It Started With a Whisper

When my alarm went off Monday morning, I turned it off immediately. I didn't need it to wake me up. I hadn't gone to sleep. I was beyond nervous for class. I didn't know how I was going to react to seeing Mr. Franco. I didn't know how he was going to reach either. I had a feeling things were going to be uncomfortable between us for a while.

"Aria! Leggo!" I was spooning cereal into my mouth when Amelia burst through the front door. I rolled my eyes and put my bowl in the sink.

"I swear, I'm going to take your key away," I mumbled, grabbing my backpack and pushing her out of the apartment.

"Someone's in a sour mood. Mr. Franco didn't get you off?" I ignored her, sliding into the driver's seat of my car. The whole ride to school, she proceeded to ask me questions about my relationship with Mr. Franco, and in return I ignored her. I had no desire to talk about that non-existent situation, and I prayed to God that she would let it go. I walked into the classroom and made my way to the back corner, not even bothering to acknowledge the fact that Mr. Franco was staring at me as I walked through the room.

"No seriously. What's wrong, Aria?" Amelia asked, taking the seat next to me. I just shook my head and pulled out my laptop. There was a strong chance that we would be taking notes today, and I hated actually writing on a piece of paper for anything other than math. It was annoying, and it made my hands cramp.

All throughout class, I could feel Mr. Franco's eyes on me, and I did my best to avoid his gaze. It was already too late in the semester to switch professors, but then something dawned on me. I was freaking out for absolutely nothing. Mr. Franco hadn't done anything wrong, and neither had I. It's not like we were messing around behind everyone's backs.

"Aria, let's go. Class is over." I shut my MacBook and slipped it into my backpack. Most of the class had already filed out, and I wanted to be the next to leave. I could already feel the tension in the room, and I didn't want to give Amelia any more reasons to make jokes or assumptions.

"Aria, can I speak with you for a moment?" And my precious plan to leave unnoticed had been foiled. I sighed and rubbed my forehead. I could feel Amelia smirking at me.

"Wait outside." I knew I wasn't going to hear the end of this. I watched Amelia walk out, secretly wanting to choke her as she skipped and hummed out the door.

"What's up, Mr. Franco?" I asked, hoping this little meeting was cut short.

"Is everything okay?" I was still avoiding his eyes, but I could hear the concern in his voice, and it made me want to rip my hair out. What the hell was up with me? I hadn't done anything wrong, so why was I freaking out? Cameron only made a comment about what he saw, but Mr. Franco probably shouldn't have been in the hospital in the first place, so was I really freaking out for nothing?

"Yes. Everything's fine. Was that all you asked me to stay for?" I didn't mean to be rude, but I needed to figure out things for myself, and the only way to do that was to spend time away from my teacher.

"How are things at the hospital?" He just had to ask. It was like he knew what was wrong with me, and he was trying to push my buttons.

"I haven't been there since Saturday." I readjusted the strap on my backpack and tapped my foot impatiently.

"Is that what's wrong?" I finally looked at him, seeing that he was raising his eyebrows at me.

"What are you talking about, Dave? I told you nothing was wrong," I said, finally using his name. Maybe that would get him off my back.

"The comment that Cameron made." And there it was. I ran my fingers through my hair and mumbled to myself.

"There's nothing wrong. I'm not worried about any comment that Cameron made. I have to go. I have homework to do. I'll see you on Wednesday, Mr. Franco." I walked out of the room before he had the chance to say anything else. I purposely walked in the opposite direction of where Amelia was leaning. I could see the smug look on her features, and I was afraid that I would punch her in the face if she said anything stupid.

"So what exactly did Cameron say?"

"Amelia, leave. I'm not in the mood." I heard her stop walking, but that didn't stop me. I kept moving until I was on the far side of the campus. I proceeded to sit down on the grass and pull out my math book, starting on the homework I knew would take me forever.

"Are you okay?" I looked up, finding a pair of blue eyes staring down at me.

"Yes. I'm fine." I moved my gaze back to my homework and started working out the problem in front of me.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." He hadn't even been here a full minute, and he was starting to annoy me.

"What are you working on?"

"Calculus." I mumbled, scribbling my answer on the paper.

"I'm Daniel."

"That's nice."

"Are you always this rude?" I dropped my pencil and looked up at him. For the first time in my life, I was ready to cuss, but I stopped myself. No reason to get worked up over nothing.

"No, but I have a ton of homework to do, and I'm not in the greatest of moods right now, so could you please leave me alone?" I asked as politely as I could. Too bad he didn't move. He just smiled at me.

"I bet I could make you feel better." So he was one of those.

"That's wonderful." I rolled my eyes and turned back to my homework.

"What's your name?"

"Aria." I moved on to the next problem, trying desperately to tune him out, but it wasn't working.

"Beautiful name."

"Thanks." I had heard that a million times before. It was a line guys used on me a lot. I no longer took it as a compliment, just a way for guys to attempt to get into my pants. They soon learned that I wasn't easy and moved on.

"Are you a freshman?"

"Yep." I popped the "p" and scribbled the next answer down, silently praying that he would leave me alone. Too bad I was never that fortunate.

"Have you turned 18 yet?"

"Four more weeks." I closed my book, figuring that I wasn't going to get any silence from this Daniel person, and he was breaking my concentration.

"Ah, so you're still a baby." I shrugged, resting on my elbows.

"I guess you can say that."

"Well, I'm a sophomore." I wanted to be a smartass and say that I didn't ask, but he was actually making me feel a little better. He was distracting me from my thoughts with nonsense, and I would take that over being angry at the world for an extended period of time.

I looked over at him, examining his build and facial features. He was definitely attractive with wavy blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. He had a strong jaw and a smile to die for. Why were there so many attractive people at USC? This was like the collegiate version of Hollywood or something.

"Judging from the way you look, I'm guessing you're a football player?" That seemed to be a logical explanation for his size. He was a little too buff to be someone that just worked out on a daily basis, but who was I to judge?

"You guessed correct. Quarterback." I laughed, but not at him. Well, I guess it sort of was at him.

"May I ask why you're laughing?"

"You just look like a stereotypical quarterback. Blonde hair, blue eyes, muscular, gorgeous..." I trailed off, finding that I was digging myself into a bit of a hole.

"You think I'm gorgeous." Of course that would be the only thing he heard come out of my mouth.

"That's beside the point. Let me guess, your dad played in the NFL. You're from Texas. You grew up in a huge house. You have little sisters who are cheerleaders, and you want to play for the Dallas Cowboys." Maybe I was being a little harsh, but he didn't seem to notice. He just laughed.

"Wrong. My dad didn't play in the NFL. He's a psychiatrist. I'm from Indianna, I grew up in a normal sized house, and I'm an only child. But I do want to play for the Dallas Cowboys." I couldn't believe how wrong I actually was about him, but it didn't bother me too much.

"Why the Dallas Cowboys?" I was curious because most people I knew didn't like them unless they were from Texas. The Cowboys didn't have the best track record.

"My favorite colors are blue and silver." I laughed again. Of course he would choose his favorite football team because of their colors.

"Do you want to go get lunch?" He asked, a hopeful look in his blue eyes. I bit my lip, trying to decide if I wanted to go or not.

"Sure." What could go wrong?