"be the energy you want to attract."
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The cafeteria in the school is very loud and crowded. Most of the tables were taken by seniors or some freshmen who thought they were the shit.

Willow said that she wanted to hang out in the cafeteria because it was too cold outside, and she didn't have a sweater to keep her warm. She tried to have Ben hand her his sweater, but he said that he was going to be cold and that he didn't want to give her his sweater.

What a gentleman.

There is a lot of people here in the cafeteria though and I definitely prefer sitting outside rather than sitting in here.

And by the looks of it so did Ben and Willow.

The bell rang meaning that lunch was over, and we didn't have to stay in the cafeteria any longer.

"What class do you guys have?" I asked as we stood up from the table we were sitting at.

"I have Math," Ben said.

"Chem, the teacher in that class is so boring," Willow said while rolling her eyes.

We all walked out of the cafeteria and went our separate ways to our class.

Ben walked me to mine since ours were right next to each other.

When I walk inside the class, I go to sit in one of the chairs in the back of the class. I have been sitting in the back of the class for most of my classes. I didn't feel like being in the front or center. I rather observe from afar while also reading or doodling on spreadsheets I had in my binder or notebook.

This English class isn't as boring as my past English classes though. We actually talk and write about interesting things. Even though I have only been here for a few weeks I can tell this class isn't like other English classes.

"Good afternoon class," Ms. Anderson, the teacher, said with a warm smile. She was a woman who looked like she was in her early thirties. She has beautiful long golden hair that was curled at the ends. She was wearing her signature black long sleeve shirt and then blue jeans. From the few weeks I have been here I noticed that the school didn't really have a dress code for the students or the teachers. "So today I have a new assignment for you."

"Really?" Students muttered while rolling their eyes.

"I know I know don't sound too excited guys." Ms. Anderson said with a teasing smile. "But this assignment is actually pretty easy believe it or not. It depends on who you have for a partner."

One girl raised her hand and Ms. Anderson raised her eyebrow at her letting her speak. "Do we get to pick our partners?" The girl asked.

"No. If I let you pick your partners, then there would be no point in completing this assignment. Plus, I have already picked out your partners." Ms. Anderson went to her desk and grabbed a stack of papers. "So, for this assignment, I want you guys to write two essays. One about your partner and what you learned about them throughout this assignment and another about yourself." Ms. Anderson explained while passing out the papers to each person sitting at a desk.

"I don't get it." One girl said while having a confused look on her face.

"You and your partner are going to talk and share things about yourselves. Your deepest thoughts, secrets, likes, dislikes, hobbies, anything. They are going to write an essay about you and then you are going to write one about them. After you complete that part of the assignment then I want you to write an essay about yourself that reveals your true feelings and thoughts because I know that you won't tell your partner everything."

Why would I want to tell a stranger, a person I know nothing about, my thoughts and what I have been through? I don't need to hear their input about what I went through. I don't need to hear their opinion or what they think about me.

The door opens making me look up and see who entered the class. "Found this one about to leave class." The security guard said while bringing in a familiar-looking student.

"Take a seat Kayden." Ms. Anderson said before walking to her desk.

"Of course, Jenna," Kayden muttered before walking away from the guard and towards the back of the room.

"Kayden, stop being an ass and say Mrs. Anderson's name the respectful way." The security guard said before looking at Mrs. Anderson and smiling at her.

For the past few classes, I could see that the security guard likes Mrs. Anderson a lot. It's obvious.

"I am not going to keep telling you this Kayden, it's Anderson to you. Call me by my first name again you're going to be having two-hour afterschool detention." Jenna- Ms. Anderson threatened and the guard left the classroom after Mrs. Anderson thanked him

Kayden walks to the empty seat on the opposite side of the class from me in the back. There was another student in the back row with us who was in between.

I didn't know Kayden was in this class. I have come to this class every day and I haven't seen him once.

"So, when is this assignment due Ms. Anderson?" Someone asked.

"You have four weeks to complete it. You may get it done earlier but you have four weeks. You have one week to get to know you're partner or two if you need more time to get to know them and communicate with them. You then have another two weeks to complete both essays about yourself and your partner." Ms. Anderson said while getting out a sheet of paper. "Now if there are no more questions, I will give out your partners. There is no switching, so you get what you get."

Ms. Anderson started calling out names while I just spaced out and stared at the directions sheet, she gave us all.

I can't believe she is making us do this.

And I just gave her props for this English class.

I just don't see the point in writing an entire essay about someone. I don't see the point in revealing all of your darkest secrets and thoughts to someone you know nothing about, to someone who is a stranger. What's that going to do for you if you tell them?

"Kayden Black and Alexis Carter." Ms. Anderson making my heart almost stop beating. I try not to look at Kayden to see what his expression was just keeping that straight face he always has. "Okay, so I want you guys to go to your partners and get to know a little bit about them and then also plan when you will be meeting up to work on the assignment since this is not an in-class assignment."

The last time I saw or spoke to him was the night he picked Elijah up from the daycare. I also met his mom the other day and she seems super sweet but also very tired. I could see the bags beneath her eyes and her hair looked like she didn't even try to make it look presentable. All of the other days at work Kathrine let me go early so that she could wait with the kids. Sometimes I would stay with them, and she would go home early. We always rotate.

I see everyone get out of their seat to go to their partner while I stay seated in mine deciding if I want to make the first move and go to him or just stay here until I get sent to the principal's office.

I let out an annoyed sigh before grabbing my bag and walking to the desk next to where he was sitting, while also texting on his phone.

I sat in the chair in front of him and took out the papers for the assignment.

I still feel bad for what I said to him the other day and I want to say sorry, but I don't want him to think I said it just because.

"So, the project should be pretty easy to complete. It's literally just asking questions. I'm sure Mrs. Anderson will give you the papers for it that have the directions." I said while grabbing the papers out of my folder then I put them in. "I know you might not like me right now but-"

"I'm not going to hate someone just because of what they said. I'm not a kid." Kayden stated making me look up at him, but he was already staring at me.

"Well, I'm still sorry about what I said. I didn't mean to sound like a bitch or judgmental."

"Everyone has opinions. I can't stop you from thinking about whatever you are thinking."

"Well, I still feel bad, so I just wanted to apologize," I said as he and stare at each other, holding strong eye contact which made me feel super nervous. "But about the project," I said before breaking eye contact with him.

"We can go to my house to work on it after I pick Elijah up."

"Okay."