It was the Monday after we got back from the camping trip, and quite honestly, I felt the best that I'd been in a while. I felt a hint of imperfection in myself, and I liked it. I didn't want to totally go off the rails, but I just needed to do one thing I knew I shouldn't. And I didn't feel bad about it. It felt freeing. This must be what Chloe felt like all the time.

I honked my horn to let Chloe know I was outside of her house. We took turns driving each other to school. It was because I didn't want to drive myself all the time and she liked my car. It was a Model S Tesla that my mom got me for my 16th birthday. Chloe fell in love when she first laid eyes on it.

She finally walked outside, shoving a notebook in her backpack. "Can I drive, and you finish typing up my homework please," she held out the "e" in "please".

"Sure," I climbed into the passenger seat, and she handed me her laptop.

I opened it, quickly read what the paper was about, and started. I tried to make it seem as though Chloe had written it and not me and I just hoped Mr. Hudson wouldn't notice. Mr. Hudson... Focus! You need to finish the paper, Lydia.

I typed quickly until we pulled up at school. "One more sentence," I told Chloe, holding a finger up. She just tapped on her leg and patiently waited. I think I was the only person she could be patient with. "Done," I said, handing her the laptop. "This should get you like a 91%. Very Chloe-esque."

She smiled, "Thank you. You are a lifesaver. I love you." She reached over and hugged me. We unbuckled our seatbelts and parted ways until we saw each other in the third period again.

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We were in the middle of a test for English when the fire drill went off. "Everyone, leave your stuff where it is and get out the door," Mr. Hudson yelled.

Everyone started shuffling out of the classroom. I grabbed my phone but accidentally dropped some papers in the process. I went to pick them up and by the time I finished, I was the only one left in the classroom. Except for Asher. He was standing by the door staring at me. I walked over to the door, but he stopped me before I could get out.

"Because of you, the coach is considering suspending me for three football games. I can't afford that. Scouts are coming soon, and I need to be in perfect shape."

"It's not my fault you decided to be rude. And then lie about it to a teacher. I don't know what good you thought that was going to do. Especially knowing how great of a student I am." He pushed me against the wall and trapped me there with both of his arms. "Let me go, Asher. There's a fire drill."

I tried to go under one of his arms, but he grabbed my wrist tightly. "Ow! Asher, you're hurting me. Let go." I tried to pry his fingers off, but his grip was too strong. I could tell it would leave a bruise.

"Fix it, Lydia, or I swear I will..."

"You will what?" We both turned to see Mr. Hudson in the doorway. "Why aren't you two outside?"

Asher gripped my wrist harder signaling me not to say anything. "Mr. Hudson, we were just talking."

"Really. About what?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I was asking Lydia on a date. She was just about to say yes. Right," he looked down at me, tightening his grip. "Right?"

I just nodded my head, looking at the ground. "Is that so?" He looked down to see Asher holding my wrist, but he quickly let go. I placed my wrist on my opposite hand. It was definitely bruised. "Lydia." I looked up at Mr. Hudson. "Go outside with the rest of the class please."

"But..."

"Outside. Now."

I walked past Asher and to the door. It shut behind me.

When the class got back to the classroom, neither Asher nor Mr. Hudson was in the classroom. I wondered where they went. But I wouldn't have to wonder for long.

"Lydia Rose to the principal's office," someone said over the intercom.

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"If your son ever puts a hand on my daughter again, I will make sure that you pay. I'm a lawyer, I'll be my own representative," my mom said to Asher's parents.

I looked at Mr. Hudson who was leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets behind the principal's desk. I tried to stifle a laugh. He held his fist up to his mouth and looked away from me so he wouldn't laugh either.

"Mrs. Rose..."

"Ms. Rose. Ms.," my mom emphasized.

"Ms. Rose," the principal corrected. "I can assure you there will be no need for legal action to be taken."

My mom grabbed my arm and rolled up my sleeve. "Do you see this? That boy did this."

"I completely understand, Mr. Rose. We will be handling this as a school."

"Has this happened before Lydia?" My mom asked, looking at me.

"No," I replied.

"And it better not happen again," my mom said, eyes piercing into Asher's.

"Yes ma'am," he said looking down. "I apologize."

My mom rarely had to come down to the school since I never got in trouble, but when she did it was chaos. My schools tried to avoid it as much as possible, but sometimes it was just inevitable. And since my mom was also Chloe's emergency contact because her parents are God knows where most of the time, my mom came down to my school more times than they'd like. I'm fairly sure they kept a calendar saying, "blank number of days since Claudia Rose incidents". Now they would have to set it back to zero.

"If that's all," the principal said. "Then we're done here."

My mom gave Asher one last scowl before looking back down at me. "I'll see you at home sweetie."

"Bye, mom. Love you." She walked out of the office.

"I'm sorry," Asher said in a low voice. "I honestly don't know what I was thinking. I was just nervous since football is all I have going for me. But I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm really sorry that I did though."

"It's okay," I responded. "Just don't do it again and we'll be fine." I turned around to walk away but stopped myself. "You need to learn how to treat women. Just because you're nice doesn't mean you get to 'smash'. What you hope and expect are two different things." And with that, I walked away. I headed back to the classroom.

"Lydia," Mr. Hudson caught up to me and started walking back to class with me.

"Aren't you nervous someone is going to think this is weird?"

"What? A student walking with a teacher?"

"You're right. Anyway, thank you for saving me. Again."

"I wouldn't really call it saving, but you're welcome."

I looked up at his lips. I wanted to kiss him so badly. I want him so badly. I shook the thought away from my mind.