Author's Note (I never ever do these so don't get used to it): Just a heads up that I did change my pen name so as not to be confused in the future. Also, updates to this story may be a little sporadic as I readjust to my new classes and semester at college, so don't abandon hope if you go a few weeks without an update! I'll try to be as regular as possible.

Without further distraction, let's proceed.

II

One drawback to being the youngest in a group of friends was that Dil didn't have any classes with them. He sat in his second-period Honors English class staring at the back of the head of the girl in front of him as if he were in a trance; he vaguely responded to the teacher when he called his name during attendance and barely even glanced at the sheet of paper he was given that outlined the course objectives and required readings. His first class of the day, Honors Geometry, was a complete snooze-fest. He remembers cursing the people who made the schedules for giving him a math class first thing in the morning. Everyone knew that wasn't the proper time to be dealing with numbers!

It's only for a semester, he told himself.

He was in all Honors classes, and he didn't fully know why. When he was in middle school and the Vice Principal had taken a particular interest in finding out what made him so "unique", he was requested to take an IQ test. The results of the test showed that Dil was exceptionally smart and had the potential to do outstandingly in school without putting in much effort.

Now, unfortunately, he was listening to Mr. O'Neil blabber on about how they'd be starting Macbeth next week.

He noticed a girl out of the corner of his eye. She sat to the right of him and he'd found out a while ago that her name was Sarah and she played on the girls' varsity softball team with Kimi because she was so good. Apparently realizing she was being watched, she slit Dil a sidelong glance followed by a smirk. He wondered if she knew about him.

"For the remainder of class, I would like you to break up into pairs and discuss The Great Gatsby," Mr. O'Neil said. "You should have read that over the summer, and will be tested on it this coming Friday."

"A test on the third day back?" someone protested.

The teacher only nodded in response.

A moment later, Dil looked up to see Sarah sliding into the seat in front of him with her backpack and copy of the book. "Did you read it?" she asked.

"Of course," he replied, taking out his own, dog-eared copy that Tommy had given to him over the summer so he wouldn't have to run out and buy his own. "What'd you think?"

"Eh." She flipped through it idly before placing it facedown on the desk. "It was pretty good. The way Daisy just ran out without saying goodbye to her own cousin was kind of cringe-worthy, and Gatsby and Myrtle's deaths were kind of unnecessary, but otherwise I didn't think it was half bad."

"Same here," he said smiling. "And the symbolism of the green light? Miraculous."

She laughed, and he stared into her bright green eyes. It's like staring at the green light across the lake, he thought.

Taking off his green beanie, which he'd traded in his Sherpa hat for at the beginning of freshman year, Dil ran a hand through his short, orange-red hair. Lil and Kimi had helped slightly with his new makeover, but not enough to fully give them credit; they only picked out the color of the beanie.

Taking a deep breath and trying to not look scared out of his wits, he took a chance. "Hey, Sarah, do you maybe want to get a coffee or smoothie or something at the Java Lava sometime?"

"You mean the place Kimi's dad owns?" she inquired. "Yeah, sure. I've been there a couple times and they make great lattes." She ripped a piece of paper out of a new spiral-bound notebook and scribbled her cell phone number on it. "Text me."

"I will," he replied. The bell rang soon after, and everyone filed out of the room on the way to their next classes.

Tommy and Chuckie sat next to each other at a table in the middle of their AP Physics class. The last of the stragglers were making their way in, and they noticed that the teacher was uncharacteristically late.

"I had him for Honors Chemistry last semester," Chuckie said. "He's a pretty chill guy, but always punctual. I don't know why he's not here yet."

"Hey, it's the first day," Tommy remarked, giving their teacher the benefit of the doubt. "He's probably just as bummed teaching this course as I am taking it."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I wanted to have a class with one of my best friends. Plus, the more AP courses, the better. I need to start looking at colleges soon."

Chuckie nodded. "Yeah, I just need to finish up the common app and then I can work on the applications for the bigger schools I want to apply to."

"Oh? Where?"

"Well, UC Berkeley for one, and then Stanford, and maybe some safety schools," he responded pausing to take a breath, "and California State Polytechnic in Pomona. And a few places out of state, maybe out east like at Suffolk University in Boston or something."

"So basically," Tommy started, "you still don't have it narrowed down."

Chuckie shrugged.

Just then, their teacher finally walked into the room, closing the door behind him. Tommy paid attention as he passed out the assignments to come and explained some expectations he had about the course, as well as what the state of California expected high school AP Physics students to learn, and at one point, Tommy ended up daydreaming while the teacher went on about Newton's Law.

He already knew most of this stuff, anyway. He was mainly here because he wanted to have one more class with Chuckie before his best friend went off to college, and it wasn't likely they'd have a class together after the holidays, when the new semester began. And, like he had said, the more AP courses, the better. He already intended to take AP English next semester, provided it was being taught by someone bearable, and that he was in it with at least one person he considered his best friend.

Everything was changing. The group of people Tommy had grown up with since the diaper days were all growing up on their own, and even growing apart. Angelica and Susie were already in college, and come next year around this time, it would be Chuckie's turn, followed yet a year later by Tommy, Kimi, and the DeVille twins, and finally, Dil, the baby of the group.

Tommy looked back on his very early childhood, and vaguely remembered when Dil was first born and how, shortly after, they tried to return him to "the baby store", which ended up with all of them, plus Angelica and Spike closely on their tails, lost in the woods for about twenty-four hours. It was a miracle they'd even survived that long.

The famed Reptar wagon that played a huge part in saving their lives while lost in the woods, as well as one of Stu's finest inventions that led to the rise of Pickle's Toys, still stood as a shrine to their childhood in the family's garage. Tommy had no idea why his father hadn't gotten rid of it yet; taking into account the yard sales they'd had over the years, he had to wonder why it didn't make it outside.

Maybe his dad kept it around for sentimental reasons.

Caught in the middle of his daydream, Tommy was rudely snapped back to reality as the loud staccato of the school bell rang to life, signifying the end of class. The teacher hastily announced the homework as they filed out of the room, which was to read the first two chapters of the textbook and to take annotated notes for a quiz they'd have the following week.

Animatedly sparking conversation about the homework for the night, the pair headed to their lockers to switch their books and meet up with the rest of the group for P.E., and then lunch. Tommy thought it was torture to have them exercise and play games before lunchtime, but Phil had pointed out that it was a scam designed by the school to rake in more money at the cafeteria by its starving sub-par athletes. The rest of them couldn't help but agree with his logic.