kiss me, there's no one watching us now

what a lovely thing to meet new people, such mysteries are they

Going out for 'luncheon break', as the teachers had called it, Cole could finally take in the true glory of the school.

The grounds were massive, and he couldn't see the edge because of the forest that blocked them from view. Carriages were meant to drive through the trees, up to where the road looped around a grand fountain in front of the school's main building, where students were dropped off. Then, there was a dirt pathway leading into the forest that students were meant to walk, which eventually split into four different roads, each leading to one of the four buildings—Visual Arts, Musical Arts, Performance Arts, and Literary Arts. Apparently, walking in the silence of the forest was meant to provide time for reflection and inspiration before lessons.

Cole surveyed the fields, where some students had begun laying out picnic mats and food, others choosing to wander the school grounds with pens, inkpots, and paper. He searched for those brilliantly blue eyes, but didn't find them. With the wave of people in reds, greens, blues, and purples, and the sheer expanse of the fields, it was hard to spot specific individuals.

Cole would have to do one of the things he detested most: walk around, with lots of people there to gawk at him. He took a deep breath, pulled himself together, put one foot in front of the other, and started walking between the people on their picnic mats.

His palms grew sweaty as he felt people's eyes falling on him. Their gazes were probably harmless, but Cole didn't have the courage to look at them and confirm their intentions. Maybe this was a bad idea. He should go back to the Visual Arts building and hide in one of the classrooms with his lunch. Surely Ben would forget that he had ever invited Cole in the first place. Cole was extremely forgettable.

He had just begun to turn around when a familiar face surfaced among the others, eyes squinted from the sun. He put a hand up to shield his eyes, then his gaze fell on Cole and his expression brightened.

Ben gestured at Cole to come over, and Cole obliged, weaving through people and picnic mats until he was in front of Ben, and now Ben turned around and Cole followed behind him across the field, making a beeline towards two students sitting on a carpet, of all things, with food arranged neatly around them.

"Found him," Ben announced to the pair. Their eyes scanned him, and he shifted uncomfortably.

Ben plopped down and ordered, "Sit," before turning to the two. "Now, introductions?"

"Madeline Elwood," the girl of the pair declared, and Cole immediately understood why she was dressed in Performance Arts red. Her tone and the gestures that accompanied her words had something wild to them, like she had drank too much coffee. The twitch in her eye and the flounce of her frizzy straw-colored hair only encouraged his theory. "Just Maddie is fine. Pleasure to meet you."

The boy next to her, donning the purple of Literary Arts, was the opposite. He seemed quiet—not in a self-conscious way like Cole certainly seemed, as if he focused on everything he did wrong and nothing else. No, this boy held a mature aura to him, as if he preferred to analyze and observe rather than speak. It showed in the way his posture was relaxed but not slouching, his hazel eyes kind but calculating, his fingers tapping a rhythm on his lap. He brushed his brown curls away from his brow and smiled welcomingly.

"Nice to meet you," he said, offering his hand. "I'm Julian Hart. Jules."

Cole shook it. "I'm Cole Mackenzie, it's nice to meet you too. Uh, no nickname."

Maddie laughed. "It's fine, those nicknames are from when we were kids anyway, it's 'cause our real names kind of suck."

"At least you don't have to deal with every single person calling you something different," Ben added. "I have Ben, Benjamin, Mister Sharpe, Benji–"