Coral Reese: h t t p : / / c o n t e n t 8 . f l i x s t e r . c o m / p h o t o / 1 1 / 3 3 / 2 7 / 1 1 3 3 2 7 6 6 _ g a l . j p g

Ray Walters: h t t p : / / w w w . m e n h a i r s t y l e . o r g / w p – c o n t e n t / u p l o a d s / 2 0 1 1/ 1 0 / s h o r t – s h a g g y – h a i r c u t s – f o r – m e n . j p g

Chapter One:

People always say that there's someone out there for everyone, someone who was meant to be with you. As soon as I'd met her, I knew I'd met the one that was meant for me. But then, so did everyone else. But I wanted to be with her for more reason than her looks. I felt as if we had connected, the first time our eyes had met.

I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself.

My name is Ray Walters. I'm a junior in high school, seventeen years old. I play forward on the school soccer team. My father is a lawyer, who I almost never see because he's always working. My mother is a teacher at school, but is always too exhausted to really care about me when she comes home from work. So I've pretty much raised myself. I never really cared though; if I asked for anything, I would receive it. When I got to be a teenager, if I asked for money, I got it. No matter how much I asked for.

My views on money and personal objects changed, though, when Coral came into my life. She came to school halfway through second quarter at Shumway High School in San Diego, California. She caused a ripple throughout the school. So I'll start there in my story.

I sat down at the table with my friends, sitting next to my friend Frank. I took a fry off my plate and looked around at everyone, and they glanced at me. "Why's everyone so quiet?" I asked, looking at Frank.

The doors behind us opened, and he pointed at whoever had walked in. "She's why. Take a look at her, dude." I turned around in my seat and my jaw dropped at the girl who was standing with her arms crossed by the metal doors.

"She new?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of her. Her hair was long, straight, and pitch black, and her eyes were a deep blue, which were framed by thick black lashes. Her cheeks were a natural pink color, as were her lips. Her straight black bangs went below her eyebrows and hung in her eyes. Her cheekbones were high and sharp, and her skin was a pale, unhealthy white. She was slender and frail looking, but was still the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen.

"It's her first day here," Frank replied, still staring at her. I didn't glance at him when he replied, and kept looking at her. Her graceful neck turned and her eyes met mine. Her expression had been plain and empty before, but when she looked at me, it became angry, and she swiftly glanced away and walked out of the room.

Frank laughed and punched my arm. "Dude, what'd you do already to piss her off? She's been here for what, three, four hours?"

I hit him back, frustrated. "Nothing. I didn't even know she was here until just now!" I went back to my food, but was asking myself the same question that Frank had; what had I done to make her angry already?

Coral:

She hated being here. She didn't even know why her dad had made her come here. Couldn't he punish her like any other father would punish his daughter?

She shook her head and walked into the cafeteria. A ton of other girls at the school were wearing dresses or short skirts, some short shorts. She was wearing blue jeans and a plain green t-shirt, with her hair down and black sneakers on. But she was comfortable, so she felt fine.

She felt someone staring at her, and when she turned her head to see who it was, her eyes locked with a boy with shaggy blond hair. Without knowing why, she narrowed her eyes and frowned, staring at him for a moment before walking out of the room. She wasn't hungry for this crappy food anyways.

Instead she walked outside and dropped her bag in the grass and lay down beside it, staring up at the bright blue sky. It was cluttered with puffy white clouds, and she smiled, trying to find shapes in the clouds. The sky was one of the only good things at this crappy school.

She closed her eyes, but opened them soon, feeling someone sit down next to her. She quickly sat up and glanced over, half expecting to see the blond boy from the cafeteria, but instead saw the boy that had been next to him.

"Hi," he said, grinning. "You're the new girl, aren't you? Coral?" She paused for a second before nodding, but did not speak. "Thought so. I saw you in the cafeteria a few minutes ago. It looked like you were angry at my friend Ray. Were you?"
She frowned but shook her head. "Is that his name? I haven't met him. And now, if you'll excuse me, I think lunch just ended." She stood up and grabbed her bag, but the boy took her hand and pulled her back.

"Let me walk you to class, Coral," he said, smiling. She pulled her hand away from him, narrowing her eyes.

"No thanks." She turned and walked away from him, pushing open the doors to the school and walking inside.

Ray:

I watched as Frank went out and tried to hit on the new girl—whose name I had discovered was Coral. It frustrated me, but I also laughed as she walked away after giving him a nasty look. I almost went to talk to her, but she'd already given me a bad look once, I didn't want to go for twice. So I stayed where I was and laughed in Frank's face when he came back inside.

"Denied!" I said, cracking up. He hit my arm hard and rolled his eyes, walking away from me.

"Someone's immature," he mumbled. I followed him, still grinning.

"Why? Because you got denied by the hot new girl?" I mocked, punching his shoulder. "Someone's sensitive!" He put me in a headlock and strangled me for a moment before letting me go. I shoved him and he stumbled, but he cracked a smile. "Good, you aren't pissed?"

"Nah," Frank said, shrugging. "She's hot, but it seems like she's bitter to everything but the clouds."

"I don't know, dude. She seemed to like you more than me. Maybe you should ask her to the semester dance."

He thought about it for a second. "Maybe. But if she denies me, I'm not going to be the only one embarrassed. Because you're going to ask her to it when she tells me no."

I laughed. "Fine. So neither of us will be embarrassed because it'll just prove that she's a hater and bitter."

Someone cleared their throat behind us.