To Zion

3

Cooper and I decided to get to class early...and start making a list.

We sat on our desks, facing the door, and wrote down the names of any likely person who entered. I knew the names all of them, so for me it was easy. Cooper decided to make a list of people he thought it might be. My list contained all of the people I had interacted with. The letter made it seem like we knew each other, so that narrowed the field a little.

"I never would have guessed that Anne would be someone who got to class early. She always seemed a little scatter brained to me." Cooper remarked as he scribbled down her name, glancing up at the first person to enter after us.

"That's because you don't find it important to find out what people are actually like, and go off of your first judgment of a person." I caught Anne's eye, and she returned my smile.

"Why is everything you say so true, and why is she walking over here?" Cooper tried to hide his list as she walked closer, but she didn't seem too interested in him anyways.

"I've never seen you guys here this early." She remarked, smiling at the pair of us. One of her hands was full of flowers, and I remembered that from last year. She'd always pick them as she walked to school, and hand them out to her classmates. Most people thought she was just being weird, but I always counted myself lucky if she ever gave me one. It was a sweet gestures.

"First time for everything." I laughed, and she her wide smile lit up the classroom.

"Want one?" She held out the fistful of flowers, and I felt a familiar warmth fill my heart. I liked Anne. If you asked Cooper, he'd tell you that I liked pretty much everyone, which isn't far from wrong, but she wasn't one of my numerous short term crushes. I just liked her.

"Thanks, Anne. You pick." I added when she held them out for me to choose from. Cooper sent me an annoyed look, before scribbling on his list again. More people were entering the classroom, but my attention was no longer on them. Anne's eyes were dark, but somehow they were filled with light. I couldn't understand that.

"Alright." She pulled out a small orange flower from the bunch, and held it out to me. I took it, and, deciding that simply holding it wasn't enough, stuck it behind my ear to match her.

"Thanks, Anne."

"You're welcome, Zion. And that orange is really good for your skin tone. You should wear it more often."

"If you say so." She smiled again, then turned to Cooper.

"Do you want one?"

Cooper looked surprised, but took the flower nonetheless, placing it gently on his desk when she walked away.

"What the hell was that?"

"What?" I turned to him in surprise.

"That. You two. Flirting." He huffed, narrowing his eyes at the list in front of him.

"I was not—do you...you think Anne likes me?" My indignation turned to surprise, and another feeling much more pleasant. If Anne was flirting with me, then maybe she—

"I couldn't tell you, but that right there, sure seemed like something more then two friends chatting."

"Oh grow up. That's how Anne acts all the time." I shoved his shoulder, and he shot me a disgruntled look.

"Maybe to you." He muttered, and I shook my head, going back to watching people as they walked in.

The classroom was almost half full, and I realized that I would probably have to do this again tomorrow if I wanted to make sure my list was thorough. My eyes wandered back to Anne, who was writing something down on a scrap of paper.

"Cooper!" I whispered fiercely, grabbing his arm, and abruptly cutting off the name he has been writing.

"What the hell, Zion?" He pulled his arm away from my firm grip, and began erasing the harsh line I had caused his pencil to make.

"Cooper! Anne is writing a note on her desk."

"So what?" He grumbled.

"So, all of last year, and probably for as long as she has been in school, she used to write notes for people. Just random notes and stuff to make people feel better during a day."

"Okay." He looked a little more interested now, his blue eyes giving me his full attention.

"And her handwriting wasn't exactly what I would call neat. Cooper, this is totally something she would do. Cooper, what if it's Anne?"