Celeste dragged her feet out of her last class on the way outside, wishing that she could drive home instead of walk. She still felt awful about saying what she had to Lysander at lunch but she hadn't seen him since then; their only mutual class was the first one. She ignored all the whispering underclassmen as she scanned the crowd of leaving students until her gaze caught that familiar head of silver hair and she rushed over, grasping his wrist. He turned his gaze to her and the first thing she noticed was that he wasn't looking at her with the same expression he usually did.

"Lysander," her voice was quiet but managed to break through the chattering of all the people around her, "can we talk?"

He didn't completely turn around, withdrawing his wrist and looking away. "Sorry," he sighed, "I have to be somewhere."

Celeste felt some sort of hurt inside, watching him walk away but it was replaced with anger and she marched towards him, taking his wrist again and forcing him to face her. "You have no right to be angry with me," she insisted, "I didn't do anything wrong. You were the one going around making decisions for me and deciding what's good for me and what isn't good for me. You were the one who got up and walked away at lunch instead of just confronting me and apologizing. I don't like the fact that you're turning this situation around and making me the bad guy when I didn't do anything but I'm willing to put this behind me and I even wanted to apologize to you for defending myself. You should just let go of your ego and accept my kindness."

To her surprise, he broke his serious expression with a smile. "Celeste," he chuckled, "I mean I really have to be somewhere. My brother has to run some errands and he wants me to watch the shop for him and I have to be there in twenty minutes. I wasn't trying to avoid you."

Celeste realized that she had gotten on her toes to be eye-level with him and she let her feet fall back on her heels, feeling taken aback. "Oh."

He held out his hand to her and she took it, letting him lead her outside. "I was going to apologize," he told her, "I don't like it when you're angry with me." Celeste felt relief come over her at his words and the feel of his hand in hers. He walked with her until they reached the sidewalk, where they would have to walk in opposite directions and he turned to face her, releasing her hand. "I'm sorry," he sincerely told her.

Celeste gave him a content smile. "I forgive you."

He returned her smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

She nodded. "See you." She turned away, beginning to walk home and she felt as if a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders. She arrived at home to find Liz eating fast food and lounging on the couch.

"How was your day back?" she asked between bites.

Celeste shrugged. "It was kind of weird." She sat beside Liz, taking a couple of fries. "How was your day alone?"

Liz shrugged. "Mine was kind of weird too."

Celeste chuckled. "Seems like it was a weird day for all of us then, huh?"

Celeste awoke the next morning, gazing at the ceiling with a smile on her face before jumping out of bed and washing up in the bathroom. She gazed at her reflection in the mirror, pulling her hair out of the ponytail it was in, letting her curly locks fall down to her hips before skipping back to her bedroom and pulling open her closet, withdrawing an off-white shirt with the black outline of the Eiffel Tower and a waist-high curly black mini skirt, finishing off the look with a pink blazer. She pulled on some regular pink heels before gazing at her reflection in the mirror and putting on her makeup to perfection. She pulled back the hair on the side her face into an off-white little bow clip before deciding she looked decent enough.

Celeste descended the stairs to find Liz already awake, intently staring at something on her laptop. Celeste put herself a breakfast composed of strawberries before sitting beside Liz. "What's got you in such a good mood?" Liz asked, eyeing her.

Celeste shrugged. "I just really like mornings." She lifted her gaze to her. "Why are you up this early? Usually you sleep in."

Liz shrugged. "I don't know actually. I just woke up and couldn't fall back asleep so I came down here. You know, I've spent the past few days here exploring and I think I really like this city."

"Really?"

Liz nodded. "Yeah. The houses here are gorgeous and inexpensive and it's way closer to my sister than where I live. I think when I finish school, I'll come out here. We should keep in touch when I have to leave."

Celeste gazed down at her plate in front of her as she ate. "Actually, I don't think I'm gonna stay here when I graduate. I'm glad you like it here though."

Liz furrowed her brow. "I guess I figured, considering the quality of your house and everything in it, your family is probably loaded enough for you to go somewhere else. I wouldn't blame you. Where do you want to go?"

Celeste touched her chin. "I don't know. I want to go anywhere and everywhere."

Liz smiled. "I guess the confines of being underage and school were the only thing holding you back then."

Celeste nodded. "I've always wanted to travel. I already have some of my own money saved up to do it."

"That's good. I still think we should keep in touch. The news says the flooding is finally starting to go down and by noon, they'll open up the streets again."

Celeste pouted. "Aw, I'll miss having a roommate."

Liz gave her a smile. "I'll miss you too. I'll leave my number once I get everything set to go."

Celeste returned her smile, getting to her feet. "Good luck on your trip back. I should get going. Hopefully we'll see each other again."

Liz nodded as Celeste gathered her things and they hugged goodbye before Celeste began making her way to school. She gazed around at all the loitering students in search of Maya or Lysander but when she couldn't find them, she sat at a bench, playing with her phone. She only looked up when she felt someone sit beside her and rolled her eyes upon seeing the boy she had kicked.

"Okay," she sighed, hoisting her bag strap over her shoulder, "I just got done serving a suspension because you don't know your limits so I'd prefer it if you wouldn't come within twenty feet of me." She got to her feet to see a couple of his friends surrounding her. "Um, excuse me."

One of them stepped forward and she held her ground, lifting her chin to show her confidence and furrowing her brow. "Hey, Miss Attitude," he muttered, "we've heard a lot about you."

Celeste lifted a brow. "Miss Attitude? Okay, I don't have time for this so if you'd kindly step aside, I would be ever so grateful."

The one who'd stepped forward cracked his knuckles, giving her a smirk. "I don't think so." He forcibly took her wrist tightly, so tightly she was sure it'd leave bruises.

"Let go of me," she snapped, "What is with you insane teenaged boys and thinking you're entitled to women? Get your nasty hands off of me."

He continued to smirk. "I think we should teach her a lesson." The other boys agreed and Celeste finally began to feel intimidated; probably for the first time in her life.

"She said get your nasty hands off of her." The voice surprised her and she had to look to make sure it was really Castiel she was hearing, coming to her rescue with an astonishingly unyielding expression as he eyed the boys tenaciously.

The boy holding her turned his smirk to Castiel. "Or what? You think you can take on all of us at once."

Castiel returned the smirk with an expression full of contempt as he took slow steps towards him. "I know I can; a couple of scrawny little sophomore boys don't scare me. If you don't let go of her and walk away right now," he grasped the collar of the boy's shirt, "I'll pound you so hard they won't be able to tell the difference between your face and the concrete under your feet."

The boy's smirk disappeared and he looked angry but released Celeste's wrist, pushing Castiel's hand away and led the other boys away, including the one on the bench. Once they were gone, Celeste furrowed her brow at Castiel.

"What?" he crossed his arms, "I scared them away from you. Aren't you supposed to fall in love with me now and be eternally grateful?"

Celeste rolled her eyes. "Do I look like a damsel in distress to you? If you'd have waited another minute, they'd be dog food right now."

Castiel shook his head in disbelief, turning away. "Of course they would," he sarcastically replied, beginning to walk away.

Celeste smiled. "Hey, Castiel," she called after him and he stopped, giving her a sideways glance, "Thanks for helping me out."

He just nodded in response and returned to his gait towards the school. Celeste returned to her spot on the bench, gazing at her bright red and blue wrist with a sigh; she didn't have any makeup or bracelets on her that would cover it up so she would have to just endure it until the day would end. She felt someone sit beside her again but this time lifted her gaze to see Lysander, a concerned expression on his face as he gazed at her wrist.

"What happened?" he asked.

Celeste rubbed her wrist. "You remember that stupid boy that I kicked?" He nodded. "He brought his friends to harass me and one of them grabbed me."

Lysander furrowed his brow. "He grabbed you? And it was hard enough to leave a bruise?"

Celeste nodded. "It happened just before you came; that's why it's so red."

"How did you get them away?"

Celeste shrugged. "Castiel came by and gave them a threat or two."

Lysander sighed, leaning back against the back of the bench, gazing at his hands in his lap. "If only I had come by just a little bit sooner."

Celeste shook her head, taking his hands. "Don't worry about it, Lysander. I'm not looking for someone to come and rescue me because I don't need it. I don't want you to try and be my knight in shining armor or anything like that. I like you as you are."

Her words seemed to startle him and his gaze fell to their hands in his lap, rubbing hers with his thumbs. "Celeste," he spoke slowly, as if unsure how to word it, "you know... you've never told me you like me before."

Celeste gazed at him curiously before realizing he was right. She cocked her head to one side. "I thought you already knew."

He shook his head. "After I sang you the song, I thought you would tell me if you like me or not but you didn't."

Celeste smiled. "Well now you know." He returned her smile, squeezing her hands just before the bell rang. She pulled her bag over her shoulder, getting to her feet as he did as well. "Lysander," she began as they slowly approached the doors of the school, "what do you plan to do after high school?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know what to pursue but I think I'll still try to get a degree just in case and in the meantime I'll work with my brother. Why do you ask?"

Celeste shook her head. "I was just wondering. I thought about it this morning and I realized it hadn't really occurred to me that this mysterious post-high school thing is actually going to exist once we graduate."

"Then I'm guessing you don't know what you want to do either," he asked.

She nodded. "Not a clue. I don't really want to go to college to be completely honest. I'm not interested in any particular careers or majors and I'm not looking forward to another four years of school."

He lifted his gaze to her. "Why would you need to go to school? You already have a foothold in the art industry."

She smiled. "That's true. I don't think I'd mind painting for the rest of my life."

A few months passed and senior finals had just finished and graduation was just around the corner. Celeste, Maya, Lysander, Castiel, and Orrihime had a get-together at Celeste's house where they took a good luck shot, all excluding Maya. Celeste and Lysander still weren't officially 'together' although they liked each other and spent most of their time together. Maya was still with Nathaniel as well; she hadn't figured out his little secret yet at this point, but that was the plot to another story.

Celeste and Lysander went to the kitchen to prepare some snacks for their friends still stoked over finishing high school. Maya was teary-eyed but that was usual for her. Castiel was maybe a little bit too happy and Orrihime was indifferent.

The two of them began preparing finger sandwiches and homemade punch. "So," he broke the silence, "have you decided what you want after graduation?"

She smiled to herself. "I think I might travel." He lifted his gaze to her and she was afraid to look at him; she knew he'd be hurt and she didn't want to see it. "There are so many things in this world that I want to see. I want to see the Statue of Liberty, I want to see the White House, I want to experience downtown Chicago, and I want to see the great pyramids and the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben. I want to see the cherry blossoms of Japan and taste every Middle Eastern food there is. I want to feel alive, you know? I think it will be every type of wonderful and amazing but..." she met his gaze, "... I think it would be even better with you." Her words seemed to catch him by surprised, almost as though she didn't flirt with him all the time; but then again, this was different. When he stayed quiet, she held up a hand. "It's okay if you don't want to, I'll understand. I'm not asking you to commit to me either; if you ever decide you want out, I'll send you back, all expenses paid."

Lysander took a step towards her before touching her chin with his fingertips, almost as if he was afraid to be too rough, like her skin was glass. She met his mismatched gaze and her heart nearly stopped when she found his lips on hers. It was unexpected but never unwanted; when she gathered herself, she returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. His lips felt as soft and smooth as flower petals and his finger was delicately tracing her jaw while his other hand was holding her waist. She had never felt his kiss before but now she wasn't sure how she could spend so much time with him without tasting it. The second he pulled away, she felt deprived and she gazed up at him to see a tender smile on his face.

"I would love to travel the world with you."