Prologue
Christy kept her gaze on her feet as she walked through the hallway. It was Friday, so everyone was ready to leave for the weekend. Hopefully, no one would notice her today. If only she wasn't transferring classes just days before her 16th birthday.
Her mother had discovered her school schedule, two months after school had started, and insisted she be transferred to the advanced classes. She'd only moved to the school at the beginning of the year.
She'd been given her new schedule this morning, when the principal was waiting at the door. Almost all of her classes had been moved up to the senior's hallway.
Christy didn't mind the change too much. She hadn't made any friends at La Push high, only a few people who enjoyed mocking her bookworm type personality.
Christy ducked around a band of math nerds, walking down the hallway and whispering furiously, to turn down one of the side hallways. She pushed open a thick door and started climbing the stairs.
She heard the jocks before she saw them. They were making crude jokes, guffawing loudly, their noises echoing down the stairwell. She tried to push herself against the walls, out of their way.
They stomped down the stairs wearing letterman's jackets and muscle tees with their jeans. They shoved past her, one of them pulling on the strap of her shoulder bag mockingly, but only for a moment. Still that moment was enough to snap the thin strap.
The bag tumbled to the ground, and the jocks, not noticing, kept walking, going down the stairs and out the door. Christy hadn't heard the second group of people thanks to the noise the jocks had been making.
She was trying to fix the strap for her bag, sitting on a step with her books surrounding her. They were a bunch of buff guys, the kind you would see with the jocks. By the look of them they were all seniors, except for the one at the back. He looked like a sophomore, maybe. Being a junior, Christy only knew the guys by reputation, and had only seen them before this on one occasion.
They were all kinda cute, but only one of them caught her attention. He had broad shoulders and a deep chest, the kind you see on professional football players. He had long legs, putting him almost a foot and half taller than her.
Christy was too embarrassed to look up as they passed by her. One of them kicked a book back at her and she swore she heard a growl. Out of the corner of her eye, Christy saw large hands pick up some of her books and papers.
She looked up to see the cute one smiling down at her. She quickly looked down at her feet, hiding the blush that covered her cheeks.
"Hey." He said. Christy's pulse fluttered. She looked up into chocolate eyes. One of the other guys shifted impatiently.
"Come on, dude. We're gonna be late." Another one muttered. The cute one's smile twitched, like it had to fight to stay on his face. He piled up my books beside me and turned, ushering his friends away. He turned and winked at me before following them.
Chapter 1
Christy's POV
"Ohmygawd!" A girlish squeal from behind me. I looked back to see a girl in a black turtle neck sweater, pale gray skinny jeans, and combat boots behind me. She scrambled down the stairs to sit beside me. Her orange-red hair had fanned out behind her, turning wispy at the edges.
"Did Paul just, like, talk to you?" She pushed hair behind her ear and looked at me expectantly.
"I, uh, I… I g-guess," I stammered.
She rolled her eyes. "You guess?" She stopped suddenly, examining my face. "I don't see why. You're not as pretty as his last temp…"
"Te-temp?"
"Yeah, temporary girlfriend… I guess with some work you could get close… but Paul's not one for work… He likes easy."
"W-what are y-y-you talking a-about?"
"I'm talking about the fact that Paul only talks to girls he plans to fuck. Gawd," she flipped her hair back, "everyone knows that."
"I-I should be fi-fine then… H-he would nev-never want to f-f-fuck me."
"Oh," she patted my shoulder, "you're so naïve." She helped me up, shoveling my books into my bag haphazardly. "Come on… You must be new, or something. I'll walk you to class."
She linked her arm through mine and looked at a piece of paper she'd grabbed, it was my new schedule.
"Oh… You still have some junior classes… It's ok if you're a little slow. I can always use new friends."
"Ac-actually, I am a j-junior."
"Oh." She shrugged and kept pulling me along, "you're first period class is right next to mine, so I'll walk with you after class too, so, like, don't leave, like, without me, kay?"
"Um… ok." I murmured, letting the girl pull me along. She stopped at a narrow doorway in the middle of the hall.
"By the way, Christy, I'm Amber." She smiled and patted my shoulder, before handing back my schedule and walking to the next doorway, disappearing inside.
I turned and walked into the classroom. It was still a few minutes before class started so only a few students were already there, sitting down. I walked over to the teacher, a balding man with an oversized mustache, yellow teeth, small glasses, and some zit scars, around his large nose.
"Ahh… You must be Christy. I heard about you, and I'm very excited to have someone as smart as you in my class. Anyway, you'll be sitting in the second to last row, I hope you don't mind. The troublemakers are in front. You'll be behind Ricky, over by the wall."
I walked over to my desk, getting out an almost full notebook and an old pencil. I couldn't help myself and I started sketching randomly, I never controlled what I drew, just let my hand go free.
A boy in a brightly colored T-shirt and old navy jeans, paired with some OP skater type tennis shoes, walked to the desk in front of me and sat down, leaning his shoulders back against the wall and looking at my drawing.
"Pretty." He smiled and I looked down. I had drawn a set of fawn twins, grazing. I smiled shyly back at him. "I'm Ricky. And just so you know… nothing 'magic' will happen between us… I won't attack you…I'm too gay for you."
"Y-you're gay?" I asked.
"Flamboyantly so." He grinned. Suddenly the bell rang and I closed my notebook, getting out a novel and opening it.
A guy sat down on the otherside of me, making me want to flinch against the wall, feeling surrounded. At least, until I looked over… Paul was smiling, charmingly, in my direction from the seat beside mine. Ricky snickered.
"Now he… He will attack."
