I got up early today. I know. Weird. I was not usually like this. But I slept early last night. Yup, that was another abnormal thing.

Aaron noticed it, too. His comment last night made me come back to my senses. Being cheerful was just not me. So I decided to come back to my usual self today.

It had been more than a week since Aaron and I stopped riding the bus to school together. But that surely didn't stop him from waking me up every freaking morning. Ha! It would be a shock for him when he wakes up and sees that I wasn't in my room.

While I dressed, I debated whether to have revenge and wake him up from his precious sleep or just let it go.

Hmmm...Okay, I've decided.

I went to Jason's room, directly to his closet. I dropped on my knees as I rummaged his old things. And when I saw what I was looking for, an evil grin stretched across my face. I stood up and excitedly returned to my room. I turned on the talkie as I positioned myself in front of it.

"One, two," I mumbled, "THREE!"

With that last word I pressed the air horn as hard as I could. I slightly winced at the earsplitting noise it was making. I glanced at Aaron's room.

To my delight, he fell off his bed, disappearing behind the window. I can see his face being confused and his hair was messy as he hastily stood up.

I stopped pressing the air horn to laugh out loud. Tears were coming out of my eyes because of laughing so hard. I dropped the air horn because my stomach hurt from laughing.

"Yeah, very funny, D," said Aaron, rubbing his eyes. He sounded half-annoyed and half-amused.

"No, it wasn't. It was hilarious!" I said through my laughs. "You should've seen your face. It was all confused and – ha ha ha ha!!"

"That was your first time waking up someone, wasn't it?" sneered Aaron with a raised eyebrow.

I instantly stopped laughing.

"Revenge is sweet," I told him.

Then, I turned my back on him. I grabbed my jacket and my bag on the way out. Before totally leaving my room, I turned around to face him and I stuck my tongue out at him – as I usually do whenever I was feeling childish.

Now, it was his turn to laugh.

I was already in the classroom of our Creative Writing Class when the bell rang, looking incredibly bored. I turned my head towards the door just as Dwayne entered the room. He smiled at once when he saw me. I gave him a small smile – I was still not used to having him as a friend.

Yes, I considered him as a friend since he joined the Movie club. That was the other thing. Why would he join the club? I was not saying that it was impossible for someone in our year to join the club. It was just that – Oh, who am I kidding? Our club was the lamest and nerdiest club in school. I wasn't stupid. I know that people in this freaking jungle called it 'Nerd club'. So why would Dwayne Richardson join?

My – no – Our first impression on him was that he would belong to the popular kids. His physical appearance alone said so. Although, the rumor that he was a classical art fan was a turn off for most girls, that didn't stop them from following the guy around.

I couldn't stop myself from thinking that maybe his heart and soul was on the nerd side. I mean, c'mon! How many guys in high school do you know that loved art, and at the same time looked like Brad Pitt? See, where I was going? I was afraid to think that he just joined out of pity for us. But seriously, no one would put themselves to that extreme just out of pity, right?

Wait, I know!! He must have joined the Movie club to get closer to Alyson! Yeah, that must be it. I noticed that he liked her. As a matter of fact, they looked good together. I wondered how Alyson would take it if I tell her that.

The bell suddenly rang, cutting my thoughts.

"Finish all the activities in your textbook from chapters one to three and pass it next week. That's all," said Mr. D.

"Let's go?"

I looked up and saw Alyson, ready for our Calculus. I nodded in answer as I stood up. I headed toward the door where Alyson was waiting.

"See you later, Dwayne," Alyson added. When I came beside her, nudging me on the ribs.

"Oh, right," I muttered. Turning to Dwayne, I said, "Bye."

Dwayne smiled. He raised his right hand as if waving.

During Calculus, Alyson kept telling me that she wouldn't be eating any ice cream sandwich for today because she wanted to try something different. I rolled my eyes and skeptically mumbled, "Yeah, right."

What can I say? I very much doubted it.

French, on the other hand, was surprising. I learned that Dwayne was fluent in speaking French. I asked him if he grew up there. Of course, I was cynical when I asked that. But he politely answered anyway. Turned out, he learned speaking French when his family went on a Euro trip. No comment there. His family was obviously freaking rich.

Now, here I was with Alyson in the cafeteria. Our usual table was taken, so we were trying to find another one.

"Hey, there's a vacant one over there," said Alyson as she pointed at the table close by the window.

Oooh... I liked that spot.

We headed toward the table when Alyson suddenly stopped. Her eyes widened as though she was seeing a ghost.

"What is it?" I asked, a little bit worried.

She wildly looked at me. "They're serving ice cream sandwiches today!" she exclaimed.

With a sly smile I said, "I thought you said you're not going to have any."

"People say strange things when they're hungry."

I raised an eyebrow. "You rephrased it, didn't you?"

Alyson smiled sheepishly. "Go on," she said, starting to walk away. "Our seats will be taken. I'll be there in a minute."

I shook my head in amusement as I went to the vacant table. As soon as I took my seat, my eyes wandered around the cafeteria. I saw Alyson beaming on the line. Unfortunately, I can also see Annabelle and her witches giggling. I fought a sudden urge to pour cold water on them, just to wake them up from their evil ways. But then, I thought that they were not worth thinking about so I just turned my eyes outside the window. I could see the quad from here. It was really nice-looking.

All of a sudden, something caught my eye. I looked at that something, and it turned out to be a 'someone.'

Ethan and Luke walked toward me, lead by Aaron. They were carrying their trays. Maybe it was just my imagination, but it was as though they were coming to sit here. Here, at our table. I wouldn't be surprised if it was only Aaron – except, Ethan and Luke were following him.

Don't tell me they were going to sit here. Why? They usually sit with the witches. How come they were sitting here with us? Were they planning something?

I wasn't able to do or say anything about it because they directly sat there without saying anything or asking any permission. They just laid their trays of high protein meals on table. Just like that.

I raised an eyebrow at Aaron, who was across from me. But he just shrugged in answer. I grew irritated by his bossiness so, without warning, I stood up and carried my tray.

"Where are you going?" asked Aaron, bemused.

"I'm going to find another table," I answered dully. "Apparently, this one is taken," I added with my devilish sweet smile.

"Don't be stupid," said Aaron. "There's no free table anymore. Why do you think we sat here?"

Being stubborn, I ignored him and scanned the cafeteria with empty tables. Unluckily, he was right. Darn.

Swallowing my pride, I returned to my seat. I sat without uttering any word. While I waited for Alyson, I eyed Aaron suspiciously. I tried not to look around, because I was quite sure that some people were watching our table. Why wouldn't they? I mean, they were used to seeing Aaron sit with me at lunch once in a while. However, for the three of the most popular basketball jocks to sit with me was – let's say – repulsive for them.

I sighed.

Thankfully, I caught sight of Alyson looking for me. She can't see me from here. How can she? Three tall jocks were blocking me. Out of nowhere, Dwayne joined her. I decided to raise my hand then. She sighed with relief when she saw me. She quickly headed towards me, but she slowed down her pace when she got nearer. She looked completely quizzical as she took a seat beside me. Dwayne followed her, and sat across from Ethan.

"What happened?" Alyson whispered to my ear. "Why did you move to their table?"

Huh, like I'd do that.

"I didn't," I said coldly. "They did."

Alyson gave me a baffled look, but she didn't ask anymore.

After that, it turned really awkward. No one was speaking. Either we were staring at each other, or at our food.

"Hi," said Dwayne, smiling at Aaron and his friends. But they just stared at him. They exchanged looks and ignored him. Luke and Ethan began eating, while Aaron grabbed his soda and took a drink, as if Dwayne didn't speak.

How rude! They could've at least smiled back.

"Um, Dakota," said Alyson vaguely. "I think you better introduce Aaron to Dwayne."

I looked at her as if she was out of her mind.

"Why me?" I asked her incredulously. "Why don't you introduce them to each other?"

"I would," she sighed. "But I'm not the best friend," she added with a smile.

"Tch."

I glanced at Dwayne, who I didn't expect to be watching me. I hastily looked at Aaron. He, on the other hand, now had a calculating face as he gazed outside the window. It made me wonder what he was thinking.

"A," I said.

His eyes turned to me. This close, I could truly stare at those bluish green eyes for hours. I shook my head.

"Um, this is Dwayne," I continued, gesturing my hand towards Dwayne's direction. "He's the new addition to the Movie club."

Ethan looked shocked.

"So I've heard," said Aaron tonelessly. He nodded to Dwayne in greeting.

"Dwayne," I said, turning my eyes on him, "this is my father-like best friend, Aaron."

"Yes, I heard." Dwayne returned Aaron's nod. The only difference was that Dwayne was smiling.

They continued to stare at each other. It looked like they were having a serious conversation through their eyes. Like, they were challenging each other or something. Maybe that was just me.

"Why didn't you try out for the basketball team?" Alyson asked Dwayne. "They're quite good," she added, gesturing toward Aaron, Luke, and Ethan.

In the meantime, I kicked Aaron under the table.

"Ow."

Aaron looked at me with wide eyes. I opened my mouth to say something but Dwayne cut me off.

"I don't like basketball."

All eyes turned to him. We just stared.

What was he thinking, saying that? Hello! There were freaking basketball jocks sitting here with us. Most especially, Aaron just turned Captain. They took that sport seriously. It was their passion.

"What?" Ethan said in astonishment. He frowned as he asked, "How come?"

Dwayne shrugged. "I think it's pointless to run around chasing the same ball. It's not sensible. It doesn't have any significance."

"Not to a lot of people," Aaron said. His voice was neutral. But I knew him so well to sense the tiny bit of irritation in his voice. "The Greeks created the Olympics to measure a man's excellence," he continued. "It's the same with basketball – or any other sport for that matter. Not everyone can play it, and not many are good at it. In basketball, running, blocking, dribbling, and shooting test the stamina, strength, and balance of a person. Teamwork, though, tests discipline. All of it is supposed to be a challenge. It's pointless only if it doesn't have any rules. To win and at the same time follow the rules is a challenge. And the ability to do it and be good at it measures a man's excellence."

"Can you only measure a man's excellence through sports?" asked Dwayne.

"I'm not saying that," answered Aaron quickly. "But to state that it's pointless is rather tactless, don't you think?"

Their voices were calm and yet I could feel the tension in their words. Dwayne proved that he was smart. Nevertheless, Aaron was clever, too. Even if most of the time, he didn't show it.

Dwayne didn't answer. He and Aaron just continued to stare at each other like before. It was getting awkward again.

"Oh, my ice cream melt – ed."

We looked at Alyson. She looked saddened.

"I'll get you another one," Luke offered, standing up.

"Really? Thanks!" beamed Alyson as she followed him.

The eerie silence returned.

"Are we still on this Friday night?" Dwayne asked me out of the blue.

"Yes, of course," I answered automatically, just to say something.

Dwayne smiled. "Cool."

My eyes wandered to Aaron. I was surprised to see him looking at me questioningly. I slightly frowned at him. Why was he looking at me like that?

"Oops," said Ethan loudly.

I looked at him. He accidentally spilled his soda on Dwayne.

"Sorry about that, man," Ethan apologized. He really didn't sound like he was sorry at all.

Dwayne shook his head. "No, it's okay," he said, pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket and rubbing the cloth on the stained spot. "I better wash it, though." He glanced at me and added, "I'll be back."

"Sure," I muttered, nodding.

"I'll get another soda," Ethan told Aaron as he stood up and left.

Clearly, Aaron and I were left alone on the table. I looked down on my food, trying not to look at Aaron. I just remembered that he didn't know anything about Friday night. I hadn't told him yet. For him to hear it from another person was –

"So you have a date this Friday night?"

I instantly looked up at him.

"It's not a date!" I said defensively. "We're only having a movie night at my house. Besides, Allie's coming with us. You're assuming again, A."

"So if it's not a date," he said thoughtfully. "Can I come?"

What??? Seriously, why would he even want to come? I mean, couldn't he see that he and Dwayne had nothing in common? Their conversation about basketball was one reason enough that they wouldn't get along.

"I'm sorry. It's exclusive for the Movie club."

"Are you three the only members?"

No. But we were the only ones active.

"Is it not allowed, dad?" I said, as I raised an eyebrow.

Ha! That will irritate him.

"Since I'm your 'dad', I think I have to supervise you," he said, smirking.

Grrr...

"Don't you have a party to attend that night?"

"It's on Saturday," he swiftly said.

At that point, Alyson, Luke, Ethan, and Dwayne arrived at our table. Aaron was wearing the biggest triumphant smile.

He knows it, and I know it.

He won.

"So," he breathed out. Then, he stood up. "See you on Friday night," he told me, wiggling his eyebrows. He turned to Ethan and Luke, nodding his head toward the exit. They followed, Aaron leading the way.

"Aaron's joining us on movie night?" asked Alyson curiously, before biting her ice cream sandwich.

I sighed. "Unfortunately, yes."