I woke up on Monday morning feeling excited. Well, as excited as you can be to go to school.

Actually, I've been awake since way too early for my liking, because I was so anxious I couldn't sleep properly.

And trust me, lack of sleep is never a good sign for the day ahead.

I talked to Lilly yesterday to catch up, but we'll only see each other today after an entire summer apart. That's the part I'm happy about.

I'm definitely not looking forward to math though.

Ok, so maybe I'm not that excited after all.

I go take a quick shower and spend some time getting dressed, ironing my hair and applying make-up. I use all the techniques Sarah taught me to have a natural, but awesome look.

I'm wearing a brown plaid skirt - something I wouldn't wear before my makeover - a plain white t-shirt, a cute necklace and a pink cardigan that compliments the entire look, so when I look at myself in the mirror, I smile.

I look decent for someone who barely slept.

I go down the stairs and into the kitchen to find my mom packing my lunch, while she's on the phone with who I assume to be her boss.

She finally hangs up after a couple of minutes and then turns to me. "Good morning, honey."

"Morning mom.'' I smile at her.

"Did you sleep well?" I nod. "Did you take your medicine last night?"

"Yes mom, I always do." I roll my eyes, because I hate when she asks me that. She knows I never forget to take it. It's a touchy subject for me, so I'll leave it for another time. "Are you driving me to school?"

I ask at the same time that I inspect the lunch bag she hands to me. Even though I'm almost going to college, she still insists on packing my lunch. She says I'll soon be gone and she wants to take every opportunity to take care of me.

I'm spoiled, I know.

"Sorry, I have to go to work, we've received the new testing meds at the lab. I'm already late actually." She says, looking at her watch. 

"That's fine. I'll call Lilly to see if she can give me a ride." I make a move to get my phone from my pocket, but I stop midway when I hear what she says next.

"Oh, there's no need. I called Bennett and he's on his way here. He'll give you a ride."

Excuse me, what?

"Bennett?"

"What's wrong? He's given you rides before." She looks at me like I've grown two heads.

Yeah, but Dylan was with us. This time it will be just the two of us. The West's brothers usually gave me rides whenever they went to school together, but for some reason, I thought that after Dylan graduated, the rides would end and my mom would drive me to school instead.

"You know what? It's fine."

I decided against telling her that I think it's weird to be alone with Bennett, because I wouldn't be able to explain why, so I just grab my lunch and give her a quick hug before I'm out the door.

"Have a good first day of senior year! Can you believe it? My baby is a senior." I hear her say from the kitchen and I half smile to myself.

As soon as I leave, I see Bennett's SUV jeep parking in front of my house.

Perfect timing, as usual.

Bennett is never late.

In fact, ever since we were kids, he lectures us on how disrespectful it is to keep someone waiting. I mean, if you even consider saying five words on the topic a lecture...

Another thing to add to the list of differences between him and Dylan.

Dylan is always late.

I take a deep breath and make my way to him. I open the door and get inside his car, with a smile on my face. He doesn't have to give me a ride, so the least I can do is be nice.

"Hey." He looks at me for a second too long before saying a weak 'hey' back.

I put the seatbelt on and wait for him to start the engine, but he just continues to look at me intently.

Ok, that's awkward... and it's not even because of me this time.

"What?" It's like he realizes he was staring for too long and shakes his head before looking ahead and finally getting us moving.

"Nothing. You're just different, that's all."

''Is that a bad thing?'' I play with my loose hair, feeling self-conscious.

I guess he noticed I've changed after all.

He didn't reply at first, so I'm not sure he even heard me. By the blank expression on his face, he probably doesn't really care about how I look.

''I liked the old you.'' He finally says and my eyes dart to him, but he doesn't seem fazed by my stare.

I know it's a simple thing, but Bennett saying something like this is new to me, so I can't help the redness on my face.

"Uhn so, are you excited for senior year?" I ask, trying to lighten the mood that suddenly shifted.

"Sure."

I roll my eyes and just look out the window. Why is it so hard to get him to talk like a normal person?

"You look different too. You started running, huh?" I force a smile, trying one more time to make small talk.

Maybe talking about how he looks is not the best strategy considering I was blushing a minute ago, but I guess it's better than the silence.

"We don't actually do just science at science camp, you know that, right?" He smirks and quickly glances at me.

"Of course I know. My mom used to say that she was the best soccer player at camp. I just didn't know you were into sports." I smirk too, like this was a smart comeback.

"I'm not."

And then there is silence... I guess we're done talking.

I look outside the window one more time and I see with the corner of my eye when he turns the radio on and the car is filled with James Arthur's sweet voice.

Thank God for that. The silence was killing me, even if it's not my fault that a robot is giving me a ride.

We arrive at our school shortly after, much to my relief. The school is already packed and I see some people looking at us as we make our way to the building.

Bennett doesn't seem bothered by it, but I can't help but wonder why they are looking, and some even whispering.

Well, that's rude.

I guess it's because Dylan is not here anymore, so they probably think it's strange not seeing him. Or maybe they see how much both Bennett and I have changed since the last time they saw us.

I'm sure it's the first one though. Girls usually envied me for getting rides with the West's brothers, meaning that I got to spend time with Dylan and they didn't.

I can consider a ride as spending time with him, can't I? Dylan hardly ever talked to me at school, but still.

Lilly said that he was a jerk for pretending we weren't friends and then having dinner at my place, but I always told her that it's not like he did it on purpose.

I mean, it's not like he couldn't be seen with me, but for some reason we weren't friends around here.

I guess I can say that I'm in the middle of the school's food chain. I'm not popular, but I'm not a dork with no friends either, like Bennett. I usually get invited to parties, I do like sports, although I'm not very good at it and I usually get along with almost everyone.

Sure, I'm no saint, there are some people I dislike, this is high school after all, but I don't have any sworn enemies, the popular kids don't make my life a living hell and I just don't go by completely unnoticed because Dylan usually gave me rides.

Not to mention that I used to be quite talented in the music department, as I played piano for several years. Something that is not part of my life anymore, so I don't like to talk about it either.

God, I just realized that I am in fact so boring. No wonder no guys are interested in me. I'm just too... regular.

I choose to ignore the stares as Bennett and I walk, side by side, but still in silence.

As soon as he opens the heavy front door and holds it for me, I turn to him.

"Thanks for the ride, you didn't have to."

"Sure, anytime." He shrugs with a small smile on his face before he turns around to go to his locker somewhere down the crowded hall.

I keep staring at his back, thinking that his mood swing is something beyond my understanding. He barely talked to me the entire drive, but then he smiles in a kind of sweet way.

Maybe everyone is right. Maybe he is weirder than I think.

I let this go and even before I reach my own locker, I hear a high pitched voice that I immediately identify as my best friend.

"There she is!'' Lilly makes her way to me and I feel her arms going around my body and crushing my bones in a tight hug. Damn, she is strong. "Oh my god, I missed you so much! You look amazing, love the skirt! We'll talk about your new look for sure. Oh, can you believe we're finally seniors?"

She lets go of me, but doesn't give me time to react or say that I missed her too, or even say thanks for the compliment before she hands me a paper.

''Here, read this.''

I unfold the piece of paper that seems to have been folded and unfolded a million times already and I raise my eyebrow when I see it's a list. "What is this?"

"I made us a bucket list. We have to complete it before going to college." She excitedly claps her hands, waiting to see my reaction.

"Bungee jumping? Yeah, that's not going to happen.'' What the hell was she thinking?

''Oh, please, don't be such a coward.'' She smiles widely and I look at her as if she's crazy after I read the 'get into a fight' item.

She goes on talking about each topic on the list, that also includes me finally telling Dylan how I feel, right between telling Mr. Rogers, our world history teacher, that he's a piece of shit - her words, not mine - and ice skating at Rockefeller center on Christmas.

She's too excited for me to tell her that stealing a book from the library as a souvenir is another crazy idea, so I listen patiently to her explanation on each one of the fifteen items on the list.

"You do realize that we are just going to college, right? We could still do all this stuff."

"I know, but we probably won't do it together, so what's the fun? We have to do it this year!"

"You have serious issues, Lilly. Oh, and for the record, I'm not going bungee jumping, like, never." She ignores my comment and gives me her schedule and changing the topic for now. 

I'm happy that we'll have a few classes together, the first one not being one of them.

My very first class of senior year is chemistry, so once the bell rings, she goes to her class and I make my way to the lab.

What did I do to deserve that?

Please, kill me now.

I enter the classroom that is almost full and find an empty seat as far as possible from the board. All I have to do now is wait for this torture to start.

Shortly after, Victoria, a girl that I became friends with last year, joins me at my table. After we chat about summer, she makes herself comfortable and pulls her notebook out of her bag.

"Do you mind if we are partners this year?"

I answer with a loud yes, not wanting to let her know that I'm actually happier than I should be, because she's good at chem and let's be honest, I'm not. Period.

We engage back in a conversation about random stuff, until I notice for the first time Bennett sitting in the first row.

Of course. Where else would he sit in one of his favorite classes?

He's alone with his headphones on, reading a book like there's no one else around him. Such a contrast to the excited students everywhere, who are catching up with their friends about summer.

"Good morning class." Mr. Perkins finally shows up and puts his things on the table before he scans the room.

The moment his eyes meet mine, I flinch.

He looks at me for a few seconds and then he narrows his eyes. I sigh, knowing that this will be a hard year.

The thing is, Mr. Perkins hates me. He absolutely hates me.

It's not my fault that Bob Wilson challenged me to set the lab on fire a few years ago. Mr. Perkins and the director weren't very happy with me, but I got rid of being expelled.

My parents had to pay for the repairs and that's why they said I wouldn't be getting a car for my sixteenth birthday, as a sort of punishment.

My mom was really pissed, but I think my dad was actually proud, as crazy as that sounds. He thought I was badass, but he wouldn't dare to say that in front of my mom.

Thinking about it, maybe that's why Bennett also doesn't like me. I sort of destroyed his adored lab.

I'm sure that's why Lilly didn't include 'set something on fire' in her bucket list.

I've already done that.

In my defense, it wasn't even that bad, just a minor incident involving enough fire that set the alarms off, so I don't understand why they were so upset about it.

Poor Bob, he never dared to even look at me again.

After that unfortunate episode, everyone knew what I did and I had to deal with the gossip.

"I heard Bob didn't want to date her, that's why she burned the school down."

"I think she's a witch. The fire started out of nowhere and it was halloween week." That was a funny one.

Maybe I'm not that boring after all!

Anyway, Mr. Perkins has been giving me a hard time ever since and I have a feeling this year won't be any different.

The class is about to start when I see a girl I recognize from a class we have together, sitting next to Bennett. He makes room for her and then he smiles as they talk.

Interesting... I've never noticed him smiling like this.

I shrug and get my attention back to Mr. Perkins who has already started saying a bunch of nonsense.

.........................

The first day of Senior year is going by smoothly. Classes weren't that productive as my brain needs some time to adjust and function properly again.

All summer going to the beach, listening to good music and suddenly we have to remember words in Spanish that are hard to pronounce. The only words that came to my mind were piña colada, a drink that Sarah introduced to me at a luau party, but I couldn't tell my teacher that.

I didn't want to admit it until right now, but it's also weird for me not having Dylan around. It's like a big part of my day is missing.

I can't help but miss him already.

Also, the cafeteria dynamic seems different somehow. I always made sure that wherever I used to sit, I was able to see Dylan.

Now that he's gone, I don't really care.

I take a bite of my sandwich, lost in my own thoughts until I hear a loud noise, as Lilly ungracefully sits in front of me.

"I thought I'd feel different as a senior, but actually nothing has changed. School still sucks."

"What happened, Lil?" I raise an eyebrow when she grabs the sandwich from my hand and takes a big bite.

"You know I can't resist your mom's tuna sandwich." She says with her mouth full. "Can you believe that Miss Martinez already gave us homework? Seriously, who does that on the first day? Someone who didn't enjoy summer, that's who."

"Welcome to senior year." I joke with a singing voice.

"I know, right? She needs a boyfriend.'' She seems deep in thought until she figures it out. ''We should add that to the bucket list."

She takes her phone from her pocket to open the notes app, typing vigorously.

One thing about Lilly is that she has the worst memory, so she's always taking notes of everything.

She says she only remembers important stuff, like my birthday and I love her for that, even though I know she has an alarm set so she doesn't forget my special day.

She starts rambling about homework, while I look around noticing the people in the cafeteria, that is now completely packed.

I see the popular's table, where Dylan used to sit, the writing club, drama club, way too many clubs, until my eyes stop at a table that I never really bothered noticing before. The science and math clubs.

The table is in the very back of the cafeteria, where no one goes by, so it's actually hard to notice.

One girl has her arms around a guy that I assume to be her boyfriend, by the way he's also hugging her. There's another guy talking to said boyfriend and there is one girl clearly interested in the guy in front of her. It's the same girl from chem class.

I raise an eyebrow when I realize who the guy she's so obviously flirting with is.

Bennett.

He looks kind of relaxed and it's a weird sight. He's always so quiet and uptight and I've barely seen him talking to anyone at school, but there he is, engaged in a conversation with his group.

The only question that comes to my mind is since when does Bennett have so many friends?

.........................

Hey Lovely Readers,

Here it is another chapter to set the mood and for you to get to know a bit more about Alex, Lilly, Bennett. It seems a bit slow now, but it's just the start! 

Let me know what you think?! what do you think about Bennett being so closed? 

I'm really excited for the next chapters. 

Love, Me