"Rose."

I groaned and flipped over to the other side of my bed.

"Oh, Rose," Jo sung in my ear.

I continued sleeping.

"Rose, get up. You're gonna be late to school," my aunt shook me.

"Five more minutes," I pleaded in a sleepy tone.

Jo deadpanned, "it's 8:30."

My eyes snapped open. "What?"

I jumped out like I was on fire and ran into my washroom. "School started half an hour ago! Why didn't you wake me up?" I shouted.

"I've been trying to for God knows how long," my aunt said incredulously. "I gotta leave for work. Eat a croissant on your way to school, hun."

She left my room while I groaned at the sight of my bedhead in the mirror. Nonetheless, I got ready in record time. When I ran downstairs, I grabbed the first coat I saw on the coat rack and swung it on, running out the front door. The jacket felt rather large on me. I couldn't help but also notice that it had a familiarly masculine scent. Though, I thought nothing of it. Perhaps it was Jo's. Had she worn cologne?

By the time I got to school, first period was already over. When I burst into second period Biology, I was completely out of breath and nearly doubled over. The entire class stared at me in bewilderment.

"You're late, Ms. Adams," my male teacher glanced at me from above his glasses.

He was a balding and bitter old man.

"I know, I'm sorry," I miserably replied. "I–"

"Detention after school," he said brusquely. "Room 102. Don't be late."

I stared at him in horror. "Wh–"

"Take a seat."

I'd never gotten detention before, and not for something as trivial as being late. I busted a sweat to get to this stupid class. Of course, I didn't say anything, trudging over to the only available seat at the front of the class.

The teacher peered at me. "We're getting in partners for the Biology project. Of course, you wouldn't know this since you were late."

Sure, just hold it against me for the rest of my life, I sarcastically thought in my head.

The old man continued. "I suppose you'll have to be in a group of thre–"

Just then, the door to the classroom burst open. In walked Antonio, fresh bruises and cuts on his face.

"Brown," the teacher glared, annoyed to have been interrupted. "You're late. You have–"

"Detention at 3, yada yada," Antonio rolled his dark eyes.

The class erupted in laughs. Someone even banged on their desk. Antonio's comment wasn't even that funny, and I had no doubt they were only laughing because of how much they adored him. I rolled my eyes at their desperate behavior and faced the front.

The angry teacher stammered for something to say. Meanwhile, Antonio scanned his eyes over the classroom until they landed on me. More so, the empty seat next to me. Everyone watched him as he sat down. A few girls looked envious that I got to sit next to him. Trust me ladies, you can have him.

"Since the two of you were late, you'll be partnering up for the Biology project," the teacher declared.

I frowned at that. While I hated jumping to conclusions, Antonio didn't seem like the type to do his schoolwork, so I'd probably end up completing the entire project alone.

As the teacher went over the outline of the project, Antonio uninterestedly slouched in his seat and turned to face me.

"We can work on it at my house," he muttered.

It took me a second to realize he was talking about the project. "Yeah, sure."

His eyes continued to look at me. Then, a smile graced his lips. "You're wearing my jacket."

I glanced down at myself in confusion, suddenly gasping.

"I forgot to give it back," I realized with a shake of my head. No wonder it was so big on me. "Here."

I began to shrug it off but Antonio lazily lifted up his hand.

"No need. Looks better on you anyways."

I refrained from blushing at the inadvertent compliment. Placing my elbow on the desk, I maintained a careful look on Antonio.

"What's with all the bruises?"

He froze at my question and I immediately sensed something was wrong.

"Got in a fight," he stiffly muttered in such a way that the conversation was immediately over.

I frowned and faced forward, tuning in to the teacher's humdrum voice. I could feel Antonio's dark eyes drill into my side. Nonetheless, we sat in silence for the rest of the period.

• • •

After school, I jadedly sat in the detention room, seated in the front row. The monitoring teacher sat in the front and slowly typed on his laptop. There were only about three other kids in the classroom. Each had their heads down, and one of them emitted soft snores every few seconds. I almost dozed off myself, until I heard the door creaking open and looked up.

"Of course," I muttered.

In walked Antonio. His hooded eyes surveyed the classroom and he practically lit up when he saw me.

"Well well well," he coyly grinned, crossing his arms. "Looks like little Miss Perfect isn't so perfect after all."

I rolled my eyes. He was a little too smug about this for my liking.

"No talking in detention," the teacher drawled in a monotone voice.

Antonio ignored him and walked over to sit next to me.

"Of course you have detention," I said exasperatedly.

"What do you mean by that? I'm an angel," he frowned. "Besides, you can't judge. You're here too. Might I ask why?"

"I was late to class," I miserably admitted.

"You rebel!" He gasped in fake horror.

"Shut up. You're here for the exact same reason," I scoffed.

"Yeah, that and smoking on school property," he muttered.

"Of course," I disapprovingly shook my head.

We fell into a silence. After five minutes spent listening to the sound of my own breathing, I was confused to see Antonio standing up.

"Where are you going?" I curiously whispered.

"Out," he quipped.

"You're leaving?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"Somewhere."

"Why?"

"Because."

I gave him a dry look, quickly becoming fed up with the vague responses.

"Detention's not over for another half hour," I pointed out.

"I don't care," Antonio shrugged. "The teacher's sleeping anyways. He's always knocked out after the first five minutes."

I gaped and looked up. True to his words, the teacher's head was leant back and his mouth was wide open.

"But..."

"But nothing. You can come with me if you want," he shortly offered. "Otherwise, have fun in detention."

He walked out of the room without a care in the world. I stammered at his departing figure.

"Wait!" I got up after some internal debate.

I tip toed past the teacher with an apprehensive look, waving in front of his face to make sure he was really asleep. As I ran out of the classroom, I was alarmed to see Antonio casually leaning beside the door.

"I knew you'd come," he smirked, walking along.

I gave him a surprised look before following after him.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Patience, Flower," he grinned coyly, grabbing my wrist and whisking me along.

We reached the parking lot and I gave him a dreadful look.

"Not this again," I moaned.

His black motorcycle was parked front and center, standing in its full glossiness and perfection.

"C'mon, Flower," he rolled his eyes. "You and I both know you had fun when you rode it, even if you won't admit it."

True.

"Wrong," I still denied.

He chuckled and grabbed the helmet off the handle, placing it on my head like he'd done so last time. His rough fingers brushed my smooth cheek as he buckled it. There was a brief lapse in which he stared at me before effortlessly hopping onto the bike. It was incredibly tall and I had to jump to climb on. Rather than helping me, Antonio boisterously laughed.

"Really?" I muttered.

I adjusted myself, wrapping my arms around him.

"You ready?" He affirmed.

I muttered a confirmation and with that we were off.

Unlike the last time, it was bright and sunny outside. Albeit a little chilly, I was warmed up by the leather jacket I still hadn't given back to him. We rode in a comfortable silence. I eventually lay my head down on his back. I could feel his back muscles stiffen at the contact before eventually relaxing.

The drive was a blur of reddening trees and blasting wind. Eventually, we pulled to a stop in front of the woods.

I lazily got up as he turned off his motorcycle. I shivered and looked around the deserted place.

"What is this?" I asked in a confused tone.

"You'll see," he said in a suspiciously excited tone.

"You took me to the woods," I frowned, cocking my head to the side.

"Congrats, you have eyes."

"No, I just mean... why?"

"You'll see," he eagerly repeated. "Now c'mon."

I reluctantly followed after him, and so we ventured into the woods. We walked for so long that my feet began to ache and as we got deeper, it also got darker.

"Hey," I nervously laughed after some thought. "You aren't planning to murder me and hide my body out here, are you?"

He didn't answer.

"Antonio?" I frowned, stepping over a branch.

Antonio suddenly stopped and I bumped into his back. He deeply inhaled as if to smell the air.

"What are you..."

"We're almost there," he said.

I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to get a straight answer from him. Thus, I kept my hazel eyes planted on the ground as I walked, offhandedly satisfied by the sound of my feet crunching the leaves. At last, Antonio finally placed his arm in front of me to stop me from walking.

"We're here," he said.

I looked up and gasped in awe.

There was a clearing up ahead. A beautiful waterfall cascaded down in a rhythmic whoosh. Red and yellow trees surrounded the blue water, and the air was so perfect and crisp I had to take a deep breath. It was truly magnificent.

"I take it you like it," Antonio grinned proudly, crossing his arms.

"It's amazing," I admitted, revelling in the sight with wide eyes. "How did you find this place?"

"I wander a lot," he merely shrugged.

I sat down on a large stone and Antonio did the same. I had so much to say, yet nothing at all. Peaceful silence enveloped us.

• • •