The clock's minute hand couldn't travel across the numbers any slower. I'm in desperate need to get my mind off the clock, so I look around the room. The instructor is scribbling letters and numbers on the board that look like a completely different language. There are some kids scribbling ferociously in their notebooks, while others are like me-distracted- their minds wandering into some other world. One kid has his cell phone under the table texting. There's even a couple passing a note to each other, smiling every time one of them reads it. It looks like your typical high school classroom.

My eyes go back to the clock and my mind realizes that I only have seven minutes of math left. The teacher is now yelling at the kid that had his cell phone out. First he refuses to give it up, but then the teacher goes to call an administrator and out of fear, he gives up. Some other kids start to whisper and giggle while I just stare at him. He's probably going to get yelled at by his mom. I envy him. When I was small, my dad told me that my mother ran away after my birth. He said that I was unplanned, but my mother still loved me and refused to give me up. While I was growing up, my mother took care of me and taught me everything I needed to know to live: how to clean, cook, and take care of myself properly. To me, it sounds as if she planned to run away from the very beginning, but my father always refuses that's the case. He said that the only reason she left was because our financial state wasn't the best and she left to go search for a well-paying job. She left when I was eight years old. I'm now seventeen. It's been nine years and my dad still sits on the couch looking out the window, just waiting to see my mother walk up to the doorstep. I used to tell him that he's wasting his time just sitting there but he always ignored me with that cold stare looking toward our driveway. Eventually, I just left him there because he was never going to listen to what I said.


The bell interrupts me in the middle of my thoughts and the person sitting next to me asked if I was okay. I was about to ask why he would ask such a question when I saw a tear drop onto my desk. Out of embarrassment, I quickly packed up my stuff and bolted out the door. I covered my face while i raced to my locker, hoping nobody would see my tear-struck face. It's just like me to cry when thinking about my mom. I cry over everything and I despise that about myself. I cry when I'm happy, sad, angry, and even jealous. My dad says it's because I'm a teenager with raging hormones, but I say that it's because I'm just a big crybaby.


Eventually I reach my locker, but I can't get it open because I keep on getting the numbers mixed up with my blurry vision. When I hear the "click" of the locker opening, I breathe a sigh of relief. I look at the mirror stuck to my locker door to examine the damage. I admit, it's been worse. There are no more tears and the only part of my face that's red is the area under my eyes.

My locker door slams shut and it scares the s*** out of me. I turn my head and see that my best friend, Kate, is standing a foot away from me with a damp towel in her hands.


"I saw you run like a demon dog out of math class. Are you alright?" she asks as she's handing me the paper towel. I chuckle at her analogy, thinking that it's just like her to do something like this. She's always there for me, whether I'm a million miles away from her or just a few feet. She always hunts me down somehow and takes care of me since I don't have anybody to lean against. She's also the only one who knows about my family situation.


"Yeah," I reply. "I was just being stupid and thinking about a dumb cell phone. Thanks for the towel, Kate"


A big smile slowly creeps upon her face. "Sounds just like you, and your welcome," Kate says while showing the world her perfect smile. She's one of the prettiest people i know with beautiful curly, blond hair, a perfect body with just the right curves where any girl would be jealous, and her skin is crystal clear. Me? I have thin, black hair that's straight as a board, and my figure is way to stick-like with my A-cup chest and practically no butt what so ever. Sometimes I wonder why she's my best friend because we are total opposites in looks and personality. While she's as random and outgoing as ever, I'm one of the shyest people one could ever meet. I hate being the center of attention, and I'm more of a follower than a leader. I guess the phrase "opposites attract" isn't just something for the laws of Physics.


"So, what are we doing this weekend?" she asks. Did I also mention she lives on spur-of-the-moment?


"I told you before that I'm on house arrest this weekend. I have to finish cleaning and prepare dinner for my dad because he has a business conference in Atlanta on Saturday. Plus, there's this huge math test on Monday and I still haven't memorized the normal distribution plot."


"When are you actually going to be free and live a normal life? You’re only a senior once."


"That's not necessarily true. I could fail and start over again."


"But you won't," Kate said with a stern face. "You are going to graduate from high school, go to college, obtain some fancy degree that will earn you a load of money, and move out of that run down house of yours and live a successful life away from your lazy-a** dad."


I rolled my eyes at her as I said, "Come on, my dad isn't that bad. At least he puts a roof over my head and he always looks out for my safety."


"He doesn't look out for your safety; he restricts you from the rest of the world. You’re lucky he lets you go to school!"


"That's over exaggerating it a little bit."


"I don't know, I think Katalina is right." I felt my body shudder as I heard the icy voice of Brittany Carter creep into my ear. I also saw Kate tense up at the sound of her real name.


Kate looked over my shoulder at the biggest b**** throughout all of Carter High. Brittany's dad is the principal here at Carter and he donated a bunch of money to the school and eventually the school board let his last name take over the whole school. In other words, Brittany is known throughout campus as the "Queen" because her family is rich. For the past four years, Kate and I have been going through hell because for some reason, we're Brittany's favorite targets.


"My name's Kate, not Katalina," Kate said with her crystal blue eyes staring at her as if she's really trying to shoot her between the eyes.


"No need for violence, I'm here to invite you to the bonfire this weekend at Acworth Beach," Brittany proposed with a smirk fixed across the bottom half of her face.


"Hold up," Kate said, "your inviting us to your snob party?" she asked in confusion.


"No, I'm not inviting both of you," she snickers while giving me the death stare. "I'm inviting you Kate. Just make sure that when you come, you don't bring anybody with you. If you need a date, I can set you up at the party. Hope you come, I'm looking forward to it." The two Barbie dolls behind Brittany snicker at the same time and all three of them drift away with perfect posture.


When I turn towards Kate, she has a blank stare written on her face and I can almost see the wheels turning in her brain.


I sigh to prepare myself for the words that are about to come out of my mouth, "Kate, if you want to go to the party you can. I'll be fine, I'm just going to stay home all weekend anyway, remember?"


She looks up at me with an expression that could break even Brittany's heart. "How could I leave you home all weekend while I'm out having the time of my life. Look at you, your under eyes are still puffy from when you were crying earlier. I can't let you be home alone, crying your eyes out even more."


I press the cold towel up to my face before I protest back, "Didn't you just say that we're only a senior once? Brittany hasn't said anything nice to us in the last three years, let alone invite us to one of her parties. You need to grasp this opportunity while it's in your reach. Plus, if it sucks, you can call me and I'll pick you up. We can watch a movie while eating different types of M&M's and you can just bash on Brittany and her lame party all you want." I felt a smile play across my face as I imagined the scenario.


Kate's face lit up when I finished giving her permission to go. She hugged me tight and pulled away just as quick. She knows that I don't really like PDA but I guess that she couldn't contain herself. Plus, I didn't really mind that much. "I hope you know that you’re the most amazing friend a person could ever have! I love you to pieces! I have to go. Mrs. Simons will kill me if I'm late to History again. I'll call you tonight!"


I smiled as I started to walk away from my locker. Then I realized that Kate had closed my locker before I could get my Spanish book. I quickly opened my locker, shuffled through all the loose papers, grabbed my book, and slammed it shut. I dashed through the sea of students trying to get to class before the bell rang. As I rounded the corner, I bumped into something hard and dropped my book on the tile floor. It landed with a loud "thunk" that made me jump.


My eyes looked from the book that read "Ven Conmigos!" to the godly figure that stood before me. I hadn't bumped into something, I had run into someone. It wasn't just any normal someone either. He looked better than Leonardo DiCaprio, and one couldn’t be much sexier than him. His hair was beautiful with thick, black curls brushing against the sides of his face. His eyes were a bright blue that looked brighter than Kate’s. Even his figure was perfect with a well-shaped face and nice muscular body. One thing was for sure, he didn't laze around at home like I normally did. I felt my face drop as I realized that he was way out of my league and would fit somebody like Brittany. I dropped down to grab my book and when I came back up, I found out that I couldn't look him in the eye and apologize, so instead I looked at the ground and whispered "sorry." I started to walk away but his heavenly voice startled me.


"What, no snap?" he asked.

His question caught my attention. "Excuse me?"



"Well, normally when girls bend down in front of me they usually snap back up. You know, the 'bend and snap' as they like to call it."


I pondered his explanation and realized that it sounded too familiar. "Isn't that from a movie?"


He let loose his smile and I felt like my body was about to hit the floor. "Yes it is. Legally Blond, ever heard of it? I hope you have 'cause it's a classic and will go down in history."


"That's right!" I played the seen in my head then tried to imagine Brittany doing something so stupid in front of this mysterious person.


He started to creep closer and I felt my feet back up until my back hit the lockers that were behind me. I was trapped.


"You have a beautiful smile," he whispered into my ear while his hands were planted in his pocket. "You should show it off more often instead of that nervous expression you showed Brittany and her clones a little while ago."


I felt my heart race and all the blood I had in my body rush to my face. I've never had anybody anywhere near my face, not even Kate.


He backed his face away from my ear, but he never moved his feet so his flawless face was inches away from mine. I started to say something but the sounds that came out of my mouth were unintelligible. He smiled even bigger and I felt my face changed to a deeper shade of red.


"Your name's Macy, right?"


This question caught me more off guard than his first one. "How do you know that?"


"It's not polite to answer a question with a question." He pulled his hand out of his pocket and with it came a folded piece of paper. "My name is Charlie," he said while putting the paper into the right pocket of my jeans. With that, he turned the corner with a big grin glowing on his face.


I sank to the ground at the amazement of what just happened. How did he know he I was? How long has he been following me? Who was he really? I had so many questions popping in my head while I replayed the scene again and again in my head. Then I reached into my pocket and felt around for the piece of paper. When I pulled it out I unfolded it and found a seven digit number scribbled across the center. The sound of the bell brought me back to reality and I saw that I was all alone. I cursed under my breath as I realized that I had just obtained my first tardy throughout my high school career.







***


Usually, Physics would be my favorite class for two reasons. One, the teacher doesn't act like a regular teacher should. He's more of a best friend than an instructor with a personality unlike no other. A bonus is that he's a certifiable genius, so he knows how to get his students involved in learning. Two, I sit at my own lab table with the only available seat next to me at the front of the room. There's no awkward silence between me and some other person that isn't forced to sit next to me, so that helps me pay attention more. That changed quicker than I thought it would.


We were learning about centripetal forces while Mr. Esom was flinging a can attached to a string around his head. I was careful while I drew the perfect diagram in my notebook, trying to get down every detail. My head didn't snap up until I heard the metal can hit the brick wall.


"And who might you be?" Mr. E asked while my pulse started to rise.


Our new student smirked as he answered, "My name is Charlie."







***


"What's wrong?" Kate asked after school. She's the only one that I can talk to about Charlie, so I decided to hunt her down. I found her in the library flirting with some guy I've never seen before, probably trying to get a date for Saturday. Luckily, she saw me standing at the entrance and ditched him to talk to me- a sign of a true friend.


"I need to talk to you about something... or more like someone," I confessed.


"Oh my God, Macy! You finally found somebody your totally into! What's his name? More importantly, what does he look like? Oh, this is so exciting!" Kate was getting excited over nothing.


"Um, I don't know how to break this to you Kate, but I don't like him like that."


"So, it is a boy! It's a good start," Kate said. She then grabbed me by the hand and dragged me to a table in the back corner of the non-fiction section. This way, not many people would come and disturb us. Before we even sat down she said, "So, tell me about him."


"Well, his name is Charlie-"


"Charlie! Oh, what a cute name! Charlie who? Maybe I know him."


"I'm not going to tell you about him if you're going to keep interrupting me," I threatened. Kate made that lame motion of locking her mouth and throwing away the key.


I felt a smile creep across my face as I started to explain, "Okay, so he's a new student named Charlie and I met him after you left to go to History. I was in a rush to get to Spanish since the bell was about to ring and when I turned around a corner, I ran into him."


"Ohhhhh, such a romantic encounter. It must be fate!" I gave her a look to shut her up and she responded, "sorry, my bad."


"Anyway he was totally flirtatious, and you know I'm not very experienced, so I babbled a lot. It wasn't my fault though. He looked at me like-"


"Like he just wanted to posses you?" she interrupted.


"Yeah, he looked like a predator trying to eat me or something. Plus, his muscular build added effect and made him look more like an animal. However, he was also one of the most-"


"Sexiest gods you have ever seen," she sighed.


"Well, I wouldn't have gone that far, but he is really cute with his-"


"Amazing, thick, curly hair that shapes his face perfectly with those bright, blue eyes that contrast perfectly with his tan body."


"How do you know all of this? Did you run into him too?" It was amazing how much she already knew about him.


"No, he just walked through the door and he's looking right at you- just like your description"


"No way," I blurted. I quickly turned around and my eyes locked with his as I saw him standing right in front of the check-out desk. He smiled when we made eye contact and motioned with one finger for me to come over.


"He's totally into you, Macy! Go over there and give me the details tonight when I call you," Kate said excitedly.


"You don't understand, Kate. I can't just go over there and talk to him. I totally ignored him in Physics today and I think he's here to get back at me." I was honestly scared of what he was going to do me.


"Whoa, you never said he was in one of your classes."


"That's because you kept on interrupting me."


"What did you do exactly?" she asked


"Well, he came into the room, and the only available seat in the class is right next to me so of course he sat down there and right when he sat down, I stood up and said that I had to go to the bathroom but I took like 20 minutes in there just pacing and thinking about what I was going to do when I got back to class but I couldn't think of anything and the next thing I knew I was back in my seat and I scooted my chair over as far as the table would let me be away from him. Then he tried to pass a note toward me but I never looked down at my tabletop, all I did was look at Mr. Esom the whole time until the bell rang and that's when I quickly grabbed my stuff and bolted out the door." I found myself breathing harder, being amazed that I just summarized a whole class in just two sentences.


"Wow," was the only thing Kate said before warning me, "well you better come up with some excuse fast because your future boyfriend is coming straight toward this table."


I couldn't believe it. In fact, I kept on denying the fact until I felt a cold hand being placed on my left shoulder. His touch had a bigger effect on me than it should have. It felt like electricity was being shot through my body and my heart took the worst of it, doubling in speed.


"Hello ladies," Charlie said in his smooth voice


"Hey, Charlie," Kate responded with no problem at all. "Welcome to Carter. I hear you’re the new sexy God in town." I felt my face rise ten degrees in temperature.


"Oh, so that's how Macy sees me?" He slid his other hand on my right shoulder and I felt both of his hands slide across my neck. The next thing I knew, his breath was floating in my ear for the second time today. "Angel, if you wanted me that much all you had to do was ask; there's no need to play hard-to-get." At this point, I started to feel dizzy.


"Well I have a French project due tomorrow, so I better get started. Damn me and my procrastination. I'll talk to you later Macy." With that, Kate bounced away gracefully. I tried to call out to her, but for some reason, my voice couldn't escape. As soon as Kate was out of sight, I heard Charlie's soft laughter in my ear. He unfolded himself off of me and as soon as he let go and sat down next to me, I pushed out of my seat, grabbed my book bag, and headed for the door. Before I took three steps though, I felt Charlie's long fingers wrap around my wrist. His touch was cold, but that was probably because my body temperature was high enough for me to be admitted in the ER.


"Where are you going, Angel?"


"Stop calling me that!" I was surprised at how much venom leaked through my voice. Despite that, he still glanced at me with that same smile that makes my heart skip a beat. "I'm sorry," I whispered softly. His fingers glided off my wrist, lingering there a second too long. I sat back down in the chair next to him and looked him straight in the eye. "What do you want?" I asked quietly.


"I just wanted to ask you something. I tried to ask you in Physics, but you kept ignoring me."


"I'm sorry," I apologized.


"You say that a lot. You don't have to apologize for every little thing," he said playfully. "Let me see your cell phone," he demanded.


"What?" I asked confused.


"I didn't stutter, let me see your phone," he repeated.


"Why?"


"Don't make this difficult, Macy."


"What if I refuse?" I argued. I was determined to make it difficult.


Charlie's face suddenly became frightened. I was wondering what was wrong when he exclaimed, "Oh my Gosh, what happened to Kate?!"


"WHAT?!" I looked around frantically to find her, but I couldn't spot her anywhere. I turned back around to Charlie, but to my amazement, I found him with my phone flipped open in his hand.


"You still haven't put my number in your phone." He looked at me with the most serious expression I've seen yet. "Why?"


"Because you’re not exactly my friend, that's why."


This statement seemed to shock him more than I thought it would. He was silent for a couple seconds with his eyes wide. Then his eyes diverted back to my phone, and about a minute later he closed it and placed it in my hand. Then Charlie stood up and threw his backpack over his shoulder. "I'll have to fix that then. If you’re ever in trouble, call me."


My eyes were fixed on his back until he walked through the double doors of the library. As soon as the doors closed behind him, I felt my phone vibrate in my hand. Charlie's name was written across the front screen and I felt my heart skip a beat. I flipped my phone open right away and read what it said: "I'll pick you up on Saturday." I sighed as I closed my phone, wondering if this is what Charlie wanted to ask me.