2

Logan

He watched the new girl get into the Porsche. It was only fitting that she had a shiny, fancy ride. He didn't understand what she was doing at Greyview High. Couldn't she have done community service at her school? Or was a school like that not shitty enough to need service? If it wasn't for her cleanly pressed skirt and tucked in shirt, she might have been someone he went after. She was pretty, almost gorgeous. Maybe an 8 or 9.

He disposed of his cigarette, and chuckled to himself. Yeah right, a girl like her would want to be dined and wined. He hated that crap. She was pretty, sure, but she was also high maintenance.

❤ Happiness and Him ❤

Rory

The last bell rang and students poured into the hallways in herds of navy and white. Rory and Chelsea left their history class side by side, squeezing through the heavy traffic to get to their lockers. Having been best friends since freshman year, now at fifteen, they were inseparable. They stopped by their lockers which were blocked by Tristan lip locking with a sophomore.

"Ew," Chelsea said. "Get a room."

"You're on my locker." Frowning, Rory shifted the heavy stack of books in her arms and waited for him to move.

Tristan's public display of affection was a major eyesore that she had to witness since forever. With when they were little, he always had a girl beside him, though thankfully their vomit inducing interactions was limited to sharing the same Popsicle. Rory had never understood his intrigue with the many ways germs could be exchanged.

Chelsea banged a fist on the locker just missing the girl's head, making the couple jump. Despite the interruption, Tristan grabbed the girl's waist and gave her a deep smooch before turning to his friends.

"Hey, ladies."

"Next time you shove your dirty tongue down someone's throat, could you do it away from our lockers?" Chelsea pushed him out of the way, nudging the girl in the process.

"Jealous much?"

She spun around, smacking his stomach with a notebook. "Shut up, jerk."

Rory watched Tristan's girl of the week look between the two, wide eyed and baffled. She flashed the girl an apologetic smile, knowing Chelsea could get a bit rough when anyone neared her crush.

"Whatever." Tristan pulled the sophomore into his arm, placing a kiss on her hair. "You guys wanna come to my party tonight?"

"Go screw yourself." Chelsea slammed the locker door. "I'd rather watch 'The O.C.' re-runs than go to your stupid party."

"Suit yourself." He rolled his eyes. "What 'bout you, Ror?"

"Can't. Community service." Rory retrieved her books and swung her bag over her shoulder. "And there's a test coming up. The new history teacher is completely preoccupied with details and citations. I'm gonna be pulling all sorts of all-nighters."

He snickered. "Community service, you say?"

"Yeah, Wednesdays."

"The support group shit?"

"That's Saturdays." She had been going for two weeks now, but the sessions only got worse.

She headed down the hall with Chelsea while Tristan and his girlfriend trailed behind. "I'm helping at the school library today."

Tristan jogged up to face Rory. "This is why you'll never get a boyfriend." He smirked. "Mary."

"And this is why you're always dumped before second base."

"Jerk," Chelsea added.

Grinning at each other, the girls turned the corner, leaving the lovebirds behind.

"We don't want you juniors at the party, anyway!" Tristan yelled.

Without turning back, Rory called, "See you tomorrow, Tristan!"

Chelsea linked her arm with Rory's and they stepped outside where perfectly trimmed bushes framed a broad driveway. Together they waited for their rides.

❤ Happiness and Him ❤

It turns out Greyview High was not only old and smelly, its library was also a disorganized dump. After an orientation, Julie who worked there part-time led Rory to some shelves in the back.

"See these here?" She ran a finger along the wood. "They're old arrivals hauled from book drives." Lifting her finger to her lips, she blew the dust off. "Your job is to sort and place them in the right categories."

"Okay…" Speechless, Rory scanned the different shelf levels, each carrying books with thick, grey layers of dust. Certainly, this corner right here was how the school got its name.

"Don't worry. When you're done, I have more exciting tasks!" Julie grinned.

Somehow, Rory thought her idea of exciting could be misleading.

"Thanks, Julie." She tried at a chuckle, which turned into a cough. "I guess I better get started."

"All righty, have fun!" Julie threw a smile before bouncing off with her layers of necklaces jingling in the air.

Rory sat at the edge of a chair, trying to not dirty her Chilton uniform. Not to sound like a spoiled rich kid, but everything about this place disgusted her. At home, they had two, three maids a day, dusting away. Holding her breath, she poked at a book. As much as she loved reading, for the first time, she was wary of picking a book up. But as she flipped the cover open, her scowl slowly faded. Thinking of how deep her mother would scorn if she saw the dust building on her skirt, Rory couldn't help but smile. She suddenly wished she had her camera to capture this moment. It would be different from the scenery and people she usually photographed. Something new for her collection.

Logan

The sky was now completely dark. It started raining, drizzles at first, before increasing force. Logan sat on the railing at the school's entrance with his friends, wasting time as they always did on Wednesday nights.

"C'mon boss, skip Saturday's session and crash the party with us." Rocky grabbed his skateboard and sat beside Logan.

"Nah," he said, letting out a breath of smoke under his umbrella.

"Why not?" asked Mouse, who was sitting on his right.

He shrugged, thinking again of the new girl with her big, blue eyes, hair that was neatly tucked behind her ears, and the way she crossed her ankles when she sat. Heck, he had been thinking of her a lot. He'd only watched her kind from afar, and now an archetype walked right into his territory, a hot one nevertheless. Of course he was intrigued, but that didn't mean he was going after her. He didn't need that kind of trouble.

Shrugging, he said, "I already missed last session. If I skip again, I'll end up in the principal's office."

"Who cares?" Mouse snickered, his little black beads for eyes squinting with a smile. "You practically live there."

Logan jumped off the railing and checked his watch under the light. "It's past six. Let's get going." He flashed his friends a grin. "I've got big bucks to win."

"Ohh yeah." Mouse hopped off. Though short, he was agile on his feet, which was an advantage for when he got into trouble with those bigger than him. He headed for Logan, saying, "Let's show Steeler and them who's boss."

Rocky followed. "Did I mention I wore my lucky shoes?" He hooked the two friends' necks with his arms while towering over them.

With a chuckle, Logan headed toward the front entrance to discard his cigarette just as a girl emerged from the building. She looked around frantically with hands above her head to shield from the rain. He noticed her yellow backpack and knee-length skirt before he saw her face. His heart did a weird flop when he realized it was the new girl.

She turned to him, her eyes a dark blue under the dim light. They widened slightly in recognition before a small frown crossed her face. Stuck in his spot, he was suddenly aware of the umbrella he was holding. She was a few feet away.

Should he offer his umbrella, or at least say 'Hi'?

Although he went with a couple girls before, he didn't know what to do with her kind. Since he was young, he learned to hate everything she represented - rich, spoiled snobs who the world revolved around. So he just watched as she looked away and headed toward the sidewalk. Heck, what was he thinking? He didn't belong in her world just like she didn't belong here. She'd be gone in a couple weeks, back to her mansion, Porsches and shit.

When the girl was out of earshot, Mouse punched Logan on the arm. "Who's that?"

"Daddy's little princess?" Rocky snickered.

Watching her place her backpack on the bench and pull out what looked like a folder to hold over her head, Logan felt his jaws tense as the damned spot in his chest clenched like he was almost sympathetic. Around him, the rain was falling heavier. Her hair was drenched along with her jacket. Shaking his head, he tried to look away. Damnit Logan, just forget it.

"Come on. Let's go." Rocky turned, heading for the alley near the building. "We're gonna be late."

Expelling a loud breath, he turned to his friends. "Actually... You guys go ahead without me," he said, backing away, "I'll catch up."

With a final glance, he turned and jogged toward the street.

Damn little rich girl just had to pull at his heart.

❤ Happiness and Him ❤

How stupid was I to not bring an umbrella?

Rory shivered as she gripped the binder. That boy was there with his friends, watching her and here she was with stationary over her head. She'd noticed his bruise was gone. Without the bruise, he looked kinda good, in that trouble-causing, sweep-you-off-your-feet way. Maybe it was the deep indents at the corner of his lips, or the way the lights bounced off of his tousled blonde hair, but whatever it was he definitely looked… hot. Her cheeks heated at the thought.

The sound of footsteps interrupted her thoughts and she turned to see the very boy she was thinking of jogging toward her. He slowed down as he neared.

As if scared, she backed up when he stopped, keeping a distance of at least three feet between them. Without a word, he held the umbrella over her head until half of him was exposed to the rain. Seeing spots of water mark his jacket, Rory stepped closer so they could fit under the umbrella.

She swallowed and said, "Thanks"

They were so close that she almost felt his warm breath on her face.

He looked down. "My pleasure," he muttered softly.

This was the first time he talked to her. It was only two words, but it made her nervous anyway. She broke their eye contact only to watch the road. The only sound around them was the drops of rain hitting the umbrella and ground in rapid, clean moves. Splat. Splat. Splat.

The awkward silence was doing that familiar thing to her heartbeat. Thump. Thump. Thump. It was louder, and a tad faster. Rory stood as still as humanly possible, afraid that if she just as breathed, her jacket would brush against his chest. Inhaling discreetly, she noticed his smell. It was different from the colognes the boys at school wore. His was a faint scent of fresh laundry, like cotton on a summer day.

"It's Rory, right?" His sudden voice made her jump. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

Clearing her throat, she felt her cheeks flush. "Sorry. I didn't introduce myself." She looked up. "I'm Rory. Rory Hayden."

"Logan. Logan Conway," he said as a smile met her for the first time.

"Hi Logan, Logan Conway."

Examining her, his lips spread a tiny bit further. "Hi."

Running out of words, she turned and went back to staring at the road. Catching a mild breeze through her ice cold hair, a shiver ran down her spine.

"You're soaked," he said.

She let out an awkward chuckle. "Yeah, I should have brought an umbrella." She looked at him. "David, my driver, he always keeps one in the car, but-"

She stopped when his smile disappeared. God, I must sound like I'm showing off. I should just shut up.

Clearing his throat, he asked, "You want my jacket?"

"What?"

"Here, hold this." He gave her the umbrella.

She watched him strip off his coat. When he stepped closer and draped the fabric over her shoulders, his chest definitely touched her arm.

"Thanks," she managed to mumble while her body froze from his touch.

"No problem." He retrieved the umbrella and held it over them once again.

Warm under his jacket, the fabric's scent surrounded Rory. It was a mixture of leather and a faint dab of smoke. Although she usually couldn't stand cigarettes, the smell lingering on his jacket was so faint that it was tolerable, intoxicating even. Maybe there was even a hint of lavender, like the kind in laundry detergents, she mused. For the next few minutes, she wondered about the brand he used just to avoid thinking of whether she should start a conversation. She could ask him why he wasn't at the session last week, but that would show she noticed and it might sound like she was prying. No, she should just stay quiet.

A car drove into Rory's view which she recognized as David's. She cleared her throat.

"That's my ride. Thanks for the umbrella." Her eyes locked with Logan's. Fumbling with his heavy coat, she added, "And, um, jacket."

He nodded, helping her with the coat. "See you Saturday." A slow curve began on his lips. "Rory Hayden."

"See you Saturday," she repeated. Logan Conway.