"Class, may I have your attention for a moment?" I turned my head lazily in the direction of Ms. O'Connell's voice, prying my attention reluctantly from the sketches in my notebook. I was getting better at drawing Goku, not that anyone really cared. In fact, so few people cared I often questioned why I even drew in the first place. I had three years, starting last month, to practice my drawing in order to make it into the art club at the high school. I needed people to start caring.

Ms. O'Connell gestured at the door, and over the tops of heads that were seated in front of me I saw a small clump of auburn toddle into the room. "Now, class; I know y'all have been looking forward to spending this exciting new middle school experience together," she said sweetly, patting the red hair that stood beside her, "so it makes me very excited to introduce to you a brand new classmate!" There was a murmur through the class, and I leaned over to peer through the rows of desks and get a better look at this new student.

It was a tiny girl with long, braided red hair and a smattering of freckles across her cheeks. She was incredibly skinny; her clothes hung off her limbs like empty bags. She was smiling with her big, teal-blue eyes, and her mouth was stretched wide in a toothy grin. "Hi!" Her voice was just as small as she was, a flat city accent just like me. "My name's Anna; I just moved here!"

Ms. O'Connell laughed. "Very good, sweetheart," she said, "I'm sure everybody will be very happy to make you feel right at home; isn't that right, class?" Everyone but me muttered a weak response. I was dumbfounded. What on Earth were the chances of this? Ms. O'Connell patted the redheaded girl on the back and gave her a nudge towards the desks. "G'on, Anna, have a seat. I think there's one down the back next to Micah."

"Back there?" The little girl scooted quickly down the row of desks towards me. I started to panic a bit, realizing suddenly that the seat next to me where I had put my binders was indeed agonizingly open. Clumsily, I tried to collect my belongings from the seat, only succeeding in dumping the papers all over the floor. This is impossible. I can't believe I remember her, we were only kids. There's no way she will, I'm not that memorable. How in the world did she end up here, of all places. I flopped out of my seat and onto the ground, scrambling frantically to try and regain my things as I heard giggles ring out from my classmates.

"Uh-oh!" The girl's cheery voice surprised me. It sounded sincere, and when her hand appeared alongside my own and began to scoop up papers I nearly froze in surprise. "Lemme help you with that!"

"Thanks," I muttered, clawing at a handful of doodle-ridden worksheets.

The girl lifted one of the vocab tests I had dropped and glanced over it quickly. "Hey…" She looked at me. "Did you…?"

"What? Did I what?" My words were snappier than I had intended. I snatched the test from her hand.

"Micah Abressian?" She put a hand on her cheek. "It's me, Anna! Do you remember? You used to live in the apartment across from us!"

She…remembered? I nodded timidly. "Y-yea. We moved out here a long time ago. How did you remember me?"

"You thought I'd forget?" She opened her arms and wrapped me in a bone-crushing hug. "How could I forget one of my best friends?"

I grunted. "Best friends?"

"Aw, how wonderful," Ms. O'Connell cooed, "already making friends." Anna jerked back suddenly, like she had forgotten we were in a classroom. "As much as it warms my heart, I'm still going to have to ask y'all to find your seats; we have some lessons to get through."

"Sorry," Anna said quietly, slithering quickly into her seat. I finished scooping up my things and stuffed them into the wire basket beneath my chair. As I seated myself and picked up my pencil, Anna grabbed my arm gently. She was leaning eagerly towards me, a whisper already on her lips. "Let's sit together at lunch," she said quietly. "I brought some Snack Packs; you can have one if you want."

I swallowed heavily. "S-sure." Nobody else was going to sit with me; it might be nice to have someone to eat lunch with for once.

Anna patted me on the shoulder. "Just save me the chocolate one."

She could have the chocolate one; I liked vanilla anyways.

I exited the locker room slowly, painfully. I had taken my time in leaving, wanting to avoid the crowded shower and loud upperclassmen. I pushed my still-damp hair off my forehead, pushed my glasses up my nose, and re-adjusted my backpack. Every guy in Aarondale played football, even if they didn't want to. I'd been playing since we moved here from the city, but I didn't really like it. I was "okay," I mean, I made the varsity team this year as a freshman, but it was already obvious I was just going to be riding the bench hard. My coaches had told me I had a good brain for playing corner, my body just wasn't at the same caliber. I was pretty skinny and lanky, and my nearsightedness was limiting unless I put in my contacts. I wanted to keep drawing; that was where I felt most of my joy. Something about creating a scene just the way I liked it was empowering; nothing in the world made me feel better. Nothing accept…

"There you are, slowpoke!" I looked up to see Anna leaning against a locker in the hall. She had her backpack slung over one shoulder lazily, and she had her arms folded across her chest. She was smiling wide as I shuffled my way towards her. "I was wondering what was taking you so long!"

I looked up and down the hallway. "What are you still doing here; it's nearly five-thirty," I asked.

Anna flipped her backpack off her shoulder and undid one of the zippers. "Well," she said, "I've decided to take up my own after-school sport." She raised a tiny purple-and-green tank top out of her bag and held it in front of my face. She smirked, "I made the cheerleading squad, Micah; don't you remember I tried out?"

I nodded. "Oh, yeah, that's right. Sorry, I've just been so busy with football."

"Don't worry, it's alright." She put the cheerleading uniform away. "Even if I hadn't, though," she continued, "I'd still have to hang around; my ride doesn't leave until about now."

"Anna?" Another voice sounded from down the hall.

Anna looked over my shoulder. "Speaking of," she said. I followed her gaze, my eyes landing on a girl I recognized as she approached from one of the nearby classrooms. It was Anna's older sister, Elsa; tall, blonde, thin, and notoriously shy. I'd spent a lot of time at Anna's godparents' house since the two girls had moved in three years ago, so Elsa and I weren't strangers to one another. The thing was that the older girl was a junior this year, practically an adult. She was small and frail, even when compared to me, but knowing that she was nearly eighteen was still intimidating.

Anna waved as Elsa approached. "Hi, sis!" She took a few steps and hugged her sister quickly. "Practice is over; I'm ready to go when you are!"

Elsa brushed a loose hair out of her face. She was always well dressed and meticulously well put together, only adding to the quiet imposition she held over me. "Okay," she said in her soft, cool voice, "then we can get going." She pulled out her phone and checked it. "He'll be here in a minute or two."

"Hey, Elsa," I said quickly, "how are you?"

Her eyes snapped up to me almost as an afterthought, and I saw a flash of uncomfortableness light up her pupils. She crossed her arms and scratched her nose. "Oh, hi, Micah," Elsa said shortly. "I'm alright; how was practice?"

I shrugged. "It was fine. I'm just tired, is all." Elsa nodded. Aaand the conversation grinds to a halt, just like usual. I saw Anna shake her head quickly. It didn't bother me; I knew there was only one person that Elsa talked to for more than two seconds. And, just as his name entered my head, a huge hand clapped down on my shoulder.

"What's happening, Rookie?" His country twang felt out of place amongst the three city speakers that were already present. That was my name the team had given me; "Rookie." All because of the one time I forgot to bring my helmet out to the practice field during preseason camp. Coach had called it a "rookie mistake," and now everyone called me that, even him. We all called him "Cap," though I think I did it for a different reason than most. He'd been a team captain for two seasons running, so that was, I think, why most people called him that. The reason I called him "Cap" was because he looked like Chris Evans; big, muscular, home-grown-American-hero-looking guy with silky light-brown hair and patriotically blue eyes. What better name for him than "Cap?"—just like the Marvel hero God had based him off of.

"Hey, Cap," I said, flinching under the force of his grip, "nothing much; I'm just on my way home."

He thumped me on the back once and moved to Elsa's side, slipping his arm around her shoulder. "Good stuff, hoss," he said, rubbing his girlfriend's shoulder, "I was just talking to Coach about you."

I pretended to be excited. "Oh, really?"

Cap nodded. "You did good work today, buddy," he said, "Coach was happy with it. You're looking a mighty fine raw talent."

"Cool," I replied, "thanks for telling me."

Elsa took a step down the hall. "C'mon, sweetie," she whispered, "I want to go."

"All right, all right," Cap said, "I'm coming." He pointed a finger at me. "You have a ride, Rookie? I can give you one if you need."

I waved a hand. "No, thanks, my folks are swinging by soon."

Cap gave a thumbs-up. "Sounds like a plan, bud. See you tomorrow."

Anna scampered over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Dylan? I think I'm going to go over to Micah's, so you can just take Elsa home and I'll get myself back later."

"You are?" I sounded more surprised than I had intended.

Anna turned to look at me. "Yea, we should do homework together!"

"I-I dunno, my parents—"

"I'll buy us pizza; they don't need to worry about food or whatever." She clapped her hands together and squeezed her eyes shut. "Please, Micah? I promise I won't bite!"

I could see out of the corner of my eye that Cap was holding in a smile. I shook my head. "Yea, all right, come on over."

Anna gave me a hug, no favors done for my aching body. "Yay! Thanks, Micah!"

I squirmed. "Just feel lucky that my family didn't have plans tonight," I said as she let me go.

Cap's voice was full of repressed laughter. "You two try not to study too hard, now." He waved and took Elsa's hand, walking away towards the upperclassmen parking lot. Anna and I headed in the opposite direction, to the pickup lane.

As I climbed into the back seat of my mom's car, I prepared myself for the inevitable. "Oh, Anna," came Mom's voice from the front seat, "I wasn't expecting you today!"

"I know, Mrs. A, it was sort of impulsive."

Mom turned the engine over and shifted the gear to drive. "I guess I'll have to make some extra dinner, then."

The two of them went on about whether or not Anna should feel the need to buy any food if she were to be staying for the afternoon, but I let my attention drift out the window. It wasn't that I didn't want Anna to come over; that couldn't have been further from the truth. I was doing that thing again, is what it was. I could feel the tips of my fingers itching as my vision begged to be put to paper. It would have been so much easier if I could have taken some time right away to start sketching, but with Anna here I would have to sit on it until she left, and they always got more desperate the longer I waited. I had the folder with them all inside hidden at the bottom of one of my desk drawers, and I hated taking it out to add a new one to it. It wasn't even like it was dirty or anything—I'd never do anything like that—but I felt shameful in doing it all the same.

I could see it in my head, as clear as day: Anna in an Aarondale cheer outfit, pom-poms in hand, being held aloft by another cheerleader on the sideline of a football game. The colors were vivid, the lines clean and precise. I could draw it; I needed to draw it. But it would have to wait until Anna left.

Mom started asking me about practice, so I let my mind ease off on the image I was dying to create. It was important for me to draw it as soon as possible, but I didn't want Anna to see me do it.

I didn't want her to know that she was my favorite subject for portraits.

I didn't want her to know how deeply I was in love with her.