Chapter 2: Outsider

"I heard she and her family are really immigrants who snuck their ways past the borderline and are trying to lay low."

"I heard she's really part of a drug ring and is here to find new customers."

"I heard she ran away from her older, abusive husband her parent forced her to marry so they could escape a huge, fifty billion dollar debt."

Rumors, rumors, rumors. They were part of life, especially high school were they seem to strike the hardest and one of the many reasons kids and teenagers alike hated it so much. It was a word that had four meanings, five actually: 1). According to the dictionary, rumor was gossip; 2). To the gossipers, it was harmless entertainment that made the dull life of school slightly less dull and more fun; 3). To the believers, they were the solid truth that helped them know who they should friend and who they should stay away from; 4). To the people affected by the gossip, it could easily break down their reputation as well as bringing it up

However, to those who don't only involve themselves in drama like that but also think its trash like Troy himself, who always heard a new rumor about him circling around the school three times a day, there was only one-word meaning to rumor: B.S

Troy hated rumors more than anything, but the thing he hated more than rumors was the odd fact that no matter how ridiculous a rumor can be, people still believed them and spread their own. Like how Mike Fallon, swim-team captain, had an extra toe growing out of his belly-button, when he started to withdraw from swimming. Or how Principal Matsui, who claims he's a strict vegetarian, really ate squirrels alive and raw, sometimes catching his food while school was in session. Another, which rotated around constantly and personally was the only one Troy liked because it was too funny to him, was Sharpay and Ryan are secretly lovers who have sex practically everywhere whenever they can, plan to marry in Las Vegas as soon as graduation comes, and have ten children at home their parents try to pass off as "grandchildren."

"That's a vicious, disgusting, and most pathetic and sickening rumor I ever heard in my life!" Sharpay would scream when those rumors would resurface again while Ryan tried to look serious when a few chuckles were let loose as his sister raged-on. "And whoever believes that bull-shit is really pathetic and needs to seriously get a life."

Today, instead of the gossip being about the close Evan twins, the cheer co-captain who looks like she might be pregnant, or about Troy, all the rumors were focused on Miss Gabriella Montez from the NYC, whose presence made quite an impression on East High.

Barely a day in school, rumors about Gabriella were spreading like wildfire after people got a look at the new wildcat and heard what happened in Ms. Darbus's class and more rumors began after those were heard and more were added. And so on, so on, and so on till there had to be at least ten thousand surrounding her.

Some, by very few, seem harmless and somewhat believable while most were just unbelievably insane. Such as, for example: she came here to escape a prostitution ring she's been apart of since she was thirteen, with an angry pimp looking for her. Been kicked out of every military school and boot camp in the country because her attitude was too wild for them to tame. Was abandoned by druggie parents when she was barely a day old and has been bounce from foster family to family, now living with her twentieth. A hell of a dancer who was a performing-arts student by day and stripper by night, needing the extra cash to support her baby boy. And, the latest one buzzing around, she was actually a world-famous model in need of a break away from the glamour and fame.

That one, Troy had to admit, made much more sense than the others. With that awe-worthy face of hers, inky dark hair, and body, it would shock him even more if she hasn't done any modeling or been asked to.

Things would been a whole lot easier if she could just to be one to nod, smile, and try to pass through the day like the rest of the them. Sadly, however, that was not the case. She, instead, was one who not only pushed the boundaries but loved doing it. In chemistry, she mixed two liquids together that had the whole place smelling like shit and foul eggs. In Spanish, when she was called to introduce herself, she sassed at the Senorita Garcia and cussed at them fluently with her native tongue. She gave the finger to anyone who looked at her, walked out of classes whenever she felt like it, without even asking the teacher for a pass, and already was sent to the principal's office more than twelve times-before fourth period was even over.

"She's definitely bad-ass." Zeke declared during lunchtime. The gang all met up at their usual table, which was the center of the big cafeteria, after purchasing today's lunch, Meatball Sub Marinara.

Swallowing a bit of the meatball goodness, Troy sneaked another peek at Gabriella.

She was sitting alone by a small table in the left corner, by the windows. Headphones plunged in her ears and bobbing her head to the music while writing in some book, occasionally stopping to take a bite of her sub sandwich or a sip of her drink, she seem oblivious to the rest of the world except her own. She looked comfortable enough, especially with her feet up and propped them onto the table as she leaned back against the wall.

Every once in awhile someone, either because they were dared or in need for a new seat and friend, would come by and take a seat beside her, setting their lunch tray on the table. Whenever that would happen, Gabriella would look up from her book, pull her glasses over her head, and glare at them till they finally got the message and moved out.

"I guess." Troy said, watching as a red-haired freshman practically ran the other way, as if his life depended on it, after Gabriella gave him the stink eye.

"You guess nothing, Bolton," Zeke grinned. "She puts the bad in bad-ass!"

"I don't know," Taylor frowned, watching Gabriella who was still bobbing along to the music. "She seems stuck-up to me."

Sharpay snorted at Taylor's remark, shaking her head while munching on her salad, while Kelsi frowned, looking somewhat offended. "She's probably just scared, Taylor," she said. "It's not always easy being the new girl. I feel sorry for her."

Sharpay snorted again, louder this time, rolling her eyes twice. "Kelsi, you feel sorry for everyone. Do you remember when you first got here? No one felt sorry for you."

Kelsi didn't say a word, but Troy could see there was pain in her face and he knew why. Freshmen year, Kelsi transferred into East High straight from Nebraska, and East High wasn't exactly known for being welcoming to newcomers. Too quiet and shy for her own good, she was immediately branded as a nerd by Heather Homes, the coolest and meanest girl in school, tormented by half the school while the other half steered clear of her, and went through hell for two whole semesters. It wasn't until Sharpay and Taylor rescued her from Heather and her trio of bitches and adopted her into their exclusive gang did things slowly go right for her.

Ryan glared coldly at Sharpay for bringing up the unpleasant memory, wrapped one arm around Kelsi, and kissed her full on the lips till her frown melted away into a smile. "Don't mind my pain-in-the-butt sister, Kels," He glanced around just in time to see Sharpay flung her half-empty water bottle at his head and quickly dodged, with the bottle smacking hard against the back of a head of a lone nerd who was knocked into his food.

Saying a quick sorry to the poor guy and scowling at his sister, who was trying to look innocent as she ate the rest of her food, he said to his girlfriend "You have a big, caring heart and that's one of the things I love so much about you."

"I'm not dissing her, crap for brains," Sharpay argued, and then smiled kindly at Kelsi and reached over to pat her friend's hand. "Kels, I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I love you have a big heart. Because, honestly, that completes our trio."

"What trio?" Taylor asked, curious.

Sharpay snorted again, this time more playfully than rude like before. "Our trio, silly. Since the three of us are best friends, I figure we must as well be a trio. Each of us is a beauty with a quality. For example, you," She pointed her perfectly, bright pink manicured finger at Taylor. "Are the beauty with the brains," Moving her finger over to Kelsi, she continued "You're the beauty with the heart."

"And what exactly are you, babe?" Zeke asked, although he had a pretty good idea to what she would say, knowing his girlfriend all too well.

Sharpay pecked her boyfriend on the cheek and announced proudly with a big smile. "La duh, Zekey. The beauty with the talent and everything in between."

"Everything in between?" Sharpay nodded, and Ryan pretended to think about that, scathing his chin for extra effect. "So you mean the bitchiness, the annoyance, the spoiled selfishness, the loud-mouth ness, and the-Aaargh!"

Ryan was on a roll till Sharpay grabbed Zeke's can of coke, which was still full and ice-cold, and threw it at his head, knocking him right off his seat and showering him with cold soda once he hit the ground, ruining his new hat and cashmere sweater.

"Jesus, Sharpay," Kelsi commented, looking at her boyfriend who was trying to get himself back up and then to his twin sister smirking proudly. "You really have an arm!"

Stretching out her left arm, which was slender and tone like the rest of her body, the Ice Queen replied "Thanks to the years of dancing, yoga, and, of course, shopping."

By the time Ryan finally got back onto his feet, one look at him and they could barely contain their laughter that attracted the attention of nearby tables, hearing the loud noise. Completely soaked from the waist up, he looked miserable, wet, and angry. Especially as he looked at Sharpay, who was laughing the hardest and smirking the biggest when she was able to control herself.

"Real mature," he commented, causing another round of loud laughter. "That's real mature, Sharpay."

"Whatever,' Sharpay flipped off her brother, and then jerked her thumb over at Gabriella. "Back to what I was saying before, Kels, I have a good feeling your worries and prayers won't be necessary for this girl. She seems like one who knows how to take care of herself."

That was a point Sharpay was definitely right about. Gabriella didn't seem intimidated by anyone, even by the meanest teachers and cruelest students flipped everyone off, and her body language practically screamed "Don't Go Near!", "Back Off or Get Smacked!" She definitely was someone who knew how to take care of herself.

Troy, against his better judgment, turned back to look at Gabriella. Probably has to be the twenty-fourth time he looked at her today. She was scribbling like mad in that book of hers, sipping her coke with a red licorice stick. Then the strangest thing happened.

She put her down her soda, looked up, and looked right back at him.

What was even stranger, besides the fact the elusive, private Gabriella was sparing him a look, was the way she was looking at him.

It wasn't the same, amused look she had in Homeroom where she owe Darbus, and it was far from the cold and hard glare she gave people who try to come close to her. The way she was staring, it was like those mocha eyes behind the shades could see right through him. Very clear and intensely, as if she could see into his soul and saw everything like his dreams, his secrets, and things he didn't want anyone to know and everything else in between.

With those glasses still on, it was hard to tell what she was thinking. It also didn't help that there was no emotion on her face, which was a total blank. Nevertheless, her gaze still captured, trapping him and boring through him easily, and then he felt something. Something that felt tight, almost, like a pang, which seemed to slowly get stronger the longer they stared at one another.

"Something caught your eye, Troy," He turned around to meet the faces of his smirking, chuckling friends, who clearly saw what was going on.

"Don't be ridiculous." Troy told them. He tried staying solid and unreadable, but his face, being a traitor to him, was hot again.

"Aww. Look, he's blushing." Sharpay cooed, pointing at his face. Sure enough, exactly two seconds later, his face was bright red.

Damn you, Sharpay, he cursed at the blonde, as he ducked his head down, hiding his blushing face, and continued eating his lunch quickly.

It was about that time Jason decided it was the prefect opportunity to slap him hard in the back while he swallowed, causing a good of food to be stuck in his windpipe and making him choke. Jason was either deliberately ignoring it or innocently oblivious, which seemed more likely since his friend wasn't the brightest bulb, to his choking and slung an arm around his shoulder. "About time a girl finally catches the infamous, no-date Bolton's eye. You were starting to make us think you were gay."

"Not that we judge you for that." Ryan quickly added.

GAY?

"You're-" He coughed. "You're-"Another cough again. "You're-" He freed himself from Jason's arm and quickly dunked down the rest of his water, pounding his chest hard for extra effect. When he was sure everything went down, he said "You're kidding me right?"

Their laughter and smiles said it all, making him roll his eyes.

"You can't really blame us, Troy." Chad smiled.

"Since middle school, more than half of the female student population has been asking you out on dates on a rotating basis," Sharpay stated. "And you turned down every offer on a rotating basis."

"And this means me seem gay because?" Troy inquired.

"Well, considering a lot of them are smoking hot girls, Troy," Zeke chuckled as Troy glared at him. "That definitely does say something."

"And like Ryan says," Taylor said. "Even if you are, we totally support. We don't have a problem with gays."

"First off, you guys are ridiculous," Troy pushed away his half-eaten sandwich, his appetite long gone. "Second of all, I don't have time for dating. This is senior year, my year, and I have four goals I plan to make this year happen for me."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Troy," Chad shared a knowing glare with the rest of his friends and rolled his eyes before looking Troy's way. "You told us it so many times we can recite in our sleep. Goal one: don't get anything lower than an A- this year."

"Goal two," Ryan said next. "Make sure the Wildcats have a back-to-back winning season with zero loses. Failure not being a choice."

"Goal three," Zeke and Jason wrapped their arms around each other's shoulders and wore big, cheesy grins Troy wanted to knock off their faces as they said in unison. "Impress scout who can be my one-way ticket to basketball scholarship."

"And goal four," They said in unison, wearing identical, cheesy grins. "Get accepted into awesome, dream college that's far away from here and get as far away from Daddy as possible."

Troy had such an urge to shove his wasted sandwich into their faces; it took him nearly everything he had not to do the deed. He clenched his both hands into tight fists under his table and took deep breaths till the frustration passed. "Funny. Real funny. I'm such a big nerd, its wonder why you guys even put up with me."

"Because a handsome, dashing, intelligent three-year old that grow up to be a God took pity on a lonely, sad little boy sitting in the corner in his preschool class while the other children were playing," A scowl from Troy and laughter from the others encouraged Chad to continue. "That handsome dare-devil decided to do the right thing and be friends with that little boy. And the rest is history, my friends."

Ignoring his friend, Troy said "You can mock me all you want, but it won't change anything. Unlike the rest of you, I have four goals that will get into U of A, get me out of this hell-hole, and get me started on my future."

"Your future, Troy?' Chad asked. All jokes and laughter aside, he was actually being serious. "Or your dad's?"

"Especially when we all know that six generations of Boltons have gotten into and graduated from U of A." Ryan added.

Ignoring them, Troy focused his attention on wall and drummed his fingers anxiously on the table.

"You mean seven," Sharpay corrected, watching Troy's body immediately become tense before he glared at her coldly. She was used to getting cold stares all the time, so it didn't bother her at all. And even though she knew this was something Troy didn't want to talk about, she felt her friend needed a wake-up call and reminder to why things were the way they were, especially since his dad was sucking the life out of him already before he could even start it. "A Bolton right after dear Daddy Bolton and before Troy."

"Sharpay, don't!" Troy begged. She loved to annoy him, but even she knew there were limitations to what he could handle and was unacceptable. And what she was doing right now, or trying to do, was definitely that. "Drop it!"

Tension was building and the others were getting worried, sensing trouble was lurking close by.

"Sharpay, sweetie, maybe you should-" Sharpay cut off Zeke's plead with a dismissing hand.

"I'm not going to fucking drop it, Zeke! He needs a reminder to why his dad is such a hard-ass," She then turned to Troy, who was fuming now. "I think you know exactly who I'm talking about, Bolton. He graduated from East High with the highest honors, got into U of A with the highest honors, and would have been on a professional basketball team by now. The first Bolton to ever make it that far."

"Guys!" Chad said. "How about we move onto a less, serious topic?"

"Shut up!" Troy growled through grinded teeth, saying it both to his best friend and the Ice Queen. The frustration he brushed off earlier when they were teasing him came back with vengeance, only bigger and darker, along with bitter, bitter anger, building up inside him and having him shaking a bit.

"Sharpay, drop it!" Taylor said. "Please."

"I'm not going to fucking drop it!" Sharpay repeated, keeping her eyes on Troy. "You don't remember, Troy? I'll just tell you. Michael. Michael David Bolton, who was that seventh Bolton. Jack's favorite son, East High's finest, my dream boyfriend and crush for years, and your-"

This time Troy was the one who cut her off, doing it in a most dramatic, yet effective way. By slamming his hard fists onto the table, spilling and knocking off contents, the sound emapszing in the suddenly quiet like a loud stampede passing by. "SHUT THAT FUCKING MOUTH OR YOURS, YOU GODDAMN BITCH, OR I SWEAR ON MY FUCKING LIFE I WILL PERSONALLY SHUT IT FOR YOU!"

This time, Sharpay didn't have a comeback. Possibly for the first time in her life, she was speechless and not the only one, too. Everyone in the cafeteria from students, to teachers hanging around, and the lunch staff were completely silence, because Troy Bolton, who was usually so calm and cool and collected, actually lost it and screamed.

He wished that outburst would release those build-up emotions, but it only seemed to make things worse. He left the cafeteria, slamming the doors behind him, cursing Sharpay, school, and his dad-everything and everyone actually including Mike who swore he'd be by his side forever and couldn't keep up his end of the bargain.

By the time the lunch period ended, he was able to get a hold of himself. The rest of the day went by slowly, as usual, with people barely paying attention in classes as they text their friends and whispered while the ones who wanted to make the grade took down all the notes the teacher written down, lectures went practically forever at a slow pace, and teachers assigned the usual mountain-load of homework by the end, ignoring the groans and complaints.

Things were normal, although Troy would have liked it a bit more if everyone wasn't gawking at him and whispering about what happened in the cafeteria, telling it in their own twisted, absurd version. But thankfully his friends quickly forgiven and forgotten about what happened, including Sharpay, who did her own share of apologizes, and were by his side till the bell finally rang and school was let out.

The only thing that didn't happen, which he couldn't consider whether or not it was a bad thing or not, was he didn't see Gabriella Montez again.

On one hand, he shouldn't even care. The girl took a glance at him, well more than a glance, but it shouldn't matter. She was rude, had a sharp tongue with an attitude to match, and trouble seem to follow her. Yet on the other hand, she was the one who saved him from the wrath of Darbus, completely telling her off without even hesitating. The first one, in East High history, to ever pull off something like that. And when she looked at him…he couldn't describe it, but it was strange. It was bewitching almost, because it he couldn't pull himself away from her even though he knew he should, and when she looked at him it was almost like nothing else mattered. That scared him.

The minute the bell rang, Troy rushed to his locker to stuff all the books he was going to need for tonight's homework, said and waved goodbye to his friends, and quickly ran all the way to the locker-room, which was across the other side of the school. Once he was there, he quickly changed into his white wife-beater shirt, navy blue shorts, and sneakers before running into the gym. Where standing in the center of the basketball court was his dad, easily dribbling the basketball in one hand while his blue eyes were concentrating on reading the time on his wristwatch.

He didn't look up till Troy was standing right in front of him, both of them silent as they looked at each other, and then chugged the ball with hard force into Troy's stomach he was able to catch. "You're late!"

"Good to see you, too, Dad." Troy rolled his eyes, but nevertheless started dribbling the ball across the court so his dad wouldn't have another thing to complain about.

Basketball practice for the team was usually every school day except Mondays and Thursdays, and those practices were usually intense with the coach keeping a watchful eye on them, barking out mistakes and orders, and were the reason why they could barely move the second practice was over. Unlike the rest of the guys, Troy was required to report to the gym every school day for a 2-3 hour practice, with his dad working him harder in these practices than the regular ones.

And a full hour of dribbling, his dad playing an intense one on one game with him, Troy was more than ready to shove the ball up his dad's….

"For God's damn sake, you idiot!" Jack roared, watching as Troy swung past him and missed the shot. If this was a real game, the Wildcats would be tied or possibly face defeat from the other team, both possibilities that were completely unacceptable to him. "Are you fucking stupid or blind? Or maybe you're just damn both!"

Troy pretended not to hear those comments and looked away while his dad raged on till he felt a hard fist slamming itself against his shoulder blade, the same one that was still very sensitive from the work-out practice from earlier and turned around, looking into the ice-cold, raging eyes that belonged to his dad.

"I'm fucking talking to you, jackass!" He smacked his hand against his son's head, nearly knocking it off with the hard force and left a hollow ringing in the ear. Despite the throbbing head pain, along with the pain from the shoulder punch, Troy still kept eye-contact, knowing fully well he'll only earn himself another punch or smack if he broke it or said anything. He dealt with it by balling his right hand into a tight, tight fist he hid behind his back, fighting off the great urge to use it against his dad's jaw. "Why the hell can't you do something right for once in your damn life instead of being fucking annoying?"

Taking in a shaky breath and slowly letting it out, he said "I just have a lot on my head. And it was only one missed shot."

Jack's eyes immediately darkened to a darker, edgier blue that nearly looked black and somehow was much colder than before. Troy could tell, despite what he was hoping for, he said the wrong thing. "Then unclear it! I will not have your disgrace our family because you are a goddamn idiot who can't think straight."

That was the final straw. Troy was sweaty, tired, and couldn't take any second of his dad's anger rants without losing it. He tossed aside the basketball and went out the back door, ignoring the screams of his dad ordering him to come back. Once he was outside the back of the school, he slumped down to the ground, the grass feeling warm and somewhat comforting beneath him, and groaned as he softly banged his head against the wall behind him.

Bring disgrace into the family, Troy grumbled curses under his breath. Yeah, right.

He decided not to think about his dad anymore and looked around his surroundings, a technique he's been doing since he was kid that always calm him down during moments like this. The grass, the football field, the blue sky, his goddamn dad inside the gym. The grass, the birds chirping, the blue sky. The grass, the denim bag dangling out a window, the-

Wait a minute! Denim bag! Troy broke off from the trance of his mediation exercise, then turned back to right, watching a denim messenger bag that looked like it was made out of jeans, adorned with logo and colorful buttons, dangle out a two-story building before falling onto the ground. Amazing, none of the contents in the bag spilled.

Who the hell tosses out a backpack? Troy wondered, but soon his question got answered as a small figure with black hair in cowboy boots swung out her legs from the window before jumping out, landing perfectly on her two feet, and brushing back loose curls of her hair away from her eyes as she turned back to the window.

Gabriella smirked to herself, looking very proud, grabbed her bag off the ground, and hitched it onto her left shoulder, digging through the contents till she pulled out a dark pink Bic lighter and a pack of Marlboro cigarettes. For some reason fascinated by it and finding his feet walking towards her, he watched as she pulled a cigarette from the pack before putting it back into her bag, lit up the cigarette, and stuck it into her mouth.

"Pup Bolton," Gabriella took a long drag of her cigarette before pulling out of her mouth, releasing a stream of smoke gracefully from her mouth like an old-glamour movie star instead of the clumsy way some other girls did it. If she was surprised to see him watching her escape and being this close to her, she definitely didn't show it. In fact, by the way she was smirking a bit at him and looking at him, it was almost like she was waiting for him. "How goes it?"

"Okay," He mumbled, trying not to breathe in the smoke and taking a few feet back from her. If his dad even smelt smoke on his clothes, then today would probably be the last day anyone would remember seeing him alive. "How about you?"

"So, so." She answered, shrugging.

The silence between them lengthened, and Troy was nervously rubbed the back of his neck, unsure what to do at this point. Should he go back? A part of him, the obedient part, wanted to head back into the gym, but he wasn't in the mood for another round of Dad Screams Complaints. But another part of him, for some odd reason, wanted to stay and the rest of his body seem compel to follow that part. The only problem was the silence was getting very awkward, very quickly and he needed to think of something to talk about and fast.

"You know you shouldn't smoke here," Troy felt the need to remind her. After all she did save him from Darbus this morning, so it was the least he could do. "You could get detention."

In a instant, her small smirk quickly became the dark scowl she's been wearing all day in school. She pushed her glasses down the tip of her nose, her eyes dark and hard, watching him for a moment and slowly smirking again as she took another drag of her cigarette. "Been there, done that. I wasted a good hour in that hellhole because Ms. Dumbass, along with the other idiots, couldn't handle the truth. It's sad really. Anyway, I'm making a break for it while she's sleeping at her desk and there's still day-time."

"But you'll get in trouble?" Troy had detention once during freshmen when he walked into homeroom two seconds late and Ms. Darbus decided to use him as an example to what happens when you're not in her room before the second bell. He spent three hours helping the drama club make set for their musical, poorly sew the costumes that looked less than amazing, and personally apologized to Ms. Darbus. He was tempted to leave, but knew he'd be a dead man if he even left for a second. How the heck can this girl not care about getting into trouble?

Shrugging again while using her free hand to push her glasses onto the top of her head, she tossed the cigarette on the ground and stomped onto it, crushing it to bits and putting it out. "Maybe, but that's not going to stop me. So do me a good favor and pretend you didn't see me. K? K."

What? He watched as she winked to him, causing a strange tingle to run up his spine, walked away from him, heading toward the parking lot. "You can get into a lot of trouble, you know!" He called after her. "You're breaking a lot of rules."

She stopped for a moment to look at him. Intensely and deeply, as if he was a hard book she was trying to read, making that odd pang appear in his stomach that was growing stronger the longer she was looking at him. She then, oddly, offered a small smile that was mischievous but far from a smirk. "Sometimes rules are meant to be broken, pup."

She hopped onto a black Hurley motorcycle and put on a fiery-red helmet, starting up the engine and driving away without looking back, leaving him stunned.

Rules are meant to be broken, he thought, puzzled. Was she actually serious? He thought she really was, but the way she was looking at him it was clear that was a no-joke matter.

What the hell was it about this girl anyway? She definitely wasn't shy, far from a preppy cheerleader, didn't seem like one who'd be interested in joining anything really. And more importantly, what was it about her that made him feel…strange and twisted inside?

"Bolton!" Troy groaned before slowly turning back, seeing his dad standing by the gym door and looking really mad. "In the gym. NOW!"

"I'm coming." He waited a few more seconds, staring at the place where the she rode off, before he walked back toward the gym, trying to forget about the bewitching girl who made feel things he never felt before.

Its senior year, his year. Like he told his friends, he only had four goals and nothing, not even Miss Mysterious, Bad-Ass Montez, were going to get in the way of his perfect schedule and those goals.

.