As soon as I make it back to my locker, Cady's waiting for me, an unamused expression on her face. As soon as I make it within a distance she knows I can hear her, she starts scolding me. "Cami, you had Luke worried sick. He asked me to go to the bathroom and see if you were okay, like, seven times. He even tried going himself, but just as he got up the bell rang. You good?"

I nod, my meeting with Etch still prominent in my mind. I try to get myself together as much as I can to provide Cady with a response that's characteristic of me. "I'm good. But I'm telling you, only having bananas for breakfast and lunch will do something to your system."

It must've worked, because Cady laughs, then she says, "I gotta get to biology. Later." She mock-salutes me, then she marches past me. 

I laugh at her dramatic nature while I finish gathering my things for my next class, geometry. 

As I walk towards class, which is oh-so-conveniently located on the opposite end of the large school building, I take out my phone and plug in my earbuds. I select a song that agrees with my inner emo: Crushcrushcrush by Paramore. I get to the classroom when the first chorus is just ending, and I plop into a seat in the back corner, waiting for the room to fill up more before class starts. 

I get lost in the song for a minute more, the lyrics striking me weirdly, although I have no idea why, because they never really did before. 

Well maybe I have some idea. I do have a crush on Etch, after all.

I look up from my entranced state to see Etch entering the class. I feel my eyes widen. Crud. I forgot that I have my first class after lunch with Etch.

As the second chorus starts, our eyes lock, and his are so beautiful that I have to close my eyes for a prolonged beat to finally tear my eyes off of him. 

I find it funny that gym is the only class I have with both Etch and Luke, and that a couple of the only classes I don't have with Luke have Etch in them.

Today, he decides to sit himself down next to me, to my right. I glance at him to find him already looking at me. I quickly look away and turn up the volume to the song, although it ends up being futile, because the song is just ending. So I quickly change the song to Volcanic Love by The Aces. But, as soon as I do, the teacher walks in and sends me a pointed look, seeing as though I come in every day with earbuds.

Again, great timing. Just like yesterday with Cady. Time just loves to do great things to me at great times. (Notice my sarcasm.)

I pocket my earbuds along with my phone and begrudgingly turn my attention the the teacher. I actually manage to catch onto a complex math equation she's explaining, but my attention along with my understanding of it is shattered by Etch when he sends a note my way. It seems to be his favorite way to communicate with me; how pleasant.

I unfold the note haphazardly and see his neat, boyish handwriting. 

What were you listening to, Martinez?

I stick my hand into the bottom of my backpack and fish out a blood red pen. I write back:

None of your business, November

I pass it back to him, and when he sees it, some emotion flashes through his facial features, but it stays for less than a millisecond before he puts pen to paper, then he passes it to me.

I just lent you my room, Martinez. I think I deserve to know. And I told you to call me Etch by the way. Remember?

I sigh subtly, knowing he has a point. My pen in my hand has ideas of its own as I find myself writing an answer.

Crushcrushcrush by Paramore. If you must know. Etch. 

P.S... if I'm calling you Etch why're you still calling me Martinez?

I slip him the note and wait for his response, pretending to pay attention while he writes. When he passes it back, it reads:

I love that song. You'll have to show me more songs you listen to sometime.

P.S... I don't know what to call you other than Martinez. What should I call you?

I ponder his question for a moment. My whole life I've been called Cami, but then Luke comes along and changes it up, and by now I'm questioning if I still want to be called Cami. So before I pass the note back to Etch, I scribble:

Call me what you want to, Etch

I watch him out of my peripheral vision to see his reaction to my answer. I can see him thinking, and I can tell, somehow, that he wants to get this right, although I'm sure I'll be fine with whatever he chooses to call me. So when he gives the paper back to me, I'm stupefied at his response.

I'll let you choose between mine, baby, princess, or love. Or, if you want something more subtle, just bae.

A part of my heart dies because the butterflies this note has given me have eaten it, but then my logical side argues that he's just being cocky, so I accuse him of being just that when I pass it back to him.

Stop being cocky, Etch, I'm serious. What are you gonna call me?

I don't know what I'm expecting from him. I'm still surprised when I see what he's written though:

Vanilla. Don't ask why. I'm calling you Vanilla.

God, I want to ask him why. I exercise restraint when I answer him, simply replying with an "okay." And thus ending the note exchange for that period.

A half hour of pretending to understand math later, the bell rings, and I'm up and out the door within three seconds. I'm about to plug my earbuds back in and resume my musical adventure when, from behind me, I hear someone say (quite loudly), "Vanilla!"

I turn, immediately knowing it's Etch based on my new nickname. He catches up to me and slings an arm around my shoulders.

He's easily at least seven inches taller than me, standing at somewhere in the range of 5'10" to 6'0", so I'm craning my neck up to look at him when I ask, "What're you doing?"

Etch shrugs. "I'm walking you back to your locker, Vanilla."

Eyebrows furrowed, I ask, "Why?"

He shrugs again. "Because I felt like it. Also because you have to wait through a whole period of English Lit before you get to see my devilishly handsome face again in gym."

I roll my eyes at him, letting the sarcasm drip heavily. "Oh yeah, because I'll totally go into anaphylactic shock if I don't see your face for a whole thirty minutes."

Etch looks down at me, smirking. "I don't doubt it, Vanilla. Makes sense that you'd be allergic to the air that you don't share with me. By the way, do you have a boyfriend?"

Gaping at the straightforwardness of his question, and widening my eyes at him, I answer him sarcastically to help cover up the way he's just flustered me. "Oh yeah. For sure. His name's Peeta Mellark. Peeta Mellark is my boyfriend."

Etch laughs, getting my reference to The Hunger Games. I lift my head up to face him. "Bro, I'm serious. Peeta Mellark is the only one I can love. He is the only one I will ever feel like that about."

Etch is trying desperately to cover his laughter by now. "Yeah. Just as surely as Gale Hawthorne is my brother."

I scoff as we turn into the main hallway of the school, his arm still around my shoulders. Immediately, the corridor erupts into not-so-subtle whispers. I ignore them, rolling my eyes, while Etch smiles amusedly down at me. 

When we reach my locker, he lets go of me and winks. "See you in thirty, Vanilla. By the way, you gotta introduce me to your boyfriend, Peeta, sometime soon. I wanna give him some fair warning before I steal you from him."

He walks away before he can hear me answer him, leaving me to gather the books I need for my next class. Within moments, however, I feel the presence of a person behind me. 

"Van! You're doing better?"

I turn around to face Luke, and it takes me a moment to register what he's talking about before I realize he means my disappearance at lunch.

"Oh! Yeah, that." I nervously laugh, about to give him the same excuse I gave Cady. "Only eating bananas for half a day does crazy things to your digestive system. I don't recommend it."

Luke nods, a bit slowly. Then he looks down at his feet and clears his throat. "Can I walk you to class, Van?"

I shove my school books into my bag before I shut my locker and grab his arm, pulling him towards the English Lit classroom.

From behind me, Luke says, with brightness in his tone, "I'll take that as a yes!"

I laugh and let go of his arm, letting him catch up to me. When he's by my side, I ask, "What did you and Cady do at lunch while I was gone?"

I see him cock his head to the side, thinking. "Uhh, well before you got there, I was in the line to get lunch, and then when I got out of line, I went to the table Cady was sitting at instead of the A-crowd table like I usually do. She started asking me basic stuff, like what my favorite color is, and do I like sports, and have I ever had a girlfriend, and et cetera."

I press Luke a bit more. "And after I left?"

He purses his lips. "I was worried about you. I asked Cady if you usually have stomach problems and she shook her head, so I was trying to get her to go check up on you, but for some reason, she wouldn't."

I snickered. "I told her not to wait up, didn't I?"

Luke sighs. "Yeah, but what if you weren't okay? I mean-"

I cut him off. "If you had explosive diarrhea, or if you were vomiting, or if you were just trying to do number two, you wouldn't really want anyone there to witness it, would you?"

He ponders it for a moment. "Well, no, now that I think about it...."

I nod, just as we get to the English Lit room. "Exactly."

Luke opens the door for me. "M'lady."

I walk through it. "Thank you, good sir."

I walk to the middle of the room and sit down. Luke sits just behind me. As soon as I hear him plop into the seat, the teacher, Ms. Vance, walks in the room. Cheerily, she addresses us. "Good afternoon, class! As you all know, because I told you last week, today we will be starting my favorite Shakespeare play: Hamlet!"

Half of the class groans, and from behind me, I hear Luke quote, under his breath, "One may smile, and smile, and be a villain."

I giggle at his dig at Ms. Vance, impressed by his use of her favorite play against her.

Oblivious to the bad vibes of my fellow students, she presses on. "How many of you have heard of Hamlet?" The entire class raises their hands, and she smiles pleasantly at us. "Other than Romeo and Juliet, it is Shakespeare's most performed play. Your homework tonight is to look up some reviews, thumb through a few pages, come back tomorrow, and give me a written first impression of the play. Sound good?"

The class collectively grunts in response, and she continues her lesson. I, however, drown out the rest of what she's saying. I'm thinking at lightspeed, although I'm not quite sure what I'm thinking about. Etch's face flashes through my mind, amidst thoughts of what Hamlet might be like, and I wonder why on earth Hamlet makes me think of him.

The rest of the period flies by, and I let Luke lead me back to my locker, him blabbing the entire time about how he would've preferred to read one of Shakespeare's lesser known plays, like Troilus and Cressida or The Merchant of Venice.

When we get back to my locker, Luke pats my back and says, "See you at gym, Van."

I wave at him as he turns around, then I face my locker again to put my things back into it. Then I grab my gym bag out of the top of my locker and head in the direction of the phys ed building.

When I get there, I make my way to the locker room, where a cluster of girls are waiting by the entrance. When they see me, they turn to look at me for a long beat, then, very similar to what they did yesterday, they encircle me and attack me with questions.

"What did you and Luke do after he walked you home yesterday?"

"Are you and him a couple?"

"I saw you with Etch earlier. He didn't even get your name right."

"Are you and Etch a couple?"

"Are you cheating on Luke with Etch?"

"Why are all the boys after you?"

"Did Luke ask you out? Or Etch?"

I shove my way out of the center of the group and clear my throat. Surprisingly, they stop talking when I do, so I seize my opportunity. "Luke and I are not going out. We are just friends. You can ask him, if you want. We agreed to be friends, nothing more. As for Etch, at this point, he's just a friend, as well. I'm not with anyone, I'm not cheating on anyone, and I know what you're thinking, and I'm not sleeping with anyone."

Some of the girls just walk away, others give me unbelieving looks, and others raise their eyebrows, surprised by my standing up for myself. After all, I'm not really one to stand up to others.

After they leave me alone, I change quickly into my gym uniform and exit the locker room.

About half of the boys in our gym class are changed already and meandering around the large gymnasium. Luke and Etch are among them, although they aren't talking to each other or anything, thank goodness for me.

Luke has taken out a soccer ball from a nearby supply closet and has started to play a small-scale soccer game with some other students towards the left-most side of the gym. Etch is sitting on the ground in about the middle of the gym, watching as two jocks have a small argument.

Etch sees me before Luke does, and he gets up off the ground and makes his way over to me. Smiling lazily, he asks, "How was English Lit, Vanilla?"

I return his smile. "It was fine. We're starting Hamlet."

He smiles wider. "Ahh. Hamlet." He thinks for a second, then he says, "I defy you, stars."

I laugh at him for a moment. Still giggling a bit, I tell him, "You've mixed up your Shakespeare, Etch. That's Romeo and Juliet, not Hamlet."

Putting on a pout, he sighs. "At least I tried, Vanilla. At least I tried."

This makes me start to giggle again. He just looks at me weird. I don't get a full look at his face though, because I'm looking down, but when I look up again and see the crazy look he's got on his face, I start laughing even harder. After a minute I look back up at him, looking even weirder, and start full on guffawing. In fact, I'm doubling over laughing and Etch is clutching my elbows to keep me from keeling over.

I make a conscious effort to stop laughing, and gradually, I do. When I've finally stopped, I stand up straight again and look at Etch. There's a light gleaming in his blue eyes, and he chuckles and shakes his head. Then he brings his arms around me and pulls me into him, hugging me. I wrap my arms around his back, and he whispers, "That was cute, Vanilla. I really, really, really like your laugh."

I pry myself away from him a little and beam at him. "Why thank ya!" I glance over at Luke to see him staring at us, so I wave him over. He looks hesitantly between us and his soccer game, and ultimately starts to amble over to Etch and me.

When Luke reaches us, he greets me with a smile, although it doesn't seem like the brightest smile I've seen from him. "Hey, Van." Then he looks over at Etch. "Hey, Etch."

Etch nods in acknowledgement of Luke. "Luke." Etch turns back to me. "Is he a good kisser?"

I raise my eyebrows, surprised at his question. I stutter through my answer. "Uh, I guess so, I mean I've actually only ever kissed Luke, so I don't really have anything to compare it to... but y'know, from what I could tell, it was pretty great...."

Luke laughs and comes toward me, slinging an arm around my shoulder. "That, my dear Van, was one of the most amusing things I've heard you say."

I look over at him. "One of the most amusing things? Luke, I'm not the type of person that amuses people."

He starts to snicker. I glance at Etch, who's looking at Luke oddly, almost curiously. I look back at Luke and nudge him, silently asking him to tell me what else I've said that was so funny. He looks down at me, and very simply, says, "Augustus Waters."

Knowing what he's talking about, I roll my eyes and shove his arm off of me. "Yeah, yeah. I know. It wasn't that funny, Luke."

He just keeps snickering. "Not to you. It was to me."

Etch chooses this moment to butt in. "Was that, like, an inside joke or something? Because I feel like I'm missing something."

Luke opens his mouth to answer him, but I cut him off before he can say anything. "You don't wanna know, Etch. You don't wanna know." I say the last part while sending a pointed look in Luke's direction, and while he keeps snickering, he gets the hint to shut up about it and not say anything else, so he looks at Etch and confirms what I said by nodding.

Etch raises his eyebrows. "Okay."

Gym passes smoothly, with no uncommon occurrences like yesterday. When I get back out of the locker room after gym, I find both Etch and Luke waiting for me.

They've been engaged in conversation, although they stop talking when they see me. I smile at them. "My boys!"

Simultaneously, Etch says, "Vanilla," and Luke exclaims "Van!"

They look at each other awkwardly before looking back at me. I laugh at them. "You two are weird in your own ways. I like it." I walk past them, heading for my locker. They fall into step beside me, and Etch slings his left arm around the small of my back. Luke glances over, and then places his own arm around my shoulders.

Needless to say, this earns the three of us stares from every direction.

The three of us remain quiet until we arrive back at my locker. Both boys let go of me and split off, heading to their own lockers.

I hurriedly gather all the books and notebooks I need to take home and stuff them into my backpack. As I'm shutting my locker, Cady appears by my side. Without even giving me a chance to say hi, she declares, "I have to go right now. My mom's pissed at me and I need to get home. Hope you find someone to walk you home, text me later!" Cady jogs off, without another word.

I sigh and walk towards the entrance of the school. I whip my earbuds out of my back pocket and wait for Luke to show up. He did say he'd walk me today, and I fully expect him to fulfill his word. Scrolling through my various playlists, I press play on Tongue Tied by Grouplove.

Luke's taking awhile, and I'm standing my myself in front of the school building, so I start nodding my head to the beat of the song, which gradually leads to me dancing goofily, eyes closed. "Take me to your best friend's house! I loved you then and I love you now!"

I open my eyes as I belt out, "My eyes and your eyes! Like Peter Pan up in the sky!" I turn to see Etch leaning against the entrance to the school, staring at me. I immediately stop dancing and shut my mouth. I clear my throat. "How... uh... how much d-did you see?"

Etch laughs beautifully and smiles. "I've been here since you sang, 'take me to your best friend's house.'"

"Oh." I look down and shift my weight, embarrassed. "I'm waiting for Luke. He's supposed to walk me home."

Etch waves his hand dismissively. "I made a deal with Luke. He'll walk you tomorrow. I'm walking you today, Vanilla."

I laugh nervously. "Okay." I'm desperately hoping that Etch won't bring up my Tongue Tied craziness. He strides towards me and offers me his arm. I take it, and we set off.

When we're off the school premises, Etch softly starts to sing. "Take me to your best friend's house, goin' round this roundabout, oh yeah...."

I inwardly swoon at his voice. His singing voice is that of an angel. His voice is so entrancing, so unique. I've never heard a voice quite like his. I'm over the moon when I hear Etch keep going. "Take me to your best friend's house, I loved you then and I love you now, oh yeah...."

I break into the song and sing with him. "Don't take me tongue tied, don't wave no goodbye, don't...!"

Etch looks at me, and I blush. I love the way his voice and mine mix together. Of course, I prefer his voice without mine, but our harmony is out of this world. It's imperfectly perfect. Contrastingly flawless. Our voices are like fire and ice, like they were meant to be used together.

We continue, neither of us singing softly anymore, but at a decent volume. "Oh, take me to your best friend's house, normally we're making out, oh yeah...." Etch interlaces his fingers with mine. "Oh, take me to your best friend's house, I loved you then and I love you now! Don't take me tongue tied, don't wave no goodbye, don't!"

Etch lets me sing the next bit on my own, and I find myself trying to impress him. "One, two, three, four. Don't leave me tongue tied, let's stay up all night, I'll get real high, slumber party, pillow fight, my eyes on your eyes, like Peter Pan up in the sky, my best friend's house tonight, let's bump the beats till beddy-bye."

I stop singing, happy to let Etch take over the song my himself. "Don't take me tongue tied, don't wave no goodbye, don't take me tongue tied, don't kiss me goodnight, don't...!"

I cast a sideways glance at him to find him already looking at me. Our voices mingle with each other again as we continue the song. (At full volume now, both of us belting out the song.) "Take me to your best friend's house, goin' round this roundabout, oh yeah, oh take me to your best friend's house, I loved you then and I love you now!"

I keep holding Etch's gaze. "Don't leave me tongue tied, don't wave no goodbye, don't leave me tongue tied, don't...." We simultaneously stop walking, standing still on the sidewalk. "Don't leave me tongue tied, don't wave no goodbye, don't leave me tongue tied, don't."

We finish the song together, and for a moment, we just stare at each other. Then, rather impulsively, I jump forward and latch my arms around Etch's neck, bringing him into a hug. We both start to dissolve into a fit of laughter, still holding onto each other.

I've determined that I'd be perfectly happy to stay in Etch November's arms forever.

A/N

Okay. So. Third chapter is up. *breathes sigh of relief* This chapter was SO hard to write! I wrote out like five different scenarios for this chapter before I decided that this was The One that I wanted to use.

Anyways. I got a notification that my book was added to someone's reading list and it made my day so much better!! Like, it makes me so happy that y'all bother to read my work! It means so so so much.

So you. Yes you, the one reading this. YOU ARE AWESOME. I LOVE YOU. I'm sending well-wishes your way and don't forget that even if you don't think you are, you are a human being that deserves to be on this planet. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!

Like I said in ch one, I may update a bit slowly... haha... ha... ha... so my next update may take a bit of time. But I promise I'll post it as soon as I can. Promise.

~Alex