Ava had no idea what was happening.

One moment, she was peacefully minding her business, scrolling through her phone in the classroom. The next, Kai had blindfolded her and was dragging her somewhere against her will.

"Kai, I swear, if this is one of your dumb pranks—"

"Shhh!" Kai hushed her dramatically. "Trust the process, darling."

Ava groaned. "I do not trust you!"

"Well, good thing I’m not the one in charge of this surprise," Kai snickered.

Ava heard multiple voices—Jae, Minho, Lily, Eli—all whispering excitedly around her.

"What is going on?" she asked suspiciously.

"Patience, my dear Ava," Minho chuckled. "You'll see soon enough."

After a few more minutes of struggling, she was finally allowed to remove the blindfold.

And what she saw made her freeze.

A beautiful picnic setup was spread out on the lush green grass of the school garden. Fairy lights hung from the trees, soft cushions and blankets covered the ground, and a feast of Ava’s favorite foods sat in the middle.

A banner above them read:

"To Ava—The Heart of Section E!"

Her chest tightened. “You guys… what is this?”

Jae wrapped an arm around her shoulders, smirking. "A surprise picnic. We figured after everything we’ve been through, we should do something special before graduation."

Ava blinked rapidly, trying not to cry.

"Ugh, don’t get all emotional on us now," Kai teased. "You're ruining my cool image."

"You never had a cool image," Lily deadpanned.

"EXCUSE ME?!"

Everyone laughed as Ava finally cracked a smile. "This is… amazing. Seriously, thank you."

They all settled onto the blankets, eating, laughing, and just enjoying the moment.

Kai, as usual, was being dramatic, pretending to cry into Minho’s shoulder about “losing his first love.”

Lily and Eli were arguing over who was the superior best friend to Ava.

Minho was busy taking candid pictures of everyone, probably for blackmail later.

And Jae?

Jae was sitting beside Ava, casually feeding her snacks as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"You're staring," Ava murmured.

Jae smirked. "Can you blame me?"

Ava rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide her blush.

"You guys are so disgustingly in love," Minho groaned, throwing a grape at them.

Jae caught it effortlessly and smirked. "Jealous?"

"Of course," Kai whined. "I'm third-wheeling again!"

"More like tenth-wheeling," Eli corrected.

As Section E continued their usual chaos, Ava let herself soak it all in.

This was her family.

And no matter where life took them, she knew they’d always have this moment.