Chapter 1 Alli

(Drew)

The halls were empty those days. Bleak and colorless, that's the only way to describe them. I had never, not once in my life, felt this kind of pain when a girl regrets giving me a second chance.

I remember her big brown eyes brimming with tears, tears that fell down her cheek at the thought of what I had done. Those tears were also for her stupidity and blind kindness in giving me a second chance.

"Hey quarterback, you're looking good." Some senior girl with long eyelashes and fake blonde hair brushed past me.

"Hey." I responded and immediately chided myself for my "Cute girl instincts," or at least that's what Adam called them. I searched her face for something, anything that would remind me of Alli; this was a habit that I had gotten myself into recently. They had similar noses, which was enough for me.

Alli, she's stuck in my mind. Everywhere I go, everything I do, is plagued by thoughts of her. I was scoping the hallways for her, and someone else.

After a few minutes, I saw that someone else. Clare Edwards' curls immediately stood out to me. Alli had always said that only Clare could pull off short, curly hair. I walked up to her. She glanced at me, and then tried to scurry away. I got in front of her, not hard to do because my legs were about six inches longer than hers.

"I'm late to class." She said, not meeting my eyes.

"Please, Clare…have you spoken to her?" I asked. I tried to hide the burning ache inside my chest. Even just the pronoun her referring to Alli hurt.

"Every day, Drew." She said, leaning against the lockers. I saw her eyes dart around, trying to find an escape route.

"Anything?" I said, still burning.

"Nothing. Not other than, 'I feel a lot better now. No stupid boys making my life complicated.'" I almost cried, right then and there. Alli didn't miss me, she was happy to be rid of me. Then again, who could blame her? Clare sighed and the coldness in her eyes thawed a bit.

"Look, Alli" I cringed at her name. "Isn't coming back. You hurt her and there's nothing anyone can do about it. You need to move on, she has." Said Clare. She was firmly on Alli's side, and I guess I was too. "It's over Drew." Clare's a good kid; Alli always said she was the kindest girl in the world. We stood there in awkward silence for a few moments until Eli; her boyfriend came up to us.

"Hey, sorry, I had to walk my sister to class." They kissed, and I turned away. Kissing is the worst thing you can watch when you've just gotten your heart broken.

"Hey, Drew, are you okay?" Asked Eli, I still had my back to him. I turned and put on a fake smile.

"Yeah, man, it's all good." He raised his eyebrows.

"You will be okay, Drew. You don't need me to tell you that." I smiled again and turned away. I continued on to Science. Nothing good can come from me in a science class without any Alli in it. It took all my strength to put one foot in front of the other. Walking down those hallways was like walking through mud.

The science class was large and already full. Mr. Betenkamp had already written stuff on the board. Being my usual self, I stood there, looking bored. I leaned against the doorway and some girl smiled at me. She had straightened chestnut hair and almost the same eye shape as Alli.

"Mr. Torres? So happy you decided to join us. Take a seat next to…er…the new girl."

"Lizette." Said a girl with short, raven colored hair. She had taken Alli's seat, I almost felt hostile toward her. No one could ever replace Alli.

Then I saw her. I searched her face for Alli, and nothing. Every girl in the school had some Alli in her. Believe me, I checked. In this girl, there was nothing. She was taller than Alli. Alli' skin was a rich caramel and the new girl's was pale. Not sickly pale, but in a nice way, like vanilla ice cream.

I guess I stared too long because the pale white cheeks quickly turned a rosy pink. I made my way to…Lizette, who had her eyes on her notebook. Even the eyes were different. Lizette's eyes were a striking green, like emeralds while Alli's were a warm brown.

"Would everyone hand in last night's assignment, please?" Said Mr. Betenkamp, and so class begun.