To Be Or Not To Be

Gabriel Stone was a typical 17 year old. He went to high school, had plenty friends, was in the football team and was of the most sought after boy in his high school. He was an A grade student too making him an all round student. He was tall and his body was a blanket of muscles. He had the most mesmerizing green eyes and a smile that made most girls' lose their ability to speak.

He was good at almost everything except when it came to girls. When it came to talking to them he froze up and ended up making a fool of himself. Most of the girls he tried to talk to found it cute but he found it downright embarrassing, especially if it was the girl of his dreams.

Pepper Sand was 17; she had pitch black layered hair and had the most piercing sky blue almond shaped eyes that always had him weak at the knees. They shared almost all their classes together and from all of those classes the only thing he had said to her all year was 'hi' and then he stalked off.

Pepper wasn't your average teen girl. She was slightly emo and mostly kept to herself. She always carried a little black notebook with her everywhere she went and she only spoke when she had to. She also had a large scar marking her right wrist which she tried to hide from view.

This was all he had compiled while watching her. He also noticed that at random moments there was a certain light to her, a random moment when a small smile would dance on her luscious lips but vanished before anyone could notice it, but he had.

Nobody knew about his crush on emo girl (as everyone else called her) because he didn't want to put her through more torment than she already went through.

Pepper was an orphan who got adopted by a rich family when she was 7. Her real parents had dumped her in a trash can without making sure she was even breathing. Getting adopted by a rich family seemed to her happily ever after but all that came crashing down when she found her dad with a woman who certainly wasn't her mother.

A divorce followed and her mother gained full custody of Pepper. She spent weekends with her father. Unnoticed by her parents, the divorce took a lethal blow to Pepper's life. Before she got the nickname emo girl she used to be a perky teen that believed in happily ever after and always had a smile on her face. But after the divorce the light in her eyes were amiss, she no longer was the perky teen who believed in happily ever after and her beautiful smiles were replaced with a constant frown and a look of great discontentment.

Sad thing was nobody saw this change and in time she blended in with the dull wallpapers that adorned the school walls. Life had moved on and had left her behind. That was when she decided that life just wasn't worth living anymore and after an attempted suicide, and a lot of therapy, Pepper and her mother moved to Fijiana for a fresh start.

It had been exactly a year since they had moved and a year since Gabriel had had a crush on her. Love at first sight as he liked to think of it.

As Pepper sat staring at equations that were taunting her from her Chemistry text book, she found herself thinking about Gabriel Stone. She thought about his eyes, his shy smile and she remembered the day he said hi to her after school.

Without even realizing it, she found herself smiling and then she stopped. What use was it to fall for someone who could never feel the same way she scolded herself. He was the most popular boy in school for crying out loud. She was just some weird girl who nobody talked to.

As soon as the bell rang, she picked up her stuff and flitted towards the door only to bump into a solid figure. Just as she was about to hit the ground, she felt firm hands on her back steering her slowly back into a standing position.

It was Gabriel who she had bumped into and it was his hands that were on her back. Both of them blushing furiously, Gabriel removed his hands and Pepper went to picking up her books which were strewn on the floor.

After a quick 'thank you' she hurried off out of school leaving Gabriel sheepishly standing there after her.

Days after their encounter, Gabriel and Pepper found themselves paired together for a chemistry lab. Both pair obviously shy and still reeling from their encounter the other day worked in silence both keeping out of each other's way.

As they were clearing away their table, Gabriel took a deep breath and said, 'Pepper I don't know if you've noticed but I kinda have a huge crush on you.'