*This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.*
“Penny! Wait up!” I turned on my heels. Behind me, a girl with vibrant auburn hair and bright blue eyes bounced up to me. Pushing the glasses up the brim of her nose, she handed me a piece of fresh printed paper.
“What’s this?” I asked her. My best friend, Alicia, rolled her eyes. She nudged me with her shoulder as I glanced at the paper. It was a flyer for a design competition. Whoever drew the best outfit would win one thousand dollars and a trip to New York. I passed it back to her.
“I’m assuming you’re gonna enter,” I said with a smile. She shrugged and tucked the paper back in between her books.
“Well duh. I was hoping you’d be my judge of which one was best. Is that alright?” She asked and took a sip of her water bottle.
“Of course,” I looked ahead of us. The hallways of the school were overcrowded with students shimmying through left and right. Every angle of the hall was packed with them. It was passing period but it looked more like standing period. The five minutes when no one cared where they were going, but cared about what was the latest gossip on Twitter.
“What are you doing after school? Do you want to go to 51st Street Cafe?” Alicia blinked at me. I shook my head and stopped in front of a scratched and beaten up navy blue metal locker, number 231.
“Remember, I have that family dinner after school,” I glanced over at her. Taking my chemistry book out of my locker, a tall boy with black hair and tanned skin passed by the both of us. The smell of Armani cologne filled the area, Luke Weatherbee’s signature scent. Goosebumps spread across my skin.
“You always have some family thing going on after school!” She sighed and leaned against the locker. “I wish I could come.”
“I could always ask.” I offered the suggestion, but knew how that would go. Mom and Dad would never let someone could over during our training. Plus, my little baby sister needed the most attention whenever Mom and Dad went to a business meeting.
“I mean, if they say yes, that’d be cool, but no pressure.” Yeah, no pressure. Too bad I wouldn’t actually ever ask my parents.
Alicia looped her arm through mine. We both walked through the hallway toward our last class, chemistry. The only exciting thing in that classroom aside from the talk of electrons was the fact that I got to sit behind Luke. That pretty much made every girl in my class hate me for being assigned there. It wasn’t my fault Watts and Weatherbee were close to each other in the alphabet. But I was sure glad they were.
