If you had asked Flaky to list what she liked about Flippy, she wouldn't be able to stop. The way he always hung at the back of the group, the creases around his eyes when he smiles, his warm hands, his deep voice, his soft laughter, the list was endless. In comparison, there was nothing Flaky could think of, that was interesting about her. She was a slow runner, worried about everything, cried on a daily basis, forgot things on a regular basis, and shoots quills from her hair whenever she has a freak-out session. The amount of time Flaky had nearly stabbed Flippy in the eye with her quills was ungodly, but he always forgave her and went to pluck them out of his hand in the bathroom. To this day, Flaky still couldn't believe they were friends.

Flaky jolted out of her thoughts when she was nudged by her friend, Petunia. "Wakey wakey, Flaky." Petunia said in a sing-song voice, and Flaky turned back in her seat to offer the other an embarrassed smile. Petunia was her closest friend ever since preschool. They had met in the sandbox, and Flaky instantly felt a connection when Petunia joined in building a sandcastle. However, they didn't hit it off until they both realized they were walking home in the same direction, and Petunia invited her into her house which was right beside Flaky's. It was such a rare coincidence, but Flaky felt fortunate enough to have been able to hold onto their friendship for so long.

"Sorry," Flakey said in her usual small voice. "Were you thinking about him again?" Petunia asked with a raise of an eyebrow, and Flaky blushed as red as the color of her hair, "N-No—"

Just then, the door to the classroom opened, and a group of boys walked in, laughing and talking loudly. The last to walk in the door was Flippy, and Flaky felt her chest seize up, and the quills in her hair start to rise. The boy's conversations faded into background noise, and the only thing Flaky could focus on was Flippy's hunched frame with his hands in his pockets and a smile adorning his face. He pressed the side of his fist against his lips to muffle a laugh at something the boys said, and Flaky felt herself smiling. Then, Flippy glanced over at Flaky's direction and made direct eye contact with her. Flaky broke it just as quickly and pressed her flushed face against the cold surface of the table, ignoring Petunia's attempts to get her attention.

"Hey, psst! Flaky." Petunia whispered loudly behind her, and Flaky chose to ignore the other's calls. That was until—

"Hey."

Flaky jerked her head up to see Flippy sitting in the chair directly in front of him, resting his arms on the back of the chair with a smile on his face. "I tried to warn you." Petunia whispered behind her, and Flaky felt the heat rise up her neck. "How are you?" Flippy asked with a tilt of his head, and Flaky felt the quills in her hair straighten painfully. Oh no, at this rate her quills will…

"You're in my seat."

They both looked to see a boy with bright green hair that had candy wrappers and lollipops stuck in it, and an eyepatch rested over his left eye. "Oh, sorry dude." Flippy said as he rose up and moved to the side so the other could sit down. He flashed Flaky one last smile before going back to his seat, and Flaky hid her face in her hair.

During class, Flaky's heart was still jittering in her chest. Flippy's smile was burned into her memory, and she couldn't shake off the shock that the other was smiling at her. Flaky felt the corners of her lips twitching, and Flaky quickly covered her mouth.

There was the sound of rustling, and Flaky glanced in front of her to see the boy with the eyepatch, putting something into a plastic bag hanging by the side of his desk. He reached into his pocket and took out a candy wrapper before unwrapping it, the crinkling sound interrupting the teacher during his lecture. "Nutty, what did I tell you about snacks in class?"

The boy, Nutty, shrugged as he popped the pink-colored candy into his mouth, "'Dunno." He said in a slightly muffled speech, before dropping the wrapper into the plastic bag that was already filled to the brim. Flaky continued staring at his back. How strange.

After class, Petunia was the first one out of her seat with her bags and books already packed, "Come on, let's go!" She piped out, tugging Flaky who was hurrying to put her stuff away.

They both made their way to their woodwork class and ended up being one of the first ones to arrive. They saw their teacher, Handy, writing stuff on the blackboard, holding the marker in his mouth. He glanced back and smiled when he saw Flaky and Petunia, "Oh, hello girls!" He said although it was muffled by the marker. Handy was a young teacher who had to get both his arms amputated after a construction accident, which he only told them about once and never again. Despite having no arms, he still managed to persuade the principal to hire him as a woodwork teacher after the last one retired and, much to the school's dismay, he was given the job. Handy was good at his job, and there were many things he could do despite missing limbs, and Flaky always found that quite remarkable. That, plus the fact that he wasn't too bad looking made him one of the most popular teachers in the school.

"Hi, teacher," Petunia said while twirling her ponytail. She only did that when she got nervous. Flaky smiled as she watched her friend's blushing face, and followed the other further into the room to get ready for class.

"Alright everyone, today we're going to pick out the wood for our cutting boards. You may choose up to three types of wood. Once you've selected the ones you'd like, come see me at the cutting station." Handy explained while gesturing everything with his stump arms. Flaky glanced at Petunia and giggled before nudging the other, bringing her back to reality.

Flaky only took woodworks class because Petunia had persuaded her. She was actually terrified of heavy machinery since she was naturally clumsy and any slip could result in losing a finger or a hand. Flaky was gazing at the different types of the wood laid on the table and marveled at the deep colors and shapes of the rings on each stump. "Hey Pet—"Flaky glanced over to find the space beside her empty. She looked around for the other before seeing Petunia going tentatively towards Handy, who was sitting down and trying to wrap the bandages around his stump arms.

"Uhm…Teacher," Petunia called in a soft voice while tucking some hair behind her ear. Handy looked up with part of the bandage still between his teeth. He released it and straightened up, "Oh, yes Petunia? Sorry, this stupid thing comes off now and then." He said while gesturing to the bandages that were already coming loose. "I could help you if that's alright." Petunia offered, and Handy looked at her with wide eyes before smiling just as broadly, "Really? That'd be great, thanks!" He held his arms out towards Petunia without hesitation, and Petunia sat down on the chair across from him. Flaky watched her friend tie the bandages around Handy with face flushed bright red, and she hid her giggle behind her hand.

After class, Petunia couldn't stop gushing about it. "I was so close to him, and I got to touch his cute stump arms a little," She squealed while covering her flushed face, and Flaky giggled as they walked down the hall. "You're such a pervert." Flaky teased, and Petunia was about to retort until two boys walked past them. Flaky stopped suddenly and stared at their backs before her face lit up, "Lifty!" She called. One of the boys turned back and smiled wide, "Flaky!" He glanced back at his twin brother, Shifty, "Go ahead without me." Shifty shrugged before continuing on his way, and Lifty walked over to Flaky, his large, green raccoon tail swaying behind him.

Lifty and Flaky had also been friends since childhood. It had happened when Shifty took one of Flaky's toys while everyone was playing in the daycare, and Flaky only stopped crying when Lifty got the toy back from his brother and gave it Flaky. Lifty seemed like the complete opposite of his brother: he was caring, considerate, and hated stealing. Despite that, Flaky still didn't understand why Lifty always stuck so close to his brother. She didn't remember a time where she didn't find them together.

"It's been so long, how was your summer?" Lifty asked, and Flaky replied, "It was okay. I was just helping my mom and dad around the house and stuff, what about you?" The two of them continued engaging in friendly conversation, along with Petunia who joined in. It was unfortunate that they weren't all in the same class, but Lifty always requested to be in the same classes as Shifty, and vice versa.

After a while of being in the halls, Lifty checked his phone and gave an apologetic smile, "Sorry, I should head back now. I'll text you, okay?" He gestured with a texting motion, and Flaky nodded.

"It's so weird how Lifty and Shifty are always together." Petunia stated as they headed to the cafeteria to buy their lunch. "Well, they are brothers. I'm sure they just really care about each other." Flaky said and took a melon pan and placed it her tray which was already pre-organized with a bowl of rice, soup, and salmon. As she waited for Petunia to pick her food, Flaky tried to look for a place where they could sit. Despite lunch time just starting, the tables were already filled with students talking and laughing loudly. "Ugh, it's so stuffy here." Petunia grimaced as she joined Flaky in the search for a table. They walked through the crowds of people, making sure to protect their tray all the while. Flaky stopped short when she noticed an empty table—well, almost empty. There was one person sitting in it. Tilting her head, Flaky stared at the individual whose back was towards her. She recognized the hair with candy wrappers stuck in it. The person was eating stacks of donuts in a plastic container, along with a piece of strawberry cake from the cafeteria.

"Flaky!"

Flaky turned her attention to the front and nearly stopped breathing when she saw Flippy waving towards her. "Come on!" Petunia said and dragged Flaky towards Flippy and his table of friends. Flaky glanced back at Nutty one last time as she was being taken away. "Alright guys, get off." Flippy said as he shooed two of his friends off the seat. They grumbled in annoyance but seemed subdued when Petunia thanked them. For some reason, Flaky was placed next to Flippy while Petunia sat on her opposite side. The distance between Flippy and her shoulder was so small, that Flaky was sure the other could feel the heat radiating from her body. Nevertheless, Flaky tried to focus on her meal and stuffed some salmon and rice into her mouth.

"Did you guys try that new shooter game that just came out?" One of the boys at the table asked, and many of them let out hoots of agreement. "It's so fast-paced, and you get to choose from so many guns like," The boy pretended to hold a gun and squinted towards Flippy, "Bang, bang, bang!"

From the corner of her eye, Flaky saw Flippy stiffen, and his breathing start becoming labored. "F-Flippy…" Flaky whispered to the other in a soft and reassuring voice. Thankfully, that did that trick, and Flippy took deep breaths before smiling down at Flaky. "Thanks." He whispered back, and Flaky blushed before shaking her head.

Despite not knowing much about Flippy, she knew that his father had served in the military during the Vietnam War, and lost his life in battle. Thus, anything war or weapon-related tended to trigger Flippy. The first time Flaky had seen the other snap…It wasn't pretty. It hurt Flaky to see the other in that much pain and be reminded of such trauma, so she tried to be there for him whenever she could. If Flaky could only be a means of support in Flippy's life, she'd be happy with that.

After they were done eating, Flaky was getting ready to leave with Petunia until Flippy stopped her, "Could I talk to you in private?" He asked, and Flaky felt several quills in her hair stand on end. She glanced at Petunia who shoved a thumbs-up in her direction. "S-sure!" Flaky's voice cracked, and she quickly covered her mouth while Petunia silently lost it in the background. Thankfully, Flippy didn't seem to notice, or pay any mind to it, and gestured for Flaky to follow him.

They stopped in a secluded area right below the stairs, and Flaky fiddled with her skirt nervously. Flippy, for some reason, also seemed nervous and scratched the back of his neck while glancing around. "So…I was wondering…"Flippy spoke slowly, and Flaky wondered for a second if the other had caught onto her feelings for him. However, she never could have predicted the result,

"Would you like to come to the lantern festival with me this weekend?"

Flaky looked up at Flippy with wide eyes; she tucked some hair behind her ears to make sure she hadn't misheard, "Eh?"

"The lantern festival…Wanna go together?" Flippy asked with a weary smile, and Flaky continued staring for far too long, before an embarrassingly large smile broke out on her face, "Yes!" She exclaimed. Flippy seemed taken aback for a moment before he pressed the side of his fist against his lips to stifle a laugh that leaked out anyways. Flaky joined him in happy giggles. Despite the anxiety-inducing fears that threatened Flaky on a daily basis, she wanted to stay in this exciting rollercoaster for a while longer.