Celeste tapped her fingers on her desk, her gaze wandering to the clock. It was the last class of the day and she wanted to get out and see Lysander again; he had asked her to meet him after school. She smiled to herself as the clock hit the last minute before the bell when the teacher noticed her expression.

"Celeste, you seem quite interested," she pointed out, "Why don't you come up and solve for X for the class?"

Celeste had to restrain from rolling her eyes as she forced herself to her feet, giving the teacher a slight smile and she approached the board, clenching the dry erase marker between her finger and thumb, holding it to the board. Solving for X usually came easily to her but she didn't understand it when it came to adding or subtracting rational equations in fractions. "Okay," she took a deep breath, "X squared minus twenty-five can be factored into X plus five times X minus five..."

She was interrupted by the bell and spun around to get her bag when the teacher stood in her way. "Ah-ah, Celeste, you haven't solved for X."

This time Celeste did roll her eyes, returning to the board and continuing the equation until she got an answer but by then the classroom was empty except for the teacher, sitting at her desk. Celeste hurried to get her bag and she pushed through the crowds of loitering students filling the halls until she reached the main entrance, pushing the doors open to find Lysander leaning against a railing along the stairs. She smiled to herself, slowing as she approached him and she tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey," she greeted when he turned.

He smiled. "Hello," he answered, "There's a diner just down the street from here."

Celeste nodded, unable to repress her smile. "Let's go then."

They began to walk and eventually, all the chattering of the students around them had vanished and the only noise was the passing of cars and the clicking of Celeste's heels. "Remember when you and Maya came to listen to me and Castiel playing?" Celeste nodded, avoiding his gaze as she recalled the day they'd met and the day they'd all gotten so drunk that Celeste didn't remember much besides for the taste of the alcohol on Lysander's lips and the way his hands felt on her waist. She also couldn't recall what had happened between being in the basement of the school and waking up in the morning, but she had awakened that morning only half dressed with Lysander in her bed. She was sure they hadn't done anything but it still embarrassed her to think about. "Would you like to come and listen again after we eat? Castiel wants to meet around four."

Celeste nodded again, giving him another smile. "I would like that as long as there's no alcohol involved."

He returned her smile. "That time was a bit of a mess."

Celeste chuckled. "That's the understatement of the year." He gave a cute chuckle and her hands tingled with the urge to hold his but she resisted. They arrived at the diner and they found a booth by a window, sitting facing each other and gazing at the menus. "Have you ever been here before?"

He nodded. "I used to come here a lot earlier in the year. Any kind of pasta is good."

Celeste touched her chin, gazing at the menu. "The winter vegetable one sounds good. I think I'll get that one."

After eating, the two of them returned to the now empty school and they went down to the basement, where they found Castiel crumbling up a bag of chips and wiping crumbs off his lips. His gaze went from Lysander to Celeste and back again and Lysander flipped open his notebook to a page, handing it to Castiel.

"You want to play this?" Castiel asked him, raising his brow and Lysander nodded without a word.

Castiel didn't complain as they prepared their instruments and Lysander brought a microphone to his lips. He nodded and Castiel began to play, the sound of his guitar filling the room and vibrating the floors. Lysander licked his lips, closing his eyes as he began to sing. "We met on the craziest of circumstances but somehow I lost my balance; nowadays my breath still gets caught when I see you and I'm wondering what it means to you."

Celeste was quickly hit with the realization that this must be the love song he'd showed to Castiel when she accidentally eavesdropped. It was an incredible song so far and Lysander's voice and Castiel's guitar came together beautifully.

"Every time I see that twinkle in your beautiful eyes, you make me realize; I think I'm meant to be with someone like you." Celeste smiled, closing her eyes at the sound of Lysander's voice saying all these beautiful things, finding herself wishing he was singing about her. "I want to know what your waist feels like folded into my arms; my face buried in your cherry red hair, take me to Mars." Celeste stiffened, opening her eyes and gazing down at herself to see her bright cherry red hair falling in elegant curls down to her waist. Maybe the song was about her. She found various things throughout the song that she could apply to herself, such as the mention of her art and stiletto heels.

Afterwards, Lysander took a deep breath before opening his eyes and Celeste grinned at him, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger. "The girl in that song sounds familiar."

Lysander gave her a smile. "I should hope so."

Celeste continued smiling at him before realizing Castiel was still standing behind him and she eyed him, furrowing her brow. "What are you still doing here? We're trying to have a moment."

Castiel shrugged, sitting against the wall as he drank from a bottle of water. "Don't mind me."

Celeste rolled her eyes at him before approaching Lysander and taking his wrists. "It's a bit crowded," she muttered, jerking her head in Castiel's direction, "so we should hang out some other time. You have my number." She leaned forward and gave his cheek a peck, pleased with his blush. "Thank you for the song."

She released his hands, holding his gaze a moment before turning away, leaving the school, her pace gradually increasing. She jumped into her car, buckling in and starting it, grasping the wheel and bursting into a fit of giggles. She leaned her head against the top of the wheel, between her hands, shaking her head but unable to shake the smile.

"He likes me," she told herself, grinning, "He really likes me." She turned up the radio and began driving home, wishing she could listen to Lysander's song instead.

Celeste gazed at herself in the mirror, smoothing out the bright red lipstick on her lips to match her hair before crunching up the roots of her hair and leaning back, giving herself a smile as she nervously fingered the bold gold necklace over her chest. She wore a very light, translucent button-down black shirt over an opaque black tank top all tucked into a long bright red skirt that went up to her waist and down to her ankles in the back and her knees in the front. She had on black pumps on her feet, which only held her feet in with crossing straps from her toes to her ankles.

Celeste wasn't sure why she felt nervous; her hair was straight and her makeup was perfect and she knew she looked great. That wasn't what worried her; what worried her was the thought of trying to converse with Lysander after a perfect day like yesterday. On a normal occasion, trying to start a decent conversation with him was like trying to count grains of sand, but when they could manage to have a conversation, it felt so easy and natural and lifting.

She took a deep breath, gathering her bag and school necessities and her car keys before hurrying outside, the excitement of seeing Lysander bubbling up inside her. She had to restrain from speeding until she pulled into the school's parking lot, locking her car and making her way to the front, where most kids waited for it to begin. Gazing around, she couldn't seem to find Lysander so instead she sat in one of the open benches, playing with her phone until Maya plopped down beside her.

"Hey, Celeste," she gave her a smile, "where were you yesterday? I texted you like a billion times."

Celeste returned her smile, gazing around to make sure Lysander wasn't around before speaking. "I was freaking out all day."

Maya's eyes widened. "There's something in this world that can make Celeste Bellerose freak out?"

Celeste nodded, giving her an innocent look. "I was with Lysander after school. I never told you this but I actually have a huge crush on him." Maya's eyes widened again. "Yeah, sorry I kept it a secret so long. Anyway, so he wrote a love song about me."

Maya's eyes widened even further. "He wrote a love song? That is precious! Did you propose yet?"

Celeste laughed. "Castiel was there; they performed it just for me. So afterwards, I kissed his cheek and told him thanks because I didn't want to do or say anything intimate with Castiel around." She rolled her eyes. "He's such a freak."

Maya laughed. "Hey, he's alright. Anyway, I'm happy for you. You two are both weird in your own ways but you complement each other."

Celeste smiled at the thought before taking a deep breath. "So on the topic of love lives, how are you and Nathaniel doing?"

Maya sighed, shrugging. "I don't know. Sometimes it's like he's so in love that nothing could ever come between us but then other times he treats me like I'm a stranger. It's not like him to give me mixed signals like this. I'm worried that maybe he still doesn't trust me after I lied to him about drinking at that last party we had."

Celeste furrowed her brow. "That party was so much fun but I think every single one of us regrets it in some way. Maybe not all the freaks who were passed out all over my house."

Maya rolled her eyes. "If there was something I wish I could take back, it would be that. I just wish he would be straight with me if he's upset."

Celeste gazed down at her lap, careful not to bite into her red lips before taking another deep breath. "Maya... there's something you should know..."

"Celeste," a voice interrupted her from behind and she felt immediate comfort at his voice, turning and giving Lysander a warm smile.

Maya grinned at them, getting to her feet. "I'm gonna go find Castiel. See you guys later." She rushed away so quickly she practically vanished into thin air, giving Lysander room to sit beside Celeste, and that he did.

Celeste laughed at his expression. "You look exhausted."

He smiled sheepishly, looking away. "I still don't like mornings."

Celeste continued to smile, reaching up and fixing his hair. "There, see? Much better. I could come by and wake you up at six, if you want." Lysander furrowed his brow, giving her a 'that's not gonna happen' look and she laughed. "It's really nice out today," she pointed out, leaning back, "I hope it stays like this."

"Let's go somewhere after school," he suggested.

Celeste nodded, giving him a smile. "That would be nice. Did you have anything in mind?"

Lysander shrugged. "I don't mind what we do. If the weather changes, we could see a movie."

Celeste tapped her chin. "Yeah, we could do that. We could grab something to eat ahead of time. But if the weather is nice, I'm not going to want to stay inside so if it doesn't change, let's go to the beach."

He gazed at her curiously. "It's not hot enough to go swimming."

She smiled. "We don't have to swim; it would just be nice to go."

He nodded. "I guess so. We could picnic." Celeste laughed. "What's so funny?"

She shrugged, shaking her head. "A picnic on the beach? What is this, a romance novel?"

Lysander smiled. "I just want to make sure you're eating."

Celeste blushed, looking away. "I appreciate it, really, but I promise I am. The only time I forget is when I get stressed out. I have nothing to be stressed over." She met his gaze, giving him a smile. "As a matter of fact, I'm pretty happy these days."

He returned her smile. "I'm glad to hear that."

She grinned. "I guess we could picnic if you want to."

The bell rang throughout the school's yard and they both got to their feet, beginning to approach to doors of the school.

"Oh, man, I can't wait to graduate," Celeste sighed, "I'm tired of wasting my whole day here." She hooked her arm into his to keep from getting separated in the crowd of all the other kids waiting to get inside. "I'm tired of all the underclassmen boys trying to flirt with me. It's ridiculous."

Lysander tucked his hands into his pockets. "I'm tired of that too."

Celeste laughed as they made their way inside.

After school, Celeste sat at the end of the railing by the school entrance as all the leaving students passed, waiting for Lysander. She tapped her fingers against the concrete stairs, taking a deep breath and scanning the crowd when suddenly someone bumped into her legs. She looked up to see a sophomore boy with long blonde hair and skinny jeans, skater boy shoes on his feet. She furrowed her brow at him and he grinned.

"Sorry about that, baby. Why don't you let me make it up to you?"

Celeste's brow rose. "In your dreams, kid. I don't mess with underage boys."

He furrowed his brow, taking a step towards her. "Hey, I'm mature for my age. You can come over to my place and I'll make you feel really good."

Celeste laughed, shaking her head. "Oh yeah, all sixteen year old boys are good in bed, huh? Why don't you scram? I'm really not interested and I'm way too good for you." He came closer and she lifted a heeled foot. "Don't come any closer to me or you will lose a limb."

His eyes began wandering as she forgot what kind of view he'd have with her leg up in a skirt. "That's a nice view."

He touched her leg and she gave him a hard kick, her heel landing on his upper thigh, just near the spot that would hurt him the most. "Aw, man," she chuckled as he fell to the floor, "I missed."

"Hey," she heard a yell and the sound of clicking heels and she turned to see an angry teacher, "you! Come with me."

Celeste got to her feet, crossing her arms. "I'm really getting in trouble for that? You didn't approach when he was grabbing at my leg."

"We have a zero tolerance policy for bullying," the teacher said, leading her inside the building.

Celeste rolled her eyes. "Bullying is bad but sexual harassment isn't?" The teacher said nothing and Celeste's gaze found Lysander passing in the opposite direction, a puzzled expression on his face. "I'll be out soon, okay? I'll explain later."

She led her into the principal's office, where the teacher explained what Celeste had done to the boy. The principal nodded, turning her gaze to Celeste. "What's your name?" she asked as the teacher left the room.

"Celeste Bellerose," she told her.

"Have a seat, Miss Bellerose." Celeste sat down across from the principal. "Why did you kick that boy?"

Celeste crossed her arms again, leaning back. "What that teacher neglected to tell you was that he was grabbing my leg when I kicked him. I was defending myself and I had every right to."

The principal shook her head, writing something down. "You're a senior, correct?" Celeste nodded. "Well, we have a zero tolerance policy for fighting and bullying. While he will certainly be serving a detention, I still have to punish you for turning to violence to solve your problems."

Celeste furrowed her brow as the principal handed her a slip and her eyes widened when she realized it was a suspension slip.