Okay. Another first day in another school. This would make twelve schools and she was in grade 11; fourth school in three years.

They had all turned out fine. There was no reason this one shouldn't. Buck up Little camper. You'll be fine. End of pep talk, Lauren told herself silently as she put her new paperwork into her bag. "Go Lauren!"

"Lauren Rhodes." She stood and followed the guidance councilor into her office.

"Hi Lauren. Welcome to Dillon High School. Right this way hon." Lauren sat down in the chair facing the desk which had her open school file on it.

"So hon, you're from Canada and your Dad is instructing on the base." Lauren nodded. "And I see ya'll moved a lot and always had great grades, which is a great asset to us here at Dillon, but not a lot of extra curricular activities." This was the perkiest guidance councilor ever. Biggest hair too. It was teased high on her head.

"Not at school."

"Well Dillon is just a great place to be a part of something. There are so many clubs and teams to join. We have a top ranked football program, so y'all could think about seeing if the cheerleaders are still holding try outs or if the rally squad is still recruiting." This was the first time Lauren had been offered cheerleading as an activity. Canadians are not known for public displays of cheering themselves on.

"I'm not a cheerleader type and I don't know what a rally squad is." She was the boring A student, not a centre of attention student.

"Rally squad is real fun. Y'all get to support the team when they need it. You can get partnered up with a boy on the team to ensure that he is not too stressed out before a game. You really get into the spirit of the school and can go on away games." Lauren tried to see herself through this councilor's eye. She was tall, at 5'8" already, with curly brown hair and hazel eyes. People only noticed her height and her hair. She noticed that she was still pretty much taller then most kids her age and had freckles on her nose and cheeks. She was cute,she assumed, like next door neighbour cute, lab partner cute, cousin's friend cute. Even this overly perky guidance councilor could not mix cute up with rocking, cheerleader hotness. And cute did not impress boys. Cute was pretty much invisible to high school boys. She was not meant to be a cheerleader.

"I think I'll just find my way through school for a while before joining anything." This was the third time she had used this sentence. That must make it a cliché now.

"Well, I've got a –oh here she is. Hey hon. Lauren Rhodes is a new student this year. Lauren this is Paige Morris. She is on the Rally Squad and I thought you would just love to get to know her. She can show you to your classes today."

"Hi Lauren."

"Hi." Ok, this girl's hair wasn't big; it was one long sheet of gold down the back to her waist. She was wearing a black t-shirt that read "Rally Girl" that was so small and tight that it didn't tuck into her pants. She was small and beautiful, everything that Lauren wanted to be. Lauren let out a small sigh as she stood up to follow Paige, what a great person to be compared to.

As a tall boy with hair long enough to brush the collar of his t-shirt, walked up to her and Paige, Lauren couldn't miss Paige pushing her chest out as she tried to drape her hair over one eye.

"Hiya Tim." He stood in front of them and Lauren was amazed how wide his chest was and the definition in his arms under the grey t-shirt that read "Property of Dillon Football". He was taller than her by a good two or three inches.

"Hey…..Paige." Paige didn't seem to care that he obviously had to think of her name.

"So are we going to win our first game on Friday?" He looked over at Lauren, ignoring Paige's question. His hair hung straight down to just past his jaw, two cowlicks holding it out of his face, his hair brown with auburn in it and his brown eyes seemed to have the same glint of his hair in them.

"Are y'all on the squad?" Before Lauren could say no, Paige jumped in.

"She's new. Do you need me to do something for you?"

"I didn't get a good mark on the last assignment. Here-" He handed a binder to Lauren. "You look smart. I need this done for class tomorrow. I'll remember you did it for me and maybe we can hook up on the weekend." He looked down at her for a second and then flashed her a smile that showed her perfectly straight white teeth and two deep dimples in his tanned cheeks, before turning away.

"Shit. I didn't even take Biology yet, so I tried my best. Well I guess you're the lucky one today." Lauren was still staring at the black binder in her hand.

"I don't even know what just happened."

"Oh my god, that was Tim Riggins, our fullback. He thought you were a new Rally girl and he gave you his homework to do. Give it back to him tomorrow and this could be a perfect start for you at Dillon." Lauren stared at her blankly. "Maybe you and Tim could hang out at the party after the game in return for a good mark."

"Really?" Was this a real High School? Did he really expect her to do his homework? Why would she do his work for him?

"Really. He's a fantastic kisser…that's as far as I've gotten with him, but apparently he's good at the rest too."

"For doing his homework?" She didn't care if Paige thought she was stupid, she just didn't understand this.

"Or other things. It's a perk of the Rally Squad. Tim Riggins is a perk of the Rally Squad. Actually most of the boys are appreciative but most have girlfriends so it can be awkward Tim doesn't pretend that you are going to be his girlfriend so has no problem spreading himself out. Just do a good job on the assignment and you've got it made"

Lauren tapped Tim Riggins on the back, and he turned to look at her giving her a crooked smile that only showed one of the dimples she had seen yesterday.

"Hey." She handed the black binder to him. "Here's your homework."

"Tell y'all what, if I get a good mark on this I'll make sure you have a nice welcome here at Dillon."

"Don't worry about it. It was my pleasure." She hoped he couldn't see the smile as she turned away. He hadn't even asked her name and she should be able to keep clear of him in a school this size.

Lauren put the last of her books into her bag and stood up from her crouch at her locker to come face to neck with a very angry Tim Riggins. He had one shoulder leaning on her locker door and his arms crossed over his chest, but despite the causal pose she could see the flush in his cheeks, the clenched jaw and the cords standing out on his arms and neck. He wasn't flashing any dimples at her today.

"What the fuck was that?" He asked quietly through clenched teeth. Oh, he was furious.

"I tried to make it look like you had done it so you didn't get into trouble."

"You thought I wrote my s's backwards?" Lauren started to have some regrets.

"You thought I'd care if you got a good mark." Despite her coolness she was shaking.

"Do you know what happens if I don't get As in English now?"

He took a step closer and Lauren took a step back.

"I don't care."

"Oh you'll care if Dillon's starting fullback can't play."

"It won't affect my life."

"You're not from Texas are you?" She watched his jaw clench and swallowed.

Too bold. Definitely too bold.

"What gave me away, my big vocabulary?" Oh God, why couldn't she shut up? Her brain had just told her to shut up and here she was digging a deeper hole. Tim squinted at her and she saw pure anger and was truly scared. She shook her head.

"It's not your charm." Ouch. "You'll regret fucking with me." The tone was deep and serious and more threatening for the lack of emotion in it. He used his shoulder to push himself off the locker not breaking eye contact with her until he turned his back and walked away. How had she ever thought he was cute? He was an ass. A dangerous ass.

She watched him walk down the hall, people moving automatically out of his way while calling to him, trying to give him high fives or a pat on the back. This might not be the best start she had ever had at a new school. There were always the jocks at every high school sand they were always popular with the "in" kids, but at this school she sensed it was very different. The football players were idolized, not just popular. The locker a few down from hers had QB1 on it and there were always notes tucked in the sides or girls all around it although actually she hadn't seen him yet. Was it really possible that in the first two days of school she had made herself the leper?