Summer's Desire Vol. 1 (Complete)

Part 2: Chapter 7 *with Josh's picture

Chapter 7

The next morning as I alight from the school bus, I see Jessica standing with a guy close to the bus stop. Well, that's odd. What is she doing here? She glances at me, then leans into the guy and tells him something. Immediately, he turns to look at me too. I give him a quick once-over.

He's undeniably attractive. Tall, built, black hair, strong features. He's too far away for me to see the color of his eyes but near enough that I notice his sensual lips. Good heavens! I internally fan myself. Is there something in the water around Rockford—how come there are so many hot guys in this school?

Still, the fact that this one is obviously buds with Jessica kind of overshadows all his hotness. Besides, I'm getting a weird vibe from them, with the way the two of them are staring at me: Jessica whispering feverishly and the guy listening with a cocky grin.

I turn away and walk into the school building.

* * *

I still have one class before lunch, and I've stopped at my locker to change my books. Out of the corner of my eye I see a guy leaning on the locker next to mine. I turn my head slightly and recognize the hot black-haired guy from this morning. He's aiming a searing smile at me. If I were a slightly weaker girl, this smile would probably set my panties on fire.

Good thing that I'm a hard-edged foster girl who well knows that nothing in this life comes for free. Especially not the smiles of hot guys.

Still, I let myself sneak one quick look at him as I open my locker. I was curious earlier about the color of his eyes. Well, they're blue. In fact, now that I see him closely, he looks a bit like Seth, though definitely in a watered-down kind of way. He doesn't have even a tenth of Seth's effortless charisma. But then again, who does?

"Hello, Summer," says the stranger.

How does he know my name?

"How do you know my name?" I blurt out and instantly want to bash my forehead against the locker door. I've broken my ignore-rule; now it'll be more difficult to get rid of him.

His sexy grin becomes wider. "I have my ways of finding out things I wanna know."

"Why would you want to know my name?" I mean, really. He's gorgeous and obviously a player. Why would he be interested in me? I check to see if I'm still wearing my off-putting getup. Yep, I am.

And the thing with my "uniform" is, it doesn't just make me unattractive. The awkward clothes make me uncool besides, and cool kids don't mingle with uncool kids since they consider them inferior and possibly contagious. So why would this boy approach me?

Carter, yesterday... Well, he clearly wanted to jerk Seth's chain. But he wasn't really interested in me, I know that. I never draw the hot guys' attention when I'm dressed like this, only of guys who are maybe a small notch above unattractive.

Not to mention that the usual dark circles below my eyes look more like bruises today; I'm a complete wreck after last night.

"Maybe I wanted to know your name because I wanted to know you," Mr. Player replies, leaning closer to me. "And it fits you—a pretty name for a pretty girl. By the way, I'm Josh." Again with the sexy grin.

Okay, this encounter has now gone way beyond surreal. I know this guy can't really like me. So what is the true reason for him approaching me like this, out of the blue, and for flirting with me like mad? God, I'm so tired I can barely stand upright, much less think. I take a minute to fumble with my books in the locker, and my light bulb lights up at last. Of course. He was with Jessica earlier this morning, and in retrospect, I'm almost positive that they were talking about me.