Beck's POV

"Hey," I said, leaning against the locker next to her own.

She slammed the locker shut and turned to face me, an unexpected scowl gracing her pretty face.

"What?" she snapped tightly.

I tried to keep a straight face. I had been admiring this girl from a distance for far too long. Ever since I came to this school, she was the one girl that hadn't tried to flirt with me or get my number. I had to know why. My first impression of her was that she was a loner or Goth. Always wearing dark clothes and carrying around scissors. She seemed frightening to everyone. I noticed the way they all shied away from her and kept their distance.

"I'm Beck," I replied without missing a beat.

She rolled her eyes. "And?"

I tried to hold back a smile, but it slipped out after a short second.

"Am I funny to you?" she asked, folding her arms and looking irritated.

"Yes."

She groaned and started walking away.

"You know," I said, keeping up with her with a little effort. "Most girls aren't so hostile towards me."

She stopped and turned to face me. "Well I'm not 'most girls'!"

I smiled. "Obviously."

She scowled and carried on walking. I followed her persistently out to the cafeteria. She sat down at her usual table and started nibbling her French fries. I sat down across from her and stared at her. She was obviously ignoring me. I found it kind of cute.
So I decided to play along with her game.

"Nice weather, isn't it?" I asked, putting my arms on the table top.

I chuckled when she didn't respond. She didn't even flinch.

"Are those any good?" I gestured to the plate of fries in front of her.

She looked up, but didn't respond. Still, it was progress.

"I really like the way you decorated your locker," I said, earnestly.

It really was creative.

"Seriously?" she asked.

I blinked, shocked. She actually responded!
Say something, stupid! I thought. Don't blow this!

"Yeah!" I almost yelled, grasping at the straws. "Where did you get the idea?"

She shrugged, and went back to the French fries. "I like scissors."

I nodded. "Well, it's really neat."

For a second, I could have sworn a saw the tiny hint of a smile.

"You wanna tell me your name?" I persisted, leaning forward.

"No," she answered plainly.

I nodded. A few moments of silence followed and I could see she wasn't about to say anything to me.

"I'm not gonna stop," I said, finally.

She looked up. "Why are you trying so hard?"

Instead of sounding cocky or annoyed, she sounded genuinely interested for a change. I smiled.

"Because you aren't like anyone I've ever met before," I answered easily.

The corner of her lip pulled up in a smile and she pushed some of her long, brown hair out of her face. "I could say the same to you."

My smile grew wider and I reached for her hand. She quickly pulled it away and placed it on her lap and out of reach.

"Why don't you want to talk to me?" I asked petulantly.

"Because I don't know you."

I raised my eyebrows. "Well how do you suppose you'll get to know me if you don't talk to me?"

She laughed for the first time since I laid eyes on her. She was so beautiful when she laughed.

"Touché," she answered, still laughing.

I let her laugh, watching her until it had run its course. When she was done, her face molded back to that familiar glare it always held.

"What are you looking at?" she snapped, returning back to herself in the blink of an eye.

"You," I told her. "You know, you're kind of beautiful when you smile."

"Kind of?" she asked, leaning forward, fighting a smile again.

I chuckled. "You know what I mean."

"You assume I know a lot of things," she replied coolly.

I couldn't help the loud chuckle that erupted from me at that moment. Thankfully, the sound of the shrill bell blocked it out.
After a minute, the girl stood up.

"Well, it was kind of nice to meet you," she said.

Without another word, she started walking in the opposite direction.

"Hey!" I called after her.

She turned around wordlessly.

"Aren't you gonna tell me your name?" I yelled.

She almost smiled. "It's Jade."

I smiled widely. "Well, it was very nice to meet you, Jade."

But she was already gone, walking into the school building to her next class.

Shaking my head, I got up and started walking too.

"Hey, Beck," I heard from behind me.

I turned around and saw Andre running towards me. I slowed my pace to give him a chance to catch up.

"Hey, man," he panted out when he was walking next to me. "I saw you talking to Jade back there."

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Maybe you shouldn't get into that." he answered me slowly.

I stopped and turned to face him. "What do you mean?"

"It's just that," he seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "You're playing with fire here, bro."

I chuckled and touched his shoulder for a second.
Then I started walking to class once again.

"Well, Andre, I'm really hoping to get burned."