FLASHBACK

Julian stood toward the middle of the football field with his friends from the team, strategizing a few plays that the group intended to use at the next game. His hand waved in front of the face of one of his teammates, seeing that he was distracted, his gaze elsewhere. "Jake.. bro, eyes over here, huh?" he said with a little laugh.

He stole a glance to what the other boy had been looking at then, noticing as the track team was running practices on the track surrounding the practice field. It figured, the funding at the school was shit, and he highly doubted that the school could afford to provide more space for the different teams to practice.

His eyes scanned over the team, watching a few of the girls line up to do a sprint, which was when he saw her. Long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, slender frame, and an expression on her face like she was ready to mow down anyone who got into her way.

"Jake," Julian started, glancing quickly at his friend before looking back toward the girl, "who is that?"

"That's Fiona Gallagher.. I wouldn't bother, though. I've heard enough about her to know that's a road that you do not want to go down," Jake replied.

It wasn't hard for a girl to get a reputation in their school. If a girl so much as made out with a guy, she was labeled as easy. If she had more than one boyfriend in the span of a school year and had made out with both, then she was a slut. It was pretty unfair if you asked him, but there wasn't much that Julian could do about it apart from ignore the rumors and make his own opinions of everyone.

That was just what he intended to do with Fiona Gallagher.

Practice was over after not much longer, Julian finding himself mildly distracted most of the time. He had definitely figured out just what his friend had been staring at, considering he himself had been doing the same when he wasn't actively running plays.

The football team started to grab their things and head to the locker room to shower up, but instead of following, Julian hung back, waiting for track practice to finish as well. Once it did, he moved from his spot on the bleachers, slowly moving over to where he spotted Fiona.

As he walked up to her, he stopped as they were about to meet, then watched, a bit dumbfounded, as she continued walking right past him. His brow furrowed and he moved to catch back up with her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Fiona, hey. Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked.

"Do I know you?" the brunette asked, lightly shrugged his hand from her shoulder. It was easy to see that he was part of the football team, and if this was some sick joke that they were planning, she refused to play into it. She'd much rather just get a shower and go home. She was sure that her brothers needed her to make some dinner, anyway.

"No.. no, you don't. I'm Julian. I'm on the football team, and I saw you during practice. You're really good. What are you clocking? You've got to be close to the record time," he rambled.

"Thank you. Do you always ramble like this, or are you just dehydrated?" she spoke, continuing to walk and noticing as he fell into step beside her.

Julian's brow wrinkled at her question. He had been rambling, hadn't he? Damnit. "What can I say? Maybe you make me a little nervous," he shrugged. It was a line, sure, but he was being genuine — she was much more intimidating than he'd originally thought.

Fiona's eyes rolled almost automatically, but she couldn't help but let out a small laugh at his words. "Oh, really? Is that what you tell all of the girls?" she asked, finally taking a moment to look over at him fully.

The young male shook his head quickly, a smile on the corners of his lips as he heard her laugh. "Only the ones that look like they could kill me with just a look," he teased.

Another laugh left Fiona's lips, a bit louder this time. "Wow, it's like you went to some seminar. Do they teach guys all of those lines in school?" she spoke, teasing him slightly in return.

Julian felt his cheeks flush lightly and he laughed quietly, "No, I wish. Maybe if they did, I'd be better at all of this," he reasoned. He took a sip from his water bottle, looking over at her.

Fiona met his gaze with her own when she felt his eyes on her again, shaking her head to herself. "Well? You've talked to me for a minute, just like you asked.. what now?" she asked him, stopping and crossing her arms as she looked up at him. He'd come to speak to her for a reason, right? She was ready to hear the official pitch.

He smiled that much more at her words, albeit a little nervously. A soft chuckle passed his lips and he glanced down at the ground, "Well, how about we clean up, then go get dinner or something?" he asked, tilting his head to the side as he waited for her response.

She bit down on her lip in the center, shifting from one foot to the other as she considered his offer. It was nice, and she knew that if he was doing what was supposed to be the right thing, then he would pay and she wouldn't have to worry about it. Still, she needed to get home. Damn Monica and Frank.

"I.. actually have to get home. It's my turn to help with dinner tonight," Fiona replied, tilting her head as well. It wasn't a total lie. She would be helping with dinner — helping to make sure that the kids got any. "Another time, though?" she suggested, starting to slowly walk backward and away from him.

"Oh, come on.. live a little," he teased her, hoping to get her to change her mind, but Fiona held strong.

She laughed quietly, then repeated herself, "Another time." Giving him a soft, but warm, smile, she turned then, heading off into the locker room to clean up.

Another time.

Julian could live with that. He just hoped that it wouldn't take too long for that time to come.

As Fiona walked into the locker room, she heard a few of the girls from the track team chattering and listened in a bit closer to their conversations.

"Who the hell does she think she is?" one voice asked. Another answered, "I know! As if Julian Moreno would look twice at her if he knew more about her."

Instead of starting a fight, Fiona smiled at the girls as she passed, preferring to take a more passive approach. She could get them back in the long run much easier that way. "What's going on?" she asked, acting nonchalant and grabbing her things for a shower.

"Oh," one of the girls, she believed her name was Ashley, Stephanie, or something else of the pretentious sort started to say. In that moment, another of the girls spoke up instead. "One of the cheerleaders, you know? It's like they think they own the place, and all of the guys drool over them. It's just gross, isn't it?"

Fiona fought off a smirk, knowing that the girl was bullshitting her to try and avoid being caught. "So gross. Hey, those girls are bitches, though. I wouldn't bother with it. Anyone who thinks they're better than you isn't really worth your time anyway, right?" she spoke, faking a smile as she grabbed her towel and change of clothes and walked off toward the showers.

Maybe the other girls were right about her. Maybe Julian wouldn't want anything to do with her once he found out more about her and her life. Still, she told herself that it was none of their business. If Julian was going to decide that she wasn't worth his time, she was going to let it happen on his and her terms, not because of something that some stuck up girls had said.

Julian walked into the guys' locker room after Fiona had headed off to the girls' and started to grab his things and prepare for a shower. It was then that he saw his teammate Jake again. "Hey," the other male started. "Where have you been?" he asked.

Julian shrugged his shoulders, "I stayed behind until track practice was finished to talk to Fiona," he answered simply.

Jake furrowed his brow and shook his head, "I'm telling you, bro, you don't want any of that. If you go that route, definitely make sure you wrap it up, that's all I'm saying. Her mom is whacked, and her dad is at the Alibi every night without fail. The last thing you want is to get tied into that and be slumming it on the low end of the south side for the rest of your life."

Julian eyed Jake confusedly. He knew that everyone had their reputations at the school. His was that he was a privileged north side kid who just so happened to be on the edge of the school district and sent to a south side school. Everyone said that he was entitled, and that he was slumming it by being at their school, but to Julian, it was all that he'd ever known.

Sure, his grandparents still helped his mom out here and there, but he'd been in south side schools all of his life. He wasn't sure that he'd know what to do or how to act if he were to go anywhere else.

He shook his head, "It's not like that, man. She seems like a cool girl. Besides, how many girls in this school are labeled a slut because they slept with you? I'm sure the list is getting up there."

Jake arched his brow, "Whoa. I'm just looking out for you. The guys have just now stopped seeing you as some north side asshole. The last thing that you want to do is mess that up by getting tangled up with Fiona Gallagher."

Julian scoffed, "Yeah, I'd hate to not be one of the cool kids," he replied sarcastically. He didn't care about status, or about what others thought of him. He never had, and he wasn't about to start.

With that thought in mind, he walked toward the showers, calling over his shoulder, "I'll see you later. Don't worry, I'll try not to ruin my reputation while I'm in the shower."