"Hi Aaliyah!"

"Aaliyah, hey girl!"

"Hey Aaliyah!"

Aaliyah smiled and waved her way through the hallways as a couple people in her grade and below greeted her on her way to the courtyard. She was a bit tired but nevertheless still excited for her last year of high school.

When she got to the courtyard, she began to look for her friends but instead felt herself get grabbed by the waist and then spun around, making her shriek in surprise. She was finally put down and she turned around to see her boyfriend, Elijah. Or Eli as most call him. She turned around and smiled at him. "Asshole," she playfully scolded before leaning in to give him a quick peck on the lips but he didn't kiss back, which made her wonder what was wrong. "You okay?" She frowned.

"You been ducking me or sum'?" He asked suspiciously, making her raise an eyebrow at him.

"What?" She blurted out. "What do you mean?"

"I️ mean, I️ sent you fifteen texts and you ain't respond to none of them. You avoiding me or something?" He asked, making her drop her arm and scoff.

"You are unbelievable," she rolled her eyes. "I️ was at the beach with my family, you know this," she told him.

Elijah scoffed. "That ain't no excuse not to text me back, and you know that."

"Why are you freaking out? I️ didn't reply, so what?" She scoffed. The anger on his face was one that was all too familiar, but before he could say anything else, the bell rang, signaling that class was starting. "I'll see later Eli," she said, turning to walk away when he caught her wrist, roughly pulling her back. "Hey-"

"I'm not playing with you Aaliyah. Next time you piss me off like this, you're not gonna like it," he threatened, scaring her quite a bit.

He realized the look on her face and let go of her wrist. He leaned in to press a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he quickly apologized. "I️ didn't mean it, it's just- you made me mad but I'm alright," he sighed. "Have a good day or something," he muttered the last part before walking off, leaving her standing there, absolutely terrified. Until someone jumped on her back, making her snap out of it.

"The bell already rang baby girl. What are you doing still standing here?" Carolina asked, giggling a bit too much for a person who swears she's not a morning person. "Last first day! I'm so ready to graduate already!" She sighed as she tugged Aaliyah along to their respective homerooms. Since both girl's last names started with H, her Hill and Carolina's was Hernandez, they both got to be in the same homeroom with each other. And it's been that way since freshman year. "How was your summer?" Carolina asked her as they sat down in a desk.

"Ahhh, nothing much. Just worked at the mall and then went to the beach with my family," she told her. "How was Guatemala?"

Carolina rolled her eye. "I️ mean, it's beautiful but Jesus, I️ got so bored towards the end of it. By that point I️ was just a prisoner in my grandparents home," she rolled her eyes as Aaliyah laughed. Aaliyah mindlessly looked around the class as Carolina complained about her trip, only for her eyes to meet with a pair of icy-grey blue ones as the tall, blonde haired, white boy walked into the class, looking a bit confused about where he was. He was incredibly handsome. Hotter than Aaliyah has ever met. And his eyes locked with hers as well, and she suddenly got an overwhelmingly sense of deja vu.

Soon they broke eye contact due to their teacher meeting up with him and talking to him. "Ooh, he's cute," Carolina purred in her ears, giggling a bit.

"I️ guess so," Aaliyah tried to shrug of the weird intense feeling between them by looking down at her phone.

"He seems new. I️ mean, I️ would definitely remember a face like that," Caroline laughed once more, this time with Aaliyah joining in, although it sounded a bit forced. "We'll probably learn his name by lunch."

But turns out, she didn't have to wait till lunch. By the time Aaliyah walked into her third period physics class, he was already there, messing around with a couple of test tubes and beakers as if to pass the time while students came into the door. And without thinking, she walked over to his lab station, standing in front of him before she knew it. He looked up to meet her eyes once more, giving her a smile that almost melted her heart. No doubt this boy was a natural charmer.

"Hi," he greeted.

"Hi," she said shyly.

There was a long silence between them until she realized what was happening. "Um...need a partner?" She quickly covered up the awkwardness by pointing to the empty seat next to him.

"Oh!" The guy seemed to snap out of his haze too. "Yeah, sure," he leaned over to move his bag to give her the chair next to him. She gave him another soft smile before plopping down right next to him. Their was silence between them once again before he turned to face her. "D-do I️ know you from somewhere?" He finally asks the same question that was on her mind.

She looked over at him with an unreadable expression her face. "I️...I️-"

"Okay, everyone settle down!" The science teacher announced once she entered the room. A short, Filipino lady who didn't seem like a threat to no one. "Today I️ will go over the syllabus as well as give you a pre-test-"

The entire class groaned.

"Well this is what you guys get for not choosing environmental science."

"I️'m Jackson," he whispered to her, making her look back over to him.

"Aaliyah," she introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you Aaliyah."

"Nice to meet you too Jackson."