"Harper! Guess who just asked me out!" Alex had somehow managed to gasp this out after excitedly running across the school; she knew she had to get to her friend's locker before the bell. Boys were serious business, after all.

Her best friend, the girl dressed like a tossed salad, seemed to put a bit of effort into thinking it over. The quizzical look on her face and hand positioning said as much, at least.

"Uh, was it that guy that stares at you all the time? You know, Justin's old friend, the twitchy one?"

"Eh, no." Alex was confused how her friend could ever think she'd be excited over that.

After another small show of inquisition, Harper settled for a new answer, though it wasn't much better.

"Jamie? The buff guy with the facial hair, he's always trying to talk with you."

"Oh, god. That's a girl, Harper. Jamie's a girl; she just has some Hormone problems, or something. Remember?" She didn't want to chance another guess by Harper, so she just let it out. "It was David!"

Harper didn't seem all that excited and made a face. "He's bad news Alex. You've heard the rumors, right?"

Oh, now she was disappointed in her friend. "You can't honestly believe half that stuff, can you?" She doubted the senior boy had really killed someone.

"They say he's a heroin addict and has five kids, and he doesn't even pay child support!" Harper actually looked serious as she said this. "That's just not right, Alex. I don't want to see you dragged into that…"

"Harper, just shut up. None of that ever happened." She would have continued the conversation, but the bell rang and Harper actually cared about getting to class on time. Yup, her friend was an odd one.

Alex could almost taste the freedom. She just needed to make it down the steps and she'd be well on her way to her first date with David. She knew it was cliché, but he was tall, dark, and handsome. Not to mention, he was a bit of a "bad boy"; he didn't get his reputation walking old ladies across the street. She wasn't going to let anyone ruin this.

"Oh, Alex? Where would you be going?"

Damn it, this was the last thing she needed. She put on her cheesiest smile and turned to Justin. "Nowhere, my wonderful big brother, just going out for some air. I'll see you later, bye!" She knew it was a long shot.

"And I'm guessing you're trying to hide how evil you are under all that make-up? Not likely. Where are you really going?" Normally he would be loving this all too much, but her low cut top and short skirt had him worried.

"Justin, you're such a loser." She was looking irritated now. "Just because you have no social life doesn't mean you have to bud into mine."

"Alex." With his arms crossed and the only slightly amused look on his face told her the fun was over.

"You're no fun. If you must know, I have a date." Alex looked really proud of herself, and he knew that was never a good thing. She hadn't been dating anyone for a while, not since Dean, so he was really interested now.

"With who? It's not that one guy that use to stare at you all the time, is it?"

She could almost face palm at this point. "No! Why does everyone keep thinking that? It's David." The look on Justin's face was not a good sign. Normally the two of them would dislike the other's romantic interests, even going as far as bagging on them and trying to ruin the relationship, but Justin just seemed angry.

"That's not going to happen, Alex! He's nothing but trouble." Justin rarely yelled, but it was pushing Alex over the edge as well.

"You can't tell me who to date, I'm just as grown up as you and I can take care of myself!"

He didn't like the yelling, and was regretting it. He was past jokes at this point; he just wanted to do whatever he could to stop Alex. "I'll tell Mom and Dad you're sneaking out to meet some delinquent. Better yet…" And he threw her over his shoulder and started carrying her to her room.

At some point the kicking, scratching, and "I hate you"s got to him and he put her down. She still looked pissed as she smoothed her clothes out. "You have to trust me, Justin." She was huffing and her face was red.

"Sorry…"

"I have a date I don't care to miss." And she stomped away and down the stairs, leaving a confused Justin to deal with his own thoughts.

Hi, thanks for reading. This is my first story, so please leave a review and tell me how I did and how to improve it. I've gone years writing and not sharing, so I'm trying something different. If I get a good response, or advice to make it better, I'll post the rest of the story.