Our Love Story

Chapter One

"Everett is popular, right?" she asked.

"Um, I don't know. Why are you asking me?"

She sighed and I could picture her rolling her eyes. "Really, Nova? You live right next door to the guy and even go to the same school, and you don't know this?"

"Why are you asking?" I asked.

"People from my college are talking about him, you know!" she exclaimed. " I was so shocked. 'How do people from my college know about him?', I thought. It was weird. So, I started asking around. Apparently his band is popular enough to be known even over here."

"Well, you're not really that far from home, so it's not that weird."

"Still! The guy who is like a baby brother to me is so popular, it makes me so proud!" She sniffled over the phone. "My baby bro is getting so big!"

I tried to hold back laughter, since I knew Everett would be devastated if he heard her talk about him like this. Even though we don't talk much, I knew that his little crush on Katherine was still ongoing since he would randomly ask me about her whenever our families got together for dinner.

"Don't you think you should give up?" I said to him one night. "She's still going out with that guy from high school, so I don't really think you stand a chance."

He glared at me. "Really? Do you have to be such a bitch?"

I glared back at him. "Well, I mean, come on! You've been secretly crushing on her without ever making the effort to tell her for years. So can you blame me for thinking it might be a little too late for you?"

"Like I could tell her right now!" he said. "I haven't even graduated high school yet and it's not like my career is taking off."

"You mean your band?" I sneered. "Well, I guess you guys aren't doing too bad if people from her school know about you guys."

He rolled his eyes. "Like you know anything about my band. You never even listened to us before. Anyway, I'm going to my room - talking to you gives me a headache."

I stuck my tongue out at him as he brushed by me, glaring at him. Why does he always have to be so rude to me? You would think he'd be nice to the sister of the girl he's in love with, but no, he always has to be so snarky with me.

After talking with Katherine on the phone that night, I went to school and paid a little more attention to what people were saying about Everett. I wanted to see for myself how popular he really is. Luckily, the two of us had gym class together, so I stayed close to the group of girls who usually stood by to fangirl over him.

One girl with dark brown hair sighed dreamily while staring at Everett as he played basketball. "Isn't he so hot?" she said to her fellow fangirls. "Like, just look at him!"

"I want to lick his abs!" One of the girls exclaimed, twirling her blonde hair around her fingers. I resisted the urge to gag. Everett, hot? What were they seeing that I wasn't? Plus, he didn't even have abs yet! I know because during the summer, our family went on a little vacation and I saw him shirtless while we swam at the pool.

"Doesn't he look so good drenched in sweat?" Another girl said.

"Yes! Ohmygosh!" They all squealed and giggled, grabbing onto each other because if they didn't, I think they would all have fallen over from the sight of him.

Since listening to that conversation, I would often peek at Everett in gym class, trying to see what those girls were talking about. I mean, I've seen all sides of him growing up, so why was I missing this 'hot' side he apparently had?

I finally saw it during one gym class when we had to go out and do the good ole mile run. I hated doing the mile run, since I was pretty out of shape. However, the fangirls loved every minute of it, watching Everett as he ran steadily, becoming covered in sweat in seconds because of how hot it was.

I trudged along slowly, keeping out of the way of the people who were actually running. "Nova, just run! It'll be over faster!" Coach Gomez shouted.

I sighed heavily. He was right, so I started with a slow jog, picking up my pace little by little until I was running, taking little walking breaks every so often. Another reason I hated running is because I was always self-conscious.

After everyone finished the mile run, we made our way back into the school. Just my luck, as we all walked down the little hill that we had to take to get back, I lost my footing over a stupid rock and ended up falling down the rest of the way. I heard the snickers of other students behind me and turned to glare at them, to which they stopped and walked past me quickly.

"Are you okay?" my best friend, Ava, asked.

"Yeah, thanks," I said. "Stupid rock." As I tried to stand up, I yelped in pain. It seems like my ankle twisted when I fell and I groaned. Great.

"Did you hurt yourself when you fell?" A voice that didn't belong to Ava asked. I looked up and saw Everett standing before me, staring down at me.

"Uh, yeah," I said. "What are you doing here?"

He sighed. "I'll carry you to the nurses office, so get on." He turned and crouched down, indicating that he was going to give me a piggyback the way there.

"Wait, you're actually going to carry me?" I asked him, flabbergasted. "Don't you not like me?"

He rolled his eyes. "Just because I don't like you doesn't mean that I'm too heartless not to help you when you hurt yourself."

"Okay, then thanks." I climbed onto his back and he stood up.

"Wow, you're heavy," he grumbled.

I scowled, pinching his cheek. "What was that?"

"Ow, let go! I was just kidding."

The walk to the nurses office was silent. I noticed how he still smelled good even after how much he sweat while running. When we got to the office, the nurse wasn't there. "We should wait here until she gets back," he said, turning his head to look at me. Our faces were so close, noses barely touching. His eyes widened and I instinctively threw myself backwards from our close proximity. "Whoa!" he exclaimed as I almost fell off his back. "Be careful!"

"Sorry!" I shouted. "It's just, you surprised me." He set me down onto the nearest chair and we both cleared our throats awkwardly. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye. He scratched his neck as he stared hard at the wall as if it were the most interesting thing he ever saw. His hair was messy, the ends at his neck and sides of his face were a little damp, and his neck and the tops of his collarbone glistened from the sheen of sweat that covered it. Feeling my face grow red, I turned away. "You don't have to wait with me," I told him. "You should go before you're late to your next class."

"Are you sure?" he asked and I nodded. "Okay, then, see you."

I watched his back as he walked out of the office and exhaled loudly. Now I understood what those fangirls were talking about.

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Author's Note: So this chapter is just a peek into Nova and Everett's time growing up and their high school days, and to just introduce the three main characters! I hope you all liked it and please remember to leave a comment on what you thought! :)