In class, I felt a pen poking my back and I was about to turn around and bite the person's head off, until I realised that the person sat behind me was Heather. She gave me a slightly apologetic expression, as I raised an eyebrow at her in my curiosity.

"How are you doing?" she asked me.

"I'm all good, Heather," I said, though I felt my cheeks become warmer again.

"Glad to hear it," she told me, as she smiled the most beautiful smile I had ever seen.

How was she so perfect? It was honestly not fair. It also didn't make my confusion any easier to deal with, especially not when she was so kind and caring to me. Of course, I valued that so much in a friend but I couldn't help but feel that things were difficult. The two of us were close. Perhaps that was all there was to it. However, I knew that I might live to regret it if I didn't explore the way that I felt. I was wise enough to know that I couldn't lie to myself about my feelings. I had already done that in the past with Drew and I had vowed to not do it again.

"Sorry, I wanted to ask you how your essay was going," she said.

I felt the corner of my lips twitch up slightly at that, as my eyes locked on her bright blue ones again.

"It's going well, thank you. How's yours going?" I asked her.

It felt weird to be having such a casual conversation with her, especially when I knew that there were so many things I wished to talk to her about. I simply didn't know where to begin those conversations.

"Also good. I was wondering if you wanted to come to the library with me after class?" she suggested.

"That sounds like a plan," I said, with a smile, as I relaxed into my chair.

The teacher soon cleared their throat at the front of the classroom, so I gave Heather a sweet smile and turned my attention back to her.

"Zoe Pine and Heather Violets, is there something that you two girls wish to share with the rest of the class?" she asked, as her steely eyes looked our way.

"No, ma'am. My fault. I was asking Zoe if she had a spare pencil, that's all," Heather lied for me. That was so kind of her, too. She must have known that I hated getting into trouble in class. Then again, I didn't believe that anyone actually enjoyed it.

"Well, keep your focus, Miss Violets. The practice exam is only in a few weeks time," our teacher warned her.

Once she had turned her attention back to the book in front of her, I turned around to silently thank Heather for taking the blame for me.

Heather simply gave me a pleasant expression in return.

Our teacher read on for a little more of the lesson, until it came time for us to pack our books away and head out of the classroom. I was relieved that Heather and I would now have an opportunity to talk to each other without the fear of detention.

"Library time?" I asked her.

Heather exhaled in relief, as she gave an affirmative nod of her head.

The two of us made our way to the library and sat down in one of the more secluded areas. It meant that we were away from the eagle-eyed librarian, so we would actually be able to have a proper conversation with one another.

Heather grabbed a few books from the shelves and I realised that I had almost forgot that we were actually there to study. I decided to pick up a few books, too. For a fleeting moment, Heather's hand touched mine, as we reached for the same book. She turned to me with amusement in her gaze, as she picked up the book and passed it to me.

"There you go," she said.

"Thank you," I said, as I felt the corner of my lips lift a little in a half-smile.

The two of us went to sit down again and Heather began to flip through the pages of the book in front of her, until she settled on a chapter on eighteenth century history that seemed to interest her.

In the meantime, I read my own book. I knew that it wouldn't be wise to sit in the library and not do at least some studying. I was certain that could practically be considered a crime, as afar as the library gods were concerned.

Heather and I read on until she looked up to me again.

I locked eyes with her and I thought I saw her cheeks redden a little, but it might have simply been the lighting above us.

Heather looked back down towards her book for a few more minutes until her stomach grumbled loudly.

"I didn't eat breakfast," she whispered.

"Do you want me to get you some coffee and a bagel? It's on me," I offered.

"You're so sweet. Thank you," Heather replied.

"Of course," I said.

The two of us walked out of the library and towards a little cafe on the school grounds, where I ordered her a coffee and a cream cheese and salmon bagel. I ordered myself a little blueberry muffin and a latte.

Once our orders were ready, we took them both and went to sit on a bench nearby.

"Thank you again, Zoe. This was sweet of you. This is amazing," she told me, after she had finished her first bite of it.

"You're very welcome, Heather," I said, as I felt a natural smile become present on my face again.

"I love these grounds. They don't look like much but they're pretty, don't you think? I mean, you're here and..." she trailed off then, as her eyes widened slightly.

I released a soft laugh.

"We're both here and we're very pretty and the flowers are here," I said.

"Exactly! It makes me want to draw a picture," Heather said, as she placed her bagel back onto her tissue and grabbed her sketch book out of her bag.

"So, you can draw and sing and you're incredibly sweet and beautiful. Is there anything you can't do?" I asked her.

"I can't ride a bike," she admitted.

At first, I thought she was joking. When I realised that she was telling the truth, I couldn't help but release a soft laugh.

"I can teach you," I told her.

Heather smiled.

"Deal," she said.