Copyright ©2012 MandyMuch
All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 8
Zach and Luca returned home something after three, and went straight to bed, they both had a lot of fun with the guys. Luca woke up some time around seven; he had asked Megan about the picture that he didn’t even know was taken. He was surprised to see it because of all the sad memories that night had held for her. He would have thought that she wouldn’t want a constant reminder of what happened. She explained that she kept it because even though it had sad memories, she couldn’t forget how great she felt after talking to him.
Luca smiled at that, he remembered seeing her sitting on that balcony with tears rolling down her face and he knew he had to do something to make them stop. He was glad he was able to help her, and especially grateful that she kept that picture up. It gave him a sense of satisfaction to know that he was able to be there for her when she needed someone, and she clearly appreciated it.
He looked at the time again and groaned, he wanted to sleep but he knew he had to work out now because he wouldn’t have time later. He changed and headed downstairs, he noticed the kitchen light was on. Curious to see who was up this early he went to take a peek.
Megan was spreading cream cheese on a bagel, and her hair was wet as if she had just gotten out of the shower.
“Good morning,” He said leaning against the doorway.
Megan jumped a little bit, and brought her hand to her chest, “Geez you scared me, what are you doing up?”
“I could ask you the same thing. Did you just get out of a shower?” He noticed that her damp hair was making her shirt cling to her back, he face was make-up free but she still looked gorgeous like always.
She shrugged and continues spreading the cream cheese, “I went for a run so I took a shower.”
“It’s seven in the morning, and you already worked out and took a shower? When did you wake up?”
“At around five thirty, I guess I’m just used to getting little sleep because of finals.” She lied.
“Wow, so what are you going do now? Everyone still seems to be asleep.”
“I wanted to read the Hunger Games; everyone has been telling me how good the books are. How was last night?”
“Last night was fine, Zach and I barely drank so don’t worry he won’t be hungover.” Luca teased her, Zach told him about how Meg had asked Zach not to drink too much.
Megan blushed as always. “I just didn’t want him to get a hangover because then mom would be able to easily tell he’s been drinking.”
He laughed at that, “Well I’m going to head to your gym, see you later.” He said and with that he left.
Megan took her bagel, and a glass of hot tea, and made her way upstairs. She curled up on her bed and pulled out the book and started to read.
She was so into the book that she didn’t realize that it was almost eight forty five. She made plans to go to coffee with Stacy at nine so she quickly got dressed and put her hair into a side braid. She added some light make-up and headed downstairs. She saw her mom sitting in the living room with a news paper.
“Mom, I’m meeting Stacy for coffee. I’ll be back soon” she called back to her as she went out the door.
She noticed that her car already had chains on them, he dad must have put them on all the cars; she loved him for taking such good care of his family. She got into her car and drove to Stacy’s. When she got there she called her, it was too cold to climb out and knock on the door.
Two minutes later, Stacy dressed in a huge white winter coat came out the door carrying a oversized gray purse.
“It’s so cold outside!” She exclaimed as soon as she got into the car.
The chatted about nothing in particular, and soon they pull up in front of a cute little coffee shop. It was a brown building with maroon awnings, the whole neighborhood loved this place, it had glass panels on one side, and a very vintage vibe to it.
“So how was spending the night with Luca in the same house?” Stacy asked once the girls were seated, and got their coffee.
“It was fine, and he wasn’t even there for most of it, him and Zach snuck out.” Megan replied with a smile, it was actually kind of funny how predictable her brother was.
“Figures, so you didn’t really get a chance to talk to him?”
“Well kind of, he asked me about that picture you took.”
Stacy put down her cup, “What? What did you tell him?!” she asked getting a little too excited.
Megan looked around to make sure no one was watching them, luckily there were only a few customers and they all seemed to be in their own little worlds.
“I just told him that I appreciated his help that night, especially after everything that had happened.” Megan said honestly.
“I can’t believe he even remembered, he must have felt something that night too or else why would he remember a random picture?”
Megan moved her head from side to side as she swallowed her coffee, “he remembers because it was a horrible day and he was there. He has a different girl for everyday of the week, why would he feel something towards me?”
“Because you aren’t like other girls, you are different and one of these days he is finally going to realize that.” Stacy told her.
Megan just shook her head, Stacy was a great friend and she knew that she was just trying to be nice.
“No Stacy that’s never going to happen, now tell me how was it being home?”
Stacy looked at Meagan, she didn’t understand why the girl couldn’t see that she was beautiful and that any guy would be lucky to have her. She remembered the first time she met Megan, she connected so quickly that it was not surprise that they became best friends.
She recalled the first day in her new school, she had a lot of confidence but she was still slightly nervous. She went to the admissions office to get to her schedule, she was told to wait so went to take a seat, that’s when she heard a deep male voice.
“But Ms. Garcia, its just lunch you won’t even know I’m missing. If you sign that form on the way back we’ll stop by and get you your favorite muffin. What do you say Ms. Garcia? Please?” The male voice pleaded, it was so smooth that Stacy instantly turned out to see where it came from.
She found a tall dark haired guy leaning slightly over the counter, she couldn’t see his face but ‘oh my’ he definitely filled out his jeans and shirt perfectly. Through his thin green shirt she could see that he had very defined muscles, at least in the back. And his jeans brushed against his muscular thighs. She realized she was staring at his butt, when the cell phone in his back pocket lit up and vibrated. She quickly averted her gaze to the lady he was talking to.
The guy reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone.
“See Ms. Garcia? Zach is getting restless; he asked again if I got permission for us to leave campus yet. It’s the first day; we should celebrate being back have actually having an appetizing meal.” The guy said.
Stacy realized that he was asking permission to leave campus for lunch, when she came in for orientation she was told that all the exits are guarded and the only way to get out was with a pass.
“And why isn’t Zachery here?” the lady who Stacy assumed was Ms. Garcia, asked in a voice that sounded like it was meant to be stern, but didn’t quite get there.
“He showing Meg around, she is a freshmen this year. That’s why we wanted to go, treat Megs to a great lunch on the first day back.”
“You mean Miss. Megan Harrison? Zachary’s little sister? She is already in high school?” Ms. Garcia asked clearly surprised.
“Yea, it’s crazy but she is going here now. So what do say Ms. Garcia?” The guy repeated.
“Fine, how many passes do you need?” Feeling defeated the older lady asked
“Ten should be enough” he answered.
“Ten? Why in lord’s name do you need ten?”
“Well, three for Zach, Megan, and I. Then we have a few other friends joining us too.”
The lady sighed as she signed the passes, “I can’t believe I am actually giving these to you, there are supposed to be for emergencies only.”
“Gracias Ms. Garcia, you are the best!” The guy said taking the passes.
“Oh Lucas, we have a new student would you please escort her to her first class?” Ms. Garcia added.
“Of course, anything for you.” The guy said making the older lady blush.
Geez, Stacy thought this guy could charm the panties off a nun. He seemed so dang attractive and she hasn’t even seen his face yet. Then she remembered that she was a new student, was Ms. Garcia talking about her?
Suddenly the tall guy turned to look at her, and Stacy forgot to breath. His green shirt was ten times lighter than his dark forest green eyes. He had a perfectly chiseled face that was tan just like his arms. His v-neck shirt fit snugly against his broad shoulders. He could have been a Greek god, with those looks and from what she heard of his conversation with the lady, his charm.
He walked towards her with a smile, when he got closer he extended his hand offering a hand shake.
“Hey, I’m Lucas. I have your schedule here with me so I can show you to your first class.” He told her.
Stacy was so mesmerized by his looks that she forgot that she should probably shake his hand; she stood up and took his hand.
“Uh hi, I’m Stacy.”
“Nice to meet you, hope you like this school. Ready to head over to the class?” he asked still holding on to his smile.
“Yea, thanks.” If all the guys at the school looked like him, she was sure she would love this school.
They headed down a long hallway, as Lucas asked her where she is from and what made her move here. She answered while she took in all that was happening at the school. She noticed that almost every student either said, hi, fist pumped or hugged Lucas as they walked by. He must be pretty popular she thought, but then again after seeing the way he interacted with the lady in the admissions office she wasn’t surprised.
They made their way to a large classroom and stopped at the entrance.
“This is your first period room, you have history here.” Lucas looked down at the sheet of paper with her schedule, “then you have English just down the hall over there.” He pointed to a door at the end of the hall, then texted someone with his phone.
“Okay, thank you.” Stacy said just barely above a whisper, there was still twenty minutes till class started and she didn’t want to go in there yet, but at the same time she didn’t want to stand out here and look like a loner. She knew she would make friends easily but right now she didn’t have any here, and the only student she has had a conversation with so far looked like he was about to leave.
Lucas looked down at his phone, “Hey, my friend’s sister is in your history class. She is on her way over I’ll introduce you. She’s a freshmen this year too so I think you two might have a few classes together. Everyone who meets her can’t help but love her, she is really awesome, and super sweet.” Lucas told her with a wide smile, his eyes almost seemed to light up a bit.
“Luca!” a voice called from behind him, a blond with a skirt that was too short, and a top that was too tight reached out to hug him. She was wearing five inch heels and still barely reached Luca’s shoulder. Stacy hoped that wasn’t Megan, she didn’t mean to be judgmental but nothing about the blond seemed real, from her bottle blond hair, to the foundation that was packed on her face and the heavy eye makeup. The only thing that seemed real was how good of a shape her body was in, she could tell that she was very tones, and that tight shirt was stuck to her very flat stomach.
“I missed you over the summer; I can’t believe you spent your whole summer in Italy.” She whined.
“Abby, how are you?” Luca said pushing the blond back slightly by holding her tiny waist.
“Good, I’m so excited for your first football game, the girls and I have been practicing new cheers and they are pretty damn amazing.” The blond replied circling her hands around Luca’s neck.
“I’m excited to see them, but if I watch during the game I might get distracted.” Luca was still holding the blond.
“Well then I guess I’ll have to give you a private show then, when you are away from the field.” The blond whispered, not so quietly.
“I’ll be looking forward to it.” He replied with a smirk.
Great, he’s a player Stacy thought to herself. The blond obviously wasn’t his girlfriend because if she was they would have talked earlier, and he didn’t exactly mention her name in the list he gave to Ms. Garcia. Oh well, it’s really none of her business anyway, it was just too bad because he was so hot!
The two of them continued on talking softly to each other, still holding each other intimately in the middle of the hallway.
Stacy ignored the couple and let her eyes wander; she noticed some posters for the next football game. It was coming up that weekend and she hoped she could make friends with someone by then so she wouldn’t have to sit by herself at home.
She observed a tall, guy who was just as hot as Luca walking towards her. He was dressed in dark jeans, and a plaid dress shirt that made him look like a model. He stopped to hug a few girls on his way over and she noticed the girl continue to stare at him long after he passes them. Is this school filled with players?
She then noticed a girl beside him, dressed in black skinny jeans, short leather boots, a white tank top and an oversized sweater that she left undone, he reached the guy’s shoulder. She was gorgeous, with a slim build and beautiful brown eyes. Her long hair cascaded down her back, in defined waves, that looked very natural, but perfect at the same time. Stacy instantly felt a stab of jealously go through her, she had a very high self esteem but this girl looked like an angel. With high cheekbones, full lips she could very well be any guys dream girl.
As the two of them got closer Stacy saw the girl quickly glance at Luca, before turning away with a shadow of sadness in her eyes. Huh, that was interesting. The girl turned towards a locker that was close to the classroom and the guy continued to come towards her.
“Luca.” The guy said coming up being Lucas, who turned around but kept one hand on Abby’s back. The guy then nodded towards the blond, “Abby, how’s it going?”
“Zach, what’s up?” Luca asked, and then he looked being him with a scowl, “Where is Megs?”
“She is grabbing her book,” Zach looked behind him and saw that the open locker was covering their view of the girl.
“Oh.,” then he added, “Sorry I couldn’t give you ride this morning bro. Dad wanted me to stop by his office before school.” Luca explained.
“No worries, I think Meg is nervous of her first day so we got her early so I could show her around.” Zach shifted his textbook to his other hand.
“Who is Meg?” Abby asked moving closer to Luca, if that was even possible.
“My sister, she is starting her freshmen year.” Zach told her.
“Aww your little sister? How cute! I absolutely can’t wait to meet her.” Abby squeaked.
The brunette finally closed her locker and walked towards them, she smiled genuinely at Stacy as she walked down and Stacy instantly liked her.
“Meg! Welcome to high school.” Luca said, as he removed his hand from the blond, Abby didn’t seem too happy about that. Luca took a step forward, and Stacy could swear she saw the brown eyed girl blush slightly.
“Thanks Luca,” she replied with a bright smile, she then turned to Stacy, “hi, you must be the new student. I’m Megan, and I don’t know if he already introduced himself but knowing my brother I’m guessing not so this is, Zach.” She stretched out her hand, and motioned her head towards her brother. Zach smiled down at her and casually said “Hey”
Stacy smiled at her, she seemed really sweet and honest, she took the other girls hand and shook it. “Hi Megan, hi Zach I’m Stacy. It’s so nice to meet you; I was getting scared that I wouldn’t meet anything at this school.” Stacy joked.
“Oh I know most of the students in the freshmen class, they are all really nice. You’ll like it here.” Megan told her.
“Yea it’s totes awesome; oh by the way Megan I’m Abby, a friend of Zach’s.” The blond chimed in, probably because she started feeling left out.
Megan smiled at her and stuck out her hand again, “Hey, nice to meet you.”
“How does it feel having two older brothers?” Abby asked
“Umm, I only have one.” Megan answered looking a little confused.
“Well yea, biologically. But Luca is like your brother too right, I mean he is your brother’s best friend so he is pretty much your second brother.” Abby told her.
Stacy figured out that the blond girl was jealous of Megan because Luca let her go as soon as Megan came by, so she wanted to make herself feel better by telling herself and everyone else that Luca was like a brother to Megan.
Stacy didn’t like the blond to being with, but she definitely didn’t like her now, as she saw Megan turning red.
“I’m not her brother Abby; Zach does a pretty good job of being a brother without my help.” Luca said, and then turned to Stacy. “Hey, I have an extra pass for lunch off campus you should come with us so Megan has a classmate with her.”
“Oh yes, please come. I didn’t want to go to begin with but my brother is making me and I would love it if you could come keep me company.” Megan told her desperately.
Stacy decided she really liked this girl, “Okay I’ll come, it’s not like I know anyone else to eat lunch with anyway.”
“Oh thank you!” Megan cried with a smile.
“Hey Megs, you’re looking good. I can’t wait to hear all about your summer.” A blond guy came by and gave Megan a hug.
Looking slightly embarrassed, she said “Hi Joseph, hope you had a great summer.”
“I did, what do you say we meet up after school and chat?” Joseph winked.
“I’m taking her straight home after.” Zach told the guy, Stacy almost laughed at how protected he seemed. But then again he was her brother.
What she thought was really interesting was the way Luca was scowling down at the guy, as if he was mentally telling him to leave.
“Don’t you have practice after school Zach?” Abby asked, ignoring the angry look on his face.
“Yes but I’m dropping Megan off and then coming back for practice.” He told her, but he was looking at Joseph as he said it.
“Well another time then babe?” Joseph asked and walked away before Megan had a chance to reply.
“Oh my gosh! Megan you should totally date him! He is so cute.” Abby said trailing her eyes to where Joseph was walking away.
“That guy is a pot head” Luca directed at Abby
“So? Getting high can be fun.” The blond shrugged.
“Megan is not going out with a pot head” he replied in a calm smooth voice, as the bell chimed.
Zach turned to his little sister and gave her a hug, “Good luck sis, text me if you need anything, and if I don’t reply text Luca.”
“I’ll be fine I’m at school not in another country, I have known most of the people in my classes since kindergarten.” Megan said, “Ready to go Stacy?”
“Yea, it was nice meeting you all,” Stacy said, then to Luca, “thank you for showing me around.”
“Anytime, see you later.” He said as he turned to walk away, but suddenly he turned back, “Oh Megs I almost forgot, here.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a York peppermint pattie. “Have a great first day.”
Megan’s blood was all in her face now, “Thanks Luca, but you didn’t have to get this for me.”
Luca just shrugged off her comment. “Bye”
“You like York patties?” Stacy asked Megan once they were inside the room and taking their seats.
“On the first day of first grade, I was really nervous and my mom was telling me that she wished she has peppermint because that always calmed me down. Luca overheard her and he had just gotten a huge box of chocolates from his grandparents, so he looked through and found a York peppermint pattie and gave it to me. Since then every first day of a new school year he gives me this chocolate.” Megan explained.
The girls took a seat in the middle of the room next to each other, a few people walked by saying hi to Megan and patting her back.
“That’s really sweet of him, if you don’t mind me asking is there something between the two of you?” Stacy inquired.
“Yea it’s really nice of him and no of course not! He is just my brother’s friend.”
Stacy felt like Megan wasn’t telling her something, but she had just met the girl she couldn’t just start digging into her private life.
Stacy and Megan started hanging out a lot since the first day they met and they soon became best friends. They were different, yes, but it worked well for them. They were always there for each other, and help the there through hard times. Their differences are what kept them attached to each other
They got done with coffee and spend the rest of the day going back and forth between their houses and meeting friends. Megan loved catching up with everyone, her friend Alex had to cancel his plans because his cousins were in town.
It was a busy but relaxing day and at the end of the evening, the girls decided they were too tired to dress shop and called it a night. Megan returned home and played scrabble with her mom and dad before heading to bed that night. She didn’t know where Zach and Luca went though, they weren’t at dinner and by the time she climbed into bed at around eleven thirty there was still no sign of them.