Movie || Noah Centineo

-2-

[UNEDITED]

Walking alone is probably the thing Luna hates most. No matter how near or far her classroom, the cafeteria, the bathroom or wherever she needed to be was, her pace always quickens. She hated being by herself; she felt vulnerable, as if eyes followed her every move.

Luna takes an easy breath in before drawing it out, clutching the straps of her olive green backpack to bring in some comfort. She tries to lay low amidst the moving crowd, her deep blue eyes keeping themselves trained on the sneaker-skidded blue-and-white tiles of the hallway.

'One more class, just one more class to go and the day's over.' She thinks to herself, trying to mediate between the ugly feelings in her chest. She wishes she could stop wanting Alex to be with her right now.

She felt safer with him; he'd talk and laugh with easy confidence as if nothing else mattered in the world besides the conversation they were having, even if everyone else would shoot them disgusted looks. It was contagious, his fearlessness - but only when he was around. It was one thing Luna admired and envied about him, his grit and backbone.

Of course, he was affected by everything too, but his ability to still stand so firm was what she found so laudable. It was the opposite for her; as much as Luna wish it didn't, she valued how people saw her.

Alex Sullivan was the epitome of brave; she's known this from the very first time she met him 11 years ago. It was a fond memory, and probably not something that would entail 'bravery' in their age now but it still imprinted that image of him in her head.

She was 7 at the time and it was her first day of primary school. She had just moved to California so she knew no one at all, all her friends were back home - back home in Connecticut. She remembered that day during recess; all her classmates were playing in the playground and, like any other kid at that age or any other kid who had just moved, she was too shy to go up to anyone. She sat on a swing set alone. 

7 year-old Luna was just as she was, kicking on the grass and gravel until she heard a group of her female classmates screaming and running away from something. At that moment, she saw 7 year-old Alex for the first time, sweaty and chubby, running after a humongous toad to which he kicked to a bush. With that, the girls screamed louder and his other friends stepped back and exclaimed in disgust. Luna stopped swinging from shock, never having seen anything like that, and that's when the brown-haired boy turns his head towards her. With a round face and the warmest hazel eyes, he flashes her the biggest smile even though he was missing a number of his teeth.

Even after that whole "heroic" toad fiasco in first grade, the real reason as to why Alex is the bravest guy Luna knows is because of an event that happened 4 years back - when he lost his mom to pancreatic cancer. The amount of strength he had going through that ordeal with his family was astounding. Even she couldn't believe how he was keeping it together so well; she understood that he wanted to stay strong for his dad and Max, his 11-year old brother, but she was afraid that it would become a little too much for him, he needed to mourn too. He never broke though, not once. 

He was never the type to show sadness, he had this thing about not wanting other people to worry about him. She always told him, though, that he could confide in her and he always told her he does, but Luna knew he still didn't like talking about his problems. It made her sad, but she didn't want to force him - she figured being there for him no matter what was probably the second best thing to do. She loved him with every ounce of her soul. 

Although the years progressed and high school brought them to separate cliques, Alex was that one person she loved spending her time with most. It had been like that for years, even before boyfriends and girlfriends came their way, they'd been staying over each other's places and hanging out almost daily. Their friendship was precious to them both, but some people didn't understand it - they'd think there was 'something' more to it but just hidden under the title of 'being best friends.' 

Unfortunately, Ethan was one of those people. Two and a half years of them dating, he was convinced that her best friend was actually in love with her, but that was the farthest thing from the truth - Alex loves her, but not - never - in that way.

Luna shakes her head a bit, breaking her train of thought now that she was in front of her classroom. She peers through the small, rectangular window to check if anyone was inside and her spirits lift to see no one. She looks down at her watch to realize that she was 10 minutes early but she enters the room anyway.

Obviously mistaken, her stomach somersaults seeing who was in the room with her; he was seated on the left side next to the windows and he looked just as surprised as she did. For a second, they just blink at each other, not knowing what to say.

"I didn't know you were in this class?" Luna half-states/half-asks. Nathan, just as awkward, nods his head and reaches for a paper inside his black folder. "Uh, originally, I'm not-" he explains, unfolding the document in his hand. He holds it up for her to and she recognizes the Vice Dean's red seal on the bottom of the paper.

"-but we got moved to this class. There was a problem, I think, with our classroom capacity, so they had to move a few people out." He explains with a small smile. She nods but was greatly distracted with one particular thing he said. "'We?'"

Luna didn't even get to finish her sentence when the door swings open, as if on cue; seeing who entered, her heart quite painfully falls into the pit of her stomach. 'You're fucking kidding me.'

"Oh my, God!" Pia Garcia laughs a second after her dark brown eyes land on Luna. She turns behind her, beckoning with her hands as her amusement grew. Like it weren't bad enough, Ethan Montgomery's face appears in the doorway.

He looks stunned for a second but that look disappears just as fast as it came. With a smirk, he cocks his head. "What a pleasant surprise."

[A/N: Hey guys, sorry, this is a filler chapter and the next few ones will be as well to get behind the characters and introduce them properly! But anyway, I was so shocked that this story got on some rankings already even though I just published it a few days ago! Thank you guys so much for reading - please vote, comment and add this story to your libraries or reading lists if you're enjoying it so far hehe!]