Two weeks before Isaac Lahey's life changed forever, he woke up late with no time to shower and accidentally put on a dirty shirt. Racing down the stairs and tripping down the last two steps and falling on his face, he pushed himself up and ran to the kitchen. He grabbed a plastic cup and his favorite brand of cereal, hastily pouring it into the cup, not caring that some cereal flakes spilt onto the floor because his main concern was how pissed his dad would be if he found out Isaac was late to school for the second time this month. He didn't even want to think about what would happen.

Pouring milk into the cup, grabbing a spoon and his backpack, he speed-walked to the door and slipped on his tennis shoes and bolted out the door to his bike. He hitched himself up, trying to find his balance before he took his hands off the handlebars to take quick bites of his cereal. Having had to ride his bike to and from school and everywhere in between since the fourth grade, Isaac had picked up some pretty good bike riding skills and had taught himself to eat and ride throughout the years.

Isaac liked riding his bike, though. Sure, it was a piece of crap compared to Jackson Whittemore's Porsche, but he still liked it. It helped him clear his mind and plus he just liked being outside of his house.

He was three minutes away from school and almost done with his cereal and was feeling pretty content with himself that he would make it to school with two minutes to spare. When he pulled onto school property, he hopped off his bike and and started running to the bike rack. After locking up his bike and chucking his cereal cup into the trash can, he ran into the school, not slowing down until he reached his locker.

His hands scurried across the lock as he entered his combination; 32-8-20, and then exchanged his backpack with his Trigonometry book. He took off in a jog down the hallway, and rounded the corner. His body pushed through the first door on his left just as the third and final bell rang. Isaac had never been so thankful to have his first class so close to his locker.

His teacher gave him an annoyed look, but Isaac didn't pay any mind. He was pretty sure that was the only face Mr. Myers ever displayed. Isaac headed to the back of the classroom with his head down, only picking it up the tiniest bit when he passed Cara Sparacino's desk. He'd had nearly every class with her since freshman year and he liked to consider themselves somewhat acquaintances. Cara was a tan girl, with huge brown eyes that turned more of a hazel color, Isaac noticed, in the sunlight and he'd basically been in love with her for about a year.

His eyes met with hers and his breathing hitched and he just barely tripped over his own feet, earning snickers around the classroom.

He felt like he was standing there for hours, basking in the humility that was tripping in front of your crush and everything was going in slow motion when she smiled even though Isaac knew she probably thought he was some idiot. And then finally, a voice in Isaac's head yelled, "Do something! You look like an idiot, man!" So Isaac smiled back and walked to his desk.

The rest of his day went as per usual. He went to French and Chemistry, and lunch and the rest of his afternoon classes. And then after walking to his locker and grabbing his backpack that held his lacrosse gear, he had a quick chat with his friends.

His friends weren't exactly "friend-friends", they were more of they hey-man-what's-up-catch-'ya-later kind of friends. The ones you meet up with every once in a while in the hallway throughout the day and and sit with at lunch but only rarely do you hang out outside of school. One of them was Buzz, who's real name was actually Richard but due to the fact that he's had a buzz cut since the first grade, everyone just sort of took to calling him Buzz because let's face it, the name Richard sucked.

The other was Joey. He was a short guy, standing roughly at five foot nothing. But what he lacked in height, he made up for in energy. Joey was always positive and fun and that was mainly why Isaac liked him. Because hey, high schools sucks but at least he can surround himself by somewhat-funny people to make the suckyness not so sucky. Joey also liked the same video games as him, so that was a plus.

Isaac pulled a single backpack strap over his shoulder and turned on his heel to the locker room, calling a quick goodbye to Buzz and Joey after spending a good four minutes listening to Buzz whine about how he's not going to get a date to the formal coming up and Joey trying to calm him down by saying, "Dude, let's just hope a blind girl moves here, and then you might have a chance!"

He drug his feet across the floor, not particularly in the mood for physical activity today, and was trying to spend as much time possible into to walk to the locker room. He's tired and cranky, but that doesn't stop his heart from fluttering when he walks past two girls, Cara and Allison.

Allison was dating Cara's cousin, which is basically how they became best friends. She was tall and thin and was very pretty. The kind of pretty you could stare at for hours and not get tired. However, Isaac's eyes fell on the shorter of the two.

"Hey, Isaac," Her head tilted just the slightest as she spoke, her wave of curls falling onto her face before pushing them back. Isaac felt his lips curl up and his cheeks get hot, "Hi, Cara."

"See you at your lacrosse practice." It was kind of a thing for the girls to come and watch lacrosse practice. She smiled and proceeded down the hallway and around the corner. Isaac's gaze followed her, and stared off down the hallway even after she had left. And then he remembered if he didn't get his ass to that locker room, he'd be late for practice and have to run laps so he sprinted down the hall.

Thanks for reading. Please review and let me know what you think! I'll have the next chapter in Cara's POV up in a few days. :) - T