"Miss. Mathews!" I smiled bright up at the man walking out of his office towards me. He was a short stubby man with gray facial hair and thick dark rimmed glasses. He was wearing a dark brown suit that was too small, hugging around his over sized belly. "1st and 2nd period with us!" I laughed quietly and hugged around my fresh new text books. He gently set a hand on my shoulder and led me around the front office where a small little cubicle was set up for the office aid. Me. I gently set my text books down and put my bag on the chair sighing out. "I know you want to go see friends so go on ahead and when 1st period starts well get you started on some paperwork!" I nodded and waved softly at the principle as he walked back to his desk. I sighed out and quickly made my escape from the office. Everyone in our tiny school knew I was a nerd but having office aid for two periods was like the icing on the nerd cake. Luckily I wasn't an outcast. In fact I guess you could say I was one of the popular girls. I was pretty. And my parents were rich. And I hung out with jocks and cheerleaders. And up until Friday my life was perfect. But there was a dark cloud over top of me and all I felt was sadness. It didn't help that the cause of my sadness was walking towards me with two of my best friends.
I clutched onto the Starbucks cup in my hand as I made my way towards them. The first one to spot me was my best friend in the entire world, Mandy. She was wearing a small black skater skirt that went down to just mid-thigh. She had on a pair of Converse and her school shirt tucked into her skirt. Her long straight blonde hair was resting on her shoulders and her makeup was flawless on her skin. I envied her. Not on looks or her perfect athletic talents. But because she had confidence that I wanted. I needed it. "Emma!" I forced a smile as she ran to me and linked two of our arms together. She leaned into me putting her mouth by my ear and I smirked smelling her boyfriend's cologne on her. "Because James is grounded he had to ride with Logan. If I had my way Logan wouldn't be around you but…" I smiled and shook my head just as they walked up to us. I locked eyes with Logan but looked away fast knowing at any moment I would crumble and rush into his arms. I had to stay strong. Instead of looking at him I turned to James who had a huge hickey on his neck and a bigger smile on his face.
"Not even first period and you already marked him up." I turned to Mandy with an eyebrow raised and she was smiling at James.
"Why do you think he got grounded?" I rolled my eyes looking away from all three of them and tensed up hearing Logan clear his throat.
"Can we talk?" I looked down at my black pants on my legs and felt Mandy let me go.
"We're gonna go…over here…" I looked up quick and watched Mandy get pulled away by James who was looking anywhere but at us. Mandy mouthed sorry but I just shrugged. When she looked up to James smacking his chest I turned quick to see Logan right in front of me. I swallowed hard looking down his body and took him in. Logan was…a God. He was built like a rock but had a heart of Gold. He was sculpted in all the right areas and since Friday night I knew exactly he looked like under his pants but no matter how good he looked…no matter how sweet his smile was, or how soft his hands were, it would never make up for what he did to me three nights ago.
"Em…" I backed away from his touch and locked eyes with him. He brown eyes were sad but I didn't care. "I'm sorry about Friday. I didn't mean to…"
"To what Logan? Betray my trust? Hurt my feelings? Say horrible things to me al because I wouldn't get in bed with you?" I shook my head and tucked brown hair behind my ear. "I was serious Logan. Were done. I don't want to be with you anymore. I know I can't stop seeing you. My best friend is dating your best friend but…I'm done. I don't love you anymore."
"Don't say that. Please babe." He reached out for me but I just took the final big gulp of my coffee and quickly tossed it into the garbage can behind him. I shoved his hands off my hips and shook my head.
"I'm not your babe. And don't touch me ever again." His posture fell and I turned quick. I locked eyes with Mandy who was looking at me, James's arms around her, chin resting on her head. The height difference was adorable. But their couple cuteness was nueasating. I waved at her to come over to me and I started walking towards the gym. I heard her run up behind me. She linked eyes with me again and I sighed out. "Do you think I made a mistake? I mean…do you think I should have just slept with him?" I looked over at her and saw her smirk as she looked straight ahead. "What?" She laughed and looked down walking me slowly towards the school gym. Well, one of them. "What Mandy?" She looked over at me as we continued to walk and squeezed my arm.
"Well…I was just thinking about it last night. About how I wish I would have wanted to have sex with James." I frowned and looked back ahead of us seeing more kids walk past us. "I love James. I have since freshman year. But from the very beginning he was very physical. That boy has a lot of hormones. And because I love him, I thought if I didn't give him head or let me fuck me in the back of his truck…"I gagged in her ear and she laughed pulling the gym door open for me. "Stop it…my point is, I thought if I didn't let him do those things I would lose him. It wasn't until we heard you two broke up, and I confessed all this to him that he confessed something back." She stopped us and got right in front of me holding my arms. "James only asked me to have sex with him because he felt pressure from his friends. If he had known I was hesitant he wouldn't have done it. But the very first night after we had sex I cried. It was painful and I hated James a little for it. If I could go back to that stupid sophomore girl and tell her to wait I would. Unless you know for sure you're in love, don't do it. And unless you know for sure Logan is someone who you want to spend that special time with, don't do it. So no…I don't think you're stupid. I'm actually jealous of you because you still have the V card." I blushed and looked at some small girls walking past us. I could tell they were freshman.
"There's just one problem." She gave me a sad smile, and I could tell she knew what I was going to stay. "I do love him. And every time I see him, I just want to cry and throw myself at him." She pouted her red puffy lips at me and pulled me in quick for a hug. I laid my head on her shoulder and closed my eyes letting her raspberry scent invade my nostrils.
This wasn't how I wanted my first day back to school to be. I didn't want my senior year to start off with pain and sadness. Luckily my first two periods were office aid and it was so busy I didn't have time to think about the sadness. But when third and fourth period came along all I had were my thoughts. Because I was a nerd and took a lot of advanced classes during my first three years, I only had to sit through English and math classes, two of which were my favorite. I had a few friends in each class but it wasn't enough to get me to stop thinking about what happened Friday night. Logan came over to my house. I was alone with my cat while my parents went to a dinner party. At first it was nice. We watched a movie and ate pizza. It wasn't until I sat almost on top of him that he started to go too far. I wanted to make out. And that's all we were doing. But when his hands started to run up and down my legs in between them it got heated. I'll admit…I loved feeling him on me touching me. But when he started to unbutton my pants a red light went off in my head. I pushed him away and told him I wanted to wait. He laughed and only went back for some more. I finally got off him and told him to leave. He asked me how long I was going to make him wait. I told him to leave once more and he got up, furious. He called me a cock tease. And he called me bitch. I shoved him out of the house, not before I broke up with him and now…"Miss Mathews?" I looked up from my blank notebook and saw my math teacher smiling down at me shaking her head. "Lunch time sweetheart." I stood up fast and said goodbye to her softy, walking out fast.
I walked down the hallway and stopped in front of my locker. I shoved my math text book in the open locker and grabbed my small blue and white stripped backpack. I shut my locker hard and walked out into our very open and beautiful campus. It was huge with rolling fields. Literally to get to the main football field you had to go over two hills. It was beautiful especially at the end of the summer. And because there was no fast food place within a mile of our school everyone ate on campus. And my group of friends and I sat at the same spot every day for the past three years. This was no different. I walked out to the huge apple tree already seeing Mandy and James sitting under it. Mandy was sitting crossed legged in front of James open legs. She was facing him so I knew if he really wanted to, he could see up her skirt. Probably the whole point of her sitting the way she was. I walked up behind her quietly and smiled at James who gave me a small one back. "Logan is off with Carlos somewhere. You're free to bitch about him." I frowned slumping down next to him, leaning against the tree. "He told me what happened…between you two. But Mandy is telling me something entirely different."
"James…" Mandy pushed her sunglasses up off her face and set them on her head. She gave James a threatening look but he didn't budge. He simply tossed a green grape in his mouth before turning to me shaking his head.
"He's telling me…along with the entire male population at this school you threw yourself at him. And then you freaked out and told him he was going too far. And then he broke up with you cause you're a pshyco cock tease." Mandy slapped his chest hard as I felt the blood leave my face. Of course Logan would turn it around on me. "She deserves to know. I know Logan alright. I don't believe a fucking word he says. If he's going to be a prick about it…"
"I can handle myself." I saw James give me a sad look but I ignored him pulling my packed lunch from my bag. "There is no one in this entire school I care about, except you two. And it means a lot to me that you believe me James…even with the bros before hoes thing." He snorted next to me, opening Mandy's diet coke for her and I glared at him eating a tomato from my salad.
"First of all…you would have to be a ho for that to be true. And you're not." I blushed looking to Mandy who was smiling small at me. "And second Logan is a good guy. But only to other guys. The way he talks about girls…I can't believe you stayed with him as long as you did." I frowned stabbing my plastic white fork in my salad and shook my head.
"He was never that way to me." It went quiet beside me and I was grateful. The way my morning played out was starting to make since. Guys were giving me horrible stares. They all heard what Logan was saying about me. I was a slutty cock tease. Well…who cares? I know I didn't. Alright…that's a lie but Logan would never know that.
"Who is that?" I looked up quick shoving a fork full of hearty salad in my mouth and looked to where Mandy was looking. Walking towards us, much to my hatred was Logan and one of their friends, Carlos. And walking behind them was a guy I didn't recognize. He was tall and lean. He had a big smile on his face that showed off nice perfect white teeth. He had dark blonde hair styled to today's fashion. Shaved off on the sides, with the middle and top part gelled back. He was wearing a Kurt Cobain shirt and had black skinny jeans on. Someone missed the school uniform. And as they got closer I could see tattoos on his arms and he had small gauges in his ear. His look screamed bad boy. But when they stopped right by us, I saw dark green eyes that sliced over my soul and pierced me. He was gorgeous. He actually took my breath away. I quickly swallowed my salad and set it down looking to Logan who sat down across from me. I saw in the corner of my eye the other two sit down next to James but looked to Logan. Everything James told me came rushing to my mouth and I spit it out.
"So I threw myself at you?" He frowned looking to James but turned quickly back to me. "I don't care what you tell people. In fact I hope you tell your own story. It just gives me more reason to hate you."
"Have you guys met Kendall?" Carlos spoke but I kept staring at Logan. He looked genuinely upset. Like he knew he fucked up. But until he was kissing my feet and begging for forgiveness I wouldn't take him back. Actually…maybe not even then. "He moved up here from California. He's a funny guy and has some hot ass pictures of girls on the beach so…" I looked away from Logan and saw Kendall smirking. He had his legs pulled up to his chest and his forearms resting on his knees. When I looked at his face we locked eyes and his smile fell off his perfect face. I blushed looking back down at my salad and picked it up slowly. "Uhm so this is Mandy and James. Been banging since sophomore year, and that's Emma over there. Besides Logan…smartest kid at this school." I blushed some more looking up over at Carlos who gave me a huge grin. I smiled back shaking my head stabbing at my salad. "So who as gym next period?" I perked up and looked back to Carlos raising my eyebrow.
"You have 5th period gym?" He nodded taking a bite of his sandwich. "Thank God. Now I'll know someone will be in there who can catch me if I fall off the rope." Carlos laughed putting his head back and again I looked to Kendall. He was staring at me. When he got caught staring he looked away and lowered his legs. He grabbed a small bag of chips and opened it quick.
"James…" I looked over to Logan who was standing and walking away. James sighed out but got up quick following after. I ignored them as best as I could but Logan's voice carried. "How could you tell her that?" I rolled my eyes finishing my salad and let Mandy move up next to me taking James seat. She leaned in fast clutching my arm.
"He hasn't stopped staring at you." I froze and looked over to Kendall, who again was staring at me. I smiled small and he saw it. He smiled back and cleared his throat.
"I think I'm in gym with you guys too." He sat back a little and pulled a little sheet of paper out of his pocket. He looked at it quick before shoving it back in his pocket and smiled at me. "If it makes you feel any better…I am not athletic at all. You won't be the only one falling on your face." I laughed quietly and felt my stomach flutter. He was giving me butterfly's. "So…what's up with that?" He motioned over to James and Logan, and Carlos glanced back shaking his head.
"Well Logan is a dumb ass. He got dumped by the hottest chick in this school and is talking shit about her. That girl happens to be Emma, and James and Emma have lived next door to each other since diapers. He's protective."
"And he knows if I say anything to Logan I'll kick his ass." I sighed at Mandy who was eating from James grapes looking through her phone.
"He must be a dumb ass to lose her." I snapped my head to Kendall quick and blushed. He smiled taking a sip of his water and before I could say something…hopefully flirty, the bell rang. I swallowed hard picking up my bag and shoving my empty Tupperware in my bag. As I stood Carlos linked arms with me and started dragging me to the gym. I looked back to Mandy who waved big and secretly pointed to Kendall and then made a kissy face. I rolled my eyes and got right next to Carlos, Kendall on the other side of him. "So this school…this town…pretty hung up on sports?"
"We dominate in everything we do. I've been on varsity football the past three years. You know…we could use a new running back. You look like you could run pretty fast." I raised an eyebrow over at Kendall and took in his height. He was tall. As tall as James. I could just imagine sitting in between his legs, his long arms wrapped around my body. I shook the image out of my head as Carlos opened the gym door for me and I walked in, in front of them.
"I already told you. No sports for me. More of an…artist. I was the school newspaper photographer at my old school. Hoping I could get into it here." I glanced up to Kendall as he walked beside me to the bleachers.
"Well the process to get on the paper is pretty gruesome." He frowned down at me and I smiled. "I run it." He laughed looked back ahead just as we stopped in front of the bleachers. "We could use another photographer though…you'll have to show me some work."
"Maybe over coffee?" My cheeks flushed quickly and I heard Carlos snicker next to me. I locked eyes with Kendall who didn't even flinch. I swallowed a hard lump but was saved by the bell. Literally the last bell rang and the gym teacher walked in. I looked over to him quick and sat up straight trying to look interested. I wasn't. In fact watching Kendall pull out a notebook form the corner of my eye and write something down kept my attention. Even as Coach called roll. He ripped the paper and I watched as he bent back down to his bag putting the notebook away. He also slipped the piece of paper into my bag, after folding it twice. I blushed again and quickly, as soon as the coach dismissed us to change I charged to the girls locker room. I took my locker number from the female assistant coach and opened it quick. I set my bag inside the metal cage and reached in quick. I pulled the paper out quick and unfolded it. Written in a rather sloppy hand writing was a ten digit number. Underneath it was a small message. All it said was "coffee tonight?" My heart fluttered and my toes went numb. I did the only thing I could think of and pulled out my phone. I quickly pulled up my messages and went to Mandy. She would know what to do. Hopefully.