Hard Boy ✔️

53

- counting crimes; Nessa Barrett -
- Bring It Back; Shawn Mendes - 

Aurora Holland

"Why are we sitting outside today, exactly?" Layla asked as she sat down at the table with Bailey. She sat between Cameron and Bailey, and I could feel the awkward tension when she and Cameron made eye contact.

There's definitely something on between the three of them. I've noticed it before but never said anything as it's really none of my business. But the tension's too much, I won't be surprised if Elijah doesn't say something once he notices as he's just as blunt as Layla is - if not more.

Our group was pretty big. Despite not all of us being on good terms we still seem to sit together at lunch. Right now, it was currently me, Katherine, Elijah, Cameron, Griffin, Quinn, Guin, Z, Naia, and now Bailey and Layla as well.

Carter was running late, having to stop somewhere before coming to meet us at the outside tables.

"We just figured we would since it's getting to that perfect time of the year," Z said. "Or that's more of Logan's words than ours."

"Well, we all know how Log is," Cameron spoke up, scooting his cookie over to Naia. She gratefully smiled at him, taking the sweet treat. "When it gets to being close to Halloween he goes ballistic."

"Really?" I couldn't help but ask, surprised at the confession.

"Well, you know how Logan's a big party thrower," Guin explained, "And what's a big thing when it comes to holidays?"

"Parties!" Elijah and Layla exclaimed at the same time, the girl rolling her eyes at the British boy who just giggled in return.

"Right," I said.

"Every year for Halloween, his parents go out of town. He throws a big Halloween Bash, to which almost every student in the school is invited. Whether they're part of the friend group or not," Naia explained kindly.

I smiled at her, showing I listened to what she said. I don't talk to Z hardly at all, I only ever see him whenever he's around Naia or one of the others. Naia, however, has opened up to me more since we've run into each other during classes, and I couldn't be more glad I was beginning to get closer to her when she's one of the few I hardly ever interact with.

My attention was quickly averted from the talk of Logan's famous Halloween bashes as I saw the familiar black car pull into the parking lot. It was a perfect view from the outside tables we were sitting at, and I found myself glad that Logan asked the group to sit outside for lunch today instead of inside.

It let me see that Carter had arrived back at the school from wherever he'd gone. He didn't tell me where he was going, and I honestly didn't even know he left the school grounds.

That's one of the big differences here at Riverway instead of Point Prep. Even the seniors weren't allowed to leave school grounds unless they didn't have classes, but even then that was rare. We all sat in the tiny cafeteria for lunch, the only way we were able to leave is if parents checked us out for that time but as before - it's rare.

Here at Riverway, they're very big on giving us our own freedom. Seniors can leave whenever they want for the most part, especially during lunch. They can go get their own lunch or go home for lunch depending on what they want to do. Anyone in the school can choose where they sit for the duration of lunch; the cafeteria, the common room with all the tables, or even outside. There are multiple stations for you to drop your trash or your lunch trays, and I'm assuming the staff go through after the end of lunch and gather everything because it's usually cleaned up by the time I get out of homeroom.