Hate can always turn into love

Chapter 1: How it all starts

Natalie's POV
 
Waking up at 5:30 in the morning for school is never easy. Waking up at 5:30 in the morning knowing that at school you're going to meet a boy you hate who hates you back is torture.
 
It was another day at school and like always, my mum was trying to make me get out of bed. Like always, I didn't want to. But mum decided to take out the big cards. "I swear Natalie that if you don't get out of bed right now I am going to call Natasha and tell her you can't make it to the spa tomorrow. You don't want that do you?"
 
I swear I had never gotten out of bed that fast. Natasha and me never missed a Spa Day and we weren't going to start now. So I started getting dressed for school, albeit reluctantly. Now let me tell you that even though I don't like going to school it's only a morning thing...until I get out from the bed.
 
I have to say that one of the things I love about my school is that I don't have to wear a uniform. I swear, there is nothing I hate more than those ugly uniforms I see certain schools wearing. Well...I'm going to be one hundred percent truthful with you. There actually is something I hate more than ugly school uniforms and that's...him.
 
Alexander Prewett, but everyone calls him Alex. I have never seen someone as proud and arrogant as him. He thinks he owns the world just because he's the president of our year. And okay he's also the captain of our school's football team and he gets the highest grades of the year...but still, there is no reason for him to call me worthless just because I don't do all that stuff.
 
I come close, mind you. When he got elected president I was his runner-up, when he got chosen as captain of the boys football team I got chosen as captain of the girls' handball team and the thing that bothers me the most is that everytime he gets the highest grades, I'm right behind him in second place. But all this things are not important for him. All he cares about is that he surpassed me, even if by a few marks.
 
I hate him with all my heart and I don't know what I'd do to him if it wasn't for Natasha, my best friend. She hates him as much as I do because once he called her fashion style, lunatic.
 
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not a particular fan of Natasha's fashion style. I personally think that it is a bit too bombastic but I would never call it lunatic, especially not to her face. Since Natasha is crazy about fashion, she took his comment at heart and started working on her wardrobe to make sure he would never have a reason to say that again. Even though I hate to say it, I'm a bit thankful towards him because now Natasha's style is much better.
 
Once, Natasha and me were quite eager to create an "I HATE ALEX" group but seeing how the whole school loved him, we decided against it. I wasn't kidding you know?! I was serious when I said that the whole school loved him. Boys like him because of his skills at football, teachers like him because of his good grades and the Headmistress likes him because of his presidancy. Then there is the whole girls arena. Girls. Don't even get me started on that. All the girls at my school are practically drooling all over him.
 
I admit that he is kind of cute but...oh who am I kidding! He is gorgeous! His hair is pale brown and soft looking and his eyes are as blue as the sky on a nice day. His skin is pale and you never see a spot on it, much to my chargin. A lot of you might be saying that I'm crazy for not liking a boy like him. Well, I don't think I am. Even though looks are important in a boy, so is the character and Alex's character leaves a lot to be desired.
 
Once I talked to my Aunt Maggie about him and she asked me a very important question. "Sweetie, if his character is as rotten as you say, how come all these people love him?" this brings us back to the whole grades issue. We used to talk to each other, me and Alex. Well...we weren't best friends or anything but we used to talk civilly to each other.
 
Alex was always the boy with the best grades but he never used to hold it against me, the girl that always came second to him. That is until the day I managed to beat him in a Maths test. Of course it was only luck on my part that he didn't know a question that I had studied by heart. I went to tell him that there were no hard feelings and that he's bound to beat me again next time.
 
Apparently he thought that I was trying to rub in his face the fact that I got better grades than him. That wouldn't really have mattered to me. It was his words that hurt me the most and drove me to do what I did.
 
To this day, after 2 years, I still remember his exact words. "So little miss perfect...how long did it take you to learn that question. Knowing you probably weeks. How could your tiny little brain even handle such a difficult question? You tried rubbing it in my face but you failed miserably since you only managed to prove to me how incredibly stupid you actually are. The fact that you're always second doesn't mean anything...you'd do well to remember that!" He had got up to leave then but I had grabbed the water bottle he had on his desk and poured it all over his head.
 
Till this day I still don't know why I had done it. Yes, I was very hurt by his words but I had never let people's words affect me so much before. I guess Alex wasn't used to people beating him in class so maybe he had been shocked when I did and took it against me. We were only sixteen at the time and sometimes we tended to act a little immaturely. I exagerated everything by throwing water at him but hey...if he got to act immaturely so did I.
 
I knew I had dobe something bad and the next day I had looked for him to apologise. But things only went downfall from then on. He didn't accept my apology immediately and we started shouting and fighting and we couldn't see each others' face in the corridor without fighting.
 
The things he says to me always hurt so much but I'm eighteen now and I have learned to bottle up all emotions except hate when I'm around Alex.
 
So today is another day of school and even though I don't hate it, I also wish this year will be over soon so I can leave and stop seeing Alex's face. I act nonchalant about this fight between us infront of Alex and the rest of the school but Natasha can tell that I'm really getting tired of all this useless fighting.
 
Oh well...let's see how this day will turn out...