Tawny pushed through the doors of the weight room with a towel wrapped around her neck and a cold bottle of water in her hand, sheen of sweat glistening on her alabaster skin. She sat down just outside the door and began stretching out from her work out when the brunette from the hallway earlier sat down beside her.

"Hi! My name is Stephanie Jo Hatcher. Are you Amy?" the dark haired girl asked, in a perky, upbeat voice.

Tawny just looked at her. Amy Jordan was the captain of the cheerleading squad and one of the biggest snobs at Roosevelt High School. To even be associated with Amy was one of the biggest insults Tawny could think of. But, she had been right in the assumption that Little Miss Perky was a cheerleader. She could spot them a mile away.

"No," Tawny said simply, then went back to stretching.

Stephanie turned up her small pert nose, "I didn't think so. You don't have the build for a cheerleader."

Tawny gave a reply that was perilously close to a snort. "Thank God."

Just then Luis came around the corner, looking devastating in a muscle shirt and a pair of gym shorts. Tawny bit her lip and looked her fill until he came to a stop in front of her.

"Hey, Luis, where were you at? I waited for a while and then just did my workout without you," she said, looking up at him.

"Oh, sorry Tawny. I told Stephanie here that I'd show her around the weight room today. You don't mind do you?" he asked, giving Stephanie a hand up off the floor.

Tawny gave a smile that looked more like a snarl. "Of course I don't mind. I'm sure she couldn't find the machines without your help."

If looks could kill, Tawny would be on the floor mortally wounded after the look Stephanie gave her. Luis just looked at her with confusion written on his normally smiling face.

Tawny relented. "Yeah, it's fine. Nothing you can do about it now. You two kids have fun." She turned to Luis. "Call me later?"

He gave her that lady-killer smile and nodded, ushering Stephanie into the weight room. Tawny smiled back, just at him, until they vanished from sight, then she threw her towel as hard as she could against the wall.

'It's not fair,' she thought to herself. They had been best friends since the first day they met in junior high. But lately, she had been feeling a little bit more than friendship towards him. Truthfully she thought she was in love with him. She certainly loved everything about him: the way his hair felt beneath her fingers when she playfully ruffled it, his dark eyes that you could almost drown in, the way he said her name when he thought she was funny, his amazing smile that made her heart do a little flip flop when he flashed it at her. Oh yeah, she had it bad. But she was too afraid to tell him how she felt. Too afraid he wouldn't like her in that way and it would mess up their entire friendship. She couldn't risk that; he was her best friend. She sat there, a frown creasing her brow, lost in deep thought. But, she thought, if I could get him to find out what he is missing. If only I could get him to like me like I like him. Her lips curved into a calculating smirk.

"And that's exactly what I'm going to do," she said aloud, her determined voice bouncing off of the empty walls of the corridor.