Bad Influence - popular girl x nerd boy

19- Lucas

NEW MAIL
From: Mathew Obrien, General Manager
Recipient: Lucas Astor

Hey Lucas! I hope you are enjoying your day off. In case I don't see you during your next shift I thought I should tell you about an early paycheck waiting for you in the office. A young lady called the store earlier today and asked if you worked there. Then she informed me that she was unable to tip you at the time of serving but now has a working card. I'm not sure what bill or order it was attached to, but she sent the store $100 in your name. Must have been amazing service!

Keep up the hard work.
Mathew

attached file: borealis_business_card
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A paper falls onto my desk, my teacher's hand withdrawing in order to pass out the rest of the graded tests. Black pen marks 100% on the top of the page, reminding me that the long hours I spent last night studying for the biology was worth it. It's a relief to see, ensuring that my grades remain perfect, despite how tired it makes me. Still, I don't allow myself to rest before the semester is over, and I will keep pushing myself harder until I walk down the stage at graduation.

Although the only thing I want to do now is go home and rest, I force my body to stay awake, reminding myself that I promised Rome we would finish the history assignment today. The entire project is nearly complete, and with a few days left until we have to present it, the time to turn it in is running out.

Luckily, it shouldn't take long, and it's the last time Rome and I will have to work on it. After that, I doubt Rome and I will ever talk again, returning to the strangers we used to be.

A few more hours and I will be one step closer to my diploma.

Stifling a yawn, I walk out of the classroom the moment the bell rings. The halls fill with bodies quickly, pushing each other towards the open door with ecstacy now that school is done for the day.

I don't speak to anyone during the short walk from my classroom to my car, barely even catching anyone's attention. I feel invisible while cutting through the busy parking lot, unnoticed by everyone else, and I realize that I don't feel any connection to the students I have studied besides for years. Looking at the hundreds of heads dividing into their separate lives and dispersing different ways, I feel alone despite the mass of people around me.

The blue door of my car creaks as I open it, sitting down for barely a minute before I spot Rome making her way towards me.

While the majority of students need to push their way through crowds in order to go where they are trying to be, Rome has never experienced this before. People step around her as she strides down stairs and across sidewalks, never being touched or jostled by anyone passing by. Has she ever felt alone here? Regardless of the countless people that worship her, could she feel as isolated as I do?

Subtly, Rome peers at the nearby students. And I can't figure out if her walking directly towards my car after the girl next to me drove off was a coincidence or not.

She carries an assortment of items in her left hand – her phone, a Starbucks cup, headphones, and some sort of chapstick – while her right hand is filled with her computer and a couple of notebooks. When she is a few feet from my Bronco I lean over the passenger seat and open the door for her, earning a small cheer of gratitude.

"Still no name?" Rome asks, jumping up into the truck and securing her seatbellt. I am reminded of the last time she sat next to me in the car and attempted to give my precious vehicle a name.

"Nope," I say, amused at the look of horror on her face as I pull out of the parking spot, exiting the school's perimeter moments after that.

She pets the dashboard gently as if me leaving it unnamed was synonymous with abusing it. "I can't wait to be done with this project."