As I jolt out of sleep, I look over toward my clock on the wall, blinking away the sleep from my eyes. 7:50.

"Crap!" I yelled as I jumped out of bed. "I'm late, I'm so late."

I ran around my room frantically trying to get myself ready. I sprinted into my bathroom, washed my face, brushed my hair, threw it into a bun and ran back out to get dressed.

I shoved on my denim jeans, threw on a plain shirt with a grey Jersey and my converse.

I ran down stairs, grabbed a banana and my book bag and called out for my mom.

"Mom! We're late!"

"I know!" She said stumbling down the stairs. Her hair is also in a bun, her dress shirt is untucked, she is shoeless and she has papers tucked under her arm. She still looks half asleep.

"I fell asleep and forgot to put my alarm on." She said running to get her work bag.

"We were supposed to leave fifteen minutes ago." I babbled out. Running to get her shoes and cell phone as an attempt to help her get ready faster.

When I handed them to her, she had her shirt tucked in and her papers in her bag.

"Okay, lets go."

We hurried out to the car and scrambled into our seats and put on our seat belts.

8:02.

I have eight minutes until the late bell rings. Great.

My school's first bell rings at eight, but the late bell rings at ten past eight. Thankfully the ride to school only takes ten minutes. So, I'll be two minutes 'late'. If I sprint I might be able to get there while others file in. Luckily I have my books with me, because I had home work for my first period the night before. I'll get the others from my locker in between classes.

My mom stopped at the entrance and I gave her a kiss on the cheek goodbye. I sprinted inside, trying to get my bag secured on my back. I ran down the hall toward the Biology lab. Thankfully, as I had hoped, I made it to the door as soon as the last few people were about to enter.

"Thank you God." I said panting. This is too much stress for me to handle on a Thursday morning.

"You okay?" Ethan asked from beside me, with a mocking smile.

"Running a bit late. No big deal." I said smiling as we took our seats.

I can't go through that even one more time. I'm never forgetting to set my alarm again.

Archer was watching me from across the class room. He was wearing his usual smirk, probably fully aware of my panicked state. I just rolled my eyes at him and let out a sigh. He chuckled lowly at my response, then turned his attention back to the board.

I turned my head back to the board as well, ready to listen to my teacher drag on about the human circulatory system.

*~*

It's lunch period, which I couldn't be more happy about. I needed a break from my teacher's boring mellow tone voices, even if it's only for twenty minutes.

I take my seat between Archer and Caitlyn, walking in on my friends mindless debate.

"I will not say this again. It goes, cereal and then milk!" Erin explained to Devin.

"And I will not it say this again. It's milk and then cereal.." He argued.

"It's only you who does that, bro." Cody said, taking Erin's side.

She looked at Devin smugly, crossing her arms.

"I'm afraid to tell you this Devin, but Cody is right." I said with a laugh.

I gave Caitlyn and Archer a nod hello.

"They've been at this since we sat down." Caitlyn whispered to me.

I laughed at them.

"Yeh well... at least I don't put my one sock and my one shoe on the one foot, before I do the next foot!" Devin defended, pointing a finger in Cody's directing.

"Oh my word! That's even worse than the cereal thing." Erin accused Cody.

"How else should it be done." He asked.

"One sock on either foot, then shoes." Ethan explained slowly.

I laughed at the idiocy of these people.

"How is any of this important?" Everyone looked at Caitlyn as if she had turned a new colour.

"It's the fundamental parts of our personalities that make us who we are." Erin said. "Only psychopaths do the things that Cody and Devin do."

"Hey! Rude." Cody said.

"Well Okay then." Caitlyn said amused.

Lunch periods like these are one of the reasons I tolerate coming to school at these early hours.

Archer leaned down so that his mouth was level with my ear. "Will I be seeing you at the Gym today?"

"Maybe." I said quietly.

He pulled away and smirked down at me, probably taking notice of my now red face.

It's not my fault he makes me as nervous as he does. His close proximity makes me tense up. I can feel his body heat radiating off of him and into my side.

Damn you Archer.

*~*

I was doing my Plyometrics exercises at the gym when Archer approached me.

"What." I said though my deep breaths.

"Nothing. Just watching you die silently." He said smirking.

"I'm not dying Archer. I'm getting stronger."

"Ooh sorry." He chuckled.

"You nearly done?" He asked after a few moments silence.

"Why?"

"Because you need a ride and I'd like to leave sometime this week."

For some reason, Archer and Cody have become my ride wherever I need for the last two weeks. Whether it's a ride home form school or gym or a ride when our friends meet up somewhere. That by the way has been happening a lot recently.

I don't mind their offers in the slightest. I get to sit in a warm car, while someone else does the work.

"One more set." I said as I started getting ready for my last set of jumps.

"Alright, I'll be over here." Archer said as he took a seat on the floor against the wall and pulled out his phone.

When I was done I actually did feel as though I would die, but Archer didn't need to know that.

"Ready." I said standing over him.

He stood up and gave me a smile.

"Finally."

We left the building and got into Archers car. I love the way his car smells, I've gotten used to it over the last couple weeks, but it'll never get old.

My stomach growled as we pulled out and Archer gave me an amused look.

"What? I had a small breakfast and didn't have time to make a lunch." I said in my defense.

"Because you were late?" He said teasing.

"Yes, because I was late." I said with a huff.

Archer turned onto a different road than usual. "Um where are we going?" I asked confused. I gasped, "Are you kidnapping me?" I joked.

"No. We're going to got some food in you." He said casually. "I'm not listening to your stomach make that noise the whole way to your place."

I looked at the time, 4:30. I guess and small snack wouldn't kill me. Dinner is 3 hours away and I have plenty of time to get home. i wouldn't mind spending some more time with Archer anyway.

Archer pulled into the parking lot of a small, classic looking diner.

"This is cute." I said to myself.

"They have amazing food." He said in response.

We got out of the car and made our way to the entrance, which was a red wooden door with a window to allow people to see in. It had a sign on it saying 'keep door closed due to cold weather.'

When we stepped inside I was met with the smells of pies, burgers and coffee. The interior had baby blue walls, black booths, a few stand alone tables and chairs, black and white tiled floors and soft music playing overhead. it felt welcoming and safe.

"This place is amazing." I said.

Archer smiled as he too looked around.

He lead me to the corner booth of the diner, away from the other costumers. Grateful that he remembered, allowing me to avoid the need to ask him if we could move if he had picked a center table. His consideration for my feelings left a warm feeling in my chest.

I gave him a thankful smile. He nodded.

The waitress approached us after we took our seats. She was wearing a red waitress dress with small white polka dots and a white apron. Very on theme.

"Hello, Archer. Lovely to see you again, we've missed seeing you around here." The middles age women said smiling. "And who is this lovely girl?"

I was definitely blushing.

"Hey Nora. I'm sorry it's been a while, I've been busy lately." He explained. "Um this is-" he paused allowing me to introduce myself.

"I'm Aurora, Archers friend from school." I informed the lady who Archer called Nora.

"lovely to meet you Aurora. What an interesting name." She complimented. "What is a beautiful girl like you doing hanging around a boy like Archie here." I giggled at her comment, but mostly at his nickname that she had given him.

Archer went red at the sound of the nickname. It's the first time I've ever seen Archer embarrassed.

"May we order please, Nora" Archer said as an attempt to redirect the line of conversation.

"Oh yes, of course. See he's embarrassed now." She said to me, chuckling at his embarrassment. I laughed along with her. "What would you like dear?"

"I'll have a vanilla milkshake and a classic burger please." I said sweetly.

"I'll have a water and the same burger as Blondie here please, Nora." Archer ordered.

"Coming right up. I'll let your mom know that you're here." She said as she turned.

"Your mom?" I asked.

"My mom manages the place. Nora's an old family friend." He said.

"I could tell, 'Archie'." I teased. "I didn't know your mom worked at a diner."

He gave me a warning look in response to my nickname. "Yeh, Nora informed my mom of the open position here a few years ago, when we needed the money and she had to start working again."

"Oh, wow. I never knew."

"Not many people know. I try keep my family life private." He said.

"Yet you brought me here." I said shyly.

"You're different."

A moment of silence fell between us. Those two words... they made my skin heat up and my stomach flip. He trusted me.

"Hello, Archer." A woman, a little younger than my mom, said as she approached us. This must be his mom.

She had dark hair, like Archer, but she had a few gray strands mixed in with the rest. Her eyes are shaped like Archer's, but they were a brown colour instead. She was around my hight, shorter than Archer and was pale. She looked tired.

"Hey, ma." Archer greeted. He stood up to give his mom a hug.

"How are you my boy, you have a good day at school?" She asked him, laying with his hair.

"Yes." He said softly.

"So this is the girl," she said a few moments later. "Nora told me there was a girl with you." She look at me excitedly.

"Hello darling. I'm Debra, Archer's mother. You are?" She asked me as she approached the booth where I had stood up.

I stepped forward to greet her properly, but I was taken by surprise when she engulfed me in a tight hug.

Archer smiled at my from over her shoulder. Clearly amused.

"Um, hi. My names Aurora." I introduced myself.

"She's a friend from school." Archer added on.

She let go of me. "It's so nice to see a lovely face like yours around here, rather than those two animals, Cody and Devin." She said with a small laugh.

"Thank you." I said laughing along. They really were animals.

"Okay, I have to get back to work. So, I'll leave you too. Enjoy your food." She said, "Come again soon, Aurora."

"Nice to meet you too and I'll definitely be coming back."

After she left, I sat back down into the booth. Wow.

"Your mom is wonderful." I said to Archer.

"She clearly likes you." He said as he leant back into the booth.

I smiled at his words.

Nora brought our food through, we thanked her and we began to eat.

I don't think over ever had a better burger in my life. This burger has made the top if my list. Don't even get me started on the milkshake.

My one pet-peeve is when a restaurant can not get a milkshakes consistency right. I don't want milk, and I don't want a block of ice cream, I want it in the middle - thick and creamy. Is that so hard to get right? My sister always mocks me, saying I'm as fussy as Goldilocks. But this, this milkshake was perfect.

I moaned as I at my meal. Archer gave me a wierd look.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing." He said shaking his head chuckling a little. "I told you the food was good."

"I'll never doubt you again."

We made pleasant conversation. We spoke about our dreams of when we left school, our interests and random teenage crap. When we finished our food and paid the bill, Archer and I said goodbye to Nora and left the diner.

"Thank you. I really needed that." I thanked Archer.

"No problem." He smiled down at me as we approached his car.

He pulled the car out of the parking lot and we were back on the road. We sat in comfortable silence for a while before archer broke the silence.

"You wanna come to the match on Saturday?" He asked, still looking at the road ahead.

"Aw. Does Archie want me to watch his fight?" I teased.

"Don't get a big head now." He said chuckling.

"Yes, I'll gladly come watch you beat the shit out of another guy." I accepted his invite.

He just smiled and let out a laugh.

The drive home was filled with silence, there was no need to talk. The silence wasn't uncomfortable or awkward, so we stayed like that.

When we reached my house I could see the lights of the rooms were on. I checked the clock 6:04.

"Today was fun." I said to Archer as I began to open the door. "We should do it more often."

"Agreed." He smiled at me. "I'll see you tomorrow, Blondie." He said starting up the car again.

"Bye Archie." I said with a mischievous smile and shut the door.

He rolled his eyes, leaving the drive way.

I really did have fun. I've found myself recently wanting to spend more time with Archer. Every time I'm around him, I enjoy myself and crave more. I'm not sure it's healthy.