The lunch bell finally rang after an insanely tedious morning. I had spoken to a couple of people in my new classes, but mainly we sat there and listened to every teacher go through their 'rules and expectations' before giving a useless summary of the things we'd be doing. Books in hand, I waded through the crowded halls and fumbled to stuff my things back into the tiny lockers.

I couldn't spot Bradin in the halls but that wasn't much of a surprise, the faces of the students were all starting to blend together. Two steps into the cafeteria, filled with chatter and friends, laughter and ready-made cliques, caused me to give an involuntary gulp.

There I stood, by myself, when everyone else already had friends... I couldn't help but feel like a total loser. I scanned for an empty table… no such luck. I took a breath and forced a smile and walked towards the closest table.

"Hi, would you mind if I sat here?" I asked with a bright smile. The group looked up at me blankly. I gestured towards the handful of unoccupied seats.

"You must be new," a guy spoke. He had the appearance of being a pretty boy.

"Uh, yeah, I am," I kept the smile plastered on. "I'm just starting tenth grade."

"Really? Tenth grade? You must not have noticed, then, that we're seniors," the guy continued.

"So?" I blurted.

"We don't sit with freshmen," a girl answered for him. She had on a micro-mini and was so covered with make-up I half wondered if she was made of plastic.

I rolled my eyes and muttered under my breath, "God forbid you share the same space with someone two years younger for fifteen minutes."

"Did you say something?" the girl sneered.

"Whatever," I answered. Looks like I had to stumble on the popular kiddies.

"Hey!" Bradin's warm voice said from a point beside me. A moment later I felt him place his arm around my shoulder. I turned and smiled at him somewhat nervously. He was a senior.

"Bradin, right?" one of the guys nodded at him with a welcoming sort of tone.

"Yeah," he shrugged.

"Need a place to sit?" the same girl who had oh-so-snottily stated that I was a freshman grinned, "We've got some space." The girl not so subtly gave Bradin a once over and clearly liked what she saw. I gave her a glare.

"Nah," Bradin brushed off, "I'm sorry but I don't sit with people who don't sit with freshmen. But thanks." So he'd overheard. Bradin looked at me and questioned, "It's so packed in here, wanna eat outside?"

"Okay," I answered. As we walked out, I noticed that the micro-mini girl was wearing a shocked expression with a hint of disgust...Guess she didn't get turned down much.

Crap. The Valerie girl had found us again. "Bradin!"

"Hi," Bradin smiled back.

"You probably need a place to sit, you can totally join my friends," she all but batted her eyelashes.

"Jess and I were actually going to head outside-" Bradin indicated me.

"Oh! Well that's where we eat! Out by the picnic tables." She giggled. Okay, so maybe it wasn't really a giggle but she still said it in an annoyingly girly way. She caught Bradin glance over at me again and quickly added in my direction, "You can come too."

"If that's okay with you?" Bradin asked me.

"Yeah, sure," I smiled.

Once we had joined her friends and sat down, Bradin was immediately immersed into conversation with Valerie.

"Who are you?" a girl with bouncy curls asked me.

"Oh, she's friends with Brady," Valerie answered. Oh God save me now, did she just call him Brady!

I had the distinct impression the one and only reason I found myself sitting here was because of Bradin. My natural shyness resurfaced as I stared at my lunch and attempted unsuccessfully to make conversation with those around me.

"You brown bagged it?" One of the other girls asked me, raising her eyebrow in a sceptical manner.

"Um, yeah," I smiled with a nod, glancing at the rumpled bag in my hands, "If you went to my last school, you wouldn't take chances with cafeteria food, either. Remember, Bradin?"

"Ugh," Bradin made a face, "Kennedy had the worst food!"

"You guys went to the same school?" Valerie questioned.

"Yup," I bit into my sandwich.

"Kansas natives at heart," Bradin nodded.

"You're from Kansas!" Bouncy curls, Kate, exclaimed.

And thus they were launched into a whole new gush-fest. The topic of Bradin's parents came up again, this time he was very vague in the telling and kept it brief, moving on quickly. Valerie jumped into a tide of 'I'm so sorries' and said a tirade of 'I know just how you feel' and 'time will heal everything'. It disgusted me. These were the exact things I had hated hearing about when my brother died. Meaningless pity from people who pretend like they had all the answers. I couldn't tell if Bradin was irritated by the words like I was but nonetheless, I gave his knee a comforting pat under the table.

By the time the girls stopped twittering, lunch was over. The bell rang loudly and I quickly stood up, feeling more than a little relieved. I said good-bye to the people I was sitting with but for the most part, the other girls didn't acknowledge it.

I found myself back at my locker, staring at my new schedule with a bit of contempt. As I closed my locker and wited for a parting in the hall, I felt two hands on my shoulder and warm breath on my neck.

"Hey, sorry about lunch, I know it wasn't exactly enjoyable, I'll make it up to you later, okay? See ya," Bradin's smooth voice said in my ear as the second bell rang. I had time to give him an acknowledging smile before he ran to his locker and I dashed into my class.

For the rest of the afternoon, I daydreamed about Bradin. He was so sweet…! The way his hair covered his eyes, the way he constantly bit his lip, the way his eyes brightened when he saw me…

"Jessica, right?" a voice jarred my thoughts. "Hell-o?" I blinked and realized that a guy was standing beside my desk.

"Oh, sorry," I apologized.

"No problem, I just came over 'cause every year on the first day of school I organize a party involving everyone in my new homeroom, you know, so we can all get acquainted." The guy told me with a wide smile. "It's tonight, at six, at the pizza place near the beach. It'd be great if you could come." He had dark brown hair, which was spiked a bit at the front and deep chocolate eyes along with a cute smile.

"Oh, uh, thanks for the invite and all but I don't really think that's really my thing," I started, thinking about whether or not I'd be able to hang out with Bradin tonight.

"Pizza near the beach isn't your thing?" the guy laughed.

"Parties with a group of peopleI don't knowisn't really my thing," I answered with a small smile.

"Come on, that's the point of these things. To get to know people." He told me.

"Meh…" I shrugged hesitantly.

"All right, I see I can't sway you, no matter how much charm I radiate," the guy said, eyes twinkling, "But you seemed a little lonely. And you seem to be the type of person I wouldn't mind getting to know. I'll be looking for you tonight, in case you change your mind. My name's Jason, by the way."

"You're sweet… M-a-y-be I'll go," I smiled.

The day ended and I thought more and more about the party. I really should just go out and meet new people, these were the people I'd be hanging out near for the rest of this year… Besides, I was always free to do anything the moment Bradin asked… Talk about desperate and pathetic. It was time to get a life of my own. Jason did seem nice…

When six o'clock rolled around, I was still wondering if Bradin would call to hang out. Desperate and pathetic, perhaps, but I still would rather hang with him then go to any party. It occurred to me that calling him was a viable action but I had initiated a bunch of activities we had done and I would feel loser-ish if I did so again.

6:30. I sighed and decided to see how the party was going. I might as well. Bradin was not my world and I just had to broaden my social life. Time to step outside my comfort zone.

I was right outside the pizza restaurant when Bradin ran into me.

"Hey!" he welcomed.

"Hey," I said back

"You know, I'm not doing anything right now and I was actually thinking about calling you. Do you want to grab a bite?" he asked.

"Actually, I'm doing something," I told him. "Maybe another time." Okay, I have to admit, I felt a little smug as I said it. He always assumed I was ready to jump the moment he had free time. Okay, so that could be related to the fact that I normally was ready. But not this time! You see, Bradin? I have other things to do than to wait for you. I gave him a slightly apologetic smile as I walked away from his surprised expression and into the restaurant.

I spotted Jason instantly. He was sitting by the door, looking a little bummed out. There were a bunch of people I vaguely recognized vacating the perimeters of the restaurant. I walked over to him. "Hi," I said.

His face brightened and he smiled, "Hey, I didn't think you'd show."

I slid into the chair across from him and shrugged, "I figured this couldn't be that bad. So why are you sitting by yourself?"

"We ate already and they wanted to dance. Dancing is not my forte." He shuddered. He paused then continued,"…Hey, sorry we didn't wait to order."

"What? Don't be silly," I waved off, "I'm over a half hour late and I said I wasn't coming. I'll just order a personal pan for myself."

"No need for that," Jason looked a little embarrassed, "I was holding out hope you'd come so I saved you two pieces from the quickly devoured box." He brandished two pieces that were hidden behind his cup.

"Awww, thanks!" I grinned. "That was so nice!"

During the course of the evening, I met and spoke to many of my new classmates and was really feeling a lot more comfortable and eons less shy. By the time the night was over, I had several new friends. Jason was extremely nice. I found out that he had lived in Playa Linda all his life. He had a shy-guy quality to him that I liked, and it appeared he was about average on the popularity scale. He was well liked, but not a 'popular', he had a little nerdiness to him, but he was definitely not a geek. We had lots in common.

When 9:30 was reached, I had to go home or risks having my parents call the police saying I was missing. Jason insisted on walking me home and we had loads to talk about on the way. It turned out that he was an avid 'Ringer' (LotR devotee) like I was and had a fondness for a handful of the other things I enjoyed. I hadn't felt so open to anyone in a long time. For the first time, my barriers weren't up around a new person in my life. It had taken weeks for me to feel even a little comfortable around Bradin but with Jason, I was 100 percent myself that very night. My shyness shield was wavering at last.

Maybe this school year would be different from the others… With sweet hotties like Bradin and Jason talking to me, how bad could it be?