After the waitress leaves, Myka locks her eyes on mine. "So what should I know about this town?"

I laugh and glance over at Michael, who is highly focused on his coloring. "There's really not that much you need to know."

"Oh, please, there's always something that you should know about a new school that no one thinks to tell you. Tell me anything. Tell me about band."

I lean back in my chair. "Band…band…what can I tell you about band?"

"Anything," she repeats.

"Welllllllll," I tease her.

"Come on. Anything."

"Bradfield is weird. He's really intense about band, but the moment that rehearsal ends, he becomes more like a cool uncle than a band director. Pakowski is great. He's brilliant in terms of music and marching and teaching, but he's also sarcastic and sometimes funny," I explain.

"Yeah? And what about the kids?" she presses.

"I dunno what band was like at your old school, but here, it's like a big, messy family. You have the people that get along, and the people that tolerate each other, and the people that can't stand each other, but at the end of the day, we're all band kids. We back each other up to the Peasants, and there's always a place among family."

"Ohana?" she giggles.

"Yeah," I laugh back. "Ohana. Family. Nobody gets left behind. It's funny you said that, though, cuz we're going to Hawaii this year. That's our spring trip."

Her jaw drops wide open. "GET OUT!"

I can't help but laugh. Her face is absolutely priceless. "It's true. We got a letter from the governor asking that we play this military event thing."

"You live in Missouri," she states clearly.

"You live here, too, now. And it's a ceremony for the USS Missouri. It's kind of a big deal."

"So you're being serious right now?" Her eyes widen just the slightest.

"Serious as a heart attack," I laugh, then catch myself. "Not to make light of heart attacks or anything…"

"No, I get you," she replies. Neither of us knows what to say after that, so we just sort of stare at each other for a moment.

That's when she smiles.

It's like the whole world has come to a complete halt. Time slows down. Literally, I can feel my watch ticking slower. Granted, that might just be the dying battery, but that's not the point. Myka smiles, and she's just so beautiful that I stare at her with this dorky smile on my face for what feels like days.

Our food comes, and I snap out of it. Conversation resumes as we begin eating. Michael starts in about Spiderman, leaving me a bit of time to think. That's when I realize that since the day I met Alicia, I haven't seen a girl so beautiful as Myka.

As promised, a second update for today. I really hope you're enjoying them.

This will probably be my last update for a week or so (maybe longer, hopefully not) because I have to be a functioning member of society. Also I have other stories that I've been neglecting as of late. (One of them is Merlin, the other Baby Daddy, if you're interested.

Thanks for reading!