First day of classes arrives and I'm running late.

Thankfully, I showered last night so my hair is clean, smooth and tamed. I just run a brush through it as I give myself a final look over in the wardrobe mirror before grabbing my backpack and rushing out of the room.

The campus map lets me know that the auditorium where I have my first class of the day is thankfully just a few minutes away from me. I get to class just as the lecturer is setting up his laptop and multimedia screens.

I'm so out of the breath that I plop down in the second row to one side of the room without looking at who I'm sitting next to.

"I didn't realize I'd see you again so soon." I jump at the voice only to realize that it's the boy from McDonald's.

"Hi." I say, out of breath and surprised to see him here.

"You're taking the Economics course?" I ask him and then mentally smack myself for asking such an obvious question. Of course he's taking the course since he's sitting in the class with me.

"Yes." He nods as I turn away to take my laptop and notebook out of my bag.

I'm setting up my workspace when he suddenly says, "I'm Adam."

"Hazel." I answer with a small smile.

"Do you have an interest in Economics?" He asks.

"Yes. I plan on majoring in Architecture but I'll definitely take up Economics as a minor in college." I tell him.

"I'm thinking of majoring in Economics." He answers.

Our conversation comes to an end as the lecturer starts the session and the auditorium falls into silence for the next hour and thirty minutes. When I walk out of class, I feel satisfied with my choice of course.

"Are you free now?" Adam asks as we walk out to the courtyard that will take me to the swimming pool.

"No, I have swim practice." I tell him.

"You swim?" He asks, shocked.

"That surprised that a girl can swim?" I raise my eyebrows at him, smiling.

"No no, it's just that." He goes quite for a second and my heart sinks as I realize that he's made the connection, despite me keeping my surname from him.

"You're Hazel Aaron?" He asks and for a heartbeat I actually contemplate lying and saying no but in the end I nod.

Adam comes to a halt, "The swimming prodigy." He uses the title that the media has bestowed me with, over my school life that I've competed in various national and local tournaments and contests.

"Will you be swimming for UCLA?" He asks.

I nod, "For the summer, yes."

"I look forward to seeing you live in action." He says, making me laugh.

"Do you play any sport?" I ask as we start walking towards the pool again.

"I play soccer." He tells me.

"Do you plan on trying out for the Rushmore Academy team?" I ask.

"Yes. Is the team any good?"

"Good? The players are amazing. Especially some of the ones who graduated this year. Oh! And my friend, Ben is the soccer team captain this year."

"I'll definitely talk to him about it then." Adam nods and then asks, "Have you been friends with all those people for a long time?"

I shake my head, "Ash, I mean, Aakesh and Liam joined school in grade 5, middle school and we just started hanging out and grew close over the years and Claire joined the school in freshman year of high school. She's sort of dating Ben so we all tolerate her. Ben I've known the longest, actually from before school."

"It's so nice to have a friend you've known for so long. I've had to leave mine in New York for my father's job shift to Pasadena." He sighs. We've stopped outside the building that houses the university pool.

"Don't fret too much about school. I'm sure we'll start getting along by the time summer school ends and you'll get to see more of my other friends. You'll be taken care of." I smile encouragingly at him.

"I look forward to getting to know you all." He smiles back before we say goodbye and part ways.

I make my way inside and scan my Student ID at the changing room doors to access them. I find an empty locker and once I've changed into my new UCLA swim team uniform, I stow away my belongings and lock it before heading out to the pool.

Swim practice lasts an hour which is me practicing lengths with the university's coach. Then it's time for me to shower and head to my next class.

This class is Calculus and to avoid the direct throw of the air conditioning since my hair's still wet, I end up sitting in the front row which also encourages me to participate the most. I'm also the first to leave the classroom eager to head back to my room and get some rest, grateful that classes for the day are over.

Just as I close the dorm room door behind me, I get a message from Ben asking me where I am. I let him know that I'm back in my room. We make plans to meet at a local pasta shop before I put my phone on silent and fall asleep.

When my alarm wakes me up two hours later, there's a missed call from mom and another from Sebastian. I head to the bathroom, freshen up and then return to the room to make the calls.

"Hey. Sorry I was asleep." I say when Seb picks up.

"It's fine. I just wanted to ask if you think I should get a new backpack for school." He asks.

I groan and lean my head back against the headrest. "Sebastian. It's just high school. It's even the same school, just a different set of buildings."

Sebastian has been asking me questions like these ever since summer break began and I'm sure that I'll be receiving more phone calls like these over the following weeks.

After I've soothed things over for him, I ask if mom's around and he tells me that she's out with dad. So I just leave a message with him and then say goodbye. My hair is a mess from sleeping so I pull it into a ponytail, you can never go wrong with a ponytail.

I arrive at our chosen meeting spot before Ben does and place pasta orders for both of us. One of the perks of knowing your best friend for the entirety of your life is knowing their food orders by heart.

The food arrives just as Ben does.

"What took you so long?" I ask him.

"Sorry. Mom called." He says and that's all the answer I need.

Things between Ben and his mom haven't been great. About five years back, Mia married Conley who already had a daughter, a year younger than Ben and me from his previous marriage and now they have another two year old son together, Charles. So, in the last five years Ben not only gained a step sister and a half-brother but also had to learn to share his mother who he had had all to himself for twelve years with three new people.

This is information that only I know because Ben and I talk about anything and everything from academics to families. That's the beauty of our friendship, something none of the others, not even his girlfriend, Claire share with us.

"Is Charles feeling any better?" I ask, referring to the fever he was running last week.

"He does have mom and Conley hovering over him twenty four, seven." Ben pushes his pasta around on his plate.

"He's two years old, Ben." I remind him.

"It wouldn't hurt mom to remember that she had a son before Charles came along." Ben sets down his fork and folds his arms.

I sigh and take a bite of my food. We've had this discussion countless times over the last two years and it always goes around in circles until we switch topics.

"How was your time with Claire?" I ask, referring to their date from last night.

"It was nice." He says.

"Nice?! That's all I get?" I laugh, making him laugh too.

"What else do you expect me to say? We've only been going out for two months." Ben says and I roll my eyes at him.

"Says the guy who kissed her on their first date." I remind him, smirking.

"I don't regret it, it just never came around to a second kiss." He says.

"Two months and no second chance?" I raise my eyebrows at him.

"I honestly don't know what's happening with me and her. We're kind of in a slump." He says and we fall silent as we eat our food before I remember.

"I met Adam again today and he-" Ben cuts in, "Who's Adam?"

"The guy we met at McDonald's yesterday. He's taking the Economics course too." I tell him and then go on to explain how he plans to audition for the soccer team.

"I'm not going to go easy on him just because he is trying to warm his way up to us." He says, leaning back in his chair.

"By all means, please don't. We have to win as many titles as we can this year. We're seniors after all. We have standards to set." I say, taking a sip of my Coke.

"Yours is one title that is already ours." He says and I roll my eyes at him.

"I lost-" I start to complain but he cuts in, "Yeah, one, in third grade. You haven't lost a single Championship in the last eight years."

"Fine. I'll give this year my best but I promise nothing." I warn him, with a smile on my face.

We're on our way back to the dorm building where both our rooms are, when Ben runs into one of his teammates from UCLA's summer soccer team who also happens to be a sophomore at the university.

"Ben!" He calls out as we walk up to him. "Friend of yours?" He asks, pointing towards me.

"Yeah, this is my best friend." Ben says and I decide to keep my name to myself for now, so I just say 'Hi' and let the boys talk.

"We're having a party at the frat this Friday and I expect to see you there. Bring Claire along too." He says and then turns to me, "You should come too and bring as many friends as you want to. The more the merrier."

He winks at me and then walks away. I turn to look at Ben who has his hands shoved into his pockets and is watching the boy walk away.

"Our first frat party invitation." I say out loud.

"Do you want to go?" Ben asks as we start to walk again.

"I have an evening class on Friday but I can ask Ash and Liam if they want to tag along. You and Claire should head over together." I nudge him with my arm, "Maybe it'll help bring your relationship out of its slump."

"Maybe." Ben says before going quite for a moment and I know that he's thinking the invitation over.

"Fine. I'll go with her. You check up with the others and let me know whether I'll see you there or not." Ben says as we reach the dorm building's lobby and part ways, since his room is on the first floor and mine on the third.