Crazy in Love

And so came Friday. We all love this day, don't we? Although a lot of us have work the next day, like myself, we still cherish the freedom of the evening. I work at the local dry-ski slope at the Morgans' farm; it's quite popular to people who come up here for a relaxing getaway weekend or even a longer break from the city life. I don't have to be there until 10 tomorrow, though.

I have to admit, as my dad drove me to my college, I was anticipating how it would be when I saw Matt and his friends. I didn't feel bad. Why should I? I did nothing wrong. I put those boys in their places and helped the good guy, James. After I had sorted out his little cuts and bruises, he kindly refused my offer for him to stay and eat the pizza with us. He hated Jackass too, coincidentally. But he was dedicated to his job and was already 20 minutes late back. At least the evidence on his face would be a rescue out of trouble.

Strolling down the long, busy hall, I secretly study the little school kids in their uniform. I'm in year 13, but this year and year 12 are considered the two years of "college" before we will go off to University. And we're at the 6th form of our school, but I prefer to call it college nonetheless, purely because it sounds more grown up. Oh, arrest me.

I feel rather philosophical as I brush through their short presences. It feels like just last week I was in year 9, year 10, without any of the worries I have now. It's funny, looking back. I do it quite a lot. It's bad - I need to live in the present, not the past.

"Hey Ally." A familiar voice speaks out from behind me.

I look over in time to see James arrive by my side. He still has the plaster on his bruised cheek and his lip is now crusted over with dark scabbing. He's wearing a very "geeky" wardrobe, as stereotypical as that sounds people: chequered shirt tucked into baggy, black trousers, with braces, a book bag that's clearly too big for the width of his back, and a new pair of glasses. Although they look identical to his other ones which were smooshed by Anthony yesterday.

"Oh - hey James," I smile in a friendly way, "How're your cuts doing?"

He does that thing with his glasses, where he pushes them up his nose with the tip of his thumb; it's like a habit of his, I've noticed, rather than something he has to do for his own comfort. It bugs me. Call it an odd pet-peeve of mine for people with glasses? I dunno', it just reminds me of some shy, strange, anti-social little boy who doesn't know girls from boys. And that wasn't James; not the James who stood up for himself yesterday despite the risk of a beating.

"Fine, thanks to you," He nods eagerly, "I want to say thanks, again, Ally. For your help yesterday. And I'm sorry I caused such a fuss outside your doorstep, it was really inconvenient and selfish of me. I should've bitten my tongue for respect. I was selfish to think only about my reputation here."

I laugh somewhat. I was amused by his vocabulary, and the fact that he was feeling guilty. I mean, come on, it was silly. Boys are boys at the end of the day. I stop at my locker and click the circular lock from left to right to find the correct digits.

"James, don't apologise," I sigh, still smiling, "You did the right thing. And it's not like I have neighbours to worry about - my parents and I live up on that hill all by ourselves. The nearest house is at least two miles. You should know that, being the pizza guy and all."

James shows he agrees by giving two or three contemplative nods of his head. I open my locker door and start to skim through my text books and notepads which lie on their sides. James is watching; I see his eyes in the small, rectangle mirror I have glued to the door.

"This is your locker?" He randomly asks.

For such an intelligent geek, that was a really stupid question. I look at him with a sarcastic smile and eye him up and down.

"Don't tell anyone - but I secretly know everyone's locker codes and like to go around pretending they're mine." I tease in a whisper.

James is clearly embarrassed by the way he smiles, blushes and looks at the floor and everywhere else apart from at me. I roll my eyes and return to fetching my required books for the next periods.

James takes a deep breath; he is confident once more, "What lesson do you have first?"

"Uhhhh- English. You?" I glance at him as I shut the door to the locker.

He raises his eyebrows in a glad surprise, "Miss. Wickett?"

I smile, "What a coincidence. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're stalking me James."

I give a little giggle and James chuckles with me. I nudge my head for him to follow, and we both turn together to walk.

I find it awfully ironic that I had said that to him. I was only joking. James wasn't.

But just as I did so, one of those cliché moments occurred. You know, the tyical boy-meets-girl at school scene, where she turns and collides into the handsome new guy and drops her books to the ground in the process. I hated those scenes - until it happened to me.

"Hey!" I exclaim automatically, "Watch where you're going!"

"Are you ok Ally??" James asks sharply.

I sigh, irritable, and stroke my hair back, "Yeah... I'm fine."

It is then that I realise the person I had bumped into was already kneeling down and collecting up my four books for me. He leans his head back to look up at me... and wow. I suddenly feel very foolish for having snapped at him. I don't want this gorgeous creature to think I'm a bitch.

I smile, joking around, trying to cover my act up, "Are you blind or something?"

The young, raven-haired prince rises to his full height. He is at least 5 inches taller than me - taller than James, taller than Matt, taller than my daddy. He has muscly arms and a shaped front. His hair is messy, medium-length, and a natural tan has kissed his smooth skin. His style is baggy, but a little Indie, and his eyes seem to focus around me rather than on me.

The boy half-smiles and holds my books out to me, "Doctors say I will be in 3 years, give or take a month."

I slowly take them, giving a scoff, "Sorry to hear that."

The guy just stares at me with the same expression on his face. He doesn't seem angry, as I can still see the little smile playing across his lips, but he looks disappointed. As though he was the type of person that has bad luck meeting good people, and I was his last bit of hope. James' eyes were darting back and forth from the two of us the entire time we stood staring at each other; I was mortified.

"I... Oh god... I thought you were joking around," I whisper pathetically, "I-I'm so s"-

"Sorry?" The guy finishes for me.

His deep, green eyes hold a glint in them that make me feel the size of a peanut. He wasn't being mean or clever, like Matt and his goofs, but more like he was lecturing and teaching me to be a better person. I feel like absolute crap. The bell rings and brings the moment to an end.

"See you around." He nods, before making to walk past me.

"Wait," I call out, turning to look at him, "What's your name? I don't want to know you as the new kid forever."

I chuckle and shrug sweetly. I hope this will show him I'm not as mean as I probably seem. The partially blind boy finally shows mercy and smiles something a little more friendly.

"Warren," He reveals, then waits for me... and waits, "...do I get a name back?"

I flinch and twitter a nervous laugh, which I can tell amuses Warren by the change of his smile, "A-ally. Sorry, I'm still a bit-... I'm really sorry."

He finally laughs, "Forget it. You didn't know. See you later, Ally."

And with that, the handsome prince shows his back to me and strolls away to wherever the time leads him. I don't realise I'm staring until James clears his throat uncomfortably and pulls my attention away, finally. I tuck my hair behind my ear, then suddenly realise, and tut at myself.

"Crap..." I huff, spinning round, marching off.

James follows, "What's wrong?"

I shake my head with embarrassment, "N-nothing..."

He laughs a little, "Tell me."

I rush up the stairs, James right behind me, then to the left, down the hall, across the empty classroom and out the other side into the B-Block. Our classroom is the next door, which I come to a stop at.

"I tucked my hair back." I blurt out to James, as though he is all of a sudden my shrink.

James blinks owlishly at me, "... OK?"

I close my eyes and shake my head fast, "N-no, you don't understand. I only do that when... when I'm nervous. God, he made me tuck my hair back!"

I lean against the wall and start to slap my forehead. James is quick to grab my wrist and stop me, stop me from hurting myself foolishly.

"Stop that..." He gulps nervously, as we are quite close now.

I sigh, shaking my head, "I bet he saw straight through me."

I roll my eyes and turn my head to the right to stare off into space, just for a moment. I need to get over how I just made a complete clown of myself. I had no idea James was watching me, and still holding my wrist intensely... The teacher suddenly slides the classroom door open and causes the both of us to jump round in surprise; she sighs.

"Come on..." She orders in exhaustion.

I flash her a grateful, sheepish smile as I quickly slip in under her arm. James does the same. We creep into the room and begin to slid and swerve gracefully around the tables; no one really takes any notice of us, except for Craig, who is sitting in the back corner. He glares at James and I. So what!

Coincidentally, there is an empty seat next to my desk today, so James is able to sit beside me. He sinks down into the seat and takes out a pen and his notepad. I do the same.

Jame's POV:
~~~Why am I thinking about Warren? He's not threat to me. He'll turn out to be just like all the other wankers in this school, only after Ally's beautiful body. Not like me. I want her for her mind, her soul, her every odd freckle and curve. I'm not falling fast, I swear. I'm just admiring; I'm only human. And besides, she was hinting yesterday. Why would she do that if she didn't like me? And to confide in me like that, about her little habits. I'm slowly learning more and more about her flaws, her give-aways, her habits.

But I won't fall fast. I swear.

I just want to be around her. Make her smile, laugh, give her the most amazing sensations inside and out. I want to make her tuck her hair back like that. I want it to be me. No one else... I'll make sure I get a seat beside her, always.

I'm not falling fast. I'm just planning ahead, because. I know she likes me, just a little. I'm going to help her open up to me. I know she wants to... she's just afraid of getting hurt, like me. I saw how nervous she was with Warren. Pfft. Warren. He's no threat to me at all.~~~