Mmm, I was beginning to think Snarky Serena only paid a visit the other day.”

I put my elbow on the table and my head in my hand. “Oh no, she’s definitely still here.”

“That’s good. I hope I don’t scare her away.”

“You can try.”

Kiersten coughed, and we both blinked. I had almost forgotten she was there. She had a goofy grin on her face, and she squinted at me.

“What?”

“Nothing.” She smiled and looked to Brandon. “I usually don’t ask outsiders this, but . . . you want to eat lunch with us?”

“Outsiders?”

“Yeah. We don’t allow male creatures during our lunch.” She folded her arms and smiled. “But I made way too much food this time. So, you should stay!”

“You always make too much damn food.” Trinity appeared and dropped her backpack on the floor before sitting beside her brother.

“That’s because some of us like to complain about the lack of food I bring.”

“Hey! Sometimes I have a pretty big appetite.”

“Yeah when you don’t eat breakfast.”

“I recently stopped eating breakfast. You know, for figure purposes.” Trinity reached for the food Keirsten made and began to open up each Tupperware bowl. Trinity could eat seven different dishes for breakfast if she wanted to. If she didn’t worry so much about her weight she’d eat to her heart's content. “Besides, Emma Kay, one of us has gotta start eating this food.”

Trinity reached over and poked Keirsten in the shoulder. Keirsten swatted her hand away. “Oh my god! Don’t use my first name.”

Trinity cackled before grabbing a fork out of Keirsten’s bag and devouring the food.

“So are you going to stay, Brandon?”

“Does Ms. Serena want me to?” He eyed me, and it felt as though hot lava had just traveled down my skin. What the hell?

“I-I don’t care. You can do what you want.” I turned away and waved a hand at him. I wanted the cold feeling to return again. This heat was too much to handle.

“Alright. I’ll stay.” He repositioned his chair and Keirsten pulled out the food she had prepared.

* * *

“That lunch was nice.” Keirsten jumped as we closed our lockers. We were standing outside while I waited for my bus to appear. “I thought you were pretty cute back there, and my food was really good this time.”

“Cute? Nothing cute happened,” I said hiking my backpack on my shoulders.

“Oh. Come on. ‘Ms. Serena’? And you teasing him.” She smacked my arm. “You can’t tell me that wasn’t cute!”

I shrugged. “It felt pretty normal to me.”

Keirsten was a bit of a romantic. In her mind any contact I had with a boy who happens to be cute and possibly single has potential boyfriend written all over it. She’d try her best to set me up with a guy if she felt like it. It’s not like I was allowed to have a boyfriend anyway.

“It may have felt normal, but it definitely wasn’t.” Keirsten grabbed my shoulders. “I haven’t been here as long as Trin. So, to me, this is far from normal. You haven’t talked to anyone like that since I got here.”

She was right about one thing. I wasn’t bold. At least not with people I wasn’t comfortable with. Not anymore at least.

“Females!” We turned to see Trinity flying towards us, her twin brother in tow. “Want to ride home with us, Serena? I know how much you hate the bus.”

“I don’t mind the bus.” I smiled. “You don’t have to take me home. Besides, I got in trouble the last time someone brought me home.”

“You got in trouble?” Brandon folded his arms and his brow furrowed with concern.

“What the fuck did she punish you for now?” Trinity folded her arms as well. “She basically said we could hang out at dinner.”

“I missed the bus earlier this week and Sven took me home.”

“Shit.”

“Why would she punish you for that?” Brandon placed his hands in his pockets and tilted his head. “Shouldn’t she be glad you made it home?”

“Sven asked the same thing.”

“Her mom doesn’t give a shit about that. If she did she wouldn’t have had to walk home the last time she missed the bus.” Trinity threw her arm in the air as if she wanted to smack something. Brandon’s face became unreadable and he looked down at his feet.

“You sure you don’t want a ride?” Goldish green eyes with a cold blue around the rims met mine. The softness in Brandon’s voice surprised me, and the urge to tell him everything surged through me. You might not be able to trust him anymore, Serena. He’s different. I thought and put my head down.

“Yeah. I’m-I’m sure. I’m just going to take the bus.” I nodded, stuffing my cold hands into my pockets and jogging away.

* * *

“What the fuck?” I returned my gaze to Trinity and Keirsten once Serena got out of earshot. Rebuilding my friendship with Serena was definitely going to be difficult. If you want your friend back, you’re going to have to accept who she is now, Trinity’s voice echoed in my head.

“She told you things were different, bro.”

I stuffed my hands into my pockets and glared at Trinity. “And that’s okay?”

“It’s not okay at all, but we can’t do anything if she won’t talk about it.” Keirsten frowned and clasped her hands together.

“We don’t fucking know much, Brandon. It’s like she’s scared out of her mind of her mom.” Trinity wrapped her arm around mine.

“Serena can’t date. She can’t leave the house without a good reason. We can’t even come over without a good reason and social media is closely monitored. Like uber close.” Keirsten moved a red curl out of her face and her lips turned down. “That’s all we know. It sucks.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah.”

It didn’t make sense to me. Did she do something to piss her mom off? Was her punishment bad enough to strike fear? But plenty of kids had strict parents and found ways around it. So why couldn’t she?