"on't stop, make it pop

DJ, blow my speakers up

Tonight, I'm-a fight

Till we see the sunlight

Tick-"

Kesha blares from my alarm and I slam my hand on the snooze button to stop the music. I roll on my back and stare at the ceiling, enjoying the tingling warmth of the sunlight.

Suddenly, I realize something.

Today is the Astronomy presentation.

I push myself up and swing my legs off of the bed.

"Anna, are you up?" My mum shouts from downstairs, as I do my bed.

"Yeah!" I yell.

I head straight to the bathroom, before stripping and jumping in the shower. It takes me about fifteen minutes, then I get out and wrap a towel around my body.

I used to take thirty minutes in the shower because I spent twenty minutes singing and the other ten showering, but I read somewhere that singing in the shower can get you possessed.

The last thing I want is people asking how I died and they'll casually reply, 'Oh, she was singing I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston in the shower and got possessed by a Whitney Houston hater.'

Although now that I'm thinking about it, I'm sure it was just a bunch of bluff.

Walking back to my bedroom, I shut the door behind me and grab my undergarments, a pair of high-waisted jeans and a crop top hoodie. I slip my clothes on, then I decide on leaving my hair to dry and not brush it. Although that will lead to a bunch of frizzy coiled curls.

My genes were pretty much mixed up that I ended up with natural curly hair from dad's side and straight hair from mum's side, so I get a mix of wavy hair sometimes. I don't know. It's messed up, but like, hey, I'm not complaining.

After putting my hair in a high ponytail, I put on my glasses, while putting my shoes on and grab my backpack. I walk out of the room and down the stairs, then I push through the door of the kitchen.

Josh, Cole, Cameron and Liam are sitting in front of the kitchen island, eating their breakfast, while mum makes, what looks like, beef bacon and eggs.

"Damn, another bad hair day?" Josh asks, smirking.

"Dang, another be-a-jerk day?" I shoot back, taking a seat beside Liam.

He glares at me and I stick my tongue out in response.

"Guys," mum says in a warning tone.

"Nice comeback, Lyn," Liam holds up his hand and I high five him.

"You're dead," Josh deadpans.

"Sade is here. I gotta go. Bye," Liam rambles, then he hops off of the stool before dashing outside, then I hear the door closing.

"Honey, just because Anna's comeback is good doesn't mean you threaten your brother," Mum sighs, sliding a plate full of food to me.

"Mum!" Josh exclaims, while Cole and Cameron snort and I grin at him, then I start eating my breakfast.

"This is sorcery," he mumbles, getting off of the chair. "Come on, dude," he tells Cole.

"Bye, idiot. Bye, Lyn. Bye, mum," Cole says to the three of us, giving me and mum a hug.

"Bye, honey," mum responds.

"We wuv you," I muffle out from the food in my mouth.

"Love you too," Josh and Cole reply, grabbing their backpacks and walking out of the kitchen.

"And then there were two," Mum says. "Can you guys finish up? I need to get to work," she continues, grabbing her bag.

"Yeah," I nod.

"Okay. I love you," she walks around the kitchen island and kisses the top of my head, then Cameron's.

"I love you," Cameron and I respond back.

Mum walks out of the kitchen and I hear the sound of the door closing for the third time.

"Need a ride to school?" Cameron asks.

He actually asks every morning, however I never once said yes. Not because I enjoy walking, because I don't like depending on people to do everything for me. I know giving me a ride is not everything, but I'm still depending on Cameron. That's why I prefer walking than getting a ride from someone. Also I love walking in the early morning. It just gives me a chance to think about everything happening and enjoy the early sun, especially in the winter.

"Nope, it's fine," I reply.

"You sure?"

"Sure."

"Anna?" He raises an eyebrow at me as if he's asking me for the last time.

"Fine," I give in.

I mean, it's a free ride, so...

"Great. Finish up, so we could go," he says and I nod.

I snarf down the rest of my food and wash my plate; mum sticks to the whole 'If you ate in it, wash it' rule, then I quickly go to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I find Cameron waiting by the door and I walk outside.

Cameron closes the door behind him and we walk to his car, before we both get inside it. He inserts the key in the ignition and starts the car, which roars to life. He pulls out of the driveway and starts driving to school.

"So..." Cameron says.

"So?"

"You and Carter are friends now?" He asks.

"If you're going to turn all protective mode on me, tell me so I could answer with a no," I tell him.

"Well, are you?"

I sigh, "yes, yes I am."

"I'm not going to turn protective mode on you, Lyn. I'm just checking," he says.

"How many times do you need to check?" I question. "Because I'm really starting to get tired."

"Anna."

"Look, Cameron, I'm really grateful for you and the guys trying to look out for me, but I don't need your protection. I'm old enough to look after myself. You know I love you guys, but I'm fine really," I say assuringly. I'm not annoyed at my brothers for looking out for me, I just feel like they're always checking up on me when I'm really fine.

"Are we really that annoying?" He glances at me for a moment.

"No, you're not," I shake my head. "However, you need to know that I'm okay. I'm not always alone, I have the girls and the guys, now, I guess."

"I guess we could lay off on you a bit," he suggests.

"A bit?"

"Yes, you have to deal with us anyway," he insists and I laugh.

"By the way, your driving sucks," I tell him.

"I'm a very good driver. What are you talking about?"

"Squirrel," I scream, noticing the brown fuzzy animal on the street.

Cameron quickly stirs the wheel and the car swirves to the right around the squirrel, making me crash in the window in process.

"Yup, you suck at it," I groan, rubbing my cheek.

"I did not see that," he says.

"Dumb butt," I mumble and he rolls his eyes.

"Stop doing that," Luke says in annoyance.

"Stop what?" I ask, chewing on my lip and picking on it with my teeth.

His eyes drop to my bouncing leg and I place my hand on my thigh to stop it. "Sorry, I'm just nervous."

Luke and I are waiting for Mr. Miller to call us up and through the whole morning, I've been shaking and nibbling on my lips. The good thing is that we have lunch break after this, so if I mess up, food will make me feel better and drown any kind of sadness. Besides it's cheesecake day and the lunch lady does the best blueberry cheesecake ever, after Tina, of course.

"You perform in front at least thirty people two days a week. How are you nervous?"

"I get nervous before the gig too. I'm a freaking human after all."

"Relax. It's just a presentation," Luke reassures me.

"A presentation of my future," I retort.

"It's like any other presentation. Stop freaking out so much. All you have to do is do your best, not give a shit and hope for the best. Quite easy, if you ask me," Luke shrugs.

"Oh, my God."

"What?" Luke frowns in confusion.

"I'm affecting you. You're being optimistic," I exclaim in excitement.

"With the sunshine smiles and glittery feelings you give to a person, I'm not surprised," he says. "You can make people fart rainbows, Cherries."

"Fart rainbows?" I laugh quietly.

"What? You never saw Fairly Oddparents?" He questions.

"Cosmo and Wanda never farted rainbows," I tell him, snickering. "You should get your facts right."

"At least I made you laugh," he grins.

"Hey, you did," I smile. "I'll give you an A for that," I say jokingly.

"Why, thank you," he says and I start laughing again.

"Mr. Carter, Miss Falls, will you please come up here?" Mr. Miller asks us.

Getting up, I grab the flash memory from my bag and follow Luke to the front of the class. He sets up his laptop and I insert the flash drive in the laptop. While waiting for it to load, I lock eyes with Luke and send him a small smile, crossing my fingers, he gives me a wink in response and my smile widens.

The flash drive finally loads on the laptop and I open up the the presentation on PowerPoint.

"Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, as we know," I start. "And today we'll be learning about it and its four largest moons..."

During the whole presentation, I focused on Luke's advice and getting that scholarship; if I'm going to do this, I have to have a bit of motivation for me to earn it. Luke was doing pretty good as well. Even though, he looked quite uninterested in what he was talking about. At the end, we get a standing ovation just as the bell rings and everyone piles out of the classroom.

"That was an excellent work, Miss Falls!" Mr. Miller exclaims and I smile. "And Mr. Carter, of course. Thank you for your cooperation." Luke nods in response.

"Would you mind if I take the flash drive so I could send it to the universities?" He asks.

"Yeah, sure," I take the flash drive out of the laptop and hand it to him, before asking, "Um, universities?"

"Yes, I thought of sending them to both Sapienza and University of Melbourne," he answers.

"Okay," I nod. I certainly don't mind Melbourne either. Sapienza is my dream university, but I've read about Melbourne and it seemed great too. I just want a scholarship, that's all. I was actually thinking of spending the money that I have collected on other things like, a trampoline or a fish aquarium, only I'll have to keep Molly outside my room. And if I don't get the scholarship, I'll have money to enroll myself in Sapienza, that is if they accept me.

"I will inform both universities about you, then they will send you an email if you got accepted or not," he explains.

"Alright," I reply. "How much does it take them to reply?"

"About a couple of weeks, maybe more."

"Okay, thank you."

"Of course," he says. "You are both dismissed."

I grab my bag from my seat, as Luke grabs his then we walk out of the classroom and as soon as I close the door behind me, I start jumping up and down and squealing. Maybe I'm overreacting a bit, but it doesn't hurt to have a small merry party with myself.

I stop jumping and turn to Luke, who is watching me with amusement. To his–and my–utter surprise, I wrap my arms around Luke's body to hug him and he immediately stiffens in my arms.

"Thank you," I murmur, burying my face in his neck, which is kind of hard considering we're the same height.

"No problem, Cherries," he pats my back awkwardly. I'm guessing he's not used to the sudden hugs, but I'm basically the human version of Olaf. He has to deal with it.

I pull away from him. "C'mon, let's get to lunch. I'm starving."

I take his hand, or more like, his last two fingers and drag him behind me to the lunch room.

The best thing about this school is that they don't care about who hangs out with who or if the weirdest person in school is dating the most popular. Some people stick their noses in other people's business. That's only a few people though. So I'm not that surprised when only a couple of people eye me and Luke weirdly and the others don't even bother looking in our way.

We make it to the lunch room and head straight for our table, where the guys and the girls are already sitting. I let go of Luke's hand and plop down in my seat.

"Hey, where were you?" Riley asks with a wide grin.

Okay...

"Presentation," I answer. "Mr. Miller liked it and he's sending it to Sapienza."

"Wait...Sapienza as in your dream university?" Colette questions.

"Yup," I reply, getting my food out of my backpack. The cafeteria's food is not actually bad. I just like eating my own food.

"We're so proud of you, Lyn," Sophie smiles and the girls nod along.

"Thanks, guys," I smile back and unwrapping my sandwich to take a bite out of it.

"So, we're just going to ignore that they were clearly holding hands?" Zach asks them, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

My cheeks heat up as I pause mid-bite and Luke gives Zach a dry look or more of a 'Shut the heck up' kind of look. Only he wouldn't use the word 'heck'.

"Hey, guys," A female voice says and we look up to find Jewel Green, one of the cheerleaders, standing there with a smile. I mentally thank God for that save.

"Hey, Jewel," Riley greets her back.

"Are you coming to the fundraiser's meeting? We need to get started right away," she says.

What fundraiser?

"Yeah sure," Alex replies.

"We'll be there," Sophie adds.

Seriously, what fundraiser?

"Great," she grins. "We'll see you there."

She walks away and I turn to the girls. "What fundraiser?" I ask.

"Every year, the whole twelfth grade does a fundraiser, so we could collect money. Half of the money goes to an organization for charity and the other half is for our senior trip," Sophie explains.

"It was actually supposed to be a Valentine's dance, but they thought a carnival would be better," Riley continues.

That sounds kind of familiar.

Colette and I look at each other and it takes us exactly two seconds to realize what Riley was talking about, then we both sink in our seats slowly.

"We are going to the meeting, right?" Riley asks.

"Yeah. That sounds fun," I beam. "You guys are coming, right?" I ask the guys.

"No," Luke says.

"Yes," Zach says at the same time.

"What?" They ask each other.

"Why not?" I ask Luke.

"Because I'm not going to some carnival where I stand in a booth, watching kids lose and cry about not getting a stupid panda," he responds.

"What about a kissing booth?" Sophie suggests. "I bet you can collect a lot of money with the looks and everything."

"Gross," I hear Luke mumbling.

I let out a small chuckle. "Can't you just come to hang out with us?" I ask him.

"I don't know."

"I'll give you two reasons to go," Zach tells him. "One, it might be a camping trip."

"And two?"

"You love me," Zach grins.

"And me," Alex pipes up.

"So?" Luke raises an eyebrow.

"So you have to come," Zach says.

"Come with us, please," I beg.

He runs his hand through his hair, before sighing. "Fine."

"Now, let's go back to the whole holding hands thing," Zach announces.

"I'm going to go get my cheesecake," I ramble, standing up abruptly.

"I have to go the bathroom," Luke says, standing up as well.

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