The lunchyard bustles with noise around noon. With only two days left until Thanksgiving break, all anyone can talk about is the short few days off of school after a long semester. The cafeteria line is out the door with the promise of fresh pumpkin pie being served, as well as some Thanksgiving classics. It takes Hazel and Abigail twenty minutes to even sit down with us.

As Hazel takes a bite of pie, I look up and grin.

"Was it worth it?" I ask.

Hazel grumbles and sets the pie aside. "No. My grandma makes better pie than this, Jesus."

"No taking the Lord's name in vain," Allison jokes.

"I'm Jewish," Hazel counters, which causes the whole group to erupt in laughter.

I sit comfortably in my small circle and take bites of my sandwich. I have not told my friends about my short excursion to Aurora's home. I don't know why I hesitate to tell them such details. For right now, I want to keep what Aurora and I have private for some reason. Sitting with my friends is comfortable. I feel where I'm meant to be. Being with Aurora is a different feeling. Positive still, but different. I don't want to comingle those two feelings just yet.

"Ugh, cuffing season is killing me," Hazel complains as she scrolls through her phone.

"Did Logan return your text?" Abigail asks, shifting her body slightly to see Hazel's phone.

"No, but he finally posted our Homecoming picture on Instagram. 'Had a fun night.' What kind of caption is that?!" she complains.

"He'll come around. You'll see," Juliet assures her.

I lean back and stretch my back, staring upward at the gray sky. I didn't bring an umbrella, which means if it rains today, I might ask for a ride home. Which would also mean that—

"You should make a move soon," Allison tells Hazel. "With prom coming up, you'll want a date."

"I know," Hazel pouts. "Why are men so difficult?"

Everyone lets out sighs of agreement, all except for me. I've become too occupied tapping my fingers against the cold cement and thinking about the weather report to sympathize with anyone.

"So, you'll take Logan, then, Hazel. I'll take Ryan, of course." Allison pauses, turning to look at the remainder of us who do not have planned dates for the spring. I watch her lock eyes with me, and I suddenly hold my hands out and shake them.

"Why are we talking about this now? Prom isn't until April," I say.

"Well, it's custom to have a date, that's all," Allison says. "And besides, you already turned Colton down, so I'm trying to think of who I could set you up with this time around."

"I don't need to be set-up," I argue.

"You'll find a date yourself?" Juliet asks. Now all eyes are turned on me.

"Well, I don't know about that. This is months away anyway. We don't need to talk about it now," I say. My fingernails are digging into my hand, I realize, as I stare away from the group. I'm not sure what it has been about sitting here lately, but a sense of annoyance always seems to creep up on me whenever the topic of boys is mentioned. Is there nothing else for us to talk about these days?

From what I can tell, Allison is still talking about prom, her attention now focused on Abigail and Juliet. I drown out their words and look away to a nearby table, where there is a set of familiar red curls. A sigh escapes my lips, and then I pause and stiffen my body. What am I even doing?

Before I can turn away, I notice Aurora's head turn toward me. Shit. She seems confused at first, but she smiles and gives a little wave, and I quickly turn, huffing to myself. I don't turn back around for fear she might still be staring.

"What are you looking at?" Abigail asks.

"Oh, um, was just seeing if the pumpkin pie slices those girls had over there were bigger than Hazel's piece," I say. It's the best excuse I could come up with in a moment, but Abigail seems to buy it, considering the fact she asks no more questions.

The ringing bell saves me from the rest of the conversation, and I head off to my afternoon classes. I find myself resting my head on my hand and staring out the window more so than usual. The clouds are darkening, and I'm afraid that it may truly rain.

I exit my last class, finding tiny raindrops have already begun to drench the sidewalk. Just my luck. I rummage through my locker, grumbling to myself when I feel a faint tap on my shoulder.

"Why are you just grumbling to yourself like that?" Aurora asks as I turn around. My eyes fall to her hand, where she clutches a dark umbrella. Of course she'd bring one on a day with a 20% chance of rain.

"Huh? Oh! Finals, you know?" I say as I grab my things.

"Are you ready to go?" Aurora asks.

"Oh, well. I didn't bring my umbrella. So I figured I'd just get a ride from someone," I tell her.

"Umbrellas can normally fit more than one person, you know," Aurora says.

"I didn't want to assume—"

"I mean, you don't have to walk home with me if you don't want to," Aurora says. It seems she's second-guessing herself as well.

"Oh, no, I will!" I say. I quickly shut my locker and lock it before walking out the school's front entrance with her. The rain is steady, but it's not terribly cold, and thankfully there's not much wind either. This creates a nice ambience. I feel uncomfortably close to Aurora though. Sure, her umbrella fits two people, but not without removing most of the space between us.

"If only it dropped a few degrees, then it might snow," Aurora says. She seems unbothered by the distance. In fact, she seems more upset that it's not snowing.

"Walking through the snow is a lot less fun than walking in the rain," I explain.

"You seem in a sour mood today," Aurora realizes. "When you looked at me at lunch too, you seemed pissed off."

"Not at you!"

"I understood," Aurora said, laughing some. "What's up?"

"At lunch?"

"Yes. That is what we were just talking about," Aurora says.

"You know, the more I've gotten to know you, the more sassy you are. Not so miss perfect after all, huh?"

"Who said I was miss perfect?" Aurora asks.

"Oh, well, everyone at the school thinks you are or something," I mutter, shoving my hands into my pockets. My shoulder lightly brushes against her, and I lightly jolt at the contact.

"So, what was up at lunch? I thought you'd come over and talk, but..." Aurora's voice trails off.

"Oh, just my friends pissing me off. They were trying to plan out prom, even though it's months away," I say. "I wasn't in the mood, not after last Homecoming."

Aurora giggles. "Right, right."

"Did you and your friends overthink prom like that, too?" I wonder. I suppose I can ask Aurora for advice about this. I am talking to a senior, after all.

"At first, sure. Prom is overrated as it is. That whole 'everyone needs to have a date' is a sham. You can have fun by yourself," Aurora says.

"Did you take a date, then?"

"Uh, well, yes, but it was just a friend of mine from middle school. Not the one I went with to Homecoming," Aurora says, as I remember the date she was hiding from as well that October night.

"Right."

"What are your Thanksgiving break plans?" Aurora asks.

"Oh, well, my birthday is the day before."

"Your birthday is this week?!"

"Yeah, the 21st. Did I not mention that earlier?" I ask.

"I wish I'd known! I would've baked you a cake or something," Aurora says. Her face has contorted into a pout.

"It's fine. My friends will have all the sweets covered," I say. "I'm not doing anything big, really. Just celebrating with family. And then more family time at Thanksgiving, you know?"

"Same, and probably starting to get my finals stuff together," Aurora thinks. I want to mock her for being so on-top of things, but in all honesty, most of my friends are going out of town, which means I'll probably get a head start on studying too.

"When's your birthday? Since apparently it's a crime not to know each other's birthdays."

"March 15th," Aurora answers. "So now in March, you have to bake me a cake."

"All right, deal," I tease. We're getting to the corner where we split. Aurora seems to sense this too, because she slows in her tracks a bit.

"I can walk you to your house if you don't want to walk in the rain," she offers.

I feel that she has been generous enough, what with her letting me use her umbrella. Plus, I can't hide the fact I'm sweating under my uniform being pressed up against her like this. With these facts in mind, I shake my head.

"I'll just run to my house from here. Get a little exercise," I tell her.

"Well, don't catch a cold. Have a good birthday, and a good Thanksgiving," Aurora says.

"You too." I break away from under the umbrella, stepping out into the rain. I take off, doing a half-run-half-jog down the street to my house. The rain is strangely refreshing. I almost want to dance in it.