Check out the amazing trailer at the top for this story made by @thevinersbae:) Thank you so much :)

Sorry I'm late with this I have exams coming up soon starting Monday to Thursday and I am absolutely stressing like to the MAX stressing but I'm happy because two of my favorite artist/group are going to be on the soundtrack of the new Ghostbusters movie so yayy.

I think I might enter this story in the 2016 wattys...I don't know yet.

Chapter Twenty Five: "My Throat Is Sore."

"GO TO CLASS," I persuaded Lucas outside of my English class.

He handed me my binder and groaned. "You know I don't want to."

"Lucas, holy, go. You're going to be late."

"No, I'm not. My teacher always comes in ten minutes after the announcements. I could go get a coffee and still make it on time before he gets there."

"Okay...but go." I urged him again for the sake of his education.

He sighed. "I'll see you later right?"

"Yeah of course."

That's when the idiot gave me a hug but wouldn't let go, blocking an amused Mary Anne from entering the classroom. I hit him lightly on the shoulder because as much as I was enjoying this, I didn't want to hear the comments from Mary Anne after. "Lucas. Lucas. Lucas."

He leaned back. "This is bye?"

"For now. It's not like you're not going to see me for a week. We have third together." He laughed before he let me go, giving a small nod of acknowledgement to Mary Anne before walking away with a smile on his face.

I followed Mary Anne inside the classroom and put my backpack on the ground and my binder on my desk as she took the seat beside me.

"Can I ask you a question?" Mary Anne asked me.

I nodded and just as she opened her mouth the O Canada started playing and everyone stood. When it was over and the announcements started and we sat down, she seemed to be waiting after the announcements were over to ask me the question.

Just when they were over and people in our class were still talking. She turned side saddle in her seat to face me when Mr. Stiles entered our classroom, his Aladdin hair looking a little rough and his hazel eyes had a look in them. "Sorry I'm late class, just had a little run in."

"A little?" Mary Anne whispered over to me. She glanced over at our teacher before her eyes widened and he leaned in close to me. "He has a hickey on his neck."

"What?"

"Yeah look." I looked more closely at our teacher and sure enough even though the collar of his shirt was trying to cover it up, one could clearly see the mark on his neck.

"Wow."

"Right before class too, wow," She mumbled. "Okay now my question. Are you ever going to tell Lucas how you feel about him?"

"Why?"

"What do you mean 'why'?" She whisper yelled. "In case you haven't noticed. You like him and he likes you."

"What? No. He doesn't like me."

"Why do you have to be so oblivious?"

"I'm not being oblivious. I'm stating the truth."

"C'mon even the way he looks at you shows he does."

"He looks at me the exact same way he looks at Jane. It's nothing. Even if I like him, it's just friendship."

"But-"

The girl in front of us shushed us as Mr. Stiles had got organized with today's class. Mary Anne gave me a look that claimed that this conversation was definitely not over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn't over.

That conversation definitely wasn't over because she brought it and involved our friends with it.

"Just tell him." Sarah said and a bunch of voices-even Zen who I knew never really cared about the topic joined in.

My eyes widened and I shook my head frantically, waving my hands to get their attention. Any louder and the entire quad would've heard the conversation. "N-No. No. No. That's not going to happen. I-I'm going to do that."

"Why not?" Octavia asked.

"What do you mean 'why not'," I exclaimed , standing up from my seat. "Guys, there are so many things that can go wrong with this."

"Syd," Eduardo tried to reason with me. "You may not understand this but there are either two things that'll happen. He'll reject your feelings or he'll admit like you back."

"Yeah," Sarah added in. "And by our observations, we're pretty sure that Lucas likes you back."

"I-I just don't want anything to be weird. I don't want for him to reject my feelings and just be awkward with me. Do you not understand how weird it'll be for me to tell him that I like him and then for us to forget that we were friends and that we did talk everyday once upon a time and then suddenly act like we don't even know each other?"

"You're over exaggerating." Zen muttered.

"Maybe I am," I said under my breath, dragging a hand down the side of my face. "But I don't want to lose what he and I already have."

"I said it before, and I'll say it again. You'll want things to change anyway, for the better. Just try telling him." Mary Anne told me.

I sat back down and rested my head on my arms. I felt some pat my back. "If you want, I can tell him for you." Eduardo said.

I looked over at him. "This isn't the sixth grade. I'm not going to tell you to go tell him I like him during lunch time and we get so excited over a hug at the end of the day."

"You just said it," Octavia told me. "This isn't sixth grade. It's okay to be nervous but there are comes a point where you need to be straight up and just tell the boy how you feel."

"But-"

"No buts. Do you ever want Lucas to know how you feel?"

"Yes."

"Good now before you decide to tell him at graduation, you should tell him sooner rather than later. Trust me you'll feel like a whole weight will have been lifted off of your shoulders."

"I'll consider it." I told them.

"Are you going to consider it? Are you really?" Eduardo asked me.

"Yes. I will consider it. Trust me." I've been considering it for a while now.

"Where's Kim?" Octavia asked.

Zen pointed over my head. "Coming in now."

Kim scurried over to our table, her wavy blonde shoulder length hair in the tiniest bun I've ever seen in my life, exposing her tattoo at the back of her neck. She tugged on one of her school sweater, zipping it up to the top. "It's freezing here. Where did the summer go?"

"I don't know where it went, maybe because it's Fall?" Zen asked sarcastically and Kim slapped him on the arm.

"Shut up," Kim mumbled. "I'm exhausted and I shouldn't be talking right now."

"What's wrong?" Sarah asked.

"My throat is sore. My voice is killing me because of practice yesterday."

"Why?" Eduardo asked stupidly, taking a bite of the pasta in the container.

"Maybe because I-oh I don't know-sing?" Kim asked him and he almost choked.

"Oh sorry I forgot for a second."

"What's wrong with you?" Mary Anne asked, nudging him.

He pushed his scraggly hair back in a frustrated motion. "Stress. School. It's October and I'm already stressed. I'm going to be even more stressed if Sydney doesn't tell Lucas how she feels about him anytime soon."

"What?" I almost yelled at him. "How am I causing you stress?"

"Because the universe says to do something and that is for you and Lucas to be together and that will not happen unless you do something about it. If you don't do something soon I'm going to get white hairs."

"Stop exaggerating." Zen and I dryly said at the same time and I glanced at him, kind of glad that someone understands my appeal of sarcasm.

"Wait, Sydney is going to tell Lucas how she feels about him?" Kim asked, looking lost.

"Yes."

"I didn't agree to this." I told my friends. "This is peer pressure."

"It's the good kind pressure." Mary Anne pointed out. Why did that remind me of what Devin had told me about Lucas?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey Greg," I said, walking into the living room of the Cahill house, my duffle bag slung over my shoulder as I waited for my mom to pick me up from work. "Do you know where Lucas is?" Greg raised an eyebrow, silently asking me why. I held up papers. "I have his math notes."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"I thought you were finding him for other reasons." He said, getting up and gesturing for me to follow him.

"What other reasons?" I asked distinctively.

"I don't know. I mean I don't think you're a Lydia-which is honestly a compliment- but I kind of figured you two had a thing going on and you do with him what-"

I almost choked on air, probably looking bewildered at what Greg is suggesting. "No, no, no Lucas and I are just friends Greg. We aren't anything like Lydia and Joey."

"That's for sure," Greg mumbled, shooting me an apologetic smile as we walked up the grand stairs. "When Lydia comes over it usually ends with her walking out with mad look on her face."

"Wow."

"Yeah, none of us really like her. I'm not even sure if Joey likes her to be honest."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because she's kind of a bitch. And every time they're together they manage to get into an argument that looks as if it'll turn for the worse." We reached the top and Greg took a left. I looked down the hallway that had walls and doors that were spaced to signify some of the boys' rooms. He moved down a couple of doors before he stopped at a white one with a gold doorknob. But the knob was different than some of the other rooms. A swipe of blue paint was smeared on it from my perspective.

Greg knocked on the door respectfully. I noticed that Greg was probably had the most manners out of the boys here. Yeah, he was blunt, a little sharp tongued but he respected a person and didn't look like the type to want to disgust another.

The door opened a crack and Lucas poked his head out staring at his little brother. "What doo you need?"

"Sydney here has something for you." Greg shot me a smile before walking away.

I turned back to Lucas to find him already staring at me, holding his door open. "Hey."

"Hi." I replied, handing him his notes that he had let me borrow.

"Come in." He stepped to the side and that was completely unexpected. I didn't think I would ever go inside his room one day.

I didn't expect what his room would look like. Honestly, I didn't expect to look like this. But then again Lucas never failed to surprise me.

I think Lucas had gotten bored one day and just decided to paint random things on his originally white walls. There were multiple things around the room. There were swirls, different patterns, different images scattered on the walls of the room. I felt that if I stared at them for too long, the images would peel off of the wall.

His bed was big with red sheets and comforter, white pillows made up against the headboard. There were two large desks in his room. On one side, was a desk filled with papers and beside it an easel. He had a stack of paint supplies lined up on the desk, partially organized and paint brushes were scattered on the desk as well.

I looked at the other, in between two doors which I guessed one was his bathroom and the other was probably his closet. That desk had a flat screen TV mounted on it. I could see the multiple video games stacked on the desk, along with game systems, controllers and two headphones.

So I kind of just stood in awe at his room and didn't even move further until he had taken off the headphones that were around his own neck and put it on his bed, shooting me a smile. "Canada girl? You alright there?"

"Y-Yeah I'm fine. I feel like your room could be the size of my apartment."

Lucas snorted, his face turning red after that and a knowing smile grew on my face. "Um...I highly doubt that."

"I'm serious."

"I'll have to see so myself one day." He said, walking over to the couch and placing his sock covered feet up on the ottoman.

He looked over at me and nod his head for me to join him. I carefully walked over a pencil lying down on the ground and sat down next to him, noticing the giant sketchbook beside him. He had a laptop on his lap and was playing a game on the screen.

I stared at it for a while before asking. "What are you doing?"

"Playing a game. You didn't think of me as a gamer did you?"

"No, not really. I mean I remember you practically controlling Greg when he was trying to play that one game in the game room..."

"I wasn't controlling him," Lucas laughed, shaking his head and his eyes were focused on the screen. "I was helping him. His character would've died and because Greg is one of the worst gamers in the world, I bought him some time."

"Wow brother of the year award goes to you." I said sarcastically.

Lucas looked away from the screen for a second to flash me a smile. "I know. I'm playing League of Legends. Ever heard of it?"

I shrugged. "Yeah my friend Wesley used to play it a lot. I think he had an addiction."

"You know, Ken Hensley once said that 'it's hard to understand an addiction unless you have experienced it'.

"Do you always do that?"

"Do what?"

"Quote? Like, make a random quote about anything that someone had said? Do you have some type of quote book or something?"

Lucas shook his head, logging off and turning off his laptop, putting it to the side to give me his full attention. "Yeah it's a little weird I guess."

"I didn't say it was weird." I rushed and Lucas looked at me in amusement as I tried to correct my mistake. "I mean, I was just wondering."

"I don't know. I read a lot. And when I was a kid, I used to quote my favorite films all the time. I guess it stuck into random things. It's a habit."

"Like you twisting your ring when you get nervous or something?"

"What?"

"Your ring," I mumbled out.

"Oh, I do that?" He asked and I nodded. "Didn't really notice. Have you been paying attention to me?"

I rolled my eyes at that question and he laughed a little getting up and going over to the desk and rummaging through one of the open drawers. I got up and joined him, watching him curiously as he tried to find something. "What are you looking for?"

"Another controller. Christian must've tossed it somewhere around here last time we played."

"Why do you need another controller?"

"Because maybe just maybe I want to see if you can beat me at another game." He laughed, already knowing who would win.

I huffed. "You're a sadist," He laughed even louder, still searching for what he was looking for when I caught my eye on something. I didn't touch it but I pointed at it. "That's an inhaler? For your asthma?"

Lucas stopped and looked down at it. "Oh yeah, mum always makes sure to refill them even though I keep telling her I don't need it. I haven't had an asthma attack since I was little."

"Better safe than sorry." I mumbled.

Lucas gave me a small smile, shrugging before wiggling his controller in his hand. "Ready to lose?"

"Shut up." I muttered, biting back a smile as we settled back on the couch, his leg pressed against mine as he turned on the TV.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Octavia was leaving.

She was going to LA. To actually be in a role where she would be around big stars.

She was leaving Hamilton High Academy of the Arts to do something she was trained to do. It was around 1 o'clock when Mary Anne had texted Sarah and I. I glanced at Lucas whose hair was revealed and I noticed he didn't have his regular hairstyle of the spikes upward on his head.

He flashed me a small smile as Sarah and I excused ourselves to the bathroom, happy that Mrs. Olivera was distracted enough not to send one of us back to class. We walked quickly towards the front of the school where some people were saying bye to Octavia. When some of the crowd had dispersed, I noticed her and Mary Anne were hugging.

"You're actually going." Mary Anne hugged her even tighter.

"I'll video chat you every day," Octavia said with a sad smile.

"Me too right?" Eduardo added in with a hopeful grin.

"Of course you too Edweirdo." She said looking like she was going to break into tears any second.

"why is it just hitting me now that your leaving?" Sarah sniffed beside me, immediately hugging Octavia after Mary Anne let her go.

"It's only a couple months. I know I'll definitely be back before your graduation but most likely it'll end way earlier than then. Plus, I'll visit you guys in New York. It'll be okay."

"Seriously?" Kim asked. "You'll come all the way from LA to New York to see us?"

"Obviously." She had that smile on her face, one that let people know she was probably capable of anything.

Sarah let go of Octavia who immediately came over to me. "You."

"What about me?" I shared her grin. Sure I've only known this girl for almost two months but she was close to me as my friends back home.

"You need to get out of your comfort zone," She grabbed me by the arms and shook me a little. "You need to loosen up. It's okay to make mistakes. It's okay to be nervous. It's okay to feel a certain way for someone. Do what you really want people like Matilda and Lydia stopping you from being something or doing something? My fellow African, even though you're a quarter African, you know what you need to do soon?"

"What?"

"Get out of your comfort zone by telling Lucas how you feel. Even if he doesn't feel the same way, just think 'fuck it, I need to do this and I'll do it'. Got it?"

"That was a very..." I trailed off.

"Octavia answer." Zen finished, looking amused.

"Just do it," She sighed dramatically, grabbing me by the hands. "Will you?"

I nodded for her sake...and mine.

"Promise?"

"I promise." I guaranteed.

She gave me a huge smile before hugging me tightly. I hugged her back. "I'll miss you Siddy."

"Hey that's my nickname for her." Eduardo immediately defended.

"Shut up," Octavia laughed and I could hear the choked up sob escape her mouth.

"I'll miss you too." I admitted, hugging her tighter before I felt arms surround us from the rest of the friends I had made here in a short time.

After final goodbyes by more people that were lingering around, we watched a black car pull up to the front of the school. Octavia climbed in but not before turning around to wave to all of us before she got in the car. But the thing is that Octavia was unpredictable and while I thought she would put her hand down, she rolled down the window as the car was moving and yelled out. "I'm going to Hollywood! Watch me on the red carpet."