I own nothing but my imagination.

Second period was sooo much fun. Lie #1. I walked into class and Mrs. Thompson's eyes followed me as I found an empty desk. I sat down and looked up at her. She was so confused. I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Better 5 months late than never, right?"

She didn't laugh. "I suppose," was all she said.

Some of the students laughed. Some rolled their eyes.

Mrs. Thompson thought it would be fun to make me do several equations on the board in front of the class. I finished every one quickly and confidently, I might add. To say she was surprised was an understatement. She had to pick her jaw up off of her desk. Hey, I said I hated math, didn't say I wasn't good at it.

My "friend" Amanda the genius was in this class. I say "friend" because we don't really talk much these days. Ever since I came out she avoided me. Her and her BFF Glenda were still friends with Chelsea, who was one of my closest friends. So we all kind of hung out together. Anyway she avoided me, but still talks to Casey. Didn't understand that one and honestly I didn't really care. We were never really that close to begin with. Probably because she thought I was an idiot. Judging from the look on her face after I solved the last equation, I was going to conclude that I was right.

I sat down at my desk and looked over at Amanda. The smug look I gave her made her roll her eyes. I was actually enjoying this class. I had kind of missed math. Lie #2. I don't really miss it, but if I have to come every day to let the New Ashley play. So be it.

Teachers were so childish. They were supposed to be helping mold us in to strong, confident, responsible adults. Ha! You would think I disrespected them. Well, I guess they weren't too happy that I skipped their classes for 5 months. Mr. Daniels didn't seem to like the fact that I had showed up to his class either. I was so excited when I found out we were dissecting a sheep's heart. Lie #3. After 5 minutes I wanted to vomit. I made my new lab partner do most of it. Mr. Daniels thought he would be nice to me and made me clean all of the utensils and trays.

Jerk!

So I somehow made it to lunch. Although, after everything I just saw and touched I wasn't in the mood to eat. I grabbed a Coke out of the vending machine and headed to the quad. It was sprinkling out in the quad.

Rain. The smell was so intoxicating to me, especially since it is rare here. I walked out and looked up to the sky. I let the rain drops hit my face. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Feeling better already I headed toward my table. What I saw there set me off.

Carmen. Carmen "I fucking want to kill her" Vasquez. It took me back to 2 summers ago.

"Ash, we can't. We'll get caught." She looked at me with her big droopy brown eyes, so innocent.

"Case, trust me. We're not gonna get caught. It's 1am. Everyone's asleep." I reached for her hand.

She hesitated at first. Then she smiled and grabbed it. I pulled her through the backyard and over to the pool. Casey had never been pool hopping and I was bored out of my mind. Nothing to do at 1 am but sleep. Nah!

I stripped down to my underwear and slowly slid in. She stood outside of the pool with her arms crossed.

"C'mon, Case. Live a little." I gave her a sexy grin and my signature wink.

"You just wanna see me in my underwear. Are you sure you're not a guy?" She asked while laughing.

"Shhhhh. Geez. Do you want us to get caught? Get your cute little butt in here before I come out there and throw you in."

She sighed and then started undressing. I didn't look away. I couldn't. Casey had an amazing body and I stared at her imagining the things I wanted to do to it. She watched me watching her as she slowly stepped into the pool. And I mean slow. She knew what she was doing to me. Shy Casey must have went home because Bold Casey was standing right in front of me. Nothing, but lust in her eyes. I stepped forward and grabbed a hold of her hips.

"Hi," I said in an almost whisper.

"Hi." She smiled and bit down on her bottom lip.

"You could get me to do just about anything, you know?"

"I know." I was that good!

"How do you do that?" She asked.

"Part of my charm?"

"Nope."

"What then?"

"Your eyes," she said looking directly into them.

"My eyes did not tell you to get in this pool." I snickered.

"Yes. They did." She pulled me closer. Our hips touched.

"Nope. Pretty sure that was my mouth."

"Well, I wasn't listening to what you were saying."

"Okay. What is it that my eyes are asking you to do right now?"

"Well. Right now….."

Casey and I had been flirting for months. When summer started it got more intense. This was as far as we had got. She closed her eyes as I leaned in. She pulled me in the rest of the way and I gently pressed my lips against hers. Her hands immediately went right to my hair. The kiss deepened and we both moaned. She traced my bottom lip with her tongue and I let her in. I was shocked at this side of Casey. Shocked and very turned on. We made out for a little while in the pool and then I took her home.

The next day pictures were all over MySpace and Facebook. Pictures of Casey and me making out in the pool. Carmen's neighbors pool. Bitch had over 10 pictures of us going at it. I was pissed, but Casey was scared and hurt. I didn't care that I was just outed. Casey did. She went through a rough year with her family and even some of her friends. She avoided me for a couple months and it killed me. One day she showed up at my doorstep begging for forgiveness. Of course, I gave it to her. We became a couple after that, but like I said it didn't work out. Over the next year and a half Carmen made her life hell. Which in return made me earn several suspensions.

Right before me I saw Carmen and in front of her Miranda. Those weren't rain drops on her face.

Carmen was gonna get me suspended again.

I walked over to her ready for a fight. Miranda saw me coming from over Carmen's shoulder. I noticed how her eyes went from scared to relieved. Carmen turned around and smirked. At that moment, I wanted so badly to knock her perfect teeth out.

"Get the fuck away from her. Now!" I was seething.

"Hello to you, too, Ash."

"Don't you dare call me that! We aren't friends. Nor have we ever been."

"And that leaves me oh so broken hearted, Ash." She put her hand on her heart.

I looked over at Miranda who was wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "You okay, Miranda?"

She nodded. "I'm fine," she said so quietly that I barely heard her.

"If Carmen here is bothering you please tell me. I need an excuse to kick her sorry ass."

If looks could kill I would without a doubt be in jail by now.

"No. No it's fine. We were just talking."

I don't know why she was lying. Why was she so scared of her?

"Yeah, Ash-ley. We were just having a friendly conversation."

"Friendly conversations don't usually involve tears."

"Ashley, I'm fine. Really. I'm uh. I'm gonna go now." She scurried off. Trying to escape Carmen I bet.

"So is Miranda your new play toy?" Her eyes followed Miranda as she left.

"She's a friend. So leave her alone or else I will have no choice but to knock your teeth in."

I was inches away from her with no intention of backing down.

"The kind of friend you make out in pools with?" I couldn't believe she just said that.

She was not backing down either.

"Watch your mouth, Vasquez. You're two seconds from…"

"Two seconds from what, Ash? Oh right. You're gonna knock my teeth in." The bitch laughed.

"I told you not to call me that!"

She was trying to see how far she could push me before I snapped. We had history. She knew it wouldn't be long.

"I'm not afraid of you, Ashley. You're nothing but a stupid, little, slutty, DYKE who sleeps with anyone who will spread their legs. You're shit Ashley. Waste of space. No wonder your Mom hates you and your Daddy never comes home."

CRUNCH!#

That was the beautiful sound of Carmen's nose. Which I am fairly certain I just broke.

She fell to the ground, blood streaming down her face and hands, then down to her shirt.

"You broke my nose you bitch!" She yelled, holding her nose.

"You deserved it," I said calmly.

I knelt down to her level and whispered in her ear.

"Stay the fuck away from me, Casey, Miranda and anyone else I care about. Or next time it won't just be your nose I break. M'kay Punkin." I patted her on the head and stood up.

She jumped up and launched herself at me. She grabbed onto my hair and started pulling it. Typical girl. I laughed and then realized that her bloody hands were in my hair. Eww! I finally snapped out of my disgust and started trying to push her off of me. She stumbled a little and I stepped forward with the intent of hitting her again. Suddenly I felt two hands around my waist pulling me back. Carmen fell to the ground again.

"Stay down there where you belong, Vasquez!"

"Ashley, shut – up!" Said the voice of the person holding my waist. They let me go and I turned around. Spencer. She looked worried. Next to her was Miranda. And if things couldn't get any worse Mr. Goodman was standing there, too. His face had on that "you're in deep shit" expression. Great!

"Ashley, what happened here?"

Before I could answer Spencer, Miranda cut in.

"She was defending me."

"Defending you from whom?" Mr. Goodman was a slow one.

"From her, obviously. She is a bully and needed to be taught a lesson!" I spat.

"A bully? Whatever. "Carmen laughed

"And by teaching me a lesson she means breaking my nose." She slowly stood up.

Who the hell told her she could get up?

"You got what you deserved."

"Alright. That's enough!" Mr. Goodman interrupted.

"Miss Vasquez, go to the nurse and get cleaned up. Then go have a seat in the office." She walked off towards the door, her face bloody and her skirt wet and muddy from falling on her ass. Twice. I laughed internally.

"Miss Davies, you're suspended. Go home."

"You're kidding me, right? What was I supposed to do? Let her get away with bullying other students."

"Miss Davies, whether or not this was about you defending Miss Dennison, your actions were uncalled for. If you witness someone getting bullied you report it. Violence is not tolerated here. No matter the reason."

"What about Carmen?"

"Carmen is my problem. Not yours. Now go home" With that he turned around and headed back in.

The rain had really started to pick up. I didn't care. I guess Miranda and Spencer didn't either.

"Ashley, I'm so sorry." Miranda was hugging me again. This time it was not awkward at all. When she pulled back she had tears in her eyes again.

"Thank you for defending me. Again, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. Carmen is a bitch. I just wanted her to back off and it turned into another fight between us. It's not your fault. I was happy to defend you. That's what friends are for, right?"

She smiled. "Right." Then she hugged me again. Seriously. This girl liked to hug.

"Miranda, you need to get to class," Spencer demanded.

"Okay. Bye, Ash. Thanks again." And she was off.

I dared to look over at Spencer. I knew she was probably mad. I was surprised when she had a smile on her face.

"You mean you're not gonna yell at me, too?"

"No. I've been waiting for someone to shut up Carmen Vasquez for far too long." Huh? What?

"She's been picking on Miranda for a few months now, teases her for being quiet and to herself. She's been through a lot. Thank you for what you did." Wow...I was shocked. She didn't yell. She thanked me.

"I talked to her a few times and even went as far as reporting her to Mr. Goodman, but he never got around to talking to her."

"So I did his job for him and this is how he thanks me? That's bullshit." She laughed.

"I'm pretty sure that breaking noses isn't part of his punishment plan. You really shouldn't have hit her. But off the record, thank you." She was nothing, but sincere.

"It was truly my pleasure." I gave her the biggest smile I could muster up and she smiled back.

The rain had died down and we were just standing there smiling at each other. An onlooker would assume there was indeed something between us. They wouldn't be wrong.

She saw me holding my hand. "Is your hand okay? You didn't break that, too, did you?"

"I don't think it's broke. Just a little sore." She reached for it. There was that shock again. She traced my sore knuckles with her fingers and I gasped.

"Nope. No broken bones." I don't know how she could tell, but I believed her. She let my hand go.

"Good thing for that. I can't play piano or the guitar with a broken hand."

"And that would be a shame. Can't have that. So no more fights, okay?" She begged. And could I resist her? Uh no.

"No more fights. I promise."

"Good. Now get out of here. I'm gonna go talk to Mr. Goodman. I'm pretty sure I can get him to revoke your suspension."

"Gee… thanks." Note my sarcasm.

She laughed again. "No problem." She started walking away, but turned around at the door. "See ya, Rocky." I got a wink and another smile and then she was gone.

"Bye, Spencer," I said even though I knew she couldn't hear me.

What a day! Wait. What a half a day. After all of the excitement I was finally hungry. I walked out of the quad and to my car. I stopped and got some burritos then headed home. On the way home I thought of Spencer. Yeah I know, what's new? Her beauty was obvious. It's all I noticed at first. But as I got to know her more I started noticing it wasn't the only thing that made her perfect. She was beautiful, no doubt, but she was also genuine, smart, caring and funny. She made me laugh and as much as I love that in a woman it wasn't the main thing that drew me to her. I felt safe. She made me feel safe. And although, she will probably never admit it, wanted. She made me feel wanted. And not just in the sexual way, in every way. As much as I wanted to tell her all of this. I couldn't. It was too soon. And I was scared. Scared of being in love, scared of not being enough, scared of wanting more from her than just her body. I hadn't felt like that in well…never. This wasn't just about seduction anymore. This was more than that. Not only did I want to seduce Spencer, but I wanted to make her fall in love with me. To do that I would have to get rid of the old Ashley for good. That would be the hardest thing I had ever had to do. But Spencer was worth it. I had no doubts about that. Goodbye Old Ashley.