Tess groaned as the alarm clock beeped. She turned over and slammed her hand down on the snooze button. It didn't work and she repeated the action, successfully hitting the button this time. Tess lay there a minute, not wanting to get out of bed. Finally, Tess ignored her sleepy body and managed to drag herself to the shower. She took her shower quickly, knowing she'd lost time lying in bed. Tess hurriedly pulled on a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt. She began packing her gym bag/schoolbag with the freshly washed track shorts and a shirt. She threw in her spikes too, remembering coach saying something about running drills today. The thought of running multiple four by ones made Tess groan. Brushing out her hair, she made a quick braid that came over her shoulder. She heaved her backpack further up on her back and walked down the hallway into the kitchen. Tess opened the fridge, seeing the cheap microwavable biscuits that waited for her. She shrugged and grabbed them. After a couple of minutes they were ready and she took them out of the microwave. Sighing, Tess ate the half-tasteless biscuits. The watch on her wrist beeped, warning her she needed to get going if she was to get to class on time. Tess ran out the door quickly and fast walked toward the school, which was about ten minutes from her house. The school bus passed her and she knew some of the junior high kids were probably snickering at her for not riding it. Tess ignored the thought. She had always enjoyed the brisk morning walk to school, plus Levi normally joined her, making it more of a race. Before she could finish the thought of her and Levi racing, she heard his rapid footsteps behind her as she passed him. He had been leaning against a stop sign, waiting for her.

"You're going to make us both late." He commented, slowing his pace to match hers.

"I told you, you don't have to wait for me." Tess reminded him.

"Sure, but I just don't like the idea of you walking to school alone, okay?" He said, looking at her. Tess knew Levi was always concerned about her being alone, it was annoying, but comforting at times.

"Aww, Levi it's so sweet that you care about my well fare." Tess said in a sappy voice, leaning close to him. Levi's face crinkled in disgust.

"Oh shut up." He said lightly, pushing her away. Tess laughed, knowing how annoyed Levi got when she acted sappy.

"You'd push me over a cliff the first chance you got." Levi remarked, a grin crossing his face.

"You know it." Tess said, immediately returning his grin. As they neared the school Tess glanced at her watch.

"Ready to sprint?" Tess asked Levi.

"Not really, Why?" Levi asked.

"A minute, thirty seconds until class starts." Tess said, leaping forward. One thing Mr. Falls didn't stand for was tardy students.

"Damn it." Levi cursed, running after Tess. Tess fought to stay ahead of Levi as his long legs gave him an advantage in sprints. Also her gym bag bumping against her hip didn't help. They both burst through the school doors, glad the principal wasn't around while they ran through the hallways. Levi opened the science room door and the whole classroom jolted around, staring at them. Tess cringed as the bell rang in the background.

"Did we make it?" She asked, raising her eyes toward an annoyed looking Mr. Falls.

"Miss Rochelle and Mr. Fletcher, I will not take kindly to you crashing into my classroom every morning." Mr. Falls said dryly.

Oh proper names, not good. Tess thought as she sat down. Mr. Falls looked back at both of them.

"And yes, you made it." He said, before turning to the dry erase board. Tess let out a breath of relief and she heard Levi chuckle.

"Now I want to see what everyone had for an idea of their ecosystems, starting with Silas and Tess." Mr. Falls gestured for them to come to the front of the room. Tess looked over at Silas, who was pulling out his notebook. They both walked to the front of the room.

"I'd rather you speak then me." Silas whispered to her. Tess took the notebook from him.

"We decided to take four cups of water and sterilize them by boiling the water. Then we are going to put one food source in each of the environments, but the fourth one." Tess said. Mr. Falls held up a hand for her to stop for a moment, even though she already had.

"And why will you not put a food source in the last one?" He asked. Tess knew Mr. Falls knew the answer, but wanted to use it as a teaching moment.

"So that we have an untouched environment to compare the others to." Tess said. Mr. Falls nodded in approval. He dismissed them back to their seats while everyone else began explaining their experiments. Tess was half asleep when the bell finally rang for the next class. She stood, gathered her books, and followed everyone else.

~~~~~~~~~~

Everything lulled by until lunchtime. Tess grabbed her food and looked around. She immediately noticed Silas sitting basically on his own, with everyone else not intent on inviting him to sit with them. Tess sighed and swallowed down her pride, walking over to sit across from him.

"Is this spot taken?" Tess asked in a friendly voice. Silas looked up from his food.

"Oh no, definitely not." He looked at all the other kids.

"Not the friendliest bunch." He stated.

"Eh, you get used it. If you were in some sport or other they'd be more accepting." She remembered being ignored as a freshman until she made the track team. Tess sat down, she noticed Casey had shot her a glare. Tess ignored the girl.

If you like him so much, come over here. In fact, almost every girl that swooned over Silas the other other day wasn't paying an ounce of attention to him now, they wanted him to make a move. From what Tess had already gathered about Silas, he wouldn't catch onto the hinting.

"So uhh, how are your classes going?" Tess asked. Why was this so awkward? Silas didn't seem to notice her uncomfortableness.

"Alright, for the most part." Silas said, "I hate literature though."

"I'm there with you." Tess said, holding up a hand for a high-five. Silas looked completely confused for a moment and then high-fived her. There was a small silence, before Levi plopped down beside Tess.

"Hello." He said, looking directly at Tess. Tess noticed Silas scowl a little bit at Levi's excluded greeting.

"Hey." Tess answered, trying to keep her voice friendly. For some reason Silas and Levi didn't seem too keen on each other.

"How goes your experiment?" Levi asked and Tess was relieved he seemed to include Silas in the question.

"We don't even have our food sources in yet." Tess said, frowning.

"What about you?" She asked.

"Well our experiment is similar to yours except that my partner and I decided to use water from a pond and put food sources in." Levi said, he looked at Silas.

"To speed up the bacterial growth you know." Levi said to Silas. Silas gave little indication that he was listening and Tess noticed Levi seemed a little satisfied about that. She was beginning to feel antsy around the two. The rest of the meal was eaten in silence until the bell rang for class. Tess followed Levi to literature class, slightly startled when his right hand settled around her side. She thought maybe something was wrong with Levi, but he simply smiled at her and suddenly, she felt completely comfortable with the gesture.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At track practice Tess was plastered in sweat running her, who knows what number of four by one. She breathed heavily, finishing another leg. The constant back to back sprinting was leaving her breathless and her legs weren't exactly fond of the strenuous exercise. By the time the practice was finished, Tess felt like she would barely have any strength to walk to Levi's car. Levi must have guessed she would be tired because his car was parked right outside the gym doors. Apparently his mom dropped it off during school. Tess opened the mustang's door and flopped down in the seat, brushing stray hairs out of her face.

"Thank you?" Levi said, starting the car engine.

"Thanks." Tess said, turning her head to look at him. He was just as sweaty and gross as her, and his mom would no doubt use deodorizing spray in the car when he got it home. The thought made her laugh a little.

"What?" Levi asked as he turned out of the school parking lot.

"I'm just thinking of how gorgeous you and I must smell." Tess said with a smile.

"Why, thank you. I knew gross and sweaty always suited both of us." Levi said sarcastically. Tess shook her head.

"I hope we don't have to do that exercise again." Tess relaxed her aching body against the leather seat.

"Hey, by this time next year you'll have other things to worry about." Levi reminded.

"Oh, don't even start me on that subject." Tess rolled her eyes involuntarily. College had been the least of Tess's worries lately. She had no idea what she even wanted to do with her life.

"Any clue what you're going to do?" She asked Levi, hoping maybe he could help solve her dilemma.

"I don't know, really." Levi replied. Tess inwardly sighed, super helpful.

"I might pursue something in the police force, maybe K-9 unit." He said, keeping his eyes on the road. Tess nodded, remembering how Levi always talking about becoming a police officer when they were young. She never thought he would follow through with it.

"You'll be good at it." Tess said in a serious tone.

"I'll need a side-kick you know." Levi said, a hint of a smirk on his face.

"You mean someone to keep you out of trouble." Tess eyeballed him as they rolled into the driveway. Levi stopped the car, but kept the engine running.

"You know it's going to be the first time we are apart." Levi turned, looking at her. Tess felt a sweat break out on her forehead. She and Levi had never been apart for more than a few weeks at a time. They had just always been used to being able to walk to each other's house and talk, or go on random strolls with no problem.

"Yeah," Tess swallowed, "but we'll be okay." She looked at Levi's face, searching for a reaction. He normally wasn't this serious.

"Sorry if I wasn't very friendly with Silas." Levi said with sigh, his grey eyes were unreadable.

"Why don't you like him?" Tess asked simply. Levi rubbed his forehead.

"This might sound ridiculous, but I might be a little jealous." Levi looked down, almost as if he was embarrassed to tell Tess this. Tess looked at him.

"Levi, you're not making sense."

"I'm so used to things being you and I, Tess, no one else." Levi eyes searched hers, almost desperate.

"Levi, if you think Silas is-" Tess's reply was abruptly cut off. Warm lips pressed against hers. Tess's pulse quickened and her head spun with a mix of emotions. She could taste the salty sweat on Levi's lips and she surprised herself by pressing her lips against his, as if she could wipe the saltiness away. Tess had never thought of Levi as more than a friend, much less, a romantic interest, but she didn't retreat from the soft whisper of his lips. She was actually kissing him! The reaction from Levi was definitely pleasure as he leaned over the seat's cup holders, drawing her lips into his repeatedly. The sound of her mom pulling in behind them from work brought Tess back to reality. She leaned away from Levi, the spell broken. Levi's eyes looked back at hers and a glimmering affection she had never seen before showed in them.

"I should be going." She managed out and opened the car door faster than she meant too. Tess didn't look back to see Levi's reaction. She kept herself calm until she was in the house and then, before her father could say hello, she fled down the hallway to her room. She closed the door tightly behind her and slowly slid down to the floor, her back pressed against the door. Tess stuck her head between her knees and took in a deep breath of lavender scent. Her heart felt like it would jump out of her chest.

What just happened?