I wake up to the sound of rain tapping against my window. It is a familiar sound, one that I have grown used to over the years. But today, it feels different. I sit up in bed and look out at the grey sky, wondering what the day will bring.

I get out of bed and hurry to freshen up. After quickly getting ready, I step out of the bathroom and make my way straight to the kitchen. As I enter, I see my mom standing at the stove, flipping pancakes. I greet her with a cheerful "Good morning!" and she returns the greeting with a warm smile.

Taking a seat at the table, I eagerly wait for my breakfast. My mom skillfully serves me a plate of what seems like the most perfect pancakes I have ever seen. She pours me a glass of cold milk, ensuring I have everything I need for a satisfying breakfast.

As I begin to indulge in the fluffy pancakes, my mom joins me at the table. With a serious expression on her face. She shares,"Mads, I'll be going on a business trip to Japan." The thought of her being away doesn't really upset me.

I've been alone almost my entire childhood. I've spent days without her as a child. I escaped my loneliness by solving the math questions, I find them quite interesting, they're the only ones who've got my full attention.

As I'm about to leave, my mother comes running and hands me an umbrella, I grab my book on the table by the shoestand and leave. "Bye, mom. Have a safe journey.", I say as I wave at her. "Bye, Mads. Have a nice day."

I'm on my way to school. I've to learn and revise all the formulas by today."Okay, so here, x equals to...", I stand by the gate and thankfully Liv arrives on time today. As she approaches me with her sunshine energy, I start walking up the stairs to my class. She catches me up and says,"Madie, not today please! Please let's go grab ice cream before class begins.", she says, as usual. I deny, as usual.

"Please, you always ace all the exams, your scores won't be affected by just hanging out with me.", Liv whines. "Look Liv, the exams are approaching and I don't have much time to revise these questions.",I answer. "The exams are literally 1 whole month away!", she says as she finally gives up and runs to class.

The bell rings and our history teacher walks in. He claps to grab everyone's attention. "Good Morning! Today I'm going to announce the project, I told you about yesterday. So, You've to team up with one person and then I'll assign you the projects." I look at Liv, sitting beside me. "This is what you get!", she teases as she approaches Isabell, who agrees right away to team up with Liv. The history teacher claps again and all the commotion settles down. He says,"I'll be assigning you with your partners for the project, write your name on a piece of paper and hand it over here."

Everyone follows his orders. "I'll pick up two chits and the following names in them will be partners." He picks up and as he unfolds the pieces of paper he says,"Liv and Chris.". I look at Liv and smirk, "Now this is what you get." She says," I hope you end up with that nerd ...", I look away at the right moment when the teacher calls out my name, "Madeline and Cameron." No, this can't happen. Not that Cameron! Liv chuckles and teases me.

I look at Cameron, he's already smirking. Eww, no. I can't. I'm changing partner. I'm about to get up when teacher says,"These partners will not be changed."

I try to listen to the project details carefully, but I can't. All I can think is about changing partners. What do I do?! Liv would help me if I get her ice cream.

The bell rings and I go up to Liv,"You know-" Liv interrupts,"No, I'm not going to team up with you.", she scoffs. "I'll get you ice cream, Now! Let's go!", I say and pull her with me. She starts shaking her head as she pulls me back, "Chris is getting ice cream for me, I've got the best partner!", she says as her face lits up. "But-", I'm about to say but someone interrupts. "Hey!, Partner.", a deep voice behind me. It's Cameron. It's Cameron.

It's Cameron. It's Cameron.

It's not like I'm scared of him. But his fan girls would hate me and I'll get in trouble.

"Do not call me that! I'll go and switch the partners right away.", I turn around and that's when Mr. Singh, our history teacher comes to me. "Madeline, the partners are not going to be changed at any cost. So, All The Best!", he leaves.

I look at Cameron and he smirks as he raises his eyebrow. I sigh and I look at Liv. "I'm gonna go enjoy my icecream. I hope you two get along well!", she leaves with Chris. Cameron says,"You might have prayed alot for this, right?" I'd never pray for such a thing!", I argue. "Yeah, whatever!", he rolls his eyes. How can someone be that confident? He should see himself through my eyes, he'll lose his confidence in a bit.

I'm engrossed in my revision on my way home. I hear screams that interrupt my revision. I look around to see where they're coming from, and across the lane, I see a lady completely frightened screaming. "My Baby! My Baby! Help, please!"

I sprint towards the baby's stroller, my heart pounding. I look at the direction she's looking at and... A baby's stroller is going from the lane making it's way to the main road. I sprint and somehow manage to catch the trolley just in time, preventing any harm from coming to the baby. The mother, tears of relief streaming down her face, rushes over and hugs her child tightly, thanking me with her voice shivering.

Would my Mom be worried and cry like this if I was in such situation?

At night, I sit alone on my desk doing my homework, and the sudden sound of the TV turning on downstairs sends chills down my spine. With a racing heart, I cautiously make my way down, fearing the worst. I make my way slowly to the living room with squeaky steps. To my surprise, it's Liv, sitting there in her pajamas with a backpack filled with clothes.

"Liv! How did you get in here?!", I search if I've left any of the windows and doors open.

"Chill, Mads. Mrs. Miller gave me the keys and asked me to stay with you until she returns. Come on let's watch the TV.", she says as she makes her way to the fridge.

"I'm making plans for the History project. Have you and Chris decides yet? Where to go?  When to go?", I say as I come down the stairs. "Nope. Not yet. I'm inviting Chris here, this Saturday night.", she says casually. "As of the Saturday tomorrow? Like are you kidding me?!", I'm shocked. I've never had a boy over at my house.

"Also...Cameron's coming over too."

"WHAT?! Cameron? Why? We discussed I'm about to change partners soon."

"When I called Chris for the project, Cameron was right there and he said he'll come over too. Chris told me that Cameron didn't wanted to attend the party at his house that Saturday and also Cameron lied that he'll be with his friends for the project to get away. So, yeah. That's what happened.", she says as she closes the bottle cap and lays down on the couch again.

"Okay! I'll just go and make list of things we'll discuss tomorrow." I run up the stairs. Oh, I forgot. I come back down. "When are they coming over?" "In the morning I guess, I'll ask Chris and let you know."

I'm so excited, this time I'll complete the project before anyone else and submit it before the deadline and get extra points. Yeah! I am HAPPY!

...     ...

...     ...

The doorbell rings, and Liv and I head downstairs to welcome Cameron and Chris. Liv opens up the door and Chris and Liv do a cool handshake.

We all come up to my room, and we set up to start working on the project. We sit around the table I set up beside my bed. Cameron and Chris look around my room. “Really? A big room filled with only books?”, asks Chris. Liv answers, “Yeah, little miss studys all day long, even on the weekdays. These books are nothing, she placed an order for more of them.” “I don't see any picture on the walls. The only papers here are filled with these numbers and variables. Don't you travel anywhere.”, Chris looks at me.

“I don't travel much, only for olympiads and contests. ”

“Seriously?! Ask your parents to take you somewhere, like a beach or somewhere like Hawaii.”, Chris suggests.

“Her mom is usually away for business trips, rarely comes home.”, Liv tells him.

“Oh man! You're life is messed up. I would never be able to live like this.” Chris slams his head on the table. I laugh it off and open the books. We all take notes for the project when Liv’s stomach growls. She is embarrassed and says, “I'll go grab Ice cream, anyone else wants it?” Chris gets up and says that he'll be going too. They both leave the room and there's no one expect for me and Cameron.

He hasn't spoken a word since beginning. I look at Cameron and he's already looking at me. I quickly look at my notes and continue to write. Cameron leans closer, he smells good. I look up and he is just a few inches away. I can feel my heart race. This is the closest I've been with a boy. He looks at the notes and snatches them and leans back. He starts to read them. I get up and try to pull my book out of his hands. But the pulls it up teasing our height difference. I jump like a maniac trying to pull the book back down. He just takes a step back, he trips and as he falls down he pulls me along with him.

I open my eyes and realise I'm on top of him. His breathe gets warm and I can feel his heart beat. The room goes silent. I look at him and he looks at me.

I quickly get up embarassed and sit down at the table. He coughs and puts the book in front of me. I stumble upon the pages and start writing the notes again. I can say he's more embarrassed because he's the one who started it.

Liv and Chris enter the room. They put the chips and icecream on the table. I look at them and there is a sense of confusion on their faces. Both of them sit down at the table. Liv secretly shows me ‘that sign’. The sign of her upcoming gossip.