Chapter Four:

Formal Meeting

School days were turning into a nightmare. All of Fianna's friends had completely lost their minds. She seemed to be the only sane one left in school that wasn't obsessed with Todd Ryan and saw him for who he really was. A week had passed since he started coming there and she was ready for him to leave. She wanted her life back to normal and she wanted her friends back to normal.

As for Todd, this wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. At least until that second day when teacher's assigned class work, homework, and started lecturing. Then he was about ready to tear his hair out and go back to his old life. The only thing that kept him going was the way everyone idolized him, if it weren't for that, he'd be gone.

He was walking down the hallway one morning pissed off by his history teacher who just would not stop talking and he had said he had to go to the restroom to get out of it.

When he was walking down the hallway not necessarily trying to go anywhere he saw a girl at her locker. He'd at least been acquainted with all of the upper classmen and a few of the lower classman who weren't too shy to talk to him. But this girl he'd never met. She was light skinned and had light brown hair with blonde highlights and she had a pretty nice profile. She looked at him for a moment then turned back to her locker most likely trying to hide from him. He recognized her face, she was in a few of his classes and he remembered on his first day she'd come in the cafeteria and that girl Sharidan had called her over. He vaguely remembered her name being Fianna.

He went over to her to work his Todd Ryan magic on her. He leaned against the lockers next to her. "Hey babe."

Fianna glanced at him. "Hi."

"I don't think we've met." He held out his hand to her. "Todd Ryan, but I'm sure you already know who I am. Everyone does."

Fianna shook his hand politely. "I'm Fianna."

"How about you sit with me and my other girls at lunch today?" he said.

Fianna looked at him for a moment. He wasn't serious was he? "Thanks but I'll pass." She closed her locker and started to walk away from him.

Todd raised his eyebrows. She just refused him. No girl had ever refused him. He caught up with her. "What do you mean you'll pass?"

She looked at him. "I mean I don't want to sit with you Todd."

Todd was confused. He didn't think there was one person in the entire school who wouldn't kill to sit with him at lunch. "Wha…why?"

"I'm just not obsessed with you like every girl in this school is, okay? You're a good actor Todd but I don't like your personality. And I have no intention of sitting with you and your 'other girls'."

Todd looked at her in disbelief that she'd said that. "You don't like my personality? Everyone loves me; I'm Todd Ryan for crying out loud. How can you not like my personality?"

Fianna glared at him. "I mean you're conceited Todd. You're a stuck up jerk who doesn't give a shit about anyone else unless they're kissing you ass like everyone has been doing all week!"

Todd was infuriated with her for saying these things to him. "You think I'm conceited?"

Fianna put her hands on her hips. "Conceited, stuck up, spoiled, self centered, take your pick. I've got a bunch of them." With that she turned away from him and went down the hallway with her heels clanking along as she walked.

Todd watched after her in anger, disbelief, astonishment, and…fascination? Steam was coming out of his ears after hearing this girl say these things to him. And yet he was intrigued by it. No one had ever spoken to him like that before. No girl had ever refused him the way she did. And no one had ever cursed him out the way she just did. She stood out from everyone else around here. Yes he was furious with her but at the same time, she fascinated him.

After school Sharidan, Megan, and Fianna were sitting out the bleachers on the football field.

"Todd is so amazing!" Megan gushed.

"He's so cool," Sharidan said. "I think we're getting closer to our first kiss stage."

"But he called me beautiful," Megan pointed out.

Sharidan looked at Fianna. "What about you Fianna?"

Fianna shrugged. "What about me?"

"You've at least talked to him haven't you?" Megan said.

Fianna rolled her eyes. "Oh I've talked to him alright."

"And?" they asked expecting something good.

Fianna was still mad at Todd from earlier that day. "I don't like him. He's everything I said he was in the first place. I saw him in the hallway and he was like 'hey babe, wanna sit with me and my other girls'," she said imitating Todd's deep voice. "And I was like no and he was like 'everyone likes me because I'm Todd Ryan'."

"And what did you say to him?" Sharidan asked.

"I told him he was conceited," Fianna replied simply.

"You what?" the exclaimed.

Fianna smirked. "Yeah. I also called him stuck up, spoiled, a bastard, and self centered. I said he doesn't give a shit about anyone unless they're kissing his ass, and I have no intention of ever sitting with him."

Megan gasped in disbelief. "Fianna how could you possibly say that to Todd Ryan?"

"I opened my mouth and I said words."

"Now you'll never get to go out with him!" Sharidan scolded her.

Fianna shrugged. "Then one of you can have him. I don't want to date him."

Megan and Sharidan sighed. "Fianna you're impossible!" Sharidan said.

Todd and Fianna hadn't spoken to each other for a few days. Even though they had classes together she barely looked at him although he was expecting her to crack at any moment and talk to him but she never did. He couldn't figure it out, girls usually loved him, what was with her?

Finally on Friday he stopped her in the hallway again. "Hey, um, Fianna right?" he said even though he remembered her name perfectly.

Fianna crossed her arms and glared at him. "What do you want Todd?"

He raised his eyebrow. "Feisty today, aren't we." She gave him an unamused expression. "Have you changed your mind about sitting with me? I'm sure I can find a place for you today."

She snorted. "You know what, when you stop acting so stuck up then maybe I'll consider taking you seriously."

Todd switched to his Kent McRyan mode and took Fianna's hands in his. "Fianna, I know you're angry with me," he said sweetly looking into her eyes romantically. "And I know you want me to change." He leaned towards her and she leaned away from him. "But that person you hate is just who I am. Maybe one day you're beautiful self will realize it and come to love it."

Did he just call me beautiful, she thought. The way he was looking at her, her heart started beating fast and her face burned as she blushed. She leaned into him and looked into his eyes. "Oh Todd Ryan…"

He put his finger over her lips. "Shh, it's okay Fianna. I know exactly how you feel about me." As he spoke the rain clouds from outside disappeared and the sun came out. "Put away those feelings clear your mind, and maybe, just maybe I'll see you before the school day is over." He let go of her hands then backed up and headed towards the cafeteria.

When he was gone, Fianna shook the fuzziness from her mind. She noticed the rain had stopped. She felt dizzy and her legs felt weak so sat down on a bench and tried to figure out why she felt this way. "What just happened?" she said to herself.

Fianna spent the entire weekend thinking about Todd. What was happening to her? Why was she thinking about Todd so much? She didn't even like him! How come she was hoping to see him every moment and couldn't get her out of his mind?

At school on Monday she got butterflies in her stomach when she saw him in homeroom but he didn't pay any attention to her. They were in English class and she resisted the urge to look at him every five seconds.

"So, I want all of you to pair up into groups of two and do the worksheets I'm about to pass out."

Before Fianna could think about who she wanted to sit with Todd came over and sat with her.

"Hi," he said flashing his smile that was bleached with the 49th shade of white.

"H-Hi…" she said nervously. She noticed the girls around her whispering and staring at her with jealousy. "Why did you decide to sit with me?"

He shrugged. "I don't know." He leaned into her. "You don't still hate me do you?"

She blushed. "Not really…"

He smirked. "Not really huh? Damn, you're the only person I know that hates me with that much of a passion."

"Well, maybe other people do hate you, they just don't admit it because they think you'll fire them or something," Fianna said.

Todd snorted. "Please, if people hate me they can say it to my face. I'll just make sure to ruin their lives."

Fianna looked over their worksheet. "You wonder why you're so unlikeable."

Todd glared at her. "First I'm stuck up now I'm unlikeable?"

Fianna shrugged. "If you want to put it that way then yes, you are. You're stuck up and unlikeable, and everything I said about you before still applies."

"You bitch."

Fianna glared at him. "Did you just call me a bitch?"

Todd crossed his arms and smirked at her. "Yeah, I did. What are you gonna do about it?"

Fianna let out an exasperated sigh. "Why the hell did I ever want to see you again? You're such an asshole."

Todd leaned against the table and continued to glare at her. "You know, if you don't want to work with me anymore bitch, just say the word and I'll leave."

Fianna looked at him. "Stop calling me a bitch!"

Todd got in her face. "Bitch, bitch, bitch!"

Fianna resisted the urge to punch him in the face. "That's it. I'm sick of you Todd! Go work with someone else."

Todd stood up. "Fine then." He went behind them to Cade and Phoebe. "Hey Cade, switch seats with me."

Cade smirked. "You don't like Fianna very much?" Todd gave him a knowing look and Cade stood up. "You've got what you want now Phoebe."