~Althia~

"I can't believe that they're still not talking to us" Hannah said to Jessica and I while we talked at our lockers about how petty the boys were acting

"I vote we keep pissing them off" Jessica said as she quoted with her fingers 'pissing'

"How?" Hannah and I asked her

She held her finger up and started taping on her phone

"What's going on here?" Zach's voice joined us

When nobody responded to him since we were all on our phones, he grabbed my hips and pulled me closer to him so he could read the screen over my shoulder

Groupchat-

Althia:

Jess I don't think this is a good idea

Althia:

And Alex can't be mad at you forever

"You know I agree with them, Jess" Zach spoke

Jessica rolled her eyes and closed her phone

"You're just saying that because they're your friends and you think they have a right to be mad" She told him

"I do not" Zach argued "If I thought they had a right, I'd be mad too" He added

"Why aren't you mad?" Hannah asked him

I leaned back in Zach more as he let go of my hips to wrap his arms around my waist

"Well the way I see it, is that I'm not anybody's boyfriend or parent. Therefore, I can't control what you do, where you go and who you hangout with. All I care about is that you're safe and comfortable" Zach answered which made me smile a little

"I wish Alex would have the same way of thinking" Jess huffed

"Jess, he's mad because you went somewhere away with Montgomery. You know how he feels about him" Zach told her "And Clay and Tony are more disappointed, you know" He added which made us nod

"Wait, what happened between Alex and Monty?" I questioned

"They used to fight, like a lot" Han answered

"That was before Monty stopped being an asshat and almost over a year ago" Jess said "He needs to learn that just because we're together, he can't control me" She added

"I can talk to him if you want" Zach suggested

"Please" Jess begged

Before any of us could say anything else, the first bell rang.

"Alright well have a good class, see you at lunch" Zach said before kissing my cheek and waving to the girls

As soon as his lips left my cheek, I felt myself blushing

"Are you blushing?" Jessica asked me as Zach left

I shook my head and turned to my locker

"The Althia Knight is so blushing!" Jess gushed

I ignored her and started to do my combination

"What happened to 'oh Hannah, it's just kissing a cheek. It's no big deal'" Han chimed in

I continued to ignore them and successfully opened my lock

"Did you just open your locker by yourself?" They both asked

I looked at them and then at my opened locker

"Well would you look at that" I responded

We all laughed

"You are so crushing on Dempsey" Hannah said as I grabbed my things for class

"Dempsey is so crushing on her" Jessica corrected

I shook my head again and we said our goodbyes before heading to class

//

"Hello ladies" Zach smiled as he sat down with us at lunch

Justin quietly took a seat beside him

"How are ya Justin?" I asked him, wanting to start a conversation since the others started talking about something

"I'm good" He answered "You?" He asked

I gave him the same response

"Are you getting everything in mechanics?" I questioned

Justin shook his head which caused me to laugh

"Can you help me out again?" He asked

"Of course" I smiled at him "What is it that you don't get?"

"The, uh, emissions?" He said, making it sound more like a question

His answer caused me to laugh again since the emissions were the main part of what we were learning

"Alright" I responded

Jess nudged me and I looked at her but she was looking straight ahead. I followed her gaze and saw Clay, Tony, and Alex walking in.

Justin and Zach turned around to see who we were looking at but they both quickly turned back around.

The boys' eyes landed on our table and when Alex saw us sitting with Justin, he stormed off and Clay followed him while Tony shook his head before joining them

"This was stupid" Justin spoke and went to get up

"Justin, stay" Hannah told him "You're already here, just stay" She added

Justin hesitated

"Foley, sit your ass down" Zach told him and he obligated

//

"Ugh, do I have to?" Hannah complained

"You don't have to but it would be helpful" I told her

It was the end of the day and I was asking Hannah if she wanted to come over to my house the day of my next practice and then we could drive together since she wanted to come

"Why can't we ask somebody else?" She asked

"I mean Tony would gladly drive us but we aren't talking to him right now and then there's Monty but he has his practice before mine" I told her "And Zach is going to be at his practice too" I added before she could ask

"Why don't we just stay here and watch them practice? That way we'd already be here" She said

"No, I don't want to stay here if I don't have to" I replied

"Fine, I'll drive" Hannah caved in

"Yes, thank you!" I cheered

"Curse me for being the only one with a license right now" She muttered as she slammed her locker

"Why do you hate driving so much?" I asked her

"I get lazy" She shrugged which made me laugh

We said our goodbyes and parted ways.