One of the Boys

I felt like putting a bullet in my head.

Annabelle had pushed my buttons all morning to get me into a short denim skirt, all for just a first impression. What? She wanted everyone to think I was a whore? I pushed all her girly suggestions aside with the clothes. The only real praise I received from her was when I swiped a quick bit of make-up on.

Now, I was going to be put to the test.

Eliza pulled up in front of the school, the glass doors of the building and the large crowd of rowdy highschoolers intimidating me. I felt small, much smaller than at my old school. Back home, the school only consisted of maybe 650 people. Here, though, it looked like it was double that. Annabelle bounded out of the front seat up to a crowd of girls that looked like they should all be out of highschool. Before Eliza had a chance to say anything to me, I jumped out and slammed the door behind me.

And in that instant, I felt my breakfast churn in my stomach.

I wasn't usually afraid of large crowds or what people thought of me, but the millions of eyes that were staring back at me as soon as I stepped foot on the pavement made me feel like my skin was missing and I was completely vulnerable. Some whispered to one another and giggled, others just stared at me in interest or curiosity. I took a deep breath, straightened up, and made my way past the mobs of people and into the building.

It wasn't all that hard to keep people away from me. All I had to do was keep a straight face with no emotions and push by everyone to get to what was assigned my new locker. It was sandwiched between a jock's and prep's locker, making me cringe just at the thought of what shit I'd hear. I dropped my bag inside of it and locked it, turning away before anyone could try and strike up a conversation. The pressure weighed on my small shoulders and made my stomach dip once again.

"Hey," someone said from behind me. I turned around to see a tall, lanky guy staring down at me. Aw, sorry, no cleavage here. He smiled, his eyes lighting up underneath his shaggy blonde hair.

"Hi," I said flatly.

"You new here? Haven't seen you around before," he said, holding his hand out for me to shake. "I'm Chris."

"Lydia," I replied, not bothering to take his hand. He jerked his hand back quickly, feeling embarrassed about even trying.

"Where are you headed?" he asked. I pulled up a piece of paper holding my schedule for the rest of the year. First period: English.

"Hey, me too." Chris smiled and nodded his head. "I'll show you the way." He started off, and for some reason, I followed. Not because I wanted to hang out with him, though. He was rather cheesy and dorky, in my opinion. I just followed him so I didn't end up wandering around like some dumbass for the next hour.

When we arrived at the classroom, Chris quickly sat down in the middle of the room and motioned for me to sit beside him. I shook my head and walked past him to the open seat in the very back.

"I like the back," I said as he turned around to give me a look. "Front and middle are for goody-two-shoes." I smirked, letting myself ease up and show my true self: a bitchy, attitude induced nightmare. Chris shurgged and turned to face the front, but others in the room decided to stare me down like I had an arm growing out of my ass. Whatever. Ignoring them, I opened my notebook and began to scribble all over the page.

Someone ended up taking the seat beside me. I allowed myself to take a peek at who was there, only to find that it was some guy with a camo trucker hat on. He noticed my eyes on him and looked at me, giving me a small smile.

"HUNTER!"

Both of us jumped at the sudden outburst. He straightened up beside me, the smile turning into a playful smirk. "Yes?" he asked.

"You know the rules," the teacher, Mrs. Barlow, said.

"Not to flirt with the new chicks?" he asked sarcastically. In that instant, I felt my cheeks heat up a bit as a few snickers errupted around us. Mrs. Barlow stared him down from the front of the class, her eyes glinting with seriousness. Hunter sighed beside me and took the hat off, dropping it onto the desk and leaning back on two legs of his chair. I looked over at Hunter in disbelief, only to get a smirk and a wink.

Chris turned around to look at me.

"Boy, are you in for it."