We were seniors in high school, at the top of our game - and we still rode the bus to school. Fantastic.

"Why can't I drive?" I had asked at breakfast, I demanded that Aunt Tiffany to give me a relevant explaination of why I was still required to board the yellow bus to school. "I mean, I even have two options to choose from."

"No, I have to drive to work later." Aunt Tiffany answered. 

"Well, Doc's car then."

"He needs to drive to Larson House too," she answered, even before Doc could do any reasoning. 

Doc cleared his throat, "Well, I think Mark is responsible enough to drive-"

"Ahem." Aunt Tiffany arched an eyebrow.

Doc looked at me sympathetically, "Your aunt's completely right, Mark. What's so bad about riding the bus to school, anyway? Give us one relevant reason why you two can't ride the bus this year?"

"Because we're seniors!" Donghyuck and I replied together.

"That's not a reason, that's an excuse," Aunt Tiffany concluded. "Now finish up your breakfast, you're running late!"

"Wouldn't be a problem if I could drive this year..." I muttered.

The back of the bus was our reserved place, the juniors knew it. I couldn't deny there were perks being the oldest in the bus, the younger ones knew when they had to give way. Of course they expected us to no longer board it in senior year, and their eyes widened the second we got in the vehicle, the few boys at the back scrambled out of the backseat. 

"I guess boarding the bus isn't that bad of an idea, then." I shrugged at Donghyuck.

"So your classes finish later?" he groaned the second we received our schedules. Donghyuck was a year younger than me (I kept forgetting he was only a sophmore everytime I mentioned I was finishing senior year, he hated it.) It was expected, senior year meant our exam results would play a vital role in determining which college would be eligible for us. Senior year ment extended class periods, and extra work.

"I guess so." I sighed, looking at the piece of A4 handout. 

He whined, "I'll have to wait for you? What am I gonna do for an extra two hours?"

"Don't you have, I don't know, theatre rehearsals or something?" I remembered he was the most inactive person in the entire student body. "Donghyuck, why don't just try out for the school theatre? I'm sure they'll be impressed."

He snorted, "And waste my time on those sorry excuses they call musicals? Come on, Mark."

I threw my hands up in the air, "Well what am I supposed to do? I can't skip classes, Donghyuck." as I said that, the first bell rang - indicating the classes were about to start. I looked at him, "I'm sure you'll find something to do while you kill time. See you around." I patted his shoulder before setting off.

Miss Bennet was teaching us English this year, much to my satisfaction. I had her as a teacher last year, and she was one of the few whom I rather enjoyed listening to her during classes - her lecture on Shakespeare's Macbeth was anything but boring. The way she explained the plot, to the motion of her hands as she wrote on the board - her beautiful cursive writing on display, she was the best teacher anyone could get.

"Good morning class," she walked in, chestnut brown curls bouncing across her shoulders. She always had a grand entrance, with her bold choice of lipstick - all the shades of red anyone could imagine. She took a sip from her green tea, "I hope you all enjoyed the holidays, because..." she grinned before bringing out her notebook. I swore, it had this leather jacket like some sacred volume and she only wrote in it using a white quill (I still had to wonder if it was an actual quill or a pen, I couldn't tell). "-I'll be needing your essays first thing in the morning tomorrow, all about how your spent school break."

It was greeted with a wave of groans in protest. "Oh come on, it's not that bad. I'm giving you all a twenty percent credit on this assignment for your first assessment in two months time," she said. "Now since this is your first class of the semester, how about some warm ups? Maybe some Harry Potter will do the trick."

She walked over to the bookshelf at the back of the class, took out the treasure chest she kept and took out a familiar copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It was an old copy, with its pages an ancient yellow. Miss Bennet always made the class into a bookclub when everyone was starting to get bored, she'd bombard us with questions, suddenly throw out spells and expected us to do the same. 

It was all fun.

She scanned the class, "Turn to page three hundred and ninety-four." she said poshly. Anyone who had read the book would get the punchline, I learned it from the movies. Her right hand wrote swiftly on the board, "Now would anyone like to tell the class a quick summary of the book?"

At first, I thought no one volunteer - then a hand was raised. "Riley, do come forward!" Miss Bennet said brightly.

I hadn't seen her in class before, she had long hair - the shade of a simple dark brown, like sweet chocolate. I did in fact, remember her full name somewhere in the school yearbook. Riley Andrews, I recalled her name. 

"So, Prisoner of Azkaban is the third book of the Harry Potter series," Riley explained, her voice bright and intelligent - as if she was giving a formal lecture. "Harry finds out that one of the top criminals of Azkaban - Sirius Black has escaped. A new teacher called Remus Lupin has arrived to replace the spot in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Long story short, Harry finds out Black is actually his dad's best friend - and is his godfather."

Miss Bennet nodded, "Can you tell me a memorable scene in the book, Riley?"

She thought for a second, "There are so many things I loved about the book, but one particular thing that I loved about it was the idea of the family and friendship element prominent in the book. The Marauders were this circle of friends anyone wanted to have, always having each other's backs even when they were adults. Moony, Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail. Well, maybe not Wormtail - but JK Rowling really portrayed the element of friends well. And the father figure Sirius wanted to play for Harry, is both bittersweet and wonderful."

"The third book," she had transitioned to the board and was scribbling away. Riley drew a mind map, linking every keypoint she thought was necessary. "Is actually the bridge and transitioning into a much darker way of storytelling. Which is also a very good strategy when you look at it, since Harry's story does in fact become darker after the third book. Prisoner of Azkaban is a mixture of both lighthearted and dark elements in a book, that can draw both younger and older generations to read the story. Dementors," she wrote the word in a bubble. "-are the examples of the darker setting of the storyline, they take away happiness which is an inner feeling. Next, we have Professor Lupin..."

She didn't stop for another twenty minutes, it was as if she was the one teaching us about Harry Potter. People were starting to get bored, but I liked hearing her talk - I always appreciated it when people were talking about things they liked with passion. Riley Andrews talked with burning passion. When she was done, she wore a brilliant smile as bright as the past summer sunshine. 

Miss Bennet was the first to clap, followed by the class. "That was better than I expected, Riley," she remarked, impressed. "Well done, tell me which house are you from?" she put on a cheeky smile. 

Riley grinned back, "Ravenclaw, Miss Bennet." 

"Ten points to Ravenclaw!" she declared. That, we understood and laughed at the roleplay. 

Being in the same Biology class with Riley Andrews was too much of a coincidence.

When she walked into the lab, I was surprised. When she was assigned to be my lab partner, I didn't know how to react. She flashed a smile, "Hi, I'm Riley-"

"-Andrews." I said a little bit too early, she found it surprising. You're such an idiot, Mark Lee, I cursed silently. I tried laughing it off, "I know you, we're both in Miss Bennet's class."

She smiled, "What a coincidence, um, Mark Lee." 

I blinked, "Y-you know my name?"

She chuckled, "It's written on your notebook." she pointed at my Biology module. I'm such an idiot, oh my lord I'm such an idiot....

"Haha, of course it's on my book," I replied awkwardly. I didn't know what to say next, and so we sat in silence. At the corner of my eye, I could see she was also trying not to make the situation uncomfortable by flipping through the pages of her textbook. I was drumming my fingers on the lab table, a few more students entered the class.

"Hey Mark." Jeno came walking in with his denim backpack slung on his back. I used to always see him in the school music room, strumming on the guitar - we've always had a mutual friendship going on with each other. 

"Hey man." I fist-bumped him. When he noticed Riley, he grinned a cheeky smile. 

"How lucky are you? Come on, talk to her," he said, maybe a little too loud.

I glared, "Not in front of her."

He ignored me, "Hi, you're Riley right?" she smiled and nodded curtly. "I believe you're not busy this weekend, right?"

She blushed, "Er, I guess not."

"Everyone's invited to my party, don't miss out." he said before slipping a sneaky glance at me. "Maybe Mark could come and pick you up? He's not occupied on weekends, are you?"

I punched him in the shoulder, he snickered before leaving us alone. Every second of him being there was mortifying. How was I going to face Riley Andrews now? My face was probably as red as a beetroot by then, not to mention I couldn't hide how much I was embarassed. Why on earth was I like this?

I planned to count to three, and finally open up my mouth. One, two, three-

"So, I-" we said at the same time. It was a miracle that we both found it oddly funny and we laughed together. That little mishap seemed to make things easier. Riley contained her laughter by covering . "You first." I told her.

"You don't talk to girls much, huh?" was the first thing she said to me with a normal tone.

I chuckled, "People in general, I don't talk to people much in general." I scratched my head. "I know my people skills are slacking."

She nodded slowly, "So...about your friend's party?"

I didn't know what to tell her, I bit my lip, "Er, I hate to break it to you but I'm not-"

"-not going to the party?" the corners of her lips curled upwards a little, she chortled and nodded. "Yeah, me neither."

"What's your reason?"

"I'm under house lockdown," she said, regretfully. "It's senior year, my mom wants me to focus on my studies. She hopes I can get into Yale next year." she shrugged.

I whistled, "Wow, you really got it all planned out. Guess I can ask you for help in Biology next time."

"What are your plans next year?" she asked out of the blue. "Any degrees you're interested in?"

No one had asked me that, not even Aunt Tiffany - not even me. I stiffed a laugh, "Geez, I haven't even thought about it yet. I try to live in the moment as much as I can. What about you - Potter studies?" 

She laughed, "If there was such a course, I'd obviously take it. But I helped out Miss Bennet to sum up the English papers last year, and I remember distinctively your writing was-"

"Sorry I'm late," Mr Avery came rushing into the class, seeming he was late twenty minutes. He put his books on the table and was already flipping the pages of his module as he wrote on the board. "Now turn to page fifteen, we're gonna get through the easy chapters first. So lesson one, locomotion in fish..."

We didn't talk until the end of class.

I found Donghyuck sitting at bleechers, where the lacrosse players were having practice. He sat there, quietly observing with his earphones plugged in. He didn't even notice when I sat next to him, trying to guess what he was looking at. 

"What are you staring at?" I asked, pulling out one side of his earphone. He jumped a little, and rolled his eyes. 

"I wasn't staring," he muttered and turned away from me. I narrowed my eyes, I didn't know any of lacrosse players - but I did notice one particular face. Samuel Kim had a specific reputation in the school for having mixed ethnicity, Spanish if I was not mistaken. He rose to fame when he scored the winning goal last season, since then his face had been plastered all around the school; both online and offline. 

"Isn't he in your year?" I quirked. "That Samuel dude?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Is he nice?" 

Donghyuck raised an eyebrow, "Why are you asking?"

I shrugged, "I was curious and wanted to spark a conversation, what are you doing out here anyway? I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Oh so now you care about my wellbeing?" he snorted. "Like I said, I'll be killing time by procrastinating with irrelevant passitivites - for example, looking at the lacrosse team practice for the game that I'm not involved in whatsoever."

Sometimes, I just didn't need to know what Donghyuck was thinking. 

"Er, whatever," I checked the notification on my phone. "Aunt Tiffany's coming to fetch us, let's go wait at the foyer. She should be here in a minute."

So we got up, and I didn't notice my bag was ped and my Biology module fell out. Sighing, I picked it up and noticed something scribbled on the front page. It was a phone number, Riley Andrew's number with the note 'FOR EDUCATIONAL AND ACADEMIC PURPOSES ONLY' in bracket form. I couldn't believe it, she gave me her number. 

"What's up with you?" Donghyuck asked when he noticed I was grinning, probably like an idiot. Maybe I was an idiot. 

"N-nothing." I stammered, smiling to myself. What on earth was wrong with me?

I was a complete idiot.