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ALLISON POV

The car ride to school is always quiet, though I never mind it. I enjoy looking out the window in silence.

My dad works a lot, even when he's home and not at the office, he's in his home office a lot to continue working. My dad works for a very high profile company, and his job is to work on sales and advertisements, so I understand that his lack of talking is just him being tired. Lucky for him, his workaholic attitude landed him a pretty high position in the company.

He was always stressed after... She left. But ever since he got that promotion he's been a lot better, and it's made both of our lives easier.

"Sweetie, we're here." My dad said, interrupting me from my thoughts. I nodded slowly, opening the car door. Before I managed to get out though, he grabbed my arm softly. "Have a good day today, yeah? You seem really out of it lately... I'm always here to talk." He said, smiling softly at me.

Normally, I would've brushed it off and seen him off with a joke or remark, but I didn't really know what to say. Yes something was bothering me, but it wasn't that simple to put into words.

Because I'm not even fully sure what's bothering me either.

After a few seconds of silence on my part, I finally managed to answer back. "Of course.. Love you dad.." I say, smiling softly at him before closing the door. He nodded slightly, waving at me before driving off.

Me and him have always been close, ever since I was very little. He just always found a way to make me happy, he always knew if something was bothering me.

I turn towards the school, walking through the doors to find my friends.

Today is Friday, and it's been 3 days since the first day of school, and school hasn't been going the greatest. Firstly, a few of my 'friends' have been gossiping crazily about our group already. Like damn, can we at least wait a week of school before we start some drama? Second, all my teachers suck. They are all so strict and annoying, they act like children when you zone out for even a second. And lastly, that damn nerd is getting on my nerves.

Why, you may ask, she gets in my nerves. Is she talking to me too much? Is she some clumsy person who spills things everywhere? Is she a sleeper who snores in class? No, none of that. She just can't leave my thoughts.

"Allie, over here." I hear Kim call me over to a table, so I head over there and take a seat by her. "There you are, I was starting to believe you just totally skipped today." She said to me, chuckling softly.

"I wish I could, but you know my dad cares about my attendance, so I can't miss many days." I say, sighing softly. While I wish sometimes I could just take a day off, I knew he was doing it out of love, I never get mad at him for parenting me.

"Ah.. aren't all parents like that though?" She said with a slight giggle, scrolling through her phone, probably on Instagram or something. "You miss one day and they act like the world is going to end." She said

I chuckled softly, nodding a bit as I took out a water bottle and sipped it slowly.

"Ugh. I don't know how I'm going to survive a year of this." Emily, one of our friends, said. Emily was a nice, but very gossipy girl. You tell her the smallest bit of drama, and by the end of the day the whole school knows. She was the one who told me about the girls gossiping about us

Chuckling a bit, Kim spoke up after her. "Well maybe if you stopped flirting with the football boys, you could focus on yourself a bit more." She said playfully, earning a pout from Emily.

Before I could say anything, the bell rang. I sighed softly, dismissing myself quickly and walking to my first class. I was never one to linger in the halls or skip class in the bathroom, it never made sense to me. As I was walking, another voice called out behind me.

"Allison, wait up." I turned to face her, seeing it was Layla, another member of our friends group. I had always taken a liking to Layla, and though we didn't talk often, I always enjoyed her company. "Let's walk to class together, yeah? Since they are right next to each other and all." She said, slowing down to my pace once she was beside me.

I gave her a little nod and smile, facing forward as we walked. "Sure, I don't mind." I said plainly, walking slowly down the hall. I tried to shake off the stares as I walked by people, but it was useless at this point. From the moment I walked into this school, people had viewed me as some cold ice queen of the school, so I played along. I don't have 'friends' who follow me 24/7 to make fun of random nerds, but I'm not someone just any random student would ask to help.

As we walked, she turned to me with a soft smile. "This is my class, I'll see you around, 'kay?" she said as I nodded.

"Yeah, see you around." I said a bit more plainly than I intended it. She walked off into her class, leaving me walking to class alone with nothing but stares coming my way.

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TS (Time skip)- Lunch.

"And the worst part, he gave us homework to do over the weekend." Kim said, making me give an eye roll in response.

"Really? Guess I got lucky with Mr. Adams." I said, taking a sip of my water. Lunch was almost over, so I was just killing time with small talk with Kim. We rarely have much to talk about anymore, except when something new happens, our hang outs are like a silent tea party.

"Mm.. well I heard he's introducing a project that we will start next week." She said, rolling her eyes. My eyes widened at the news, being that it was my first time hearing about a project, let alone in the one class where I have no friends to talk to.

"Great, sounds like a ton of fun." I said in mock excitement. I started packing my bag, getting ready for the next class to start. "Have any idea what it's about?" I asked Kim, earning a shrug in response from her. "Not in the slightest." she responded, packing her own bag.

I sighed, standing up as the bell rang. "Guess I'll figure it out now, wish me luck." I said as I headed to class. It was pretty close to the lunchroom, so I didn't have to walk far to reach Mr. Adams class. He stood outside the door as always, talking and lingering with other teachers as they waited for the class to start. I headed into the class, making my way to my seat, noticing Magnolia was already there, early as always. I took my seat, scrolling through my phone as I waited.

I wasn't really looking forward to a class project, but I didn't really mind it. Mr. Adams class was very boring, and there's no way a project given on the second week of school could be hard.

As the bell rang, Mr. Adams made his way into the class and stood at the front. "Hello class, happy friday." He said with a lot of what seemed like fake energy, only to get small grunts and nods in response. He coughed slightly, clearing his throat. "Well today we won't be doing much, except going over a project we will be doing over the course of the next 2 weeks." He said, looking around the room as he continued. "You will be assigned a time period and a location. The project is to come up with a presentation lasting at least 7 or more minutes about it. You will be assigned your partner based on who you are sitting by." He said, making me a bit surprised.

I was hoping we could choose our partners, but nope. Now I have to work with some nerd who almost hit me with a door.

No, I'm not letting that go.

I glance over at her, seeing she is staring at me, her expression unreadable. However, when she saw that I noticed her staring, she grew a bit flustered and stared back at the front of the class. I rolled my eyes, paying attention to Mr. Adams again.

I keep trying to tell myself I hate the idea of working with her, but I honestly can't even lie to myself.

After class ended, Magnolia seemed to hurry out of the class before I could even talk to her. I guess there was no reason to even brainstorm because we haven't even got our subject yet, but I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed at the fact we couldn't.

As I walk down the hall to my next class, I can't help but think about Magnolia's flustered look. Was she just scared I'd get mad if I saw her staring? What was all of that about... She was kind of cute.

No she wasn't. What am I thinking?

"Allie, are you okay...?" I hear Kim's voice call behind me, walking up beside me.

"I'm alright.. Just lost in thought I guess." I responded, staring forward with a somewhat fake smile.

Chuckling a bit, Kimberly responded "Damn right you're lost in thought, you don't even look like you're here with us." She said, nudging me a bit.

I chuckled and nodded in response, but I couldn't help but capture that thought that swirled in my head. It's not weird to think that right? It's not like I'm attracted to her..

"So.. what's on your mind then?" Kim said, seeing that whatever I was thinking about bothered me.

"I'm... not even fully sure." I responded truthfully, sighing softly. "I'd be easier to explain out of school.. You think I can come over today?" I said, looking over at her. She nodded quickly in response, rolling her eyes.

"Why do you even ask, you could come over unannounced during a family crisis and still be welcome." She said, smiling at me. I sighed a bit in relief, nodding.

"Okay, then I'll see you after school." I said, walking to my next class.

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Word count without A/N- 1753

A/N- Another chapter down, I think I'm getting it a little more. This chapter feels a lot more on track compared to the last one. At least I think so lol. I'm always open to suggestions and criticism, especially from other other writers, so feel free to comment or post on my conversations to talk, ask or suggest anything.

I don't want to post too often with these chapters, but it's a bit tough to write a whole chapter and just keep it in the drafts. But I have an excuse because I was very late on the first chapter, so I guess this will be fine.

Lastly, would y'all prefer I write larger chapters? I'm not a great writer so to me, 1750 words is a lot compared to my last few attempts, so if y'all prefer larger chapters then I can do that. I'm just worried I'll ramble on and get off topic like I tend to do.

And I'll introduce Layla in the Character Profile 2 page so I don't waste another page.

Thanks for reading!

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