Chapter 1

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiing

The first bell rang. It was 8 am, time for first period to begin. Alex closed his locker and began making the dreadful walk to chemistry. He hated the class, although he was one of the top students. Something about learning the periodic table and figuring out the number of neutrons an atom had did not interest him. He was more into physical activities. Something that could keep him on his feet.

"What's up Alex. Do the homework for Calculus?"

Alex stared at his friend. He didn't understand why his friend never bothered to do homework even though he did not have any trouble understanding the material. He was just too lazy to bother to apply what he learned.

"Yeah. Is this your way of asking to copy again?" Alex said annoyed.

"Oh come on man. Don't be like that. You know this is our routine." Zack answered.

Alex and Zack Shelby knew each other for the longest. They grew up in the same neighborhood and had dinner together with one another's parents when they were kids. Alex stopped in the hallway and pulled out his homework, handing it to his friend.

"Yeah well I'm sure all of it is right, but don't copy it exactly. Make yourself lose a couple of points. I don't feel like hearing Ms. Watson's mouth again."

"Oh she's only trying to get us to stay after class 'cause she wants to spend time with us. You know how she is."

Alex did know. Ms. Watson always flirted with him and Zack. She was not much older than them. Only in her middle 20s. She was a second year teacher. Alex never gave her the time of day to try and seduce him like Zack did. They were both seniors this year and Alex couldn't wait to get out of this pathetic school.

"I'll hand this back to you before our Calc class. Thanks man." Zack walked off with a pat on Alex's back.

Alex walked into his first class and took his regular seat. He could not wait for his senior year to be over. He never liked being in school. If it were up to him, he'd never step foot into the building. Alex was pulled from his negative thoughts when he smelled that addictive scent. It was fresh and light. It was her.

"Hey Romero." she said with a smile on her face. Alex felt the butterflies in his stomach flutter. He didn't know why she made him feel this way.

"Hey."

He never really engaged in conversation with her like he wanted. He was too nervous. He didn't want to make himself seem weird in front of her.

"So talkative." She rolled her eyes playfully, causing him to grin.

She was so sarcastic but he loved it. She was beautiful. Her eyes were a sight to be seen themselves. Her blonde her was just as pretty as she was. Norma had just moved to White Pine Bay last year in the middle of his junior year. As soon as he saw her, he could not help but be mesmerized. She was super friendly and everyone seemed to be drawn to her. He'd heard a lot of people talk about how gorgeous she was. She knew she was but she was always so humble and never used her beauty to get her way. Something most girls at the school seemed to do a lot, which Alex could not stand.

She sat in her seat and opened her book, getting ready to write notes. He noticed how interested she was in this subject. He himself could care less about the class, but he didn't mind seeing her become so intrigued in chemistry. He remembered the day they were partners and had to make ice cream for a project one day. She was so excited for it. He even seemed to enjoy it, but it was probably because he got to be around her. Seeing her beautiful smile up close. He often found himself lost in her eyes. Thankfully, she never noticed it.

"Ok class, today we are going to be talking about Oxidation and Reduction. You will be given an assignment that's due at the end of class"

"Great" Alex said, letting out a deep irritated sigh.

"What? Not excited to learn something so fascinating?"

He turned to her with a smile small."Yeah. So fascinating. I think I'll fall asleep before I finish this."

He knew he could finish the assignment in no time. He just hoped she could sense he was joking. He wanted to see her beautiful smile.

"You probably really like chemistry. It's just sitting in a classroom for an hour that you don't like."

Alex thought about it. She was probably right. He hated sitting in a dull boring classroom for an hour when he finished his work in the first 15 minutes. That left him 45 minutes staring off into space, completely bored. If class were outside some days and if they actually got to do real actual experiments, he would enjoy the class much more.

"Probably." He responded, turning his attention to the assignment in front of him.

He could feel her staring at the side of his face, but he didn't dare turn to face her. She did this often. It made him wonder if she thought he was cute or something. Or maybe she just thought he was a boring brick that she couldn't figure out. Alex began his assignment.

"What the hell?" he thought. He completely forgot to read the chapter over this subject the night before. He was too busy last night hanging out with Zack and their friends Kieth and Bob. They were out all night driving around in Alex's truck trying to find something to do. They just ended up hanging out at the back of a small store drinking beer. He had no idea what this assignment was about and he felt the urge to just lay his head down and take the 0. He let out a sigh and rolled his eyes.

"You know these are the exact problems that were in the back of the book that we had to read right?" Norma stated.

Alex turned to her, already getting lost in her diamond like blue eyes.

"Yeah, I must have overlooked that."

"Hmm. Not really like you to overlook things." Norma said, turning back to complete her assignment.

He thought about what she said. What does she mean not really like me to overlook things? Does she notice me? Has she paid attention to me? His chemistry teacher often acknowledged his grades in front of the whole class, since he usually always scored the highest on test and quizzes. He wondered if that ever impressed Norma. Maybe it did.

The class was over quicker than Alex ever felt it was. Even though he did not read the chapter for the assignment that he was supposed to complete, he managed to fill in all the answers, whether they were right, he did not know. He could afford to make a bad grade either way it went. He just did not want to get the "you're starting to slack" lecture from his teacher. He did not have time for that.

"Glad that's finally over with." Her voice grabbed his attention fairly quick as he was making his way out the classroom and into the already crowding hallway.

He turned to see Norma standing in front of him. She was wearing a light yellow dress with flowers on them, along with wedges and a pink cardigan. She was always so colorful. Alex preferred to dress in plaid shirts or dark colored shirts and pants.

"Really? I thought you liked Chem?" Alex said

"Yeah I do." She smiled at him. "But since we only have a month left of school, I'm kinda' ready to get the hell out of here." She chuckled.

"Aren't we all." Alex joked.

"So..." Norma seemed to forget her words. "Are you planning on going to prom?"

Alex was not really looking forward to the event. He was not much of a dancer. He didn't really engage in gatherings. He'd rather spend his time hanging with his small group of friends. He wasn't much of a people's person.

"Yeah maybe. Think my mom really wants me to go." Alex and his mom were close. His dad was the sheriff of the town and they did not have the best relationship. His felt like his dad made his mom miserable. He was verbally abusive and never appreciated her. Although his mom tried to hide her pain, he could always sense it.

"Oh that's nice. You should definitely go then. Who are you going with?"

'I want to go with you' Alex thought. Even though he had no desire to attend prom, it would all be worth it if Norma was his date. She'd be even more beautiful all dressed up.

"Um... maybe Rebecca? She actually asked me a while back."

"Oh okay." She said, not really having any expression to his answer.

"What about you?" Alex questioned.

"Well, I was asked by your friend Zack. He gave me flowers and everything. He didn't tell you? You guys seem like you tell each other everything."

Alex thought so too. Why didn't Zack tell him he asked Norma to prom? Although Zack didn't know of Alex's secret crush on Norma, they were best friends and told each other any and everything.

"Not sure." Alex said, starting to feel awkward and uneasy.

"Well maybe we can all go as a double date. That'd be fun! We can rent a party bus or something. Well I don't know if they have those kind of things in this small town." Norma laughed.

"Nah. We mostly just drive big trucks or old cars around here." Alex replied.

He felt like he wanted to say something else to her but couldn't find the words.

"Okay. Well I'll see you around?"

"Ye- yeah. Maybe at lunch." Alex started to feel nervous again. They never at lunch together. She always hung out with other girls who were so desperate to be her friend.

Norma smiled. Big this time. "Yeah okay I'll sit with you guys today. That way we can talk about our prom plans and things. See ya."

He watched her walk down the hall. He was already in a trance seeing her walk away.

"Romero. What's caught your eye?"

Alex turned to see his friends Bob, Keith, and Zack behind him.

"Nothin'. Just got out if Chem. You finish copying my homework Zack?"

"Yeah man. Thanks. Couldn't get through this year without you." Zack handed Alex back his homework.

"Yeah. You could've actually tried to do your own work for once. Maybe stop being so lazy." Alex stated.

"Chill man. It's not that big a deal. I just don't see the point of doing it when I know you will and we're best friends right?"

'Some best friend' Alex thought. He started to feel annoyed again that Zack didn't tell him that he asked Norma to prom. Zack was a womanizer. He was sensitive but he didn't hesitate to try to get into a girl's pants. He just hoped he didn't try that with Norma. Truth be told Alex would have dug up the courage to ask Norma to be his date despite the fact that Rebecca Hamilton already asked him. He was somewhat relieved Norma told him she already had a date so he didn't have to feel embarrassed and rejected.

"Yeah well I'm not always going to be there to lend you a helping hand after we graduate." Alex finally said.

"Alright ladies. Stop being so damn pissy. It's giving me a headache." said Bob

"So you guys want to eat lunch off campus today or what?" Keith said.

"Nah. Let's eat in the cafe. I think Norma wants to eat with us." Alex said.

"Norma? How do you know? She say something to you?" Zack questioned, already grinning at the thought of eating next to Norma.

Alex noticed Zack smiling and started to get even more annoyed with him. He still wondered why he didn't tell him he asked Norma to prom.

"Yeah she did. She wants me and Rebecca to go to prom with you and her. As a double date or some shit." Alex said, finally trying to make Zack acknowledge the fact that he has Norma as a prom date.

"Oh yeah? Zack said, taken by suprise. "So you for sure going with Rebecca?"

Alex nodded.

"Well congrats man. I know you didn't really want to go. That's why I didn't tell you I was going with Norma. Didn't think you would care to hear about it. But yeah that'd be great. All of us going together. Should be fun." Zack said while placing his hand on Alex's back as they started strolling down the hall to their Calculus class.

"We'll see you guys after school." Bob said, walking away with Keith.

Alex and Zack made it to their calculus class, taking their seats. They sat next to each other as they always tended to do whenever they found out they had the same classes together. Alex took out his book and a pen and placed his homework at the end of his desk so their teacher could collect it as she walked by.

"So Rebecca huh? You know what usually happens after prom with your date right? Man you're in for a treat. Hopefully I am too." Zack said, with a mischievous smile.

Alex felt his stomach twist and turned back to his desk, ignoring what his friend just said. His mind began to wonder to Norma and her yellow dress she was wearing. Now dazing off, thinking of the way she walked down the hall.