~Althia~

"It's always good to make sure that you are aiming directly towards the middle of the throat" Tony told us, girls, as he demonstrated on Clay

Tony and the rest of the boys thought it would be a good idea to show us some self-defense moves during our lunch and so for the last half hour, Tony has been showing us what to do.

"Tony, I love you but I still don't see why we need to learn this" Hannah spoke what Jessica and I had in mind as well

"Because if you girls are going to start being friends with Montgomery-" He started but got cut off

"Which I'm still not happy about" Alex interrupted, glaring at Jess who just rolled her eyes

Zach slightly nodded, agreeing with him

"And if Al is going to start spending time with Justin" Tony continued "We just want you to know how to get yourself out a situation if anything happens" He finished

All three of us rolled our eyes and Tony gave us a look

"This last one is one that you use if there is no other way out" He told us as he walked up to Alex "You want to act like you're interested, and start playing with his hair" He explained as he did so to Alex "And then you want to lean in like you're going to whisper something in his ear" He continued, looking at us to make sure he had our attention "But then all you're going to do is full out scream in his ear then bring your knee to his groin area" He faked on Alex

"Alright, we get it Tony" I told him

Before we went inside Tony made us show him all of the moves he had shown us to make sure that we got it all right.

"Those boys, I swear" I shook my head as Jessica, Hannah and I were walking to our lockers

"They're so overprotective" Hannah laughed

//

"Text me, call me, shout my name if you have to" Zach told me at the end of the day

I had already said goodbye to everyone else but Zach stayed behind a little bit

"Yes, I know Zachy" I told him

"Remember everything Tony taught you and don't be afraid to use any of them" He reminded me

"Yes Zach" I replied

"I'm annoying you aren't I?" He asked, noticing the tone I used

"Nah, it's cute how protective you are" I reassured

A smile spread across his face

"You think I'm cute?" He teased

"I said that it was cute how protective you are, I never said you were cute" I taunted "And you have a bus to go catch so bye" I added

Zach mimicked me before bringing me into a hug

"Zaaaaach" I giggled "You need to goooo" I pushed him away

"Okay, okay" He let go of me and starting walking away

"I expect a text when you get home" Zach yelled at me from across the hallway

"Goodbye Zach" I responded

I watched Zach walk out of the school then decided to go to the bathroom to waste some time. Justin had asked me to meet him in the mechanics' garage after school but I didn't want to be the first one there.

After wasting some time, I headed to the garage to see that Justin was already. He was on his phone with his back towards me.

Not knowing how to approach him, I looked down at my phone to make it seem like I was on it and I fake a cough.

Justin turned around

"Hey" He greeted me

"Hi" I replied

An awkward silence soon joined us and we just looked at one and other

"So what exactly do you not understand?" I asked him as I started walking towards a table

"Uh, everything?" He replied, making it sound more like a question than a statement

I couldn't help but laugh a little. I sat down on the table, making my legs dangle from the side, and saw that Justin was pulling a chair to sit in front of me

"Alright, do you know how to repair an engine?" I questioned

The engine repair is one of the first things we learned in class and Mr.Stewart quickly went through it as all of the kids in the class already knew how to do it.

"Yeah, that's the um disassembling and assembling of diesel and gasoline engines, right?" He asked me

I nodded my head

"With the timing belts, head caskets and lubrication systems and shit" Justin added

"Yeah that's it" I reassured him

Justin smiled, clearly proud of himself for getting it correct

"Alright so how about electrical systems?" I asked him

"I have no fucking clue what that is" Justin admitted

"Perfect, so we can start there" I told him

Justin and I went over the terminology and the diagnostics of the electric systems in a car until he seemed to get it

"So how did you get into all of this shit?" Justin asked me as he was working on a decoy of a car that needed its electrical systems repaired

"What do you mean by 'all of this shit'?" I asked him back, as I looked over his shoulder to see the work he was doing

Justin turned around and looked at me

"I mean mechanics and stuff" He said, before turning back to the car

"Oh, well, I got into it because of my grandfather" I answered

He turned around again

"Do I get to know more or is that just it?" He questioned

"I guess I could tell you more" I said "Long story or short story?" I questioned

"Long" He answered with no hesitation as he turned back to the car

"Well as a young child, my parents would work a lot and I was always stuck at the after-school programs, which I hated. As I grew older, I would throw fits in order to get out of the program, and in class sometimes too just because I could. Since my parents were working, my grandparents had to come and get it me" I started "I guess they realized a pattern and my parents made a deal with me that if I didn't throw any fits, I could go to my grandparents' house" I continued and Justin nodded his head to let me know he was listening "My grandpa was always in the garage working on something. That man used to buy anything he could, just so he could fix it up. I enjoyed watching him repair things and as I got older I started helping him out. It was sorta our thing, I guess" I finished

"That's so sweet. Your grandpa sounds like an awesome guy" Justin commented

"He was" I said without thinking about it

Justin dropped something and turned around

"Sorry that was totally uncalled for" I apologized "My grandfather was and still is a great man" I added

Justin nodded

"It's nice how you kept your interest, even after his passing" He told me

I nodded

"Tell me more about you" Justin suddenly said

I laughed and shook my head

"What? I'm being serious" He chuckled

"Well Justin Foley, what do you want to know about me?" I asked him

"First I want to know your last name" Justin answered, which made me giggle a little "And then I want to know what your favorite color is, what your go-to meal is, if you have any siblings, what your family life is, cats or dogs, favorite animal, favorite sport, favorite smell?" He continued and finished

I was taken aback about how interested he seemed in me but I decided to just go with and answer his questions

"My last name is Knight. My favorite color is yellow. My go-to meal is probably nachos. I don't have any siblings, my parents still work a lot but they always try to find time for me. My mom is always up my business and my dad is pretty laid back I guess. I like dogs more. I love love love pigs and bunnies, oh and llamas and goats and donkeys and horses and giraffes annnnnd hippopotamuses. Favorite sport to play is probably football or badminton, favorite sport to watch is college football and basketball. I enjoy the smell of any flowers, the smell of rain and freshly cut grass" I answered all of his questions

Justin turned around in his seat to look at me and I looked at my hands, worried that I had just made a fool of myself

"Why so many farm animals?" He asked me

"I truly don't know" I responded "As a kid I used to tell people that I wanted a farm except I didn't want any cows or chickens or roosters" I added

Justin laughed before he turned back to the car

Justin and I kept talking as he worked and by the end, he knew just about everything he needed to know about electrical systems.