two weeks ago,

"meow." you look down at your cat and pet him before walking into the living room. you see your mom making food. "bye mama." you wave bye to your mom who looked back at you and smiled.

you walk out of your house and sit down by the bus stop. you were five minutes early and you inpatiently waited for the bus to arrive. when five minutes went by you stepped onto the bus.

"wait!!" you hear someone yell just as the doors start closing. you use your hand to stop the door from closing and you see ashlyn, you've known her ever since you were kids.

you've always gone to the same school as her, she never spoke, you never spoke. so you were okay with her.

she huffs and steps onto the bus. "thanks." she thanks you and you give her a nod. she start walking further into the bus with you following her.

she takes off her backpack and places it in the seat beside her but she looked at you confused when you were standing there with a frown, she sighs and places the bag by her feet instead.

ashlyn wasn't against the idea of you sitting with her at all, you never spoke, she never spoke. so she was okay with you.

you give her a small smile before sitting down next to her but your smile disappeared when you saw a head pop up in between you two from the seats behind you.

"hi!" the boy exclaims with a smile. ashlyn screams and hits her head on the glass in the process of trying to get away from the guy. you on the other hand slowly turned to the guy with a disturbed expression.

the blondie ignored her and pointed outside, "is that your house? what's up with the whole bus graveyard thing?" he asks the ginger curiously. she sweat drops, "it's a junkyard with used buses..."

you tone out the rest of the conversation the two of them had as you think about what to have for lunch.

you felt someone tap your head so you look behind you and see his face dangerously close to yours. although to his surprise you didn't jump back like the other one did.

"i'm aiden!" he introduces himself and you examine him. he seemed to be waiting for you to introduce yourself so you let out a sigh and tell him your name, "y/n."

he grins, "cool, n/n" he tests out the nickname for you. he then points at the quiet brunette next to him, "that's my cousin ben, we just moved here a week ago or so from virginia."

"can't remember what town it was though." he comments and then taps the ginger's shoulder, "we live just a house down from you!" he says and then turns to you with a smile, "we live a few blocks down from you though."

"but since we technically live close to eachother, we should hang out often!" he exclaims. you and ashlyn look at eachother before she held her hand up. "sorry, nothing personal but i'm tired and not in much of a conversation mood."

aiden looked shocked for a second before letting out a chuckle, "it's fine, i get it. you two are just shy right? it's alright, i'm good at talking so it'll be fine." he tells you two.

you and ashlyn share a look.

⋆.˚✧────────✧˚.⋆

when you finally got to the school, you ditched the three.

yeah, you kinda felt bad for ashlyn but you two weren't friends. you walk into your classroom and look for your seat, when you see it you sit down and put down your bag under the table.

after a while you see ashlyn come in and sit down in front of you, and shortly after she came in two others did. you recognized them as taylor and tyler, the twins.

the twins talk to the teacher and then take their seats. the teacher walks in with two students you could immediately recognize. 'damnit.' you avoid eye contact with the blonde one.

thomas points at the two, "sorry i'm late everyone. these two are new to the school, so make sure to give them a warm welcome. you guys can take a seat as well." he informs.

you look at ben and he sits down next to you and rests his head in his arms, probably sleeping.

the teacher claps his hands to gain everyone's attention, "let's begin with introductions, shall we? we'll go in alphabethical order. when it's your turn, state your first and last name and say something about yourself."

you look at him shocked, 'first and last name? but the readers don't all start with the same letter? whatever i guess the authors just gonna put our introduction after someone elses.'

thomas picks up a whiteboard marker and opens the lid, "as an example, i'll start off. my name is thomas walter and this is my first time teaching my own class. i look forward to being with you all!"

ashlyn stands up, "ashlyn banner, i like dogs." she says quickly and sits back down.

aiden stands up next, "i'm aiden clark, i like bungee jumping, skydiving, rock climbing, racing, water skiing-" he continued to list off what he liked before sitting back down.

ben clark didn't say anything.

you stand up, "y/n l/n, i like fireworks and anything to do with explosions..?" you sit back down, unsure of your choice of words.

a cute boy stands up next, "hello, i-the-uh... logan fields. i mean, i'm logan... i um, i enjoy astrology." he says nervously while fidgeting with his hands.

a brunette stands up, "i'm taylor hernandez! i'm in the mechanics club. come say hi if you get the chance." she waves at no one in particular with a smile.

an identical looking brunette stands up after her, "i'm tyler hernandez, yes, we're twins. i'm in the baseball club." he says boredly before sitting back down.

the other students in the classroom stand up as well and introduce themselves and you were listening but not the readers, the other students were irrelevant that's why.

after a while of listening to people talk about themselves thomas started the projector. "alright, now that introductions are done, let's talk about the semester long group project!" he exclaims.

"today you'll be choosing your group partners for the project and each group should consist of seven people each. oh, and no one will be allowed to work alone." he informs.

"the rest of class will be about the project, so go ahead and sit wherever you want with your group for today." he says. you sat by your table patiently so you could work with the people left and...

'what an interesting group.' you think. you were paired up with ashlyn, aiden, ben, logan, taylor and tyler. your tables were formed into a circle and you sat in between aiden and ben, tyler was in front of you.

your gaze lands on his feet, he only had one shoe on.

thomas speaks up, "our main focus this semester will be the history of georgia's oldest city, savannah. this is also what your project will be about and the topics you'll choose to present on are stated in your rubric."

"additionally, there is an overnight field trip to go along with the project! of course it's optional, however those who attend can get extra credit for your individual grade." he explains.

"if you are interested, the permission slips are on my desk and include everything you'll need to know." he points at his desk, "for the rest of the period, please choose what topic your group would like to present on."

"you've got twenty five minutes so spend it wisely." he says. the rest of the lesson went by in a breeze with taylor and aiden doing most of the talking meanwhile you and logan took some notes.

at the end of the lesson the bell rung. "don't forget to have the slips signed and bring them back on monday." thomas says.

⋆.˚✧────────✧˚.⋆

"mama, come look at this permission slip." you yell out to your mom when you walk through the door. she walks out of her room to greet you with a hug before checking the slip.

'what is it about?' she signs to you confused.

you blink, "we're doing this history project and we're going to savannah, we can stay there overnight with our group." you tell her with a small smirk.

she gives you a toothy grin, 'you dont really care about the project right? you just wanna go on a vacation.' she signs. 

when you sheepishly nod she chuckles and walks into the living room to get a pen so she could sign it for you.

you take off your shoes and make your way up to your room. your cat was waiting for you on your bed so you flop down on your bed and click your tounge so he'd lay down next to you. he walks over to you and lays down on your chest with a purr.

you get a notification from the chat so you quickly snatch your phone and check the messages.

history group
aiden. changed the group name to "AMERICA RAHHH🦅🔥"

ash !!
what the hell

aiden.
i think it fits lmao

you
dont be stupid.

logster
what does that mean..?

tweedledum
stop spamming the gc.

tweedledee
anyone wanna hang out?!?!

ash !!

aiden.
yes plz i just left ash's house

tweedledee
n/n, would you perchance like to accompany me and aiden outside??

you
ꉂ૮(°□°'˶)ა

tweedledum
there is no way you actually use kaomojis.

you
slit your throat.

tweedledee
lets meet by that spicy ramen shop!!
i wanna try it out

aiden.
yes ma'am

tweedledum
kys aiden.

[last message sent at 3pm]

⋆.˚✧────────✧˚.⋆

the three of them met up. you were shocked when aiden immediately agreed to the spicy noodles, even though he knew his relationship with spicy food was...complicated, to say the least.

"i heard this place has noodles so hot you need a waiver." you say with a grin. "waiver? for noodles? is that even legal?" aiden asked, eyes wide as you three passed a giant sign that read, warning: not for the faint of heart!

taylor laughed nervously, pushing her brown curls back. "yeah, this is going to be interesting. i'm hispanic, sure, but spice and i... we're not exactly best friends."

"wait, what?" aiden turns to her, already panicking a little. "i thought you'd be a pro at this!" "just because my abuela's salsa burns the roof of my mouth doesn't mean i enjoy it." she joked, shaking her head.

you chuckled softly, clearly confident in your abilities. growing up in (your country), you'd grown accustomed to all kinds of spicy dishes, but you rarely bragged about it.

today, though, you had had a feeling things were about to get intense.

you three settled into your booth and studied the menu, which had spice levels ranging from one to ten.

aiden eyed the little flames next to each dish, and his heart sank at the sight of noodles with levels eight, nine, and ten covered in warnings like "only for the brave" and "mouth on fire guaranteed."

"i'm going with a three." aiden announced, his voice shaky as he pointed to the least intimidating option he could find. "only three?" you tease, glancing up from your menu.

"that's like dipping your toe in the water." "dude, i don't need to dive into a volcano. i just want to survive."

"i'll do a five." taylor said with a sigh. "it can't be that bad...right?" you gave a tiny, mischievous smile. "i'm going with a nine."

aiden's jaw nearly dropped. "NINE?! are you trying to melt your tongue off? how do you even handle that much heat?"

you just shrugged. "years of training."

the waiter came to take everyone's orders, and aiden had to fight the urge to ask for a glass of milk right now.

his three-level noodles didn't look too intimidating when they arrived—just a bowl of ramen with a deep red broth. but as soon as the steam hit his face, his throat began to tighten. "oh no." he whispered.

taylor's noodles were a shade darker, but she looked determined, giving herself a small pep talk. meanwhile, your bowl looked straight up dangerous. it was the kind of red that screamed "bad decisions."

"well, here we go!" taylor said, grabbing her chopsticks. aiden took a cautious bite of his noodles, and for the first two seconds, he thought he was in the clear.

the broth was flavorful, and the noodles were perfect. but then, the heat hit him like a freight train. his eyes widened as his tongue caught fire, and he reached for his water glass in desperation.

"oh my god!" he croaked, fanning his mouth. "WHY do people do this to themselves?!" you, meanwhile, were eating your noodles as if nothing was wrong. no sweat, no tears, just a casual meal.

"this is delicious," you commented calmly, taking another bite. "you guys should've gone higher."

"i'm already dying!" aiden gasped, as tears pricked the corners of his eyes. he gulped down his water and stared longingly at you, who had become some kind of spice-immune deity in his mind.

next to him, taylor was struggling with her own bowl. "okay, this is hot." she admitted, taking a deep breath as the spice built up. "but I've had worse. it's like... a slow burn."

"are you sweating?" aiden asked, staring at the sheen on her forehead. "maybe a little." she grabbed a napkin and dabbed her face, determined not to let the spice defeat her.

aiden watched in awe as you continued to power through your bowl. his friend had barely broken a sweat, calmly eating the spiciest thing on the menu while aiden felt like he was one noodle away from meeting his maker.

the water wasn't helping anymore, and he started fanning his mouth with both hands, praying for the pain to subside. "i think i can't feel my tongue." he whimpered.

you chuckle softly. "you're doing great." "liar." aiden groans, staring at his half-empty bowl. his stomach churned, and his tongue felt like it was growing more numb by the second.

taylor was soldiering on too, though she had switched from her chopsticks to a fork to eat faster, probably hoping it would be over quicker. "how are you so calm, n/n?" she asked, her voice strained.

"i don't know. guess I'm just used to it." you replied nonchalantly, finishing the last of your noodles. "that's...impressive." taylor said between breaths, "but I'm still calling you crazy."

you just smiled as you sipped your water, showing no signs of discomfort. meanwhile, aiden and taylor shared a glance of pure suffering.

"i think i'm done." aiden announced, pushing his bowl away. "i came, i saw, and i failed." taylor nodded in agreement, still sweating but not giving up yet. "same. but at least we tried, right?"

"yeah, we tried." aiden mumbled, "and now I need ice cream." you laughed softly. "how about next time, we find a dessert place instead?"

aiden and taylor both nodded eagerly, their faces flushed from the heat, but you were already looking at the menu again.

"YOU'RE ORDERING MORE?!" "MONSTER."

⋆.˚✧────────✧˚.⋆

a/n: you guys BETTER hear me out on thomas

chapter published. november 7, 2024