Amber's pov:

"Honey the bus-..."

"I'm coming Dad!!!" I run down the stairs, kissing his cheek quickly before heading to the bus stop right as the bus is pulling up.

Well that was a close call.

I don't usually sleep in through my alarms, but today has been some weird exception.

"Good morning." I say to the bus driver before making my way to my usual seat in the middle.

Thank goodness our bus isn't one that gets too over crowded with students, so I always have a seat to myself.

Leaning my head on the window, even though it must be super gross since I don't know who else touched this window or when it was last cleaned, I always do it anyways.

I try not to make a habit of falling asleep on the bus ride to school since I always worry about not waking up when we get there and accidentally being left on the bus, or being startled awake and looking like the Grinch walking into school.

But again, not like other days, today I start to feel myself dozing off, letting myself be welcomed into a not so peaceful slumber.

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

Just to make things clear, it was the second outcome, I definitely looked like the grinch walking off that bus.

And to top it all off, it's Monday, no need for a further explanation on that.

"Amber~..." I hear my voice being sung by a familiar voice.

To no surprise, I look behind me to see Liam making his way towards me.

"Liam, nice to see you." I give him a small grin before opening my locker to empty out my backpack and grab all the things that I will need for my next couple of classes.

Everyone at our school usually carries there backpacks around all day, but I like to fill my backpack with books for the first half of the day and then empty it out and fill it with the second half.

It has really saved my back since then.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in forever." He says, resting his head against the locker next to mine.

"It was only Friday since I last saw you."

"Yeah, before you fell asleep on DAMIEN'S SHOULDER-..."

"LIAM!!" I slap my hand over his mouth quickly, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks as I realize his loud voice got us a few curious stares in the hall way.

"Shhhhh you can't say things like that so loudly." I uncover his mouth slowly after receiving a small head nod.

"I'm just stating the facts! I never expected you to play the sleeping beauty card, but damn sis you got me acting like a proud mother over here." He pretends to wipe a fake tear.

"I-I didn't mean to fall asleep on him..."

"Hmmm sure."

"Really!!!"

"Now tell me," he pushes himself off of the locker and pokes my forehead, "did he smell as good as you pictured in your dreams?"

"Liam!!!" I whine, pushing him away as he doubles over in a fit of laughter.

"What?! It was your dream journal that said it! You really need to hide that in a better place next time."

"YOU READ MY," I look around before lowering my voice, "you read my dream journal?!!" I whisper harshly.

He holds his hands up in surrender, "Don't yell at me! You're the one who left it out on your desk a couple months ago. And it was only a few pages, I'm not that creepy."

"Sure..." I say, sarcasm dripping from my words.

"Really! But they were all the same anyways. You and Damien going on a date, watching a movie, doing other basic couple stuff, but for some reason, at the end of your dream he always ends up shirtless-..."

"Okay!! I think that's enough." I say, shutting my locker while trying to avoid looking at Liam, already knowing that he had that stupid smirk on his face.

"Are you sure? We didn't even finish talking about how your dreams ended." He laughs, quickly running to catch up to me as we walk side by side down the hall.

"Trust me, I think I already know by now how it ends." I say under my breath, but definitely loud enough for Liam to hear from hearing his snort quickly after.

Walking towards the staircase, we go down a floor and head towards Julie's locker, where everyone else was already standing in a small circle, talking.

"There you guys are!" Gianna says, causing everyone else to turn towards us with their usual welcoming smiles on their faces.

Both Liam and I greet everyone before joining there small circle, Liam standing beside me as I stand beside Damien, who left a space open as soon as I arrived.

"How are you?" He asks, looking at me with his typical doe eyes, which for some reason I haven't been able to get used to yet.

What?

They're cute okay...

"I'm doing pretty good, although I almost missed my bus this morning because I slept though my alarm."

"Oh that sucks, but if you ever miss the bus you can just give me a call and I will come get you."

"It's okay, you don't have to," I say, waving my hands in dismiss, "my dad could take me since he doesn't leave for another hour after me."

He shakes his head, "But I want to. It really wouldn't bother me at all, plus, your neighborhood is on the way to school, so it wouldn't be hard to do."

"I mean... if you insist. Although it would only be if I miss the bus, which doesn't happen very often. But I will consider your offer next time it happens."

"Good, oh and I wanted to ask, did you wake up okay Saturday morning? I meant to text you and ask but it completely slipped my mind." He asks, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

At his words, I feel my heart start to quicken its pace as I look away from him for a second, "oh-... uh yes! I-I did! And I saw that you also plugged my phone in the charger, which I normally forget to do... but thank you! I'm sorry for causing you the trouble though, you could have just woke-..."

"No, no! Amber it was really nothing. I wanted to let you sleep since you looked pretty tired during the movie. Plus, it was pretty easy to get you there since you're not really one to stir in your sleep and your dad let me in without being upset."

"Yeah he told me about that, and how you guys talked for a little bit afterwords."

He nods his head, "We did, thank god your dad is our coach and he actually trusts me, I don't know what I would have done if it was any other over protective father." He says, putting a hand over his heart at the last part, causing a giggle to escape my lips.

"And I'm sorry about," I scrunch my nose, already regretting the words that I'm about to say, "my disgusting room. I'm actually really embarrassed about that. If I would have known, I would have definitely cleaned it up a bit since..."

I couldn't even finish my sentence, the embarrassment being to much to handle.

But Damien, seeming to know what I am talking about, nods his head, a tint of pink forming on his cheeks indicating that he definitely saw...

You know...

That certain piece of clothing that was on my door.

"D-Don't worry about that, I d-didn't even see a-anything."

Although I knew Damien was just trying to make me feel better, it was pretty obvious that he was lying.

He saw the bra. He saw the bra. He saw the bra.

Let me just...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Push, throw, yeet me off the nearest cliff right now. I CAN TAKE IT!!!!

"O-okay. A-Anyways how was your weekend?" I ask, quickly trying to change the subject to anything that will get me to forget about Damien seeing my bra.

"It was good! I didn't really do anything Saturday but Sunday I went to visit my sister. She was asking for you, I think I'm going to have to bring you along next time."

"I would love that."

Suddenly, the school bell goes off indicating that we had five minutes to get to our first classes.

We all say bye to one another before we all head our separate ways, looking forward to seeing each other all again at lunch.

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

"Julie!" I call out, watching as she looks around for a second before spotting me, a smile forming on her lips.

"Amber!" She says back, walking towards me with her lunch bag in her hand.

"It's finally lunch..." I draw out, dramatically holding my stomach causing her to laugh.

"I know! It's literally the only thing I look forward to all school day... wow that sounds pathetic." She laughs again at her own words.

I chuckle, "Though you're not wrong, not only about the food part, but it is also something that I always look forward to. It's nice to finally have the chance to finally talk to, really anyone, without having to concentrate on a lecture or scramble to take notes. Lunch is the only thing that keeps me sane."

"I agree... but my sanity more so relies on the food part... so let's go!" She says, grabbing my wrist and speed walking us towards the cafeteria, bypassing all of the slow walkers and people who just stop to talk in the middle of the hallway.

"Julie, slow down!" I laugh as we arrive to the cafeteria, it being the emptiest I've ever seen it since I've never been so early before.

"Sorry, but if there is anything that motivates me to move quick on my feet it is food, my bed, and Ashton when he is three seconds away from putting me in the ER."

"Should I even ask?"

"To be safe I'm going to say no for now." She responds as we reach our table, sitting down before taking out our lunches.

We talk as everyone begins to arrive, some putting their stuff down and heading straight to the lunch line.

After about ten minutes though, I couldn't help but notice a certain someone's presence missing.

"Hey, did Damien drop is backpack down and get lunch? I haven't seen him yet." I ask, turning towards Julie and Gianna whose eyes widen slightly, looking over at where Damien usually sits, finding no trace of a backpack.

"That's weird, he's never late to lunch. Maybe he had to stay back to talk to his teacher or something, I can text him." Julie says, pulling out her phone.

She sends him a quick text and places her phone back down on the table, but after about two minutes, I couldn't help but notice her eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"He left me on read, he never leaves people on read." She says, turning her head towards the entrance of the cafeteria, looking to see if he walked in by any chance.

"I'm sure he had his reasons, he probably saw it but didn't want to respond back if he was talking to a teacher or something." Gianna says, putting a hand on Julie's shoulder.

Julie turns back before taking a deep breath, "Yeah you're probably right, Damien would text back if something was wrong."

We turn back towards our food just as Luke arrives with his lunch tray, "Hey kiddos." He says as he sets his tray down, followed by Ella. Shortly after, Liam and Ally arrive also, the only person now missing being Damien.

"Where's Damien?" Ally asks, pointing towards his empty seat.

Julie shrugs her shoulders, "Not sure, we think he is meeting with a teacher."

"I wouldn't be surprised, he's a good kid." Ella says, before glancing at a pouty Luke.

"What about me? I'm good too." Luke whines, pulling at her arm.

Ella rolls her eyes before squishing his cheek, "Sure you are babe."

"Hey is that sarcasm-..." but Luke was quickly cut off by the sound of a backpack being set down.

"Damien!" Julie call out, causing all of us to turn our heads towards him.

But it didn't take long for any of us to recognize another presence with him.

"Hey guys, this is Annabelle, the new girl who came in last Friday." He says, gesturing towards her.

We all turn towards her, waving our hands. But I could definitely feel the awkwardness from around me, which made me wonder if this is what is was like when Liam and I were introduced.

Although it didn't feel like it, it felt more welcoming...

I don't know, that's all a blur if I'm being honest.

But anyways, Annabelle give a small wave back before taking the open seat next to Damien, which was two seats down from me since Damien was next to me.

"So Annabelle, what school did you come from?" Luke asks, trying to start a conversation, but soon after, his face morphed into a painful expression, and while holding is leg, he sends a quick glare towards Gianna.

"She got expelled from her last school dumbass." Gianna harshly whispers, which only Luke, Julie, Ella, and I were able to hear since we were all close enough to catch it.

"I came from a High school only an hour away from here." She says, flicking her hair to the side.

It didn't take much to figure out that she was trying to avoid the name of her last school, but I don't think any of us wanted to push it.

I look towards Luke as he nods his head before looking away, whispering something into Ella's ear.

"How do you like it here so far?" Gianna asks next, trying not to let the table fall into an awkward silence.

Annabelle just shrugs her shoulders, "It's okay I guess." She says before picking up her phone, not engaging herself into the conversation anymore.

Like Luke, Gianna nods her head before looking back at her lunch silently, but you could definitely see the small scowl on her face.

I look towards Liam, catching his gaze before he nods his head at my phone.

I slowly pick it up a little bit after Liam does so it wouldn't be that obvious that we were about to text one another. I open my text message app just as I receive a text from Liam.

Probably About To Say Something Perverted🤡:

Is it just me or do you also feel uncomfortable with how that conversation went.

Me:

Oh thank god it wasn't just me.

Probably About To Say Something Perverted🤡:

Okay good, I've never seen a conversation with Gianna end so quickly. I also don't think it's been this quiet since we've met all of them. And you know I'm not one with quiet lunch tables...

Me:

Yeah, since preschool :)

Probably About To Say Something Perverted🤡:

Hey! That's how we even got to know each other anyways. Remember, our teacher assigned us a lunch seat and we ended up sitting next to each other. We just started talking to each other and BAM! Instant friendship.

Me:

Is that how you remember that? I think it went like you forcing me to talk to you but...

Probably About To Say Something Perverted🤡:

That part isn't important.

Me:

Sureeeeeeeeee.

Probably About To Say Something Perverted🤡:

Stfu. Anyways, your boy candy wants your attention so imma let you go have your fun. :)

Me:

What... LIAM!!!

I put down my phone before turning towards Damien, who indeed was already looking at me.

"Hey." He says softly, a small smile on his face.

"Hi." I respond back, returning his smile.

"How has your day been so far? Other than this morning of course."

"For me, classes actually went by pretty fast today, considering the fact that it's Monday, how about you?"

"Mine was okay. Classes felt the same as they always do, so it wasn't bad."

"Well, it's good that they weren't bad. By the way, do you have practice today? I usually ask my Dad in the morning, but as you already know..." I give him a sheepish smile as he chuckles, brushing his hair away from his forehead.

"Yes I do, and if you're not busy, I would like you to come watch." He says, leaning towards me with pouted lips until his face was only a few inches from mine.

"Okay, okay!" I laugh, pushing him away before my heart decides to take off, "If you want me there, I'll come."

He clasps his hands together with a big smile on his face, "Yes!!! And then maybe we can hangout or even go see my sister afterwards! But I think my parents will be there today, so if you would like to meet them then you can. I already told them about you-..."

"Wait you did?" His words catch me by surprise.

"Yes I did, it was after the last time you visited my sister. I guess my parents saw me walking out of the hospital with you when they came to visit her. That night, they asked about you so I told them, like how you saved me from being kicked off the team and how you and my sister became friends. They actually really want to meet you but I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

I couldn't help but feel butterflies in my stomach as I take in his words.

Not only at the fact that his parents wanted to meet me, but that he said all those things about me and didn't want me to feel uncomfortable about meeting them.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't affected by his words because really, they meant a lot, more than he would know.

"W-Well if the time comes, then I would love to meet your parents." At my words, he gives me a heart warming smile that was close enough to knocking me off my seat.

Gosh, this boy is going to be the death of me.