Chapter 2
"C'mon, Tanner. Out with it." Gia said as she and Stephanie stepped inside the Tanner house.
"Out with what? There's nothing to say." Steph shook her head as she tossed her backpack onto the kitchen table. "How long are you going to keep nagging me about Nate?"
"Until you admit it." Gia smirked, taking a seat at the table. "Admit that you have the hots for him."
Steph rolled her eyes, taking a seat beside her.
"Now, don't give me that." Gia scoffed. "Look, I know how you get around him. You're just as quiet as he is when he's around." Seeing that her best friend was becoming uncomfortable, she gave Steph a light clap on the shoulder. "To be honest...I think he's the right guy for you."
"Maybe he is. It's just something about him..." Steph stared off into space dreamily. "He's really nice and really cute...But he's so shy sometimes. I guess he doesn't hang out with a lot of people..."
"Then you know what you should do? You should invite him to go to the party with you as your date." Gia suggested with a smile. "What could it hurt? Besides, he may even say yes."
"Yeah...Maybe." Steph sighed softly, wondering if she should actually go with that plan.
The next day, Steph didn't see much of Nate. She didn't think much of it, just assuming that he was out sick or something. She went up to her locker and opened it, putting her books inside it. Two males with spiked blonde hair approached the Tanner girl, smug looks upon their faces.
"Hey there, beautiful."
"What do you want, Rich? Paul?" Steph replied coldly, knowing that they were part of the football team and were the two most popular yet egotistical people in school.
"Tell you what, we'll do your reputation a favor. You go out with us tonight and you'll look like a million bucks." Paul proposed. "How's that sound?"
"Um, no thanks. Not interested..." Steph shot back, closing her locker and beginning to walk away. Rich, not willing to take that for an answer, took her by the arm and forced her up against her locker.
"You want to play that way with us, girl?" Rich hissed. "How about this-"
"Hey!"
Rich and Paul turned their heads, seeing Nate approach the two of them and he was not looking too happy with this. Steph let out a sigh of relief, glad to see at least one friendly face today. "Didn't you hear her? She said no, so beat it." Nate folded his arms over his chest.
"And who the hell do you think you are to come up to us like that?" Rich scoffed. "You're in for some rough times if you don't back off now."
"Been there, done that." Nate shot back. "You think I'm afraid of two wanna be greased up jocks like you?"
Paul rolled his eyes, not taking him seriously for a second. Going to shove his shoulder, Paul was utterly shocked when Nate quickly took his arm by the wrist and forced him up against a locker, front first. He then forced Paul's arm up to his back, causing him to yelp in pain. "Now, are you ready to leave her alone?"
"Not even close, dickwa-" Paul managed out before Nate jerked his forearm up against towards his shoulder blades, causing him to yell loudly in pain. "Yes, yes, we'll leave her alone! Now get off of me!"
"Good..." Nate growled and thrown the arrogant jock down to the floor. He knew he was being a little hard on Paul, but Nate just couldn't stand when a friend of his was being harassed.
"You'll be sorry for this later, Thompson." Rich swore angrily as he helped Paul back up and then fled away from the scene. Nate shook his head before going over to Steph.
"Hey...Are you alright? I hope they didn't hurt you." He said gently.
Steph swallowed hard and shook her head. "No, I'm alright." She hid the misty look in her eyes and smiled weakly. "How did you get here so conveniently? Not that I'm complaining..."
"Oh, I just went to the gym and saw what the times were for volleyball. I signed up yesterday. I used to play a little bit back home in New York and decided to see the competition here." Nate explained with a light smile. "Maybe you can see a few of my games?"
"I'd love that." Steph nodded, holding her books in her arms to her chest. "Well...I better get going." She began to walk away but then remembered something. She turned around and walked towards Nate again. "Actually, I did want to ask you something?"
Nate gained a look of curiousity before nodding. "Okay...I'm all ears."
"Well, you see...There's gonna be a party next week on Friday." Steph began uneasily. "Now, I know we've only known each other a couple of days, but I was wondering if you're not busy...If you'd like to go with me as my date?"
Rather than surprise, Nate smiled happily. "Really? You want me to be your date?" When Steph only nodded, Nate returned the nod. "Of course I'll be your date. When should I pick you up?"
"You can pick me up around eight, if that's cool." Steph replied.
"Okay...eight it is." Nate started off the other way to get to class but then remembered something himself: her address and phone number! He quickly made his way back over to her. "Umm...I may need..."
"Oh yeah! How could I forget?" Steph giggled and took her light blue pen out of her pocket. She took the palm of Nate's hand and began to scribble down her address and phone number. "There you go. I think you'll be fine now."
"Cool. I'll see you Friday." Nate, with his charm up to full blast, gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek before starting off to his class once again, leaving a stunned Steph there.
"See you Friday..." She whispered to herself, resting her fingers lightly over her cheek where he kissed her. It looked like she had just been smitten.
