"Tate is waving to you. Go say hi." Austin nudged me.

"I'll just stay with you for now. Maybe later." I mumbled, waving back.

"Go," he pushed slightly harder, nodding at me to go. I glared at him but walked over to her anyway.

"Hi." I greeted awkwardly.

"Hey Ashlyn." Tate smiled. "This is Gabby."

"Hey!" She grinned. I felt like I recognised her from somewhere but I couldn't place it.

"How was maths?" Tate asked.

"Very confusing." I sighed, laughing a little.

"Sit down." She patted the cushion next to hers. "I forgot to ask earlier; what's your dog's name?"

"Oh, this is Teddy. He's my service dog." I patted him. I had made sure to get him water whilst we were walking over here and also to let him roll around in the grass quickly.

"He's very cute." Said Gabby, admiring him. I was glad neither tried nor asked to pat him.

We chatted for ages about school, my brothers, why I'd moved and then we got onto the topic of sports.

"Are you starting competition season with us?" Gabby asked.

"No, I'll start next year. I think I might come to a training session though, just to see how it works."

"That's a good idea. What sport were you thinking?"

"I don't really know."

"You should do soccer." Gabby grinned.

"She is obsessed with soccer." Tate rolled her eyes. "Although, she's pretty good at it." She added, laughing.

"What sport do you do, Tate?" I asked, feeling brave. Ella was going to be happy I was making friends. Mum and Dad and everyone at home too.

"Track. You should tryout. Have you ever done running before?"

"Not properly." I shook my head, thinking about all the pictures in Ben's office back at the hospital. Those people looked powerful and strong. I wanted to be powerful and strong. "Austin suggested I do track. Him and I raced each other recently and he said if I trained I would be able to beat him."

"Seriously? You must be fast then." Tate sat there, wide eyed.

"I still think you should do soccer." Gabby smirked. Before we could continue, the damn bell rang again. I was getting very sick of that bell already.

Turns out Gabby was in my house, so her and I walked back to our lockers and she took me to my next class, which she also happened to be in. It was called Media.

"What exactly do you do in this class?" I asked her.

"You take pictures on the old cameras and then we develop them. I've nearly finished my portfolio so you can just join my group and help me. There's not much point in you starting one of your own at this point in the year."

"Do we have the class for the rest of the day?"

"Yeah, we have a double."

The teacher didn't even look up from his computer screen as kids piled into the classroom, getting themselves, all set up and ready to go. As quickly as they came, they left again, taking their cameras with them.

"This is my portfolio." Gabby showed me, flipping through a folder. In it was a series of photographs in black and white, each capturing a different thing. Some were solely object focussed, others encompassed more. They were...mesmerising.

"Wow." I gasped, stuck on this one. It was of a flower, falling to the side, weighed down by drips of water. Surrounding it, out of focus, were more flowers, but this one was different. It was hurting but it looked strong. It was going to survive this storm. "That's my favourite." I pointed at it.

"I like that one too." She smiled. "Let's go get some more."

She grabbed her camera, chatting the entire time about the class, the photographs and how they were developed. Occasionally, she'd stop, at a really random place, and look around for something to take a photo of. Sometimes she'd take one, other times she'd sigh, and we'd keep moving. It was actually a very good exercise to learn my way around the school campus, so I made sure to remain attentive to my surroundings.

We walked around the same field I'd first re-met Ryan and watched as he played soccer with friends. He must be in PE. 

"That's your brother right?" Gabby asked. I nodded and looked carefully, hoping he'd turn around and see me, but he didn't.

We must have walked around for at least an hour before Gabby was happy with what she'd collected. Then we headed back to the classroom where she left me with her folder whilst she went to some other place. She told me it was going to be really busy and that I'd probably just have to stand outside anyway. It was easier for me to just stay with the pictures.

All of them were stunning but I couldn't get over that one flower.

The day felt quite long, but finally, it was time to go home. I packed up all my things, including my maths books so that someone could help me. Then, I waited for Austin and Jonah to finish talking to all their friends, and eventually, we left towards the carpark. Before we could even get there, they ran into more friends and we were once again stuck unmoving. I saw Ryan in the distance and thought I might have better luck getting out of here with him, so I walked over to him.

"Hey Ash." He grinned, hugging me when I got close enough.

"Who's the girl?" A boy behind him snickered.

"Isn't she kinda young Ryan?" Another commented.

"My baby sister." He glared at them all. They all shut up very quickly. "I'll see you guys later." He huffed, walking with me away from them. "Sorry about them." He sighed.

"Did they think I was your girlfriend?" I asked, confused.

"I guess so." He remained tense with clenched fists.

"The same thing happened with Jonah." I shrugged. Could a girl and a boy not be near each other without people thinking they're dating?

"Let's go home. Austin, Jonah!" He yelled from across the carpark. Nick was there waiting.