A/N: Thank you guys SO MUCH for all the awesome reviews! The advice and criticism really helps me as an author, so even if you think this story totally sucks, leave me a review AND TELL ME so I can make it better :) thanks again! I'm changing the voice a little bit, just making it not-so-serious, but I'm still using a wide range of vocabulary ;) lol… I'm trying to make the chapters a little bit longer, and it gets better as it goes, believe me :) ENJOY!

He watched her from behind the sea of lockers. She was sitting on the steps, obviously deep in thought. The sea of chocolate waves masked her face. He had a sudden urge to go sit next to her and tuck her hair behind her ears, like he had done to so many other girls before. But none of them had ever been like her. He mustered up his courage and put on a smile, walking slowly toward her, hands in pockets. She looked up and raised a pierced eyebrow. "What do you want?" Her voice, though dripping with menace, was music to his ears. He was reminded to reply by her standing.

"I, uh…" He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and lowered his gaze.

"I'm Beck," he said finally, carefully smiling down at her. She was at least half a foot shorter than her, and thin. And small. The kind of small that made any and every boy want to scoop her up in his arms and hug her, tight. But they would never dare. She was, after all, Jade West. And they would never admit it, but they were all scared of her. Including Beck, in fact, but he was obviously braver than the rest, because he had the courage to approach the seemingly-unapproachable Jade West. Who, at that moment, was skeptically looking at the odd boy who stood in front of her. Her mind whirred with thoughts. Why is he here? Why is he talking to me? What does he want?

But on the outside, her face remained still, her skeptical expression still frozen upon it. "And?" she demanded. "Uh…" His mind searched desperately for something that would impress her, but came up short. "What's your name?" He settled for in haste. Her eyebrow disappeared into her streaked hair.

"Why do you care?" she demanded of him, to which he had no answer. She rolled her eyes and turned on her heel, ready to leave.

He panicked. "Doyouwannagooutsometime?" He asked hurriedly, regretting what he had said immediately. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he chided mentally. She stopped and turned slowly, her brow furrowed. "What?" He took a deep breath. "Do you, um… Do you want to…uh, go out sometime?" He flushed and ran his fingers through his hair. She cocked her head, like she didn't understand. "Why?" she asked. Her tone was softer, as if she was questioning him of something alien. "Why?" he repeated. "You're…asking me why I'm asking you out?" She nodded slowly; her eyebrows met above her deep green eyes. This question was not something Beck was expecting at all. He was prepared for a harsh "no!" or even a strong slap across his face, but never "why?" So he replied simply," Because I like you."

She paused, thinking, arms crossed over chest, then nodded slowly, understanding. She met her gaze and released a short breath. The air around them was filled with the welcoming scent of coffee, hazelnut, he guessed. "Okay," she replied softly, her eyes filled with emotion, emotion he was unable to comprehend. And before he could react, she was gone.

He got her house address from the ditzy redhead that introduced herself, excitedly, as Cat. Cat Valentine, the best friend of the mysterious girl he had fallen for.

"Um, excuse me?" He had approached the tiny redhead from the back, startling her into screaming shrilly. He removed his hands from his ears after she stopped yelling bloody murder. A wide smile broke onto her face. "Oh, hi!" she exclaimed excitedly, jumping up and down. Her red curls bounced and stopped when she landed hard on her neon green high-tops. "Beck, right?" He nodded. "I'm Cat! You're in my acting class, right? And stage fighting?"

"Mmhmm…" he replied, his attention was directed elsewhere. The girl had just appeared around the corner, a Gears of War bag slung around her shoulder, a plastic coffee cup in her hand. She approached them, exciting him, but then turned abruptly and continued down the hallway to her next class. He breathed out a sigh of disappointment, and Cat noticed. "Were you looking at Jade?" she asked, her tone suggestive. His expression must have looked confused, for the petite girl continued," The girl who just walked by? Jeans, bag, black shirt?" So her name was Jade. He smiled, embarrassed. "Yeah." She squealed. "She's like, my best friend!"

He pursed his lips. "So…um…do you, like, know where she lives?" Her eyes widened. "Are you a stalker?" she yelled, stepping away. "No, no!" he rushed. "I just, um…" His tone calmed as she relaxed, listening intently. "I kinda, um…asked her out yesterday…so…" "You asked out Jade West?" she gasped, her tone disbelieving. "Yeah…" Cat shrugged. "Cool."

"Yeah, so…her address?" And Cat Valentine rattled off Jade West's address as Beck frantically scribbled it down, bursting with excitement.