After school, I grabbed my gray Mickey Mouse tote bag and shoved my books in it, before tucking my long hair back and pulling my hood over my face. I fished around in my bag for my iPod, pulled it out when I finally found it, then pushed the earbuds into my ears and cranking up the music full volume to drown out the rest of the world.
The music was so loud that I didn't hear someone calling my name until they tapped my back. I turned around to see it was Ross. He started to say something but I couldn't hear him over the music.
"WHAT?" I asked.
Ross reached under my hood and yanked the earbuds out of my ears. "I said, 'Want to hang out?'"
"Where?" I asked.
One side of Ross's mouth curved up into a half-smirk. "It's a surprise."
I shrugged. It's not like anyone was expecting me at home. "Sure." Ross started reached down to grab my hand, but I stopped him by putting my hand on his shoulder. "On one condition."
Ross groaned. "This is ROSS LYNCH, STAR OF THIS HIGH SCHOOL we're talking about! And I don't do conditions."
I shrugged. "Okay then, I'm not going." I turned to go.
"Wait." Ross grabbed me my the wrist. Sighing, he said, "Fine."
I turned around and smiled sweetly at him. "You have to smile."
Ross's brow furrowed. "That's an odd request."
I batted my eyelashes. "Pllleeaasseeee."
Ross stuck his tongue out. "Okay." He smiled, his hands cupping his chin to emphasize his smile. A second later he stopped. "Happy?"
I giggled. "Yes."
Ross smiled again, this time without me asking. "Let's go."
We walked into the parking lot, hand in hand, ignoring the evil glares from jealous girls. Ross ran over to the passenger side of his car and opened the door for me. I blushed and slid into the seat, flinging my tote onto the backseat. Seconds later, Ross started the engine and we took off.
Ten minutes later, we pulled into the parking lot of a park, causing me to laugh. "A park?"
Ross grinned. "We can't all be rich and take girls to fancy restaurants." Opening his door, he hopped out and jumped onto the roof of his car, then jumped down and opened the door on my side. "After you."
"Why thank you Mr. School's Bad Boy," I said teasingly.
Ross sucked in a breath and took out a bag filled with bread bits, handing it to me. "I'm actually not that bad. I just like to keep my title so that people will respect me."
I took the Ziploc bag. "There's a difference between respect and fear."
I pulled my hood tighter around myself and walked over to the duck pond, throwing the bread into the green water. In the end I just dumped the bag's content onto my hand and held out my palm, watching the ducks race over to my outstretched hand for food.
Ross stood behind me. "Respect, fear, same difference."
I turned my head around and shook my head ever so slightly. "Not really."
But when I let my guard down for one moment, the ducks are tugging on my hand with their bills, trying to get the bread. Apparently twenty ducks pulling your hand leads to falling.
I fell into the pond with a splash. I swam up sputtering, my arms paddling the water. "Stupid gravity."
Ross's mouth started twitching, trying to not laugh. But as he offered me his hand, he burst into a fit of giggles.
