Chapter 1

Freshman year.

It's 5:30 A.M. already? Dang! I thought as the alarm clock buzzed on my bedside table. I slammed it down for it to shut up but it wouldn't! I laid back down and tried to erase the sound by covering my head with my pillow. In two seconds I nodded back to sleep, even though the peace only lasted for about 10 minutes when my mom came charging in screaming her head off

"Zachary Carson Anderson! Being late on this first day of school sets you a bad reputation with the teachers, principal…" Blah blah bla blah blah! It's school who cares! I thought.

Somehow I got out of bed, brushed my teeth, got dressed, packed my bag, and got out the door and made it to the bus stop 5 minutes before it got there.

As soon as I climbed wearily onto the bus I ran into a problem: where to sit! Emo? Gothic? Athletic? Nerds? Cheerleaders? Hell yeah! In a million years would that ever happen? So I just sat in a seat near the front, dropped my stuff, and sat down. 10 minutes later the bus pulled into the school and I looked at the torture place that I'd be at for the next 4 years of my lousy life.

I walked inside gaping at everything; I know you're thinking the school, right? Well yeah, it was huge, but the girls! So many hot girls everywhere I looked! It was like walking straight into heaven filled with girls. And then I saw my best bud I've known since birth, we were in the same hospital born the same day!

"Hey man! How's it hangin' Zack? How was your summer?" Caleb asked as we knuckle touched, jumped, spun, and shook each other's hair. Of course I was blinded a second, my bangs are quite long and are always getting in my eyes. My eyes are always getting complimented though; they're ocean blue and I got sandy blonde hair, kind of tall, but here I feel like one of those tiny blue smurfs being at the Giant's castle. And of course, one of my specialties: major klutz! It showed on the first day of high school, too.

I had been walking toward homeroom, or at least where I thought it was, and wasn't looking and made myself a human bowling ball by falling down the stairs. Hey, at least I got a strike!

Then I saw her.

That strawberry curly hair, gorgeous blue eyes, so tall, and alone!? Huh? Whoa whoa whoa, wait a second. A girl that beautiful, ALONE?!

Once I got up and dusted myself off, I walked over to her. I tried to talk but all that came out ended up being, "humanahumanahumana."

She laughed and stuck out her hand and said, "My name's Isabella, nice to meet you, um…"

"Zack." I blurted out while shaking her hand.

She giggled, "Well Zack, pleasure to meet you, you a freshman too?"

"Yup, you?"

"Yup, who's homeroom?"

I quickly swam through my book bag and ended up knocking her books out of her hands, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I-I-I-I didn't mean to! I'll get them." I bent down to pick up her books, but turns out she did also. Our hands met and I laughed awkwardly and handed them to her, but while her arm was outstretched, her sweater came up a little on her arm and I saw a couple of scars. She quickly covered them again and blushed deeply.

"What happe-…"

She cut me off, "Nothing just fell into a rose bush when I was younger, while learning to ride my first bike."

"Oh, ok." Bell rings. "Dang it, I'll see you later!"

"Bye" she whispered.

Later I was to learn, it wasn't a biking-rose bush accident that gave her those scars. But I was horrified by what did.