Chapter 1: I Almost Get Detention

Blake POV

Ring! "Ugh," I groan as a turn off my annoying alarm clock. Oh, that's for school. Dang it. 8th grade year. I never thought in my life that I would reach this point. Life felt so boring and empty and I do not have any high hopes for this year. My main goal is to not get a swirly on the first day of school. I staggered out of bed, tossed on a pair of jeans, a Greek mythology t-shirt, and my favorite blue hoodie.

"Honey, hurry up or you'll be late for school!" Aw yes. The lovely sound of my mother letting me know that I'm a slug in the morning. She's a nice middle-aged woman. Dark brown hair with a few gray streaks, short body, but a caring motherly face. I'm the last off her six kids and by far the most difficult to deal with. I've suffered more injuries than anyone I know ringing up with a total of about seven to eight concussions. I've sprained both my ankles twice and torn my lip to the point where I needed stitches. Dang, I'm getting away from the story again. Stupid ADHD. I sit at the table where my usual egg and orange juice are waiting for me. I quickly scarf down the food so I have time to pack my lunch which consists of 2 snack bars and a bagel. It's not that I like to starve myself it's just that I have a hard time eating in big portions.

"Leaving in five!" my mom shouts down the hallway.

"Okay," I reply with a mouthful of toothpaste.

I'm not looking forward to school. Sure it's nearby but none of my friends go there anymore. My best friends moved so they're zoned for a different school now and my other friends all stopped talking to me. Not to mention, being one of the smarter kids in the class meant that everyone wanted to copy my work and if I didn't let them, I'd get pounded. That wouldn't be a problem if I wasn't a scrawny short asthmatic teenager. I've been pushed around since 3rd grade when I was the only person who didn't get in trouble ever. They took their anger out on me but I was too scared to tell anyone about it. And because I didn't take care of it in the past, I have to deal with it for 1 more year before I hopefully go to a good high school.

One thing I love about my drive to school is the 15 minutes of time to myself where my mom doesn't bother me. I get to listen to music and read my favorite book series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I also loved to look at all the different cars that passed us as well as sometimes trying to find my classmates on their way to school. This was one thing I could look forward to this year, I guess. As I looked out the window of our massive van, I see something out of the corner of my eye that draws my attention. I turn to see further and it's this beautiful girl, probably a middle schooler, most likely seventh grade. She has light brown hair the goes halfway down her back. She's short, maybe 4' 11". Then she turns in my direction and our eyes lock for a brief second. Oh man. She has the most beautiful brown eyes I've ever seen in my life. They have a slight twinkle in them that makes my stomachs do somersaults. Then I realize how long we've been starring at each other and quickly turn away before my face floods with a bright red blush.

"First day jitters Blake?" my mom asks me clearly talking about my now tomato colored self.

"No, I'm perfectly fine!" I reply but my voice is about 3 octaves higher than it should be. Oh no. I quickly check the first 3 indications. 1. Elevated pulse, check. 2. Hyperventilating, check. 3. Sweaty palms, check. Great, love at first sight. I don't want to have a crush on someone I'll probably never see again a day in my life. I quickly control myself and continue to listen to my music and before I know, I'm back at David Junior High ready for a year of pain and misery.

"Have a good day, and don't listen to what the other kids say!"

"Will do mom, love you," I reply before slamming the car door shut and begin the miserable walk up the stairs to hell's palace on Earth. Several dreary kids drudge up the stairs along with me, all knowing what was waiting for us on the other end of those double doors. I pass through the front door and flinch prepared for the yearly shakedown for lunch money (even though I always had a packed lunch) but this time it never came. Weird.

"Looks like you didn't hear that they all got expelled before the year started."

A smile grew on my face and I turned around to see one of classmates who I considered a somewhat friend. Ricardo was about my height and had a similar build to mine. We'd known each other since kindergarten but didn't start talking to middle school started. I wasn't exactly in his bigger friend group but he would occasionally hang out with me if I looked alone. I called him Ricky.

"Well that is probably one of the best things I've heard in my life, besides you going on and on about your girlfriend," I rely sarcastically. He just smirks at me before going in for a fist bump. "What do you have first period?"

"History with Cobble. How about you?"

"Oh sick! I have first period with Cobble too, let's see if she'll let us sit together!" Mrs. Cobble is the best teacher on the plant. She always helps with homework, she loves Percy Jackson, and she was the only teacher who ever stood up for me when it came to bullying. All the others would just let it happen and not give a dang about anything. I'd had her as a teacher last year and she was so kind to me. Instead of going to break with the other kids, I'd sit in her classroom and just talk to her for 15 minutes. Yeah, she's that kind of teacher.

Ricardo and I started heading to our lockers. Lucky for us, they were right next to each other. I put in my combination but it didn't work, and neither did Ricardo's. "Bro, what is going on with these locks?"

"I can help," a voice says from behind us scaring the crap out of Ricky and I. We both spun around and I almost said something that would not have been a good first impression. It was the girl from earlier! What are the odds that she transferred to my school of all schools. She was in fact about 4'11". My heartbeat quickened, my palms got sweaty, and my face went beat red. I knew about my face because Ricky smirked at me and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Um, sure. That'd be great, thank you very much," I reply hoping my voice didn't crack to badly. I knew it had though because she smiled and a slight blush appeared on her face.

"What are your digits?"

"971 666..."

"No, your locker combo."

Crap. I knew I'd messed up because Ricky started dying in silent laughter. I must've looked so dumb right now. "31-4-26. Sorry," I mutter. She put in the code and my locker popped open. My mouth hung open as she did the same process with my laughing friend. This girl had literally taken my heart and locked it in a box only for her to open. Her brown eyes were so captivating. They seemed like endless pools of beauty that you could stare at for hours. Oh shoot, I cannot have a crush on someone. Not again.

Let me explain. Back in the fourth grade, I began to have feeling for someone who had been in our class since kindergarten. She was actually the first friend I ever made. Her name was Emi, not short for anything. She had dark brown hair and eyes, pale skin, and a kind attitude. She also was a towering 5'5" when I began to be affectionate towards her. And I just happened to be 4'8" and skinny as a twig. I could've fit in between two cars in bumper to bumper traffic. Anyways, I had a crush on her all through 4th grade and it carried on to fifth where I found out one of my classmates named Aaron had a crush on her as well and I got territorial. I told her about it and she instantly said no at which my heart began to beat even harder so eleven year old me decided to tell her how I felt. Boy did I mess up. She also instantly said no but that she still wanted to be friends. Funny thing is I haven't talked to her since and we started going to different schools last year. After that incident I told myself I'd never have feelings for anyone else until senior year, of college. Apparently, life had other plans for me. So, here I am in 8th grade, three years after my first crush with a stronger pull to someone who I don't even know. Yeah, my life sucks.

"Earth to Blake, Earth to Blake, come in Blake!" It was when Ricardo slapped my face that I realized I'd zoned out completely and that the new girl was gone. Shit. "Dude, she the bell rang two minutes ago, we have under three minutes to get to class, and it's on the other side of campus, come on!" I picked up my bag and quickly tossed it over my shoulder before Ricky and I began sprinting as to not be late to our first class of the year.

Ring!

"Dude, please never zone out like that again," Ricky gasps as he sits down in his seat.

"I'll try man, but it's getting more and more common," I reply tossing my bag underneath my desk. We're the last to sit down so we got stuck at the front of the class. I don't even care to look at who is in my first class because I realize that it isn't Mrs. Cobble who is sending at the front of the room but our horrible school sub Mr. Filler. Don't even think about laughing at that name, or else you'll end up on the Dead list. The students on that list never pass any assignment when he is subbing and unfortunately, I happen to be one of them. The only reason I was on it was because I'd tripped on my way to my seat on his first day subbing and he had just happened to be in the middle of drinking his Starbucks coffee. I think you can imagine what happened from there. My poor nose will never get the smell of cappuccino and blood out of it. Long story short, this guy is like a demonic Hyde.

"Alright class, Mrs. Cobble could not be here and will not be here till next semester due to her being on maternity leave so I will be your teacher for this semester. Seeing as I am your first class of the day, it seems that I will need to go over the rules with you for the newbies which I see quite a few of," Mr. Filler began to recite the long list of rules that every student knew but didn't much care about. I took this opportunity to look around at the new students that were in our class. There was a new guy with blonde hair and dark grey eyes, girl who was picking her nose with her inch long nails which made me throw up in my mouth, a goth kid in the back row who I didn't even want to try to guess what their gender was. There was one more student but I couldn't see them due to them being blocked by a big kid named Billy. Looking around, I realized only about three to four new kids were in this class and the other twenty six of us had returned from last year.

"Storm!" My name being yelled brings me back to reality. Seriously, what is with all the zoning out.

"Yes sir. Could you repeat the question?" I replied trying to hide my blush.

"It's roll call Storm, just say here," he snottily replies.

I smirk, knowing that I have an amazing comeback. "Why should I reply if you know that I'm here Mr. Fillmore." If it wasn't public school, I probably would've gotten suspended for a comment like that but instead the entire class busted out laughing. Billy was laughing so hard that he fell out of his chair and I finally caught a glimpse of the person sitting next to him.