"Hazel!" Zoe Bales, my best friend since eighth grade, launched herself at me, tackling me in a hug.

"Violin!" I held the case out so she wouldn't crush my most prized possession.

"Right! Sorry." She pulled back.

I looked around, expecting to see the third and final member of our group close by. "Where's Garrett?"

"Right here." Garrett Hsu, my other best friend and Zoe's boyfriend struggled to wheel his upright bass past us.

"You good there?" Zoe chuckled.

"Yeah, just wheeling fifty pounds, no big. Either of you want to help?" Garrett sighed.

"Zoe, go ahead, help him." I gently nudged her forward.

"Why can't you do it?" She stomped her foot on the ground with a mock pout.

"Duh," I lifted my violin case so she could see it, "I've got my own pound to carry. And I don't have wheels on it. Also, just a thought, you should try being actually nice to your boyfriend."

"How painful." Zoe gave me an intense side-eye, but her grin stretched from ear to ear. Regardless, she joined Garrett in his struggle to wheel his instrument into the band room. I followed close behind just as the bell rang for first hour.

Orchestra was rather uninteresting, just a repeat of the same rules we've heard for the past two years. Even the freshmen seemed kind of bored. I caught some of the seniors playing a quiet game of cards in the corner, betting with what looked like paperclips. The sophomores were gossiping in their little cliques, while most of us juniors were on our phones. Zoe, Garrett, and I were in the middle of an intense meme war in our group chat, with me pulling in the lead, Garrett with a close second. The true test was trying not to laugh too hard while the director was still talking.

Finally, the bell rang, Garrett bid us goodbye, and Zoe and I left for English.

The English teacher finished the syllabus with about five minutes to spare, so he turned us loose. Zoe sauntered over, plopping herself on my desk to talk to me.

"What's your next class?" She tried to peek over my shoulder at my schedule.

"Chemistry." I pulled the paper away before she could see the full thing.

She looked at her own schedule. "Journalism... Oh well, at least we have lunch together. You have B, right?"

"Yep. What about Garrett?"

"He's got the lunch before." Her face fell a little.

"Oh my god, don't be so dramatic, you have like half your classes with him." I gave her a tiny, playful shove.

"I know, I know. Fate must be on my side this year." Zoe winked at me. She immediately perked back up, a dangerous glint in her ebony eyes. "Back to you though, I was looking at Eli's schedule on Instagram-" The way she said Eli's name would have been annoying if it had been anyone but her.

I held a hand up to silence her. "I'm gonna stop you right there. I don't need you Insta-stalking him for me."

"Well, you don't have the guts to do it. How else would you get all the tea on him? By actually talking to him?"

"Okay, one, I didn't ask for you to attack me like this. And two, I'm like eighty percent sure I probably could talk to him if we had any classes together, which we haven't since eighth grade." The bell rang. "Now can I get to class or do you want to gossip about Eli some more?"

"Fine, go." A wicked smile spread across Zoe's face as she hopped off the desk. "Have fun!"

"I plan to." I gave her a smug grin. She stuck her tongue out at me.

I had taken one step into the science classroom and almost immediately stopped breathing. Stood in the corner was none other than Lucky Number 13 himself, the new quarterback and overall heartthrob, Eli Bridges. In true Minersville Bison fashion, he was sporting his violet letterman jacket, proudly displaying to the world that he was, in fact, a jock. His eyes caught mine for a split second, and I swear I saw a spark of recognition flash before someone else pulled him into a conversation. He still managed to steal a glance at me every couple of seconds. I could hear Zoe's taunting in the back of my mind.

The teacher pushed past me to reach the whiteboard, where she wrote in big, bold blue letters, "Ms. Dell." The class quieted down for a second before resuming their conversations. I found an empty spot near the back of the room and took up residence there until Ms. Dell called our attention back to her.

"I will be assigning the seating chart for the year, and whoever you end up with will also be your lab partner." Ms. Dell tapped her clipboard impatiently. She read off names, pointing to the seats as she did so. I had kind of completely spaced off until I heard, "Hazel Skyes and Eli Bridges."

I stood frozen in place, unable to believe my dumb luck. That, or my outrageous misfortune. Shaking off the surprise, I forced my feet to move forward to my new reality. Eli did the same. His expression was nearly unreadable.

"Hey." Eli set his backpack on the ground right next to mine. "Long time, no see, huh?" He flashed me a bright smile. "Almost five years. Can you believe it's been that long?"

"Yeah, we used to be friends up until sixth grade." I realized what I had just blurted out. "Sorry, that sounded kinda creepy-"

"Until I joined the football team and you joined the orchestra. I just got bumped up to quarterback, but you've been first-chair violin for two years." Eli crossed his arms with a smug grin. "Now who's creepy?"

"H-Have you gone to all of the concerts?"

"No, I just still follow you on Twitter."

My cheeks flushed, but Eli didn't seem to notice. I couldn't find the confidence to say much else, so I turned my attention to the syllabus, reading and rereading it until the bell rang.

"See you later." Eli playfully bumped his shoulder against mine as he walked past.

"Y-Yeah, you too." By the time I squeaked out my response, Eli was gone.