Today was the fucking day. It was September 5th, the first day of school. My heart was practically racing out of my chest as I walked from my house to the bus stop. The air had a crisp coolness that could only be described as fall coolness, and the leaves were just starting to turn a golden orange. The early morning sun shone through the trees lining the street, casting a golden light on my face. I arrived at the bus stop just as the bus was arriving.

"Goddammit, alone again" I thought. Just like last year, I was the first and only person on the bus. I boarded the bus, saying a quick hello to the driver and rushing to my seat. The bus smelled like leather and books, which gave me a fresh wave of anxiety. Luckily for me, my best friend would get on the next stop. I hadn't see him all summer and I missed him more than anything. He had been away at acting camp, and I had been stuck here doing nothing. We had talked a little over the summer, and he had told me that he met a few new kids that would be transferring to our school. At least that was some good news, seeing as we barely get any new kids here. Our school was basically a bunch of kids that had been stuck here since kindergarten growing up together. It was sort of fun growing up with the same kids but after a while it got boring. People always knew everything about you which was annoying as hell. About five minutes later, the bus stopped and roughly ten kids got on. I looked around fervently for my friend. Finally, I found him. My best friend in the whole world, Jack Grazer, was walking toward me with a huge smile on his face.

"Madison!" Jack squealed, launching himself into my arms. I stumbled back from the impact of his hug as I squeezed him back.

"Hey, Jack Attack," I responded, laughing. Jack had grown about three inches this summer, gotten a tan, and his freckles had gotten darker. His voice had also gotten deeper, and he had lost that little squeak in his voice when he talked.

"Looking good, Jack. I love your shirt, by the way," I added. Jack was wearing a shirt with a logo that read "Calpurnia," and a cool circle pattern under it.

"Yeah, it's my friend's band. They make the best indie music, like, ever. We made the shirts at camp. You totally have to listen to them! You'd love it," Jack explained cheerfully. "How was your summer?" He asked, sliding down into the seat next to me. He had definitely gotten taller, our heads were now level when he sat.

"It sucked ass. I pretty much sat inside all summer. How was camp? Tell me everything," I said excitedly. Jack and I had only briefly texted, so I didn't really know much about what had happened. Jack shifted anxiously in his seat.

"So... I have news. But like don't freak the fuck out. It's not that big of a deal anyways. So um... I have a girlfriend," Jack said, with a mixture of excitement and nerves. I felt my eyes widen.

"Jack, that's great!" I said reassuringly. To be honest, I didn't know how to feel. I should be happy my best friend is happy, right? Or was it normal to feel a little jealous. I didn't want to lose Jack to some random girl. Plus, everyone had always thought that Jack and I would end up together, and a small part of me had always agreed. We've been best friends since we were three when we met in preschool. We were on the playground, and Jack had run up to me and yelled "JACK ATTACK" while hitting me with a stick. I kicked him, and the teacher put us in time out together. We had been best friends ever since. Jack's personality, which I could best describe as, um, spicy, perfectly balanced mine. Jack was always pushing me to try new things and always making me laugh. He was one of the funniest people I knew.

"Thank god you're ok with it. I'm super happy with her. We started dating at camp and she goes to our school. You definitely know her."

"Well, who is it. I'm practically dying of suspense," I joked, pretending to faint and falling into Jack's lap.

"What do you think you're doing, bitch? Trying to steal my boyfriend?" A voice above me snarked. I looked up to see Ellie Hiyar standing in the isle next to Jack and I. Ellie's eyes bore into mine as I sat up quickly.

"Jack, fucking Ellie is your girlfriend!" I asked angrily. Ellie has been my mortal enemy for about ever. Ellie and I have always fought for everything. School, sports, awards, you name it, Ellie and I have competed in it. I usually got first place in everything and Ellie hated me for it. Of course she was dating Jack. Jack had always been mine, and while we were separated she made her move. She was probably using Jack to get back at me and it made me livid. Jack didn't deserve to be used by anyone, especially Ellie.

"Everyone sit down!" The bus driver yelled to us. Ellie gave me a death stare before sitting across from Jack and I.

"Don't worry about her. She's actually super nice once you get to know her," Jack whispered, "Plus, she's like super hot," he added, "Everyone at camp agreed." I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

"Thanks. I definitely did not need to know that."

Jack giggled and started telling me more about his camp. At least he was sitting with me and not Ellie. That was something. Maybe I wouldn't lose him after all.

A few minutes later, we pulled up to the next stop. More kids walked on.

"Oh fuck, I just remembered, my friend from camp is coming on this stop. I'm sure you'll love him. He's in a band!" Jack pointed to his shirt again. I smiled to myself, hopeful that I might make a new friend. I did love indie music and singing, even if I couldn't sing to save my life. Kids continued to file onto the bus and take seats. Then I saw him. A boy with dark curly hair and deep brown eyes was walking towards us. He was tall, about 5'11, with high cheekbones, and light freckles scattered around his nose. A smile came to my lips and my heart began to race. This was the most beautiful fucking boy I had ever seen.

"FINN!" Jack yelled, jumping out of his seat to hug the boy. So that was Jack's camp friend. Holy shit. He was gorgeous. He hugged Jack tightly, and sat next to Ellie. Of course. Finn and Ellie went to camp together, so they probably knew each other.

"Hey, Jacko, hi Ellie," said Finn, "Nice shirt by the way Jack," he added with a wink. Even his voice was attractive. I smiled at him nervously.

"Finn, this is Madison, the girl I was telling you about. My bestie for the restie, the peanut to my butter. The apple to my eye. The mad to my son. The butt to my cheek," Jack said romantically.

"Really sweet of you Jack," I laughed. Finn seemed to find it funny too, as he was laughing profusely. Ellie glared at me angrily. This year is going to be hell with her around.

"Nice to meet you Madison. I've heard so much about you," Finn said warmly. The sound of Finn saying my name made my heart skip a beat. I smiled even harder, and I'm sure I looked like an idiot.

"Jesus Madison. You look like a fucking chipmunk. Chill with the smiling for a sec," Ellie scoffed. Jack giggled, and I glared at him.

"Are you always this dumb, or are you making a special effort for today?" I snapped back. Ellie's face turned bright red and she balled her hands into fists. Jack and I laughed, and Ellie got even more red. Finn looked confusedly at Ellie and then back at me.

"So you mean to tell me... that your girlfriend and your best friend hate each other?" He asked Jack. Jack shrugged. Suddenly I felt uncomfortable again. If Finn was friends with Ellie and Jack was dating Ellie, I would have to spend a lot of time with her this year. Maybe I would be able to put up with her for Jack. I didn't know Finn well, but I knew we had some kind of connection. Hopefully I'd spend a lot of time with him.

"I mean, they kinda have a history. But I'm sure you'll get along for my sake. Right guys?" Jack asked, making his eyes watery and puckering his bottom lip to imitate crying. I rolled my eyes.

"Did you learn that bullshit at acting camp?" I remarked, and we all laughed.

"So tell me about your band," I said to Finn. I couldn't stop staring at his beautiful face. Finn calmly held my gaze, and never looked uncomfortable. A small smile played across his lips.

"Yeah, um I'm this band with my friends from Vancouver. We play Indie music," Finn explained. He tossed his hair, and I had to hold in a gasp. He was stunning.

"That's so cool. I literally love indie music," I said. I don't know exactly what it was about Finn, but something about him captivated me. I couldn't wait to get to know him more. "What instrument do you play?"

"I sing actually. I'm the lead singer, but I also play guitar." He proceeded to pretend to play the electric guitar, imitating the sounds a guitar would make. I giggled. "I have to show you a video of us performing. We wrote a bunch of songs together and we got to sing them at camp," Finn added.

"What class do you have first? I'd love to hear it then," I asked.

"Let's compare schedules," Ellie said, drawing the attention away from me and Finn. We all rummaged in our backpacks and pulled out our schedules.

"I have english first," Jack declared.

"Me too!" I said excitedly. Jack and I high fived happily while Ellie gave me another death glare.

"I have math first. This sucks," groaned Finn. My heart sunk. Hopefully I'd have more classes with Finn, because if we didn't then I'd never get to know him.

"Same Finn! We get to start off our day together," Ellie interjected, "Then I have science."

"Same Ellie," Finn said. Shit. Still nothing together.

"I have gym," I said sadly. I felt Jack perk up next to me.

"Me too!" He stated. At least I appeared to have lots of classes with Jack.

"Next I have Spanish," Finn remarked. Finally! We have something together.

"I have Spanish too," I replied with a warm smile. Finn smiled back at me kindly and I died a little.

"I have history then," Jack added. After a few minutes of conversation, I found out that I had english, gym, science, health and collage prep with Jack. I had Spanish, history, and college prep with Finn, and history, health and science with Ellie.

The bus pulled to a stop in front of school. Knots in my stomach that had disappeared when I met Finn were beginning to form again.

"Pip pip and tally oh, my good fellows! Time to go!" Jack declared in a quite terrible british accent, and marched off the bus. Finn followed him, then Ellie, and finally me. We walked one by one into the hellhole known as school.

"See you later, losers," Jack laughed, and pulled me towards our class. I took one last glance at Finn before walking away with Jack.