THERE WILL ALWAYS be time for summer and there's no doubt about it. Drew Tanaka knew this for a fact. Her time at the camp had been brief; her siblings ignoring her and boys still flinging themselves at her with a beat of her lashes, that was all to the story. Or was there more than the beauty was telling? Even after summer had ended, she didn't want to face the harsh reality of her father's rage against her or the guilt she conjured up for her sister. Drew was a coward, even though she'd only admit it to herself. Her life spiraled downwards even if others can't see it through the clearest lip gloss she owned or the nude concealer over her faded out face.

"Drew!"

"What?" She didn't mean to snap at Anjali and she wished she had to the guts to apologize but it was irritating enough that she was snapped out of her own thoughts. The girl looked taken aback by her sudden change but much to her surprise, the smaller girl smiled with her wired teeth out. Sighing, Drew went back to looking around the room in a dazed manner. The lunchroom was still loud, like the waves crashing together during a storm. Where the jocks were or those blonde bimbos were, that was the storm of students. But where the two girls were sitting was under the tides. It was usually quiet there or at least quiet enough to pick up every conversation everyone had. There was no telling how much information they knew about everyone.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" She asked almost innocently, her light eyes captured the sight of a certain sports player. Drew turned her head around to see Kenneth Samuels, laughing and throwing his head back. The junior grimace; he wasn't bad looking actually. He was a Tacca chantrieri in a field lilies. His dark eyes seemed to almost be a puddle of ink dropped in as his iris which complimented nicely with his rich pigment. The conversation of her beauty soon disappeared in the back of her mind, now thinking about the lovely florets of a rosebud. Her ongoing crush came along through this year to the point where everyone knew, including the dark skin male. An awkward wave washed over them when one of his buddies noticed them watching. He nudged his friend, causing him to look back. Drew averted herself from him before he did and Anjali was caught in the act. A darker hue appeared on her face when they caught each other's eyes. The table over there laughed at her and though it was muffled, a flash of hurt washed over her face but disappeared when a familiar bright smile appeared over her face. The school bell rung and everyone got up to either get to class or to skip to the nearest mall. Usually Drew would do the second choice but she's feeling a bit adventurous and choose the first option. Turning her body back to see Anjali, she was far away. Over to the side of the room, a pair of dark eyes watched her friend while his friends were trying to drag him away, not noticing what he was doing.

With her tall legs, she cast her influence around the corridors of Nixon High. As she walked down the crowded, she noticed two things. How school colors were everywhere from the polished marble ground to the emerald lockers. The second thing she took note of was how the hallways soon reaped with the strong smell of cannabis. What she hadn't noticed was a certain blond creeping up to her. The pale girl almost screamed from shock when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist tightly. She turned around abundantly to see a laughing Preston Dugray.

"Preston!" She gasped, proceeding to slap his chest. "Don't scare me like that."

"All is scary in the game of love, babe." Her boyfriend jokingly says, bringing his lips towards her own and she simply pressed them together. The blonde was a strong kisser and a good one at most. She craved for more though. Drew pushed him away to look him in the eyes but for some reason, he avoided her gaze. She frowned, not wanting to push him into saying anything.

"Are we still on for Delly's?"

He gave her one of his dazzling grins. "Of course we are."

"Class," the boring class was interrupted with Ms. Pickwick stopped her lesson. Not only did this disturb the lesson on The Lord of The Flies, but it disturbed her nap. At first, she had no clue where she was and light realization dawned over her when the old lady went into detail of Piggy's symbolism. "We have a returning student today. So, make him feel welcome okay? I need someone to introduce him to the school." For some reason, she added emphasis to the word 'welcome' and she could tell why. Income in someone she'd never thought she'd see for a while. Now, he would have classes with her. The room now was filled with whispers amongst themselves about the student who had been here prior.

In his dark blue sweater with a white collared shirt under it, Leo Valdez's eyes darted around the room nervously. His hair was in its stance, all wild and greasy. His grip on his presumable schedule loosened when he looked over at Drew, who was staring straight at him. Her thick eyebrow raised at him, a hint of amusement in them. The teacher probably caught sight of this because she told him to take the seat next to her. Some girls gasped astonished, some even stared at him hungrily. She could feel him shuffle to his seat and place his bag down on the ground. The teacher went back to talking about how rationalism and masculinity can be known as a theme through the piece of literature. The raven-haired female turned back to him, watching him fidget with his fingernails. Strange. The works of a mechanic would be dirty.

"You've gotten taller, Valdez."

He didn't look up at her. "Are we still on last name basis, Tanaka?" She tilted her head to the side, her hair falling to the side slightly. "What are you even doing here in Dallas, anyway?"

"This is my home city." He exclaimed sarcastically.

"Fine," Drew huffed, crossing her arms. "What are you doing back at Nixon?" Her faux lustful voice controlled him. Finally, he looked up at her. Their eyes linked together as if they were past lovers, maybe that was the case anyway.

"My foster family lives in the North. And, I'm not eighteen yet."

"I thought you lived with the Petersons." She remembered he told her that once.

"I thought you lived with your dad back in the Queens." He shot back.

She turned her head up at him but didn't respond to him about that. Rolling her eyes, she decided not to say anything. After what happened over the summer, she didn't want to say anything. And as much as she cared, her expression will stay as stoic for a while.

"Look," She said. "I'll stay out of your way if you do the same." Her eyes flickered with obscure yet playful emotion.

He shrugged his shoulders, annoyed. "Fine by me."

No one had realized that there was a small smile on both of their enigmatic faces.