"Isaac is your door still open," Isaac's mom yelled up the stairs.

The sound of her voice snapped both of them out of their thoughts. Isaac's face turned beet red as he rushed to the doorway.

"Yeah, we'll be down in a second," he called back.

Haley bit her bottom lip as heat flooded her cheeks. Trying not to look as mortified as he felt, Isaac turned back to her. For an awkward moment, neither of them said anything feeling as if they had been caught doing something they shouldn't.

"Umm." He rubbed the back of his neck. "We should probably go down."

Haley nodded in agreement and made a quick gesture to his room.

"Thanks for showing me your telescope and stuff."

Some of Isaac's unease melted as he sent her a small grin in appreciation.

"Yeah, of course."

He took a step towards the hallway and Haley followed. When they reached the kitchen, his mom was smiling at them, her blue eyes teasing.

"Did you two have fun?" she asked.

Isaac's cheeks flamed again and Haley crossed her arms, struggling to not to feel as embarrassed as she was.

"We should get going to the school," Isaac said. "We have a lot of painting to do."

"I'll get the keys," his mom said. "You'll need these."

As she passed Isaac, she handed him his glasses. Dipping his head slipped them on and looked up at Haley. Even though there was something more attractive about him without the glasses, she preferred him with them on. It felt more true to who he was. 

When his mother returned, they left the house, leaving Cal locked inside. The puppy gave a pathetic whimper and rested its head on the ground. At the sad sound, Isaac glanced back as if debating something.

"He can't come with you," his mother said, reading his thoughts. "You're painting and he would make a mess. Besides you just gave him a bath."

Isaac nodded in agreement but still wore a troubled expression as they left the yard. As they walked, Isaac's mother asked Haley about school and the project, keeping the conversation light. By the time they had all the places opened that they needed, Haley knew exactly where Isaac got his cheery personality from.

"Alright you two, have fun. Call if you need anything," she said.

Giving Isaac a quick kiss on the cheek, she left. Embarrassed, Isaac wiped at his face.

"You want to get working," he asked.

Haley bit back a smile and gave a quick nod. They walked to the line of booths and carried their booth back.

"Do you want to do the booth or the sign first?" Haley asked.

"Let's do the sign. I'll get it and you get the paint."

They entered the gym and headed for the storage area. As Isaac went looking for the kissing booth sign, Haley moved to a collection of paint buckets. On the top were labels saying which colors were designated for which booths. She grabbed the two they needed, buckets and the bit of supplies they could use. She was spreading out a paint strained drop cloth when Isaac came back, the sign under his arm.

"We are supposed to paint it white and red," Haley said, as he laid it down, "but it doesn't say which color goes to the background and which one goes to the letters. What do you think?"

Thinking, Isaac stared at the sign.

"I say we mix things up and do red for the background and white for the letters."

"Alright but if it goes horribly wrong, I'm blaming you," she said.

Isaac spread his arms out to the side in indignation. "What happened to us being partners?"

Haley gave an uncaring shrug. "What do you think partners are for?"

Shaking his head, Isaac laughed and popped the lid on one of the paint cans. The smell of it bloomed in the air. The day was hot but the shade of the building kept the full force of the sun off them. They were quiet as they moved about, getting paint poured into separate buckets, picking their brushes and taking opposite sides of the sign. As they settled cross-legged on the ground, Isaac pulled out his phone and started playing 7 Ships. The music floated around them, breaking the quiet.

"How did you get into Seven Ships?" Isaac asked.

The memory was so strong to Haley she took a second to reply.

"Lettie found them and showed me," she said. She focused on her brush, dipping into the paint and watching at the red liquid dripped from the bottom. "She came into my room one day screaming about finding the best band ever." She swept the brush along the board, staining it red. "I didn't really get into them until she badgered me so much to listen to them that I finally did. I realized what she had been saying was true."

When Haley looked up, Isaac was watching her.

"Have you heard from her?" he asked.

"No."

"I guess that's how life goes, isn't it?" he said, edging his brush around a letter.

"What do you mean?"

Stopping, Isaac met her eyes. "Well, you know, you meet someone, share your life with them for a time and then they move on, leave, or split ways. Same thing happened with my friend, Brent. Do you remember him?"

Haley gave a vague shrug. "I think so. Brown hair, a lot of freckles?"

Grinning, Isaac gave a nod of assent. "Yeah, well we were best friends through eighth grade, then come Freshmen year he moved to Colorado. We talked for a bit but you know people move on, they get new friends. Distance is hard."

Isaac went back to painting. "It probably doesn't help that we live in a place where people are always coming and going with the military and everything."

Haley nodded absently and returned to her work, but her thoughts were turning.

"What did you do once he left?" she asked, not letting her eyes drift to him.

"Freaked out."

Haley snapped her head up, staring at him. "Really?"

"Yeah, he was kind of my only friend and then he left, right as I was starting high school. I was terrified I was going to be some geeky loner."

"But you're so friendly," she blurted.

Chuckling, Isaac bobbed his brush in the bucket, collecting more paint. "I wasn't back then. It took a month of being completely alone that I eventually managed to say hi to someone. When I realized it wasn't as hard as I imagined, I slowly started making friends with the people I was surrounded by day after day. The funny part was I actually knew most of them since we've been in the same schools."

Haley's paintbrush was poised over the bucket, as she stared at Isaac, soaking in his words.

"You weren't worried they would leave and you would be left alone again?"

At this Isaac looked at her. "Half the kids we've known since kindergarten will be gone from our lives forever once high school is over. You make friends and you lose them. Some stay but there's so many that don't. Again that's how life goes."

He bent forward, carefully tracing the outline of a letter. As he worked, Haley watched but didn't really see him. His words were darting around her head, poking at thoughts she had held onto for the past four months. Feeling Isaac's puzzled gaze on her, she snapped out of her thoughts and went back to painting. Still, as she couldn't stop her brain from replaying what he had said.

Finally, she asked the question that was ping-ponging around her mind.

"You just said hi and that's all it took?" she asked.

"What?"

"You mentioned that you said hi to someone and then eventually started making friends."

Isaac nodded in understanding. "Oh that, yeah. I needed to say something to break me out of my fear of not being able to make new friends. I think it was technically 'hey' but you get the difference."

"That was all it took to make a friend?" Her tone was cautious like she couldn't believe the missing piece to the puzzle had been sitting in front of her the whole time.

"With time and finding ways to talk, yeah."

Haley sat up, her brush forgotten in her hand.

"But what about, you know, people being in cliques."

"You would be surprised how malleable those groups are."

Thinking, Haley gave a slight nod. Seeing that she didn't have more to say, Isaac scooted over and started in on the next section. Haley was trying to wrap her head around this new thought when Isaac's voice broke her thoughts.

"Crap!"

He stared down at his shirt and the huge blob of red paint that was splattered on it. The way it soaked the fabric made it look like blood. Haley let out a soft chuckle which gained Isaac's attention. Dramatically, he fell back to the ground.

"I've been shanked," he said. "Call for the prison guards and medics."

At this Haley let her chuckle grow into a laugh. Isaac lifted his head, smiling his goofy smile.

"I guess I should have listened to you and made a shiv."

"Or you could have borrowed mine."

Rising to a sitting position, he let his arms flop over his legs. "I might have to take you up on that offer."

Haley felt a blush creep into her cheeks at the echo of her words. Before either of them could say more, they heard voices approaching. From around the building, Rachel appeared, holding hands with Nick. At the sight of Haley and Isaac, she stopped short. A wider smile jumped onto her face.

"This is the first time I've ever been beaten to a project," she said.

"Technically, I beat you here as well," Nick teased.

She playfully nudged his arm with her shoulder, then focused back on Haley and Isaac.

"How did you get into the school?" she asked.

"My mom is on the school board," Isaac said. "She got keys for us."

"Well," Rachel said smiling, "I am happy to see you here. It appears you don't need directions from me, so keep working."

They disappeared into the gym and Haley leaned towards Isaac.

"Do you think she ever gets tired of smiling?"

"I don't know. It's Rachel, that's how she is. I'm not sure I've ever seen her without some sort of smile on her face."

Haley rested her chin in her hand. "That's what I'm saying, you don't think she gets tired of being cheerful all the time?"

"Some people could stand to learn from her and be more cheerful."

Haley scowled at this, feeling as if it was a terrible answer and not an answer at all. Out of nowhere, he tapped the edge of his paintbrush against the side of Haley's hand, leaving a red dash. She jerked away which made him fall back laughing.

"Maybe this is why you were shanked," she said. "You annoyed someone."

"You need to laugh more, Haley."

"I laugh!"

"I never said you didn't, I'm just saying you need to do it more often."

A denial that not all people could laugh as easily as he did was on her lips but it was pulled back as Rachel and Nick reemerged. They set up a canvas tarp next to Haley and Isaac's and started working on one of the game booths. The bright melody of two girl's voices filled the air and a second later Ty and Josie walked forward. Josie threw her hands into the air.

"Hello fellow peers!" she said. "Where do we go? What do we do?"

Ty rolled her eyes. "Frankly, I don't give a-"

"Ty! This is our responsibility as students and members of the student council."

As Rachel laughed at them, she pointed to the doorway. "Paint is inside and you can work on your own booth."

Josie gave a two-fingered salute and led the way inside. After they came back, they set up shop across from Haley and Isaac. When the noise of their preparations died down and they were about to start, they paused, listening. Confused, Haley stared at them, trying to figure out what they were listening to. Her answer was given when Josie started rapping along with the 7 Ships' song. The words tumbled from her lips precise, her shoulders rocking in time to the music as her hands moved with the rhythms. To Haley's surprise, Isaac jumped in as well.

"You turned always and forever
Into almost and now never,
Clever
Now I'm here trying to remember which of us was the liar?
Was it either?
Or maybe it's neither
See, I'm stuck just trying to see here
How forever and always turned to into neither
It's just never and almost stuck floating in the ether."

Watching Isaac rap broke all the ideas of his all American boy idea Haley held of him. It was like seeing a new side to the same coin.

By the end of the song, both Josie and Isaac were standing and facing each other, their voices in sync as they rattled off the words. Despite the amazement, Haley felt at watching him so easily rap, she felt a tinge of jealousy watching the smile on his face directed at Josie. Berating herself, she smashed the feeling away. Still, it crept up, tugging on the part of her that wanted to pull away. Leave before she was left.

The song ended and everyone started clapping. Woodenly, Haley did so as well. As the next song came on, Josie sang along but began painting. Still grinning, Isaac plopped down across from Haley. Before he went back to painting, he turned the look on her. With that, she felt herself ignoring the pull of doubt. As she was about to follow suit and continue working, Jace strolled from around the gym. She wasn't the only who noticed his presence.

"Hey, slacker," Josie said.

Jace spread his arms wide.

"JoJo why do you have to be hating on me like that?" he asked. "I'm here, and early doesn't that count for something?"

"Yes, but it also means you missed my amazing rapping skills," she taunted.

Ty shook her head. "Really, you didn't miss much, Jace. Though Isaac rapping was something I didn't see coming."

Surprised, Jace turned to Isaac. "I should have come earlier." His eyes flickered to Haley and a playful smile cut across his face. "I blame it on the fact that my hacky sack alarm didn't wake me up."

Haley laughed and Isaac looked to her, something in his expression making her stop. Carelessly, she waved her hand.

"It's nothing," she said.

He nodded but somehow seemed less convinced than Haley wished him to be. As Jace went to ask Rachel what he should do, Haley tried to think of something to say to Isaac. It was as if in that brief exchange the friendly mood from before had been sucked away. There was unease around them and she hated the feeling that it was growing bigger by the second.

"I didn't know you knew the rap," she said.

The statement popped the bubble expanding between them. Shrugging, he ran his paintbrush along the sign.

"What can I say I'm full of surprises."

"I like that you are," she said.

His eyes met her and a small, hidden smile slipped onto his face.

**********************************************************************

!Ben 10هيلو
(Sindhi)

Alright, alright! Things are happenings people, lines are being formed! What are we thinking? 👉🕳👈

Shout to murphnturf or should I say Murphy Jones for the bombastic rap lyrics!

Okay! Let's talk about Loves! Give me five random things that you love!

Here are mine! (I'm not saying ice cream cause that's more of an addiction, passion and obsession)

Balconies
Spiral staircases
Window seats (I have an undying love for them)
Breakfast nooks
Floor to ceiling windows!

Wow all of that was about architecture. Strange, but those are some of my loves!

If you so chose to bestow upon me a vote, comment, follow then I shall forever be in your debt!

Yeah, he's trying to figure out who he is. It's a phase.