Chapter Three

"You know, I've thought a lot about what we were talking about yesterday," Daniel said as he slumped into the chair next to me. I was in the library, trying to a) avoid whispering and b) study for my math exam. I gave him a look before I continued trying to work on a particularly hard equation.

"I realised that I was judging you and I'm really sorry. I think we should start fresh. So, what do you say?" he asked, nudging me in the shoulder.

I thought about telling him to get lost, but there was something about Daniel that made it impossible to stay mad at him.

"All right, you're forgiven," I muttered, reaching to grab my calculator.

"You're doing it all wrong," he said after a moment, reading over my shoulder.

I gave him an irritated look.

He sighed and took my pencil from my hand. Then he started scribbling on my book, showing me how to do the question. When I just stared at him blankly, he rolled his eyes and walked me through the procedure slowly. Soon after, I knew exactly what to do to solve it and any equations similar to it. I grinned.

"So, a mate from my old soccer team invited me to a party this weekend. It's a Jackson High party, so I figured that you probably wouldn't run into many people from here. What do you say?" He looked so hopeful and excited that I had trouble thinking of an excuse to turn him down.

"Uh, I'd say that no matter whose party it is, Kendall always has a tendency to show up," I said evasively.

"There's going to be a live band from their school. It'll be awesome," he prompted.

"Ugh," I groaned, trying not to look directly into his eyes. That was sure to lead to total submission on my part.

"I'll even give you a lift," he added. I glanced at him and immediately wished I hadn't. His eyes were huge and pleading and I knew that it was futile to resist.

"Fine," I snapped, giving him an annoyed look. "But we're only going as friends and if Kendall shows up, I can't be held responsible for my actions."

"Yes!" he yelled, punching his fist into the air.

Two seconds later an angry librarian came over and kicked us out. I glowered at Daniel as I packed up my textbook and equipment. He had the sense to look ashamed and I couldn't stay angry at him when he looked so adorable.

"I'll pick you up Saturday at seven, okay?" he said once we were outside. I nodded my head, giving him a playful shove. He was the closest thing I had to a friend at the moment, which was annoying to admit. Everyone else had abandoned me for Kendall. I wondered if I was really that bad. I knew I had to change, but a leopard can't change its spots, right? So what was the point? I'd tried before and it had always ended badly. I usually had some sort of meltdown that just made everything worse than before.

Daniel stayed with me until the bell went, talking about his soccer tryouts that were on this afternoon. He asked me to come watch and I couldn't find it in myself to refuse. After all, it's not like I had any plans with anyone. If I was going to have any friends then I at least needed to try and do something about it.

The next lesson wasn't that bad. I found it easier to ignore the whispers going on around me and I even smiled a couple of times when the teacher cracked a joke. Which I know is surprising because teachers aren't supposed to be funny. Daniel was a nice guy, even though he always seemed to get on my nerves. I wondered if we could make a friendship work.

After school was finished, I found that my locker had been decimated. It was the first outright attack on property that I'd received. To tell the truth, I'd been expecting it a lot earlier. In bright red letters, the word 'slut' had been spray painted all over my locker. There was also a yellow post-it note stuck near the lock. I ripped it off and read what was written on it. I frowned when I realised it was a website. I repressed my concern when I realised the many things a website could represent.

By now students were crowded around my locker, laughing and joking and pointing. I clenched my fists, trying to repress my anger. I opened my locker and dumped all of my unnecessary things inside it, grabbing what I needed. Then I pushed my way through the group of gawking students and walked, head held high, towards the soccer try outs. If anyone thought that I could be brought down by mere graffiti, they were greatly mistaken. I was tough. I could handle this. Well, I hoped so.

So instead of running home with my tail between my legs, I went to the soccer field and watched Daniel as he tried out for the team. He was good. I'd never seen someone that fast before. He dribbled the ball like a pro and he seemed to fly down the field. It was obvious that he would get in. I knew our school's team needed another strong player to guarantee their victory in the up-coming inter-school competition.

"Hey Rose," a voice said from behind me. I turned, expecting to see a hostile face, only to be met with a smile.

"Oh, hey Will," I said with my own smile.

Will sat down beside me, watching the action on the field for a moment. I watched for a moment as Daniel scored a goal and gave out a cheer. I smirked before I turned back to Will.

"Nothing I like more than guys running around in shorts," he said with a wink.

I laughed so hard I nearly fell over. Will was one hundred percent gay and a lot of people gave him shit for it. I always felt bad for the way people treated him, but he always seemed to have a smile on his face anyway. It made me happy to know that he was comfortable enough with himself to not take notice of mean remarks.

"So, who are you here for?" Will asked.

"Daniel. He wanted me to come and watch," I said.

"He's not your boyfriend, is he?" Will asked, eyeing Daniel appreciatively.

I laughed. "No, we're just friends. But I don't think he swings your way."

"Damn," he said with a sigh.

I couldn't help but laugh again.

"I saw what happened to your locker," he said gravely after a short silence. I turned to him, expecting to see pity written all over his face. Instead, I was surprised to see a sparkle in his eye that suggested humour.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Nothing really: just the fact that people think that writing a word on your locker is going to hurt you. You're one of the toughest girls I know. I can't see you running away from a locker, balling your eyes out."

I grinned. I'd always been pretty good friends with Will, even when my friends had made fun of me for it. We weren't close enough friends to hang out together and do stuff outside of school. But I could always talk to him whenever the opportunity arose. I was surprised that I hadn't thought to hang out with him. Maybe it was because I was so prepared to be alone after everything that had happened.

When tryouts were over, Will and I sat at the edge of the field, waiting for Daniel. He ran over, sweating and flushed red. He grinned at me and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up.

"This is Will," I said, gesturing to the dark haired boy beside me. Daniel smiled and shook Will's hand. Even after it became apparent to him that Will was gay, he didn't do anything mean or offending. Actually, he seemed perfectly fine. I smiled as I realised that Daniel was a good guy. It was always nice to meet someone that was comfortable enough with himself not to judge people just because they were different.

I knew it was a different case if the person had done something wrong; like me. It couldn't be helped that Daniel had judged me. Anyone would have in his situation.

"So, how did I go?" he asked me after a moment.

"Do I even need to answer that? There's no doubt that you made the team," I said.

"Well, you're right. I made the team," he said with a grin.

I swatted at him playfully for asking me the question in the first place.

"I've gotta go and get my stuff and everything," Daniel said, glancing over at the retreating backs of his team mates. "Do you have a phone?"

I handed him my phone and he programmed his number in. "Text me your address so I know where to pick you up from tomorrow," he said with a smile before he ran off to catch up with everyone else.

"Nice guy," Will said as we made our way to the car park.

"Yeah, it's weird. I've only known him a couple of days, but it feels like I've known him for ages. Maybe it's just because he's so friendly and easy-going," I said, glancing over my shoulder. I felt uneasy when I realised that Daniel wasn't always easy-going. He could be quite serious sometimes, especially when it concerned me.

"Where are you guys going on the weekend?" Will asked.

"To a Jackson High party. It's one of his soccer friend's or something."

"Really? I'm going to be at that party," he said with a smile.

"Awesome," I said, giving a genuine smile. At least now if something went wrong I would have Will there. I knew I could count on him to help in a bad situation. I wasn't so sure about Daniel yet. We did argue a lot, so he would probably be the reason for the bad situation.

"So I'll see you there," Will said as he made his way over to his car. I waved to him as he sped off in his little car.

The beach was nearly deserted at this time of afternoon. Instead of going home, I'd felt like using my camera. So with a quick call home explaining where I would be, I made my way to the beach. The sun was setting and the lighting was perfect for photography.

I sort of felt nervous to get back into photography. I hadn't done it for so long. But as soon as I started snapping photos, everything returned to me and I felt at home - like I'd been taking photos for my entire life.

I was admiring the sunset when I noticed two people holding hands and watching the sunset. Unable to resist any opportunity, I manoeuvred so that I was behind them and starting snapping pictures of the couple against the setting sun. When they turned towards each other to kiss, I couldn't believe my luck. It was the perfect photo, so I made sure to keep snapping them. After that they seemed to notice me.

"What the hell? Were you taking photos of us?" the girl yelled, shading her eyes to get a better look at me. I didn't see how shading her eyes would help her see better in the increasing darkness, but I got the point.

"Kate, honey, leave the girl alone. Do you remember what we discussed about your temper?" the guy said exasperatedly.

"Shut up, Jeremy! She was taking stalker photos of us!"

I approached them cautiously, trying not to seem guilty. "I'm sorry; I just couldn't resist taking a photo. I was thinking of creating a portfolio for university and I'm trying to take as many photos as possible. If you want, I can delete the photos. Or I could give you a copy of them. I think you guys look awesome," I said, aware that they probably thought I was the biggest weirdo.

"Can I have a look?" the girl said after a moment.

"Uh, sure," I said as I hesitantly approached them. When I was closer, I realised that they were probably the same age as me. I didn't notice before.

I toggled through the photos until I found the best photo of them kissing. I showed them the camera and watched the girl's face soften. She turned to the guy and smiled at him. In that moment I was fully aware how much these two loved each other. It was so obvious that I wondered how I could have missed it.

"Sorry I snapped at you. Sometimes I get a bit carried away," the girl said with a smile. "The photo is beautiful and I would appreciate it if we could get a copy. I'm Kate. This is Jeremy," she said, gesturing to the guy.

He nodded to me with a gentle smile. He was dark and handsome while the girl was small and blonde. Her hair had a pink stripe through it that framed one side of her face.

"I'm Rose."

"Well Rose, I think you have a lot of talent," Kate said as she toggled through the rest of the photos.

"Thanks."

"So, what school do you go to?" she asked, looking at me with her silvery blue eyes.

"Morrison," I said, wondering how she even knew I still went to school.

"We go to Jackson. Are you going to Jacob's party tomorrow?"

"Uh, does he play soccer?" I asked, wondering how this girl could keep making correct assumptions.

"Yeah. So you're coming?"

"Well, assuming that there aren't two soccer players having a party this weekend, then yes. My friend invited me."

"Awesome. We'll see you there and if it's not too much trouble, you could give us a copy of the photos," Kate said with a smile.

Jeremy sighed and took Kate's hand. "Sorry, she's a bit bossy sometimes. But I love her anyway," he said.

"I'm not bossy!" Kate exclaimed.

"Kate, what did we just talk about with your temper?"

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"We'll see you tomorrow," she said as Jeremy dragged her away and kissed her before he pulled them towards an old car.

"Bye," I muttered as I tried to figure out what had just gone on. They had to be the cutest couple I'd ever seen. I smiled to myself as I walked back towards my car, ready to call it a night.

That night I listened to the soft guitar music that was coming from somewhere close by. Its soothing melody worked as a lullaby and I wondered who was playing such beautiful music. Had Josh, my middle-aged neighbour, decided to take up the guitar again? He seemed like the best bet, considering he used to be in a semi-famous band.

Slowly, my thoughts drifted and I fell asleep to beautiful music.