Celeste approached the doors of the school slowly, gazing at the pink paper in her hands, suspension written in bold letters across the top. She sighed, pushing open the doors to the school to find Lysander waiting for her outside.

"What happened?" he asked her and she handed him the slip. "Bullying? Since when are you a bully?"

Celeste crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. "Some kid was grabbing at my leg so I kicked him. Get this, he only got a detention for that and I'm getting suspended, starting tomorrow."

Lysander furrowed his brow. "That's ridiculous; you were just defending yourself. A suspension of three whole days is a major fault in the school's system."

"I know," she muttered, "Let's just go. I'll just get angrier if we stay around here much longer."

Celeste led the way to her car, climbing into the driver's seat and starting it as he got into the passenger's seat. "Where do you want to go?" he asked, his voice soft as if afraid of angering her.

She sighed, turning down the music from the radio. "I don't know. I kind of just want to go home. Would you mind coming over?"

He shook his head. "No, we could do that."

Celeste took a deep breath, beginning to drive. "I'm sorry for ruining your day like this. I just don't really think I'm in the mood to go out anywhere."

He shook his head again. "You didn't ruin my day, Celeste. I was never set on doing anything in particular; I just wanted to spend time with you."

She gave him a smile. "Hey, we could watch any pay-per-view movie or something online. And I have tons of food at home."

Lysander returned her smile, visibly relieved that she didn't seem angry anymore. The drive home was quiet but Celeste found herself relaxing in Lysander's presence until she pulled into her driveway and led the way inside.

"Make yourself at home," she told him kindly, "I'm just gonna go change into something more comfortable." He nodded and took a seat on her couch as she hurried upstairs to her bedroom. She groaned with pleasure as she kicked off her heels, plopping down on the edge of her bed and throwing her hair up into a pony tail. She sat for a minute, embracing the fact that she was at home instead of school before forcing herself to her feet and changing into some short pajama shorts and a t-shirt and proceeding to wipe off all her makeup in front of the mirror. She tossed her bag aside, only retrieving her cell phone before returning downstairs to find Lysander flipping through the pay-per-view channels and she leaned over the armrest beside him, crossing her arms over it. "Is there anything in particular you want to watch?"

He shook his head. "I don't mind what we watch. What about you? Is there anything you want to watch?"

Celeste shrugged. "I'm in the mood for something mysterious. Not like a police mystery but like a people mystery, you know? Like 'And Then There Were None'."

He lifted his gaze to her. "You liked that book?" She nodded. "I liked that book a lot too."

She gave him a smile. "Hey, what about that movie? That sounds interesting." He got the movie and started it, putting it on pause. "Let's go put some snacks together." She pulled him to his feet before leading him to the kitchen and she tapped her chin. "Hm... let's see..." She pulled a bag of chips from the cupboard before opening the freezer. "What about some microwavable chicken nuggets? These ones are really good." She spun around, grinning. "I want to eat everything."

To her surprise, Lysander gave her a smile. "No one is stopping you."

Celeste giggled, grasping the chicken nuggets and some chicken fries and he put drinks and helped her put them into plates and bowls and microwave the frozen foods. Once everything was ready, they returned to the living room to watch the movie.

It was about halfway through the movie when Celeste was beginning to feel hungry again, reaching for the chips when her hand bumped Lysander's. She was going to laugh at the level of cliché of the moment but when she met his gaze, he didn't seem to agree, gazing at her with such an affectionate look that she felt a bit dizzy. She leaned towards him and he did the same and her heart began to race, watching his gaze shift back and forth from her eyes and lips and he tilted his head a bit, convincing her he was going for a kiss. Just when her heart began racing so quickly she thought it might jump out of her chest, the doorbell sounded and she groaned, her head dropping.

"Perfect timing," she muttered sarcastically before getting to her feet and approaching the door, pulling it open. A woman stood there, her arms crossed, and it was only then that Celeste realized it was pouring rain outside and she gasped. "Oh, it's awful out there." She stepped aside. "Come on in."

The woman gave her a smile. "Thanks a lot," she stepped inside. "I was actually going to ask if you had any extra room for a while until this storm blows over. I hope it's no trouble for you; It's a mess out there."

Celeste closed the door, eyeing the woman as she took off her shoes. "It's fine, I live alone. Do you live in Sweet Amoris?"

The woman shook her head. "No, I don't live anywhere near here. I was driving through; I went to go visit my sister and I was driving back. There's a huge storm and all the news stations were saying to stay inside."

Celeste gave her a smile. "Then you can stay here until it ends, I don't mind. What's your name?"

The woman removed her coat and hung it up on the coat rack. "I'm Elizabeth, but you can call me Liz if you want. What's yours?"

"I'm Celeste," she announced, "and that's Lysander."

She waved at Lysander. "Sorry if I was interrupting anything. I'm hoping this storm doesn't last too long. Are you a student?"

Celeste nodded. "I'm still in high school but it's my last semester. I'm assuming you're not, since you have time to visit your sister, right?"

Liz smiled. "I'm actually in my first year of college. It's your last semester, huh? Congrats on making it this far."

"Thanks," Celeste giggled, "Hey, do you want me to give you a change of clothes? Those ones look uncomfortable."

"That would be great," Liz answered with a smile.

Celeste led her upstairs and gave her a change of clothes, showing her to a spare room, before returning downstairs to find Lysander with a hesitant expression on his face. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"Are you sure you should let her stay with you? I mean she's a complete stranger."

Celeste gave him a smile, taking a seat beside him. "I think it'll be fine; she seems nice enough."

Lysander didn't seem convinced, tapping his fingers on the armrest. "I don't know... I also don't know how I'm going to go home in this weather."

"I could drive you," she suggested before peeking outside, "... or the streets are flooding. I'll bolt the doors before I let you walk so I don't mind you staying here."

He gave her a smile. "Where should I sleep?"

She shrugged. "Anywhere you want," she answered.

The storm slowed a bit after one day, but the streets remained flooded and all of them were closed off. They didn't cancel school, however; the city was so small that walking couldn't be a problem from any part of the city. Not that it mattered to Celeste, however, since she was suspended. She awoke in the morning just as Lysander was leaving and she said goodbye to him and lied down on the couch where it was still warm from him sleeping on it. She gazed up at the ceiling, sighing; not too long ago, she was so busy that she didn't have time to eat even, but now she had no idea what to do. Suddenly, an idea hit her and she pulled out a sketch pad from the table beside her and a pencil off the top, gazing at the blank sheet of paper. Maybe now she'd know Lysander enough to draw him; she had forgotten about it until now. Taking a deep breath, she began to create an image on the paper, her heart pounding with hope. It felt strange to feel this way, considering drawing was what she did best and she never felt nervous drawing.

Celeste's heart began to clench as she finished up the drawing and lifting it up into the light. She gave a groan at the sight and tore out the page, crumbling it up before lying back down on the couch.

"What's this?" a voice startled her and she'd almost forgotten about Liz, until she watched her unfold the crumbled up paper. "Oh, this is that boy, isn't it?" Celeste nodding, sitting up as Liz sat down near her. "This is amazing."

Celeste sighed. "You don't see anything wrong with it?"

Liz shook her head. "No, not a thing. It's him to a T."

"I don't feel like it is," Celeste mumbled, "I feel like there's something missing."

Liz lifted her gaze to Celeste. "Are you two dating?"

Celeste gave her a smile, shaking her head. "We're a little more than friends but we're not dating just yet. We have that flirtationship thing going on."

Liz giggled. "Oh, I understand. You really like him then, huh?"

Celeste nodded, gazing at her hands; she hadn't exactly considered how she truly felt towards him, only how he felt towards her. "I guess I do. But I don't know... I won't really feel satisfied until I figure out how to draw him properly."

Liz gave Celeste a playful glare. "You aren't dating the boy that you like and your biggest concern is drawing him?"

Celeste smiled at the humor in the situation. "Well, I'm not really worried about anything else. I know he likes me too and I know how to approach him; he's not the first guy I've liked."

"I'm not surprised; you're pretty enough that you probably have every straight boy wrapped around your finger."

Celeste giggled. "Thank you, and I do have every straight boy wrapped around my finger." Liz laughed and Celeste clenched her hands, gazing at her sketch pad. "I just don't know why I can't get the picture right. It's so frustrating to me."

"I think it looks fine," Liz shrugged, "but if it's bothering you, practice makes perfect then, right?"

Celeste tilted her head to one side. "I guess so."

"Hey," Liz gazed at her curiously, "I thought you're a student. Don't you have school today?"

Celeste chuckled, shaking her head. "They suspended me for kicking some sophomore boy with a heel. He was grabbing at my leg; what was I supposed to do, just let him?"

Liz overdramatically rolled her eyes. "School rules these days are such a joke. Did he get in trouble?"

Celeste leaned back against the couch. "He only got a detention."

Liz groaned with exasperation. "That's incredible," she muttered sarcastically. Suddenly she sat up. "Hey are you hungry? I'm starved. Where is somewhere we can go out to eat around here?"

Over the course of her suspension, Celeste and Liz had bonded and by the time she returned to school, the roads were still flooded, not only in Sweet Amoris, but in all the surrounding cities as well and the rain was on and off. She had to walk to school in her heels but it wasn't a problem for her since the sidewalks weren't muddy and when she arrived at school, the faculty had hoarded all the students inside. She climbed the stairs and pushed open the doors, gazing around at all the students who all seemed to be gazing at her and she furrowed her brow, walking more slowly.

Suddenly she found Maya, who was rushing over from down the hall and she grasped her hand, leading her to a quiet, empty classroom. "Celeste," she turned to face her, "what happened? Why did you get suspended?"

Celeste still had her brow furrowed. "I kicked a boy," she answered, "He was making unwanted sexual advances and he laid his hands on me."

Maya put her face in her hands. "Oh, thank god it's not true. I should have known you would never do something so gross."

Celeste crossed her arms. "Maya, what's going on?"

Maya's hands dropped. "I guess the loser that you kicked started a rumor. He said you two were alone outside the school and you started flirting with him and trying to kiss him and stuff."

Celeste rolled her eyes. "'And stuff' even? That's ridiculous, like I'd ever even go near that low-life dirtbag." She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Okay, it doesn't matter. I know it didn't happen and there's only a few months left until graduation. I'm not going to spend my senior year fretting over some little boy who thinks he's cool."

Maya smiled. "I figured you wouldn't let it get to you."

The beginning half of the day dragged on, of course, with Celeste dealing with all the underclassmen giving her funny looks that she tried to ignore. She felt relieved, walking into the art room, where she felt most at home when she was at school and this time Miss Cunningham had given them a theme to go by while painting and Celeste let herself get lost in the painting. She loved the feeling of making art and pouring all her emotions and thoughts and aspirations into a picture, despite the theme of it being assigned for her, it still felt good. Once she finished, she stood back to admire it, Miss Cunningham over her shoulder.

"That's beautiful, kitten," she gushed, "It's a shame that you didn't want to take up that offer. The gallery owner really wanted you."

Celeste turned towards her, her brow furrowed. "What offer? What gallery owner?"

Miss Cunningham's brow went up. "The first day you were out, Lysander came by to ask if there were any assignments for you for homework. He was getting your work to you, right?" Celeste nodded. "I told him to tell you about another gallery that saw your work and was really interested in you and the next day he told me you weren't interested."

Celeste crossed her arms. "So Lysander told you that I wasn't interested? He never told me about any gallery offers."

"I guess maybe I should have gone with my instinct and told Maya instead."

"Yeah," Celeste sighed, "I thought he'd be reliable but maybe next time you should go with Maya."

When the bell rang, Celeste gathered her bag and approached the outdoor cafeteria without bothering to look at the lunch menu; she wouldn't like the lunch anyway. Her gaze found Lysander seated alone at a table in the back and she approached, sitting across from him. "Hey, Lysander," she greeted without a smile or any enthusiasm.

He lifted his gaze to her. "What's wrong?"

"Why did you tell Miss Cunningham I wasn't interested in that gallery offer?" she asked without hesitation.

He blinked a few times as if her question was unexpected. "I didn't think it'd be good for you."

She leaned forward, eyeing him. "You didn't think it'd be good for me?" He nodded. "Since when are you at liberty to make decisions like that for me?"

He sighed, looking away. "Because I knew you would want to do it but I didn't want to see you go through all that all over again. You'll get another offer."

"You don't know that," she answered, "What if I never get another offer again? Don't make decisions for me without consulting me first. It's my life."

He reached into his bag and retrieved a paper bag, handing it to her before getting to his feet. "I'm not in much of a mood for arguing."

Celeste opened the bag as he walked away to find a lunch packed just for her and she sighed, turning and watching him disappear into the school, an awful feeling in her gut.