Chapter 1

"I can't believe that you two slacked off during class again. I know you two don't care if you fail your project, and Tom doesn't either, but what about Boyd? He studies so hard, and I know he's hoping to ace the midterm coming up." I watched, amusedly, as the two boys in front of me laughed. They were the perfect example of the average teen – pimply faces, long gangly limbs that looked like they had been used for tug of war and last but not least: wide, mischievous grins that identified them as troublemakers. Stuart and Brent Tarleton were Clayton County High School's two biggest pranksters, and everyone knew it.

"Aw, Boyd'll be fine. He doesn't have to study to get good grades in Chemistry. And besides, we'd have to ask for an extension on the project any way." Stuart said, resting his feet on my desk, nearly knocking my purse down in the process. I caught it before all of my emergency makeup could fall out and set it on the floor, rolling my eyes in the process.

"And why is that?" I asked, feigning interest. Stuart and Brent shared a look and grinned.

"Football tryouts are coming up. We'd have to start practicing." Brent answered, sounding smug. Pff. As if he was announcing his candidacy for president. I groaned irritably. The Tarleton twins frowned.

"What's wrong?" Stuart asked, removing his feet from my desk so he could lean forward concernedly.

"I HATE all of this talk about football! Every guy I talk to doesn't shut up about it! I don't care about football, and I don't understand why every single guy at this school thinks it is so fascinating. It's just a bunch of men running around and tackling each other. It's boring." I snapped. Brent opened his mouth to speak, but a look from his brother shut him up.

"We're sorry, Scarlett. I know that girls just don't get football. It's just that we have good players this year! I know that by the time we finally go up against Union High we have kicked their –"

"So are you two going to the Wilkes's party tomorrow?" I interrupted.

I had to change the subject or I was going to scream! Everyday it was the same thing with these two. 'Oh, we know girls don't get football, Scarlett, but we'll win this year for sure!' 'With me on the team there's no way we can lose to those stupid Union High guys.' Or my personal favorite, 'Scarlett, do you promise to give me a kiss every time I make a touchdown?' Even my own father was obsessed with the sport. It felt like the only reason why he ever asked me about school was to find out who was trying out for the team.

"Yeah, definitely! It'll be so cool! I know Ashley will throw the best party ever." Brent answered, getting excited.

"I heard that Mr. Wilkes was going to let us do whatever we wanted. I told Ashley I'd bring the booze." Stuart replied.

I smiled at that. Ashley's father was the coolest dad ever. He said that we were going to do stuff like that anyway, and he might as well make sure that there is some safety measures put in place. I bet he would have a bunch of designated drivers on staff ready to take home any drunken high schoolers.

"Ashley's cool. I like him, even though he's kind of a nerd sometimes." Brent interjected.

"He is not a nerd!" I exclaimed. Brent and Stuart looked at me weirdly.

"Are you kidding me? Scarlett, the guy has always got his nose in some book. He chooses studying over partying, and the only reason why he's trying out for the football team is because he says he needs some form of extracurricular on his college applications. Don't get me wrong, he's an ok guy, but seriously?" Stuart pointed out, waiting for me to agree. Instead I glared at him.

Ok, maybe Ashley wasn't the biggest jock in the school, and maybe he did do a lot of reading, but so what? Ashley was sweet, and funny, and really, really, really cute… Anyway, he was also the smartest guy in school no doubt, and he was going to make it into a good college. He was going to be a billionaire by the time he was thirty, and I was going to be right there next to him!

"Anyway, he's perfect for Melanie Hamilton." Brent said, nodding his head knowingly. I felt an icy shiver go down my spine, and I resisted the urge to shudder.

Melanie…Hamilton?

"What do you mean, Melanie Hamilton?" I asked, fighting to keep the panic out of my voice.

"Uh, yeah. Everyone's been talking about it. They've been going out for a few of days now. This party is their first as a couple." Stuart said, his eyes watching my face carefully. I smoothed it out into a slightly curious, but overall apathetic look. It took more effort than I was used to.

"Oh. I was under the impression that everyone was talking about her brother Charles Hamilton and Honey Wilkes. They've been pretty obvious for a while now." I said, sounding barely interested.

"Yeah well, Ashley and Melanie are the 'it' couple right now. Charles and Honey will have their time in the sun later." Stuart replied.

Ding. Ding. Diiiing. I instantly felt relieved that the boys had to go, but I continued to keep it off of my face. The second they were gone, that's when I could let the utter despair show on my face. Ashley had a girlfriend? And it wasn't me? How could this happen? I mean, come on. I was way hotter than Melanie Hamilton. She was tiny, and had the figure and face of a middle schooler. She had stringy blonde hair and was so nerdy and boring. Ashley didn't belong with her.

"That's the bell. Well, we have to go to class. We'll see you at the party?" Stuart asked me. I nodded, my eyes flitting down to my purse. I started digging through it in order to avoid having to show my face to the Tarleton twins any more. They kept on turning around to look at me, so I grabbed my pocket mirror and pulled it out to check my makeup. My face looked pale and sickly, and my eyes were wide and a little over bright. I grabbed my emergency makeup and started trying to bring more color into my face, but after a while I snapped the mirror shut angrily and shoved it into my bag.

"What's wrong, Scarlett?" I looked up. Mammy, one of my freshmen, was looking concernedly down at me. I stared grouchily at the chalkboard in the front of the classroom.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm fine." I snapped. She snorted skeptically.

"Yeah right. Seriously though, what's wrong? Is there anything that I can help with?" She asked. I shot her a dirty look. Mammy was a sweet girl, a freshman that I've been friends with since I was little.

At Clayton County High School, most freshmen were unofficially 'assigned' to a portion of the school's upperclassmen. The idea was so that the school could choose some of the better, brighter juniors and seniors to show the freshmen the ropes. Of course, this really just meant that the seniors and juniors had a bunch of kids running around and doing small little jobs for them, like carrying books, helping them study, or doing homework. The students were supposed to be chosen based on grades or extracurricular accomplishments, but it was really just a popularity contest. The more freshmen a person had, the more popular they were. I myself had almost twenty freshmen followers.

"Go to class Mammy. I don't need you right now." I said coldly. My teacher, Ms. Tara, was starting to write today's notes on the whiteboards. Class was going to start soon.

"That's a load of crap and you know it. What's wrong? Are you sick? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine, Mammy."

"I'm going to have someone bring you your sweatshirt from your locker."

"I don't want my sweatshirt. It makes me look frumpy and fat."

"It also makes you look warm. Here, I've texted Rosa to bring you your sweatshirt. She should be here any minute now."

"Don't you have class to go to?" I asked pointedly. She raised her eyebrow at me.

"I have study hall first period. My teacher doesn't care if I'm late. You look like you're about to cry. Should I tell the teacher that you need to go home sick?" She asked, her hand going to my forehead. I shook off her motherly gesture.

"I'm fine, Mammy. Go to class. Now." I said frigidly. Mammy looked hurt.

"Don't you be mean to me; I'm just trying to be a good freshie. Until you graduate, it's my job to make sure you're doing well so you can get into a good college. And gosh darn it that's what I'm going to do!" She said. I rolled my eyes. She turned around huffily, her fingers flying on her phone's keyboard. She was probably texting my other freshmen that I was in a bad mood so watch out. I shivered involuntarily. Where the heck was Rosa with my sweatshirt?

"Alright class, let's start on the warm-up that I have here on the board!" Ms. Tara called out to the class. The classroom was filled with talking, laughing, and pencils scratching out the answers. After a few minutes, there was a knock at the door, and the entire class went silent. Ms. Tara opened the door. Rosa was standing just outside of it, holding my ugly grey sweatshirt. The classroom giggled as I strode up to the door and grabbed the stupid thing out of her hands.

Freshmen were so annoying sometimes.

"So Rhett, what do you think about my idea for the project?" I looked up, bored. I was leaning back in a library chair, my feet on the table. Frank Kennedy, my project partner for AP US History, was looking at me anxiously. I shrugged.

"Sounds good to me. I can get my part of the project done easily enough, but if you need help on your end then I guess I can stay a little while longer." I said, hoping he would decline. The last thing I wanted to do was spend my Friday night at the library working on some stupid history project. I was new to town, and I needed to get out and see what the heck there was to do in town. Frank checked his watch.

"Actually, I can't work on it some more. There's this party at Ashley Wilkes's house tonight…" He said. My ears perked up. Party?

"Ashley Wilkes. Sounds hot." I said, only vaguely interested in the girl.

"Ashley's a dude."

"Oh. Then don't ever tell anyone that I said that." I responded, embarrassed.

"You know, it's pretty much an open invitation. If you want to come…" He started. I thought about it for a minute. A party could be fun. After all, how else could I start getting a good rep?

"Are you sure that this Ashley guy won't mind me crashing?" I asked, not particularly caring if he did mind. Frank shook his head vigorously.

"No, of course not! Ashley's a really cool guy. He's got a house big enough to fit the entire school, and his dad lets us bring alcohol as long as we promise not to go driving afterwards." He said. I paused, pretending to think it over.

"Sure, why not? Thanks man." I said.

My first party at Clayton County. Should be interesting.