Chapter 2

Cat watched as Braden ran around the car and opened her door for her. She smiled graciously at him before seeing a few of her friends she hadn't seen all summer. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and ran off to join them. She didn't notice his hand fly up and touch the place her lips had just met.

"Lisa! Heather!" She called. The two girls turned and smiled, waving their hands.

"Hey, how was your summer?" Lisa asked.

"It was ok; I spent most of my time with Braden." Cat explained.

Heather glanced over to where Braden was standing. "You're kidding me? That's Braden? What happened to him over the summer?" She asked in shock.

Braden had changed a lot since the summer started, due in large part to Cat. She had worked very hard to make sure he got noticed this year; the only thing she hadn't counted on was noticing him herself. She cut his once shaggy hair into a stylish shorter cut. In place of his glasses he wore contacts, making sure his ice blue eyes were seen. She had to admit she had worked a miracle on his clothing; in place of old worn out kakis was a pair of jeans. Where there had been an ugly conservative button up shirt, he now wore a black t-shirt. Braden went into the summer a nerd, and came back totally hot.

Cat smirked. "I gave him a makeover." The other girls looked at her in awe. "Well he told me there was some girl at school he was really into but he couldn't catch her attention. I thought I'd lend a hand." She smiled at her friend, who was looking around awkwardly for someone to talk to.

"Cat, you can't really be that dense." Lisa said.

"What do you mean?" Cat asked, clearly confused.

"You are the girl." Heather explained.

"You guys have got to be kidding me! Braden and I have been best friends since we were born pretty much. There is no way…"

"Whatever you say Cat, whatever you say." Lisa said with a smirk.

Cat shook her head and decided it would be best to just ignore the other girls. Still for the rest of the day her mind would wander back to the possibility. All of their lives she had thought of Braden as her best friend, the one that was always there for her. She didn't know if she could ever see him as something more than that.

………………….

Braden always hated the first day of school, he had to sit there all day and meet his new teachers. Most of which he already knew, the fact that his mom was a teacher didn't help at all. He never learned anything on the first day; it was all about meeting up with old friends and hanging out. He thought about how much of a nerd that made him, being upset because for one day in school he didn't learn anything. He thought for a moment about what that meant for him, but quickly decided there was nothing wrong with understanding the value of education.

Braden noticed the little blonde girl next to him staring at him and he glanced in her direction. "Hey." He said.

The girl blushed furiously. "Hi." She replied shyly.

"I'm Braden, are you new around here?" Braden had never seen anyone react to him like that; he wasn't sure what to think of it. 'Must be something to do with that damn makeover Cat just had to do.'

The girl nodded. "Just moved here from Washington." She told him.

"Oh really? I've never been to Washington."

"It's cold and wet, nothing really that great. Well, Seattle is pretty cool." She smiled as she started to relax around him. "By the way, I am Lily."

Braden grinned back at her. "Very nice to meet you Lily. So tell me about Seattle."

The girl started to go on about Seattle and how beautiful it was there, Braden had to smile. Apparently the makeover was a good idea. Now he just wished he could have caught the attention of the right girl.

……………..

The final bell rang and Braden gathered his things to leave, surprisingly he had made a lot of new friends, and gotten several girls phone numbers. I kind of amazed him that the world was still so shallow, he would have thought eventually that people would see past a pretty wrapper. However that didn't seem to be the case.

He wandered through the crowd of people to his car, where he waited patiently for Cat. He spotted her talking to Jared Finn; he felt jealousy bubble inside him but quickly pushed it down. Cat wasn't his girl, and he knew it. Still seeing her with someone like Finn just rubbed him the wrong way. Finn was a user, he was known to serial date, Braden felt his hands ball into fists. 'If he even thinks she will ever let him play her like that he is dead wrong.'

Braden turned away, not able to watch the girl he loved blatantly flirt with the biggest jerk in the school any longer. He started counting backwards from 100 trying to calm himself when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned expecting to see Cat but was pleasantly surprised when he found Lily standing behind him.

"Hey." He said with a smile.

"Hey." Lily smiled; Braden had to admit she was very pretty. "Who are you waiting for?" She asked.

"Best friend." He gestured to where Cat was still flirting with Jared. "She's a little preoccupied by the nice big jock."

Lily grinned. "Well, her loss. I didn't get a chance to give you this earlier." She said, handing him a folded up piece of paper. "So… here."

Braden had to push back a blush, tough guys didn't blush. "Thanks."

"Well, I'll see you later then?"

"Yeah, see ya."

Lily sauntered away, swaying her hips as she went. Braden almost burst out laughing, all he could think was that she probably wouldn't be getting a phone call. He didn't like his girls to be that obvious when it came to getting his attention. 'Right, the little red head you call your best friend has nothing to do with not calling her.' The voice in his head mocked.

'Shut up.' He told it.

A/N soooo…. What do you think? Let me know!