"ey, Anna," Abby greets me, as soon as she approaches me.

I turn around from my locker and smile, "Hey, Abby. How are you doing?"

"Fine," she nods her head eagerly. "I'm sorry; I didn't sit with you the last entire week. It's just that-"

"Hey, Abbs," a girl with blonde hair just like Abby's, only more platinum says and she gives her a quick hug.

"Hey, Zoey," she greets her back. "Zoey, this is my cousin, Anna. Anna, this is my new friend, Zoey."

"Nice to meet you," she says, smiling.

"Nice to meet you too," I reply.

"You are coming to class?" Zoey asks Abby.

"Duh, you idiot," she answers and we chuckle, "Just give me a minute, I need to talk to Anna."

"Okay," she says. "Bye, Anna," she waves at me and I wave back, then she walks away.

"So, you have a new friend, that's why," I say, referring to her earlier statement.

"Yeah and she actually doesn't want to befriend me for my popularity," she says.

"I'm glad," I step forward and wrap my arms around her, hugging her and she hugs me back.

She pulls away, "Well, I have to go. See you later, Katara," I grin at the nickname and the fact that we will always be obsessed with Avatar: the Last Airbender.

"See you later, Azula," I chuckle.

| | | |

"Do you think my boobs are too small?" The girl sitting on the table behind me whisper-asks her friend.

Some people just don't appreciate libraries.

I turn around, "Hey," I smile at her. "I'm sorry, but this is a library, not a Victoria's Secret store. Can you please discuss your boob issues somewhere else? Thank you." I try so hard to sound nice.

She scoffs and gets up, gathering her things. Her friend rolls her eyes at me and grabs her bag.

"Bitch," the girl mutters, as she heads to the exit.

"Yeah, I'm a bratty female poodle," I say, a bit loudly, so she could hear me.

Linda, the school librarian hushes me and I give her an apologetic look. "Sorry, Linda," I say in a low voice and she shakes her head with a smile.

"Gotta admit, that was quite impressive," I hear a voice with an Italian accent say and I turn my head towards the direction of his voice.

He leans against the wooden bookcase, crossing his arms against his chest. He has a beanie on his head, covering most of his hair, except a few black strands had escaped out.

"When did you get here?" I look around, trying to figure out if there's an invisible door.

"Ten minutes ago," he replies, taking the seat across from me.

"I see," I return back to reading the book in my hands. "What do you want, Carter?"

"I need your help with Friday's history test," he answers.

"You mean tomorrow's test?"

"Tomorrow's Friday?" He asks in confusion, "Man, time passes fast," he pauses. "So, you're gonna help me?"

"Yeah, sure," I shrug.

"What do I owe you this time?" He jokes.

"Nothing?" I frown.

"You're just willing to help me like that?"

"Yup, like I told you," I say. "I'm a good person."

"Come on, let's go then," He stands up.

"After I finish this book," I flip the page.

"No, we're going now," he pulls my chair out, so I could stand up, then he grabs my bag, holding it out for me.

"Fine, fine!" I shout, annoyed and Linda shushes us.

"Sorry about that, Linda. Cherries is on her time of the month," Luke tells her and I resist the urge to repeat what I did when I first saw him in my house.

"I'm not on my time of the month!" I huff, standing up.

Guys are so freaking annoying.

| | | |

I open the balcony door and walk outside. A thick layer of snow is covering the whole backyard, like a white blanket. I march-since it's a bit difficult walking casually in the snow-to the small house that I, myself, built for Molly and open the small door.

Molly shoots up when she sees me and she starts barking, happily and jumping around.

"Hey, Molly," I coo. "I missed you so much, baby."

She jumps on top of me, making me fall back in the snow. I giggle, as she licks my face and jumps off of me, hopping in the snow. The white ice flies in the air and lands on her brown fur and my hair.

I glance at the balcony. "You wanna go inside?"

She barks, cheerfully and I pick her up. I walk inside the house, closing the balcony's door behind me. I head straight to the kitchen and place her on the ceramic floor. I fill her bowl with dog food and she eats it eagerly.

I grab a bowl and pour some cereal and milk in it. I mean, I can cook, but I'm too lazy to do anything. I hum a tune, as I place the cereal box back in the cupboard.

I sing to myself, not fully aware of my surroundings. "Nice voice," Luke comments and I squeak, almost having a heart attack. "Crap, you scared me," I place my hand on my heart, trying to calm its racing.

Molly starts growling at Luke and I pick her up. "It's okay, girl. It's just Luke. He's my...friend, not really," I explain softly, mumbling the last part.

"See?" I place my hand on Luke's bare arm to show her that it's alright.

Molly stops growling and she tilts her head to the side, sticking out her tongue. Luke scratches her behind her ear, "She's so cute. What's her name?" I see a small grin appearing on his face.

"Molly," I reply.

"She reminds me of my dog, Duke. How old is she?"

"Five months and-" I pause for a second, "Luke and Duke, seriously?" I chuckle.

"Mom personally thought it's cute," he says in a defending way.

"I like it," I smile.

Then, Molly licks Luke's hand and barks, happily at him. I'm not even surprised there, it seems like everyone likes Luke nowadays.

Traitors.

"Well, let's go help you with tomorrow's test, because I have a Friends marathon today and I don't want to waste time," I say.

| | | |

"Political integration, especially , emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities and create a common identity," Luke answers and I throw the textbook in my hand behind me on the bed.

"The end," I say, doing jazz hands.

"Holy crap," he breathes out. "I hate history."

"It hates you too," I reply.

"I have a feeling that 'it' refers to you," he says.

"I don't hate anyone, from my greatest enemy to the person I dislike," I tell him. "I just don't stand your presence. You get me?"

"That really hurt my feelings, Cherries," he places his hand on his left chest and I roll my eyes in response. I take notice of the guitar in the corner of his room.

"Whoa, you play the guitar?" I ask, skimming my fingers over the cool surface of the instrument.

"Yeah,"

"Will you play something for me?" I grin, holding out the guitar for him.

"Sure, Cherries," he replies and takes the instrument from my hold.

He takes a seat on his chair and I hop on the bed, crossing my legs and grabbing Molly, then placing her in my lap. Luke's fingers start strumming against the guitar, playing a tune I awfully recognize.

His fingers strum gently against the strings of the guitar and when he's done with the song, I basically stare at him like he's from another planet.

"That was amazing!" I exclaim. "I didn't know you could play."

"I don't really play anymore," he places the guitar back in the corner it once was in.

"Then, how come you played for me?" I ask.

"Because I know you'd annoy the shit out of me if I don't do it," he replies.

"Okay, now you're just being rude," I frown, then I put Molly on the floor and standing up.

"Come on, Molly. We have a Friends marathon to watch," I say, walking towards the door with my head held up high and Molly follows me, doing the same thing. I trained her to do that whenever I do it.

I walk to my room with Molly on my trail and I couldn't help, but think if there was more to know about Luke than his annoying personality. I mean, of course he does and I'm willing to get to know him even if he's a very annoying female poodle.

| | | |

"Anna, honey!" I hear mum yelling from downstairs and I pause the episode playing on my laptop.

"Yeah, mum?" I yell back, but she doesn't answer. I don't know why my mother does this. My voice is pretty loud when it comes to shouting, so she can surely hear me.

"I'm coming," I mumble to myself, uncrossing my legs and standing up. Molly shoots up from her sitting position on the floor and we both go downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Yes?" I ask.

"Do you mind helping me clean the other guest room?" She asks. "Grandma is staying with us until Christmas," she continues.

I think she forgot that a Roman god is staying with us.

Molly starts barking in enthusiasm and jumping up and down. She absolutely loves Grandma and once she hears her name, she gets excited. I smile down at Molly at her happiness.

"Um...Mum, Luke is staying with us and now you want to bring Grandma?" I ask.

"So?" She questions. "The more the merrier," she smiles cheekily.

"When is she coming?"

"On Sunday," she replies.

Two days. Enough to get rid of Luke.

"I've got another solution, we can simply let Luke stay with his friend and make Grandma stay here. Everybody wins," I grin.

"Anna, why would you say that? I thought you guys were friends," she says as she starts heating up dinner.

I take a seat on one of those tall chairs by the kitchen island. "We're just acquaintances, mum, which is not even close to buddies," I say.

"Well, I think you are going to be good friends, maybe even close friends. You'll see," she says. "And don't stop me from saying 'I told you so' when you become friends," she points the spatula at me and I raise my hands in defend, hopping off of the chair.

"Now, go clean the guest room until I'm done with dinner and if you need anything, call for me," mum orders and I nod and pick up Molly, before walking out of the kitchen.

I go to the upstairs room and I put on my headphones, then I start playing my playlist. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya starts playing on my phone. I start by tidying up everything and throwing all the trash in the garbage from that one time Cameron invited his friends over. I change the bed sheets, just in case and the pillow sheets. I move my lips, lip-syncing the lyrics to myself.

Molly holds the bed sheets between her teeth and place them outside the room. I pat her head and pick up the bed sheets, then I walk to the laundry room, the bed sheets preventing me from seeing anything in front of me. I'm following Molly's tail. I peek over the bed sheets and I take notice of the stairs. I keep following Molly then I run smack into a wall, literally.

"Ow," I squeeze my eye shut, rubbing my forehead, "Molly!" I scold her. She just licks her paw, giving me an innocent look and I chuckle.

"Such a lady, you are," I tell her.

| | | |

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