Chapter 11:
Max jogged down the stairs, hoping to get to his first class early today. He hadn't slept too well last night. His mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of kissing Kasey again and could you blame him? She was a damn good kisser and one hell of a girl. He should than his lucky stars she should even look his way after what he did, even though all he got were glances of loathing and a little bit of hurt.
He slowed his pace once he reached the creative writing class, before a sight made him stop completely (three guesses what, lol). Kasey. God, was she gorgeous, just standing outside the door, reading the notices on the bulletin board. Her books hugged tightly to her chest. He suddenly felt overcome with a sense of Deja-vu. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Have a good first day, Max. try to make some friends." Mrs. Knightly said through the rolled down window, as Max climbed out of the car. "I'll see you later, love you!" With that she was off, leaving him to face this hell alone.
New Haven Highschool, it looked like a damn prison. Students milled around the courtyard, talking about their plans for the weekend or the latest gossip on who was with who.
Max sighed and made his way through the crowd, looking for someone who looked friendly enough to approach. It wasn't until he got inside that his gaze fell on a girl reading the bulletin board down the hall.
God, was she pretty. She was alone, reading notices on the bulletin board, her books hugged tightly to her chest. She bit her bottom lip and smiled secretively. Her hair was a soft golden brown, pulled up into an elegant french twist. She was wearing a white tank top and denim miniskirt with brown heeled sandals on her feet. At black choker with a butterfly hanging off of it wrapped around her neck. Her eyes were the most expressive brown he had ever seen.
Mustering up all of his courage, he approached. Max was a shy guy by nature and if you asked him to talk to a pretty girl, like this one, he'd usually end up stuttering like an idiot. "Excuse me?" He asked, trying to keep his voice from wavering.
Her gaze turned from the bulletin board to his own eyes and he felt at loss for words already. "Hi." She greeted him with a smile, that literally sucked the air from him.
"I'm-m-m, um, new-w-w here. C-c-could you p-p-point me in th-the direction of the g-g-g-guidance of-f-fices?" He managed to stutter out, internally berating himself for being such an idiot.
She smiled warmly at him. "Not a problem. I'm Kasey. Kasey Saunders." She shifted her books to one hand and held her other hand out.
Max shook it and felt warmth flood through his veins at the touch. "M- m-maxacvier Knightly." He answered. "You can just call me, M-max, th- though." Good, less stuttering that time.
"Welcome to New Haven, Max. You have an interesting name." She turned and looped her arm through his, leading him down the hall. "Come on, I'll take you to Guidance." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ms. Leah, the secretary had given him his schedule later and to his delight, asked Kasey to show him around. So for the rest of that day, he had spent with Kasey. She had introduced him to her friends and accepted him into her life.
Max was suddenly struck with a brilliant idea. He took a deep breath and approached her. "Excuse me?" He asked, trying to sound confident.
She gaze turned from the bulletin board to his own and she frowned. "What do you want, Max?"
"I'm new here. Could you please point me in the direction of the Guidance offices?" He asked, sucking in another deep breath of nervousness.
Her expression went from annoyed to blank, then surprise. He could have sworn he saw a smile curve those oh so kissable lips. "What?"
"Think of it as a way of starting over. I don't want things to be hostile between us anymore. Seeing as seeing each other is unavoidable, we have too many friends in common and it looks like we have the same class together." He shrugged. "I just want to start over and put highschool behind us."
She seemed to contemplate the idea. "And this is just supposed to make all of our issues go away?"
"No, but it's a start. What do you say, Kase?" Max shifted nervously from foot to foot. "We began dealing with it already. This is our chance to become friends again."
She stared at him hard for a moment, before a smll smill curved her lips. "Not a problem. I'm Kasey. Kasey Saunders." She shifted her books from one hand and held her other hand out.
Max shook it and felt that same warmth flow through his veins again. "Maxacvier Knightly. You can just call me Max, though."'
"Welcome to Yale, Max." She grinned, looping her arm through his. "Come on, let's get a seat for class." Together, they walked into the classroom. Max felt like a whole new man and he thanked the Gods for giving him this second chance.

"What?!"
"I'd like to take you on a date for Friday night?" Tristan repeated, a knowing smile crossed his handsome face. He loved watching her squirm.
"A date?" She asked, completely thrown off guard.
"Yes Mary, a date." He teased. "Look, we both screwed up in highschool. with all that drama and collective crap going on and around us, there was no way a relationship could have worked, no matter how much we wanted it too, but our feelings have not really change. There's no chiltonites here to stop us, no Bagboy, no pyscho Paris, just you and me, in this crazy new world. Think of this as our second chance or our way of starting over, whatever. All I know is we'd be stupid not to take it."
"You're serious?" She asked, contemplating the thought.
"Yes Mary." He nodded. "I think we can make this work this time. I've wanted this the minute since you walked into the classroom sophmore year and I dubbed you Mary."
"Well, who am I to tempt fate?" She joked, sipping her coffee. "You really think we'll make it work this time."
"I'm almost positive. I loved you, love you. That's all that matters, for now." He nodded, assuring that this would work.
"Then, I guess you've got yourself a date for Friday night, Mr. Dugrey." Rory nodded her head in agreement.
"Great. I'll pick you up at seven?" He asked, feeling happier than he had in a long time.
"Seven works for me." She agreed with a nod.

Andy jogged down the steps to Kasey's suite, hoping she hadn't left for class already. He really wanted to talk to her. He had woken up this morning and felt better than he had all summer. She was right, it was time to come back to her.
He knocked on her door, praying that she was home. Mara opened the door a few seconds later. "Hey Mara." He greeted her with his trademark, Goofy-Andy, grin. "Is Kasey around, by any chance?"
"Um, no. She left fifteen minutes ago for her creative writing class." She answered shyly, smiling lsightly at him.
Okay, Kasey was right. He had to get back into dating sometime and why nto have it be a girl who wasn't going to break his heart. "Hey Mara, do you have a boyfriend?" He asked.
She blushed. "No." She answered softy, pushing strands of her long mousy brown hair behind her ear.
"Well, would you consider going out with me on Friday, for dinner and a movie? We could get to know each other better." He took the plunge.
"But, aren't you and Kasey......." She trailed off with a gesture of her hand.
"Oh no. Just friends." Andy chuckled. "Okay, I'll admit i had a crush on her freshman year, when she was the head cheerleader and I was the class clown, but we're just friends."
"Oh." She said, playing with the ends of her hair.
"So, you interested?" He asked.
"Um," She looked nervous. "Alright." She finally agreed, blushing pink again.
"Cool. I'll pick you up at seven?" He asked, feeling excited for the first time in awhile.
"Seven's fine. I'll be here." She answered, looking down at the ground.
"It's one date, Mara. Trust me, we'll have fun." Andy assured her with a smile. "Look, I've got to go to class, but I'll talk to you later!" He turned and jogged off again, humming under his breath. Oh yes, today would be the start of better days.