Dear Estella,

2. nice going, estella

"It was hilarious," Asher says in between laughs as he and I walk to the cafeteria. "You were all... *eyes widen* and then I was all *arms cross*... And then Ms. Richards was all 'get back into the classroom, Mr. Miller!'" He ends his re-enactment with a high-pitched voice, impersonating Ms. Richards, our Physics teacher.

He continues repeating the story to me as though it hadn't occurred less than three hours ago. "Your acting skills are... just impeccable." I comment with a quick raise of my eyebrows. "Maybe you should join the drama club, unless of course, you're already in it."

I'm not usually very outspoken. I never really have been. And It's never been much of a problem because throughout most of my life, I haven't had many people to talk to, anyway. There are only a handful of people who know, really know, who I am.

Sure, if a handful consisted of two people.

But things have to change. I know that I need to break out of the shell that I've been enclosed in for a majority of my life, if not the entirety of my life. Because if not now, then when, right?

"Hell no." Asher replies with a shake of his head as he grabs a red apple from the large selection of fruit in the cafeteria. I chuckle at his response. "I'd rather, like, have sex with—"

"Please don't finish that sentence." I cut him off, shaking my head. He grins with a quick shrug as he leads me away from the cafeteria and outside to a separate seating area to eat our lunches.

It seems like there's a good balance of the students who eat inside the cafeteria and the ones who eat their lunches outside. I would have rather eaten inside, where the sun wasn't beating down on me. But I also don't want to stray away from Asher, who has been so kind in offering to have lunch with me.

Asher, I've noticed, is quite popular among the students at Westwood High. As we walked from our third period class to the cafeteria, he'd gotten countless fist bumps, head nods, and had engaged in many short conversations with fellow classmates.

He leads me to a round table where three others are sat at. "Lady and gentlemen, this is Estella," he begins, but then turns to me, whispering, "What's your last name again?"

"Ramirez," I reply shyly.

"Estella Ramirez!" He announces. "She's new." He adds flatly.

He takes a seat and gestures for me to sit at the empty spot next to him. I take the opportunity gratefully, giving everyone a small smile.

"Hi," I say with a little wave to the three students staring at me with... curiosity? Annoyance? I really can't tell.

"Hey, nice to meet you." A boy with curly dark hair and soft brown eyes underneath his black glasses smiles. "I'm Josh."

"Thank you, Josh." Asher nods to him. "How about we all go around and say our names and a little about ourselves, yeah?" He looks around to the rest of the table with a tight smile.

"Sorry... um, I'm Aaron." A boy with dirty blonde hair and bright blue eyes speaks up as he makes direct eye contact with me. "This is Devin."

He gestures to the girl sitting next to him. She acknowledges me with a small smile and raise of her eyebrows then quickly goes back to staring at the phone screen in front of her, sticking her spoon into her yogurt parfait.

Devin has long wavy, brown hair. I took note of her style the moment we reached the table. She wears a black tank top and a pair of distressed light wash mom jeans. Her shoes are beaten Air Force 1s with red detailing on the sole and on the Nike swish.