"I'm starving," your best friend says, slamming her lunch tray down on the table.
"Jeez, alright, Hulk," you laugh, taking a bite of a french fry.
"Sorry, it's just been such a long day," she mumbles, stuffing her veggie burger into her mouth.
"Hey, but at least it's Thursday! That means tomorrow is Friday!"
Her face lifts a little bit, and the two of you start chatting about the chemistry test you just took.
"No, seriously, I thought it was so easy!" you exclaim. Chemistry tends to come easy to you... at least during this unit.
"What? It was awful! I completely forgot how to find valence electrons and what the electron configuration tiers are!"
"That wasn't even that hard to memorize, (Y/Best Friend's/N)," you chuckle, and she rolls her eyes and shakes her head.
"I've accepted it. I'm just gonna fail."
"Not true! I can help you for the next test. You just have to ask or I won't remember."
"Could you? My parents would kill me if I failed chem."
"Yeah, seriously, no problem," you say, turning back to your lunch. You catch a glimpse of a boy a few tables away, sitting by himself. You've never seen him before.
"Hey, (Y/BF/N)," you start, as more people start sitting at your table, "who's that boy? Over there at the table near the door?"
"What boy? Oh, I think I see him. Wearing all black?" she asks dismissively.
"Yeah..." you trail off, still watching him stare at his hands, which are folded and fidgeting on the table in front of him. He's actually pretty cute. Thinking of an excuse to go talk to him without your friend judging, you say, "I think I'm gonna go to History a little early. I have a question about my research paper thesis."
"Sounds good. I should probably talk to Mr. Hall too, but I really want one of those new yogurt cups."
"Yeah, yeah, see you in five," you say, slinging your loosely strapped Vans backpack over your shoulder and trekking over to the table near the door.
The boy looks up, seeming surprised that you aren't passing by him, but then lowers his head again.
"Hi," you smile warmly, dropping your bag on the floor under you. "I'm (Y/N). I haven't seen you around... are you new?"
"Yeah," he croaks, his pronunciation sounding odd.
"Cool. Where'd you move from?"
"Sydney."
"Wait... like, Australia?"
"Yeah."
"That's so cool! I've always wanted to go to Australia. That must be uncomfortable, though. From summer there to winter here? Rough," you say, hoping he elaborates.
"Yeah," he repeats in the same whisper.
"Hey, so what's your name?" you ask, just as the end-of-lunch bell chimes. He quickly stands up and slips through the mass of students meandering to their next class.
"Huh," you say to yourself, and follow the crowd of your peers into the hallway.
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