Chapter 1—Anxiety

"Duck, I'm only moving twenty minutes away," Clementine explained, trying to reassure her best friend while folding a pair of jeans and placing them into a cardboard box labeled "CLEM'S BOTTOMS" in big red Sharpie bubble letters. She turned to him, "I'll call often and ride the bus over here to see you."

Kenneth Jr., primarily known as Duck, looked back at Clementine with his large brown orbs, reminding her of a puppy. "But it's not the same," he whined as he sat down on the freshly-vacuumed, beige carpeted floor, his back leaned against the wall. "I already won't be able to see you everyday because you won't be living across the hall from me anymore, and now I can't even see you at school."

Finished packing her clothes, Clementine shut the flaps of the box before her and taped it shut. "Duck," she sighed as she lifted the box and placed it next to the door on top of three other boxes filled with her clothing. "It's not the end of the world. Hardly anything will change. You're still gonna be my best friend, and you're still gonna see me. The only difference is that I will only be a few miles away instead of next door." Clementine turned towards Duck, a hand on her hip and a smirk on her face. "Besides who else are you going to obsess over The Walking Dead with?"

Clementine walked over to Duck and laid down, placing her head in his lap. As she stared at the white walls and she ran her fingers along the rough beige carpet that she had grown to love, she thought back to when she and Duck first met. She remembered moving into that apartment when her adoptive father, Lee, had taken her in as his foster child when she was eight. Her parents, Ed and Diana had died, tragically and unexpectedly, the year before.

As anyone could imagine, Clementine had been distraught. Her parents had died without having written a will stating who was to take care of her, she had no aunts or uncles, her paternal grandparents had passed away, and her maternal grandparents were in a nursing home. She had no family left and she had been thrust into the foster system. She had to leave most of her belongings behind as her house got sold off. She'd had nowhere to put her stuff as the homes she lived in as a foster child wouldn't allow her to keep much.

Life as she'd known it was forever changed, for the worst. That was until she came to live with Lee Everett, a 30-year old divorcé new to the foster system. Clementine remembered the initial fear she had for Lee when she first moved in with him. Men in majority of the foster homes she had visited didn't exactly treat her kindly. Her instincts had told her to avoid him, but Lee had a different agenda. He had seen the fear in her eyes and he planned to look over her until she felt safe again. It took time but Lee managed it with the help of the Hammons.

The Hammons—Kenneth, Katjaa, and Kenny Jr. (who had been affectionately nicknamed Duck for his constant "quacking")—were the family across the hall from Lee. They'd helped Lee welcome Clementine to their apartment complex. Duck upon meeting young Clementine, had quickly taken her under his wing and the two have been best friends for the entire duration of her time with Lee.

A sudden knock on the door startled the teens who had both been zoning out. Duck, who had been subconsciously running his fingers through Clementine's hair, quickly withdrew his hand from the coiled strands, a blush forming on his face. Clementine hadn't really minded, it felt nice.

A few seconds later, Lee poked his head into the desolate room, his cool aura and the smell of Old Spice enveloping the space. "Hey sweet pea," he addressed Clementine. "You finished packing?"

Head still resting on Duck's lap, Clementine looked up at her guardian. "Yes, Lee. I'm ready to go whenever," She replied.

"Okay then." Lee turned to Duck. "I ordered up a pizza. You wanna stay for dinner?" Duck's face lit up at the offer, as it does every time food is mentioned. "Aww man, would I! I'm so hungry!"

Lee chuckled shaking his head, "I'd figured you were. You always are." Lee exits the room closing the door behind him.

Duck glanced down at Clem and noticed her eyes were closed, but she wasn't sleeping, probably just relaxing. He took the time to admire her features, which had become one of his favorite hobbies.

Duck was definitely a good-looking young man. He had a bright smile that showed a bright white row of straight teeth, cute freckles splattered across his nose and cheeks, and a muscular frame that he'd earned as a result from all the sports he'd played. He was a triathlete, specializing in soccer, baseball, and football. He had no trouble with the ladies. Clementine had once called him a hoe because he had been with like 10 girls (that she knew of at that time. He had just turned sixteen and he'd already swiped his V-card.

Yet, recently, Duck had taken a break from relationships and one nightstands. He'd finally come to the conclusion that he was in love with his best friend. He supposed he'd been in love with her for years. When he slept with other girls, he knew he was supposed to feel something for them, but he never did. It was only when he thought of Clementine that he was able to enjoy himself.

Only recently, however, had he been really realizing and accepting his feelings. Starting about three months ago, he had been finding himself fantasizing and having dreams about Clementine. Touching her, kissing her, marrying her…making love to her. But he hadn't said anything about it to her. He was terrified he'd lose her, not just as his girlfriend—that is, if she accepted whatever love confession he made to her—but as his best friend.

Before he knew it, Clementine's eyes fluttered open revealing her golden eyes and as he stared down at her beauty he decided right then and there that he was going to tell her. "Hey Clem," Duck said taking Clementine's right hand in his left. He looked her in the eyes as he opened his mouth.

"I lo-, er, I'm gonna miss you."

He mentally kicked himself. 'Just tell her, dumbass!' he thought to himself. But something in him, that nagging fear, was preventing him to confess his feelings.

"I'll miss you too, Ducky," Clementine replied pinching his cheek, completely unaware of her best friend's inner turmoil. "But stop being so dramatic. I'm not going to be that far away."

Feeling defeated, Duck nodded, rising to his feet, pulling Clementine up with him. Duck shoved his sadness and longing down, so that he wouldn't cause his friend to worry. So he turned to her with a manufactured smile. "Let's go eat!" he exclaimed happily—or so Clementine thought—dragging her small frame along into the dining room.

With all of their furniture at their new condo in Marietta, Lee and Clementine had no dining table so they, along with Duck, dined on the floor. They laughed as they ate their pizza, recalling happy, funny, and embarrassing events that had happened in that apartment. Like the one time Duck had stayed the night and had run around the place naked when he thought he'd seen a rat run across the bathroom floor right when he'd gotten out of the shower. But it was only a dust bunny getting blown by the AC. Or the time when Clementine had put a plastic bug under Duck's pillow and he got revenge by putting a real one under hers.

When came time for all of them to leave so that Duck could get home and Lee and Clementine could get to their new home, Duck, like a true gentleman, grabbed all of her boxes of clothes placed them in the trunk of Lee's car. Most of their furniture and belongings had been transported to the new house the day prior via moving truck so there wasn't much that Lee and Clementine had to take with them. Slamming the trunk closed, Duck turned to Lee and shook his hand vigorously, but firmly. "Bye, Lee. Take care."

"You too, Duck. And tell Kenny and Kat, goodbye for us when they get back." Lee glanced between Duck and Clementine before focusing his eyes on Duck. "I'll let you two have a minute."

Duck nods and Lee walked around to the driver's side of the car and started the engine.

"See you later, Robin," Clementine said, wrapping her "partner in crime" in a hug. "See you later, Batgirl," Duck replied as he buried his face into her loose black hair. It was hard for him to wrap his head around the fact that his childhood friend was actually leaving. He wanted to tell Lee not to make them move, that they should stay in Atlanta. That Clementine should stay in Atlanta. With him.

But he couldn't find the heart to do so. As she let him go and waved goodbye while she walked to the car, he couldn't help but get the feeling that he had passed up his last chance to let her know his true feelings.

Clementine slid into the passenger seat of Lee's silver Prius, shutting the door behind her. After she clicked herself into her seatbelt, Lee accelerated and the two left their old home behind.

Nodding her head and mouthing the words to the rap song softly playing through the speakers connected to the radio, Clementine looked over to Lee, who had a Cheshire cat grin spread across his face.

"Why are you smiling like that?" she asked, demandingly. Clementine didn't see what could possibly be amusing. They had just left the home they'd been in for seven years and both of them had left their best friends, as Lee and Kenny were close. In her opinion, there wasn't really anything to be that happy about.

Lee just shook his head, chuckling. "You're really naive, you know that."

Clementine stopped bopping to the music. She raised an eyebrow, clueless as to what her adoptive father was trying to insinuate. "What are you talking about?" she questioned.

"How do you not see how much that boy likes you?"

Clementine had been taken aback by this statement. "Who? Duck?"

"Who else?"

She shook her head incredulously in denial. "Duck like me?" Clementine scoffed. "I don't think so. We're just really close friends."

"Whatever you say," he replied, still grinning with sarcasm lacing his words.

Clementine was utterly shocked by Lee's statement. She really didn't think Duck liked her like that. Sure, they held hands and were more touchy-feely than most people, but that was more of a brother-sister thing than an "I-am-in-love-with-you" type thing, in her opinion.

Conversely, Lee was highly positive of Duck's feelings for his daughter. For as long as he could remember, Duck was always looking at her longingly and trying to hold her hand. He just put two and two together. Although he loved Duck—the boy was his godson after all—he knew that Duck had been a little...promiscuous—for lack of better phrasing—which of course made Lee a little wary of his intentions toward Clementine. But lately, he had taken note that Duck had settled down with all those other girls and began focusing exclusively on Clementine, which made Lee a lot more open to the idea of the two becoming more than best friends.

But Lee wasn't sure if his daughter was cognizant of her best friend's flirtatious mannerisms. He wasn't even sure if she if she'd ever had a boyfriend. Or maybe she had, and just didn't tell him. Lee's mind started to run wild, with questions about her love life. Had she kissed a boy? Had she been in a relationship? Had she...been intimate before? He decided that he should ask her some questions just to make sure he knows what kind of things she's been doing and if she had she's being safe in doing them.

Breaking the silence, Lee cleared his throat grabbing Clementine's attention.

"So, er, Clementine, how've you been doing?"

"Fine." She raised an eyebrow skeptical of Lee's unsure tone. The same one he used when he gave her the birds and the bees talk.

"Lee," Clementine started."You're using your "time-to-talk-about-something-awkward" voice. What's up?"

"Well, it's come to my attention that we haven't talked much about your dating life," Lee says.

"Ha," she scoffed, surprise. "What dating life?" Sure, she'd had crushes, but they were just that, short bouts of what she thought was love, but was simply infatuation.

Once she'd had a crush on Duck when they were in the 5th grade. She had been so sure that the two were "destined to be together." But after he got his first girlfriend, that destiny she had manufactured in her head faded away.

Despite not really "like-liking" him anymore, she still, obviously, found Duck attractive; most girls did. She wasn't completely oblivious to his boyish charm. But Duck had so many flings, that she probably wouldn't be able to take him seriously of he were to ask her out.

She'd had crushes on his other friends Ben and Travis in the 6th and 7th grades respectively. But those were brief and fleeting and not really noteworthy. Other than that she'd never really been interested in anyone. And no one had shown interest in her, for that matter.

"Come on, Clem," Lee chuckled. "You're telling me you haven't had any crushes?"

Clementine debated whether she should tell Lee about her crushes on Duck, Ben, and Travis, but she decided they were all inconsequential and unnecessary to explain. But she needed something to make him stop asking so many probing questions. She shrugged her shoulders. "No I didn't like anyone," she turned her eyes back to the road in front of them with a smirk. "But Nick from Pete's Bait Store is kind of cute."

Lee grimaced, uncomfortable talking with his "little girl" about cute boys. "I need to find a girlfriend quick so you'll have someone to talk with about this stuff and I can discourage your dating boys, not encourage it."

Clementine agreed with a giggle. As long as he had been her guardian, he hadn't been in any real relationships. Save for a few dates here and there, Lee hadn't been with anyone. Many teens would feel hurt or resentment towards their parent if they attempted to get in a relationship and bring someone new to the family.

Clementine, on the other hand, really just wanted Lee to be happy, and if he needed to find someone to make him happy, then she would support him. It was the least she could do considering all that he had done for her.

"So Clem are you excited for freshman year," Lee asked. He couldn't hide the excitement in his own voice. His only child was finally going to high school!

But Clementine shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. High school, to me, seems kind of overrated. I wouldn't be surprised if my experience was uneventful. I'm not exactly homecoming queen material."

"Eh, I don't know about all that Clem. For me, high school was one of the best times of my life." Lee looked to her with a warm smile. "Of course after meeting you."

The teen returned the smile but didn't respond.

'What could be that special about high school?' she thought. Duck had been a freshman last year. He was pretty popular—especially amongst the girls—yet he hadn't said anything about any mega fun experiences he's had, save for the the pranks he'd conjured up with Ben and Travis.

'Well, I hope Lee's right.'

'What would I do without music?'

That's what Louis thought happily as the sweet, wondrous melody of a classical suite flowed through his Airpods and into his ears as he laid comfortably on his king size waterbed.

To say that Louis liked music would most definitely be an understatement. The boy lived and breathed music from rap to country to pop, but classical was most definitely his favorite. As the notes came he tapped his fingers on his pillow, as if he were playing the piece on an imaginary piano.

Louis wasn't alone in his love for music. He was actually in a band—a trio. They actually didn't have a name yet, despite having formed just under a year ago. They hadn't found that memorable name that held a meaning to them.

He was on keys as well as background singer. Despite being self-taught in both piano and singing, Louis was still very talented.

Their lead singer Minerva had the same fire that he did for music. She had a unique sound to her voice. Real bluesy. Her voice was deep but she could still hit notes that Louis could only dream of hitting. Louis had at one point made a move to try to ask her out, thinking they could be this music power couple or something. However the redhead rejected him without giving him a reason. She and Louis were still friends, but Louis still tried to flirt with her on occasion.

Louis's best friend Marlon, was on guitar. Marlon definitely didn't have the passion that Louis and Minerva had for music, but he was mainly there in the hope that he would pick up chicks. Louis couldn't lie; he also looked forward to attention they'd get when the band went public.

As the music came to an end, another piece began to play. It was a song that Louis knew like the back of his hand. It was a song that he had composed and recorded himself. It had no lyrics yet, no instruments other than Louis's keyboard. He had come up with it the a mouth prior after a dream he'd had.

It was a serene dream in which he was floating on his back in the middle of a lake, with his eyes closed. He was sure the reason he'd dreamed that part was because he was lying on a waterbed.

As he'd laid on the water, he opened his dark brown eyes only to see a pair of golden eyes staring back into his. It was all he could see, no face, no body, just those, vibrant, honey-colored eyes that he was sure he'd never seen on a human being before.

But his dream was cut short when his lifelong maid and babysitter Bonnie had woken him up from his deep slumber. Even though it was a month ago, Louis am remembered the dream vividly. He'd never had a dream that felt so real—he couldn't get it out of his head.

The dream inspired him to write the song that he'd fittingly labeled "Dream" as a placeholder until he finished the song with lyrics. It was a song that started out relatively soft and grew increasingly intense as it came to a finish.

Louis never told anyone about the song—not even the band. This was something that he wanted to keep to himself, for himself. After all, the group would never understand the song's origin.

"LOUIS!"

Louis who had been smiling to himself, was suddenly snapped back into reality as Bonnie called his name.

"Yup?" he asked as he turned down the volume of his phone

"Did you want something to eat? Your parents are downstairs waitin' for ya at the table," Louis shook his head. "No, Bonnie. I'm not very hungry right now, but save me a plate of whatever you made, I might eat it later." Unfortunately for Louis, his stomach betrayed him, growling loudly.

Bonnie smirked at Louis, as he cringed. He threw his hands up in surrender. "Okay, you got me."

Louis had been avoiding his parents more and more often lately. But it was less of him avoiding his mom than it was him avoiding his dad.

All summer Louis's father had been pestering him about baseball. It wasn't that didn't like baseball; he actually was pretty good at the sport. Baseball, simply, just wasn't his passion—his music was.

But his dad would never allow him to pursue his music. According to his father, music won't pay the bills. In his opinion, playing baseball was Louis's only chance to earn a scholarship, so he needed to focus on the sport and forget trivial things such as music.

Louis's dad was by no means a bad guy, he just had a strict way of thinking that conflicted with Louis's dream.

"Hon, you can't hide forever," Bonnie said in her thick Southern accent as she sat down at the foot of his bed. She knew that Louis and his father didn't really see eye to eye on his future.

In her opinion, Louis should've been able to pursue his dream of becoming a musician, but Bonnie had been working for the Suliemans long enough to know how stubborn the big boss was.

"Bonnie?" Louis looked at her as he sat up. "What would you do?"

Bonnie pretended to look thoughtful. "Well," she started. "First I would eat some food."

Louis chuckled at that. "Okay, okay. I'll go."

Fortunately for Louis, his parents had already finished eating, so Louis just ate his meal of chicken cacciatore by himself.

Suddenly his phone vibrated on the table. He picked it up and saw that Marlon was texting in the group chat he had with his closest friends.

Of course Marlon and Minerva were in it, along with Minnie's twin sister Sophie and Marlon's on again off again girlfriend Brody.

Sophie and Minerva were antipodes—polar opposites. Sophie was always rocking bright colors that radiated happiness, while Minnie sported a darker style. Even so, they still got along well.

Brody was really nice and cool, but she also had a some psychopathic tendencies when she got upset. Once she had slashed the tires on Marlon's bicycle after he'd broken up with her the first time. Yet for some reason, they always went back to each other.

There was also Violet who was probably the meanest in their friend group according to Louis. The two butted heads about a lot of things, but in the end their friendship always stayed in tact.

Then there was Mitch, their resident troublemaker and bad boy, Aasim their favorite geek, Omar who was a pretty chill dude who always brought them homemade snacks, and Ruby who one second could be the friendliest gal you'd ever met and the next could be chewing you out for God knows what.

They were such a colorful, weird group of people, it was hard to tell why they were friends. The truth is they all trusted and understood each other more than anyone else ever could. They all had been in group therapy together back in 6th grade and they've been friends ever since.

Marlon: excited 4 tomorrow?

Brody: anxious mostly.

Sophie: Don't be! We're gonna have so much fun! I can hardly wait!

Violet: chill out soph

Minerva:

Louis: yay I can't wait to go to class and get loaded with homework

Aasim: As stupid as you are, you could use some homework Louis.

Louis: fuck you nerd

Mitch: lol

Ruby: haha!

Omar: y'all are too much. what do you guys want to eat tomorrow. I'm in a baking mood.

Louis: pot brownies :P

Mitch:

Sophie: 0:

Omar: -_-

Ruby: how about regular brownies

Omar: k see y'all tomorrow gn

Louis: but I wanted weed D:

Marlon: shut up man XD anyway I just wanted to wish y'all gn and good luck tomorrow

Louis: gn

With that reply Louis turned off his phone and headed upstairs to prepare for bed, as he was growing increasingly tired.

As he laid in the dark, Louis couldn't help but wonder what was in store for him at school tomorrow.

But as his eyes started to close and he started to drift off, Louis was left with the vivid recollection of the pair of golden eyes and he took that as a good omen that something good might happen to him tomorrow.

He'd just have to wait and see.