AN: She's not a nerd, she's a perfectionist (if any of you need a reference, she's kind of like Spencer Hasting from Pretty Little Liars—but only kind of, she was not inspired by Spencer). And yes, it's going to be a Massington.
YouAndTheKlutz: Thanks for being the first to review! And since it is Massington I will be expecting another review ;)
blaneee: YES! MASSINGTON indeed!
OregonMissy100: I'm so honored that you chose to read mine, I hope you continue. :)
xofldhckyxo: I was actually thinking about Cam and Massie too but I decided against it since basically everyone wanted Massie and Derrick. Thanks for the review.
De.J.A .life: Thank you for voting Massington, just made my choice that much easier.
jambajuice: Massington it is :) TY for commenting, every review counts!
laughyytaffy: Finally! I found someone who shares my distaste for Claire! I feel like we have just formed a strange kind of sacred bond just because of this haha.
(blank): why thank you, you are also amazing for commenting. :)
(I got this idea of responding to every review from falling through midnight, so credits to her. I thought it was really cool cause it showed I care and am very grateful for everyones encouragement. So, thank you ALL again and please continue reading and reviewing!)
Disclaimed.
Day 1: They Meet
Massie Block sauntered down the stairs, feeling wearier than ever. Of course, no one saw it, not even her parents—especially not her parents.
"Morning Darling, the pancakes are on the table, I'm heading out." Kendra Block flounced around the kitchen trying to find her briefcase while typing a quick response into her Blackberry.
"Dinning room table," Massie mumbled as she placed herself into a tall bar stool in front of the island counter.
"What?" Kendra aimed a quick glance at her daughter before returning to her wild search.
"Your briefcase. It's in the dining room, you left it there last night." She stabbed at her pancake.
"Oh," Kendra sang, "thank you," she jumped up and ran for the dining room. Three Mississippis later she race back into the kitchen, briefcase attached, and planted a quick kiss on Massie's forehead then bolted out the front door as if they were playing a game of tag (a one-player match, that is).
Massie breathed out a long sigh the moment the door slammed shut. She picked up her plate of pancakes, slid them into the trashcan, then placed a cardboard box over the evidence.
Mondays were always especially tedious. The monotonous routine of a typical Massie Block schedule was filled up to the last minute and every single detail was planned out into perfection. The yearbook meeting before school, the student counsel planning that took up most of lunch, the Varsity volleyball match in the afternoon, and then the official Monday Block Family Dinner.
She took in a deep breath, pulled her waves into a high ponytail and dusted her side bangs behind her ears. Her maroon volleyball jersey—which each member of the team was required to wear every Monday—made her frown while she reached across the island counter and grabbed her Marc hobo tote.
As she stepped out the door, Massie sighed one last time before pasting on her famous yet plastic smile.
.
Derrick Harrington hated it when the coach made the team run extra laps.
It wasn't the work that bothered him; it was just the idea that it was a "punishment." "Punishment" was just such a downer label, if it was called "extra fun time" he would have run ten miles without a sweat.
"Man, Daniels is such a jackass." Cam Fisher muttered as he poured a cup of water over his sweat drenched head.
Derrick nodded and peacefully drank his water instead.
The rest of the soccer boys had gathered around the water station too and were thirstily rehydrating themselves.
"Oh shit," Derrick hissed suddenly.
"What?" Cam shook his head wildly to dry his hair off.
"I forgot to get that book, what was it…that mouse and man story."
"Of Mice and Men?" Cam tugged at the soaked collar of his shirt to keep it from sticking to his neck. Drenching himself more than he already was turned out not to be too great of an idea.
"Yeah, that one," He nodded enthusiastically as if Cam had just uncovered the ultimate secret attack move in Brawl. "I have to run to the library really quick or else Weisman's gonna nag on me and I'm gonna have to share a book with that creeper, Sally."
"Wait!" Cam called after his friend who was already dashing towards the multimedia building. "What about Daniels?" He pointed to their coach, who was currently too occupied in doing sit-ups on the dusty track to notice them.
"Just make up a excuse or something," Derrick called back before vanishing into the student parking lot.
The parking area was always empty at 6:30 A.M. It was a little foggy this morning but he was convinced the sun would show up soon enough.
As he was crossing the entrance lane he heard a sudden honking and before he could even react to it, a car was zooming in on him. And fast.
.
Massie immediately stepped down on her brakes.
"What the hell!" She yelled as she slapped her horn again.
The boy standing in front of her seemed to be frozen in place. He was staring—not at her, but rather through her—without any intention of moving and Massie was pretty sure he would spazz out into a seizure at any given moment.
She quickly got out of her car and raced towards the stunned boy.
"What the hell were you doing?" Massie lightly pushed at his shoulder to see if he would react.
He shook his head clean and turned to stare at her. "What?"
She tilted her head over to focus in on this guy. His confused look was much better than his "deer caught in the headlights" face. But something about him…he looked familiar. Then suddenly something in her brain snapped into place. He was Derrick Harrington. The Derrick Harrington.
"What just happened?" Massie's trance was broken by his voice.
"You—you just ran into my car!" She declared as if the BMW—which was only a foot away—parked in front of him wasn't obvious enough. "What were you thinking?" Her hand flew up against his head and he mumbled a low ouch.
He returned to staring at her, still completely befuddled by the situation. His milky brown eyes were tossing her breathing patterns off track and she pinched herself to keep from gazing back at him.
"Hello!" She waved her hands in his face until he answered.
"You almost ran into me." He stated dumbly.
Was this kid stoned? "Actually, you're the one who ran into me."
"Oh," He unconsciously cracked a smile, "sorry."
Massie was a little taken aback by his sudden cheeriness.
"Okaaay," She finally spoke, "I guess you're good now."
He didn't respond, just continued to smile and stare at her.
"Um, be careful," Her hand landed stiffly on his left shoulder as she bit down on her lips. She quickly turned to head for her car before she could say anything more awkward to tense up the already uncomfortable moment.
"Wait," He called right as her hand touched the handle of the door. "What's your name?"
Massie didn't say anything. Only plastered her fake smile back on her face and got into the car.
.
Brown hair. Amber eyes. Derrick hated mysteries almost as much as he loved solving them—especially when it came to girls.
If she had obediently given her name like every other girl at their overpopulated school, she would have just been…another one of those girls: worth playing with, but only if they came to him first. But this girl. She didn't offer up her identity like a Derrick-hungry fan girl. She was refreshingly different.
"Hey," Derrick suddenly felt a hard knock on his head.
"What the fu—" He rubbed at his tousled locks.
"Daniels was on my ass the rest of practice." Cam explained his action as he took a seat next to Derrick in the quiet media center.
"Oh," He muttered half-heartedly as he watched Cam flip through his two inch thick AP World History textbook. "Wait—did you just hit me with that?"
Cam quickly glanced up at him blankly before returning to chapter 11.
Derrick snatched the book away from him and dangled it by its weak spine. "Do you know how much this thing weights?"
"Shit man, be careful!" Cam, who was more studious than most, watched his poor book hang on to dear life guiltily.
He rolled his eyes before tossing the hardcover back at Cam. Derrick lazily reclined into his seat and scanned the nerd infested media center when his eyes suddenly landed on the girl from earlier that morning. The one who didn't give a shit about nearly running him over. The one with the brown hair and amber eyes.
"Shit," He hissed, quickly propping himself upright in his chair as he pounded on Cam's arm repeatedly until he responded.
"What?" Cam demanded angrily, clearly upset by the interruption. And he was just getting into the good part about Assurbanipal.
"Who's that?" He pointed a finger at the girl, who was wandering over to the stacks of books across from them.
Cam snorted sarcastically, shaking his head as he continued to study. "Don't even think about it."
"Who is she?" He was persistent.
"The one girl you'll never be able to get." Cam didn't look up but Derrick could see the knowing smile play out across his face.
"I'll take that as a challenge."
AN: So this might not have been what you expected. Tell me how you feel about the writing style cause I want to try and expand out of my comfort zone. What should I change or should I keep it the same? This chapter was kind of awkward but I promise it gets progressively better.