You're a "Rolling Stone" boy
"Never sleep alone" boy
"Got a million numbers and they're filling up your phone", boy
-Ghost, Halsey
***
When I was a kid, all I wanted was to become a broccoli.
My mom told me that I wouldn't talk to anybody, and when asked why, I would always tell them:
"Because I'm a broccoli, and broccolis can't talk. I'm not actually talking right now. All of it is just in your head."
I always wore my green broccoli costume, sat on the corner like some sort of a crazy person, and tried my best to act like a vegetable.
It was super fun.
My broccoli obsession became so problematic that my mom finally decided to have a heart-to-heart talk with my four-year old self. The conversation went something along these lines:
Mom: Sky, honey, you are not a broccoli. You are an actual human being.
Me: But I don't want to be a human being. Human beings are bad. Broccolis for the win!
Mom: Oh baby, there are also good human beings. And if you want to have more good people, you should be one yourself.
Me: But... but... Broccolis are good. They make people healthy and stuff.
Mom: You can be a good person too by going out and making some friends.
Me: I don't want to go outside! There are people there!
Mom said it took another month of convincing before I finally accepted my humanity.
I already forgot about that weird childhood dream of mine but the moment I saw Hunter waiting for me in front of my locker came Monday morning, all I could think of was:
Oh, God, please! Turn me into something else. Maybe a broccoli or a potato or anything that Hunter won't recognize!
But alas, the heavens wouldn't hear any of my stupid requests.
"Sky!" Hunter shouted as soon as he saw me grumpily walking towards my locker.
Did he really have to announce my name in front of the whole freaking school? This guy was bringing out the murderer in me.
And because Hunter was so annoyingly popular, everyone who heard him stopped what they were doing to follow his gaze.
Their eyes automatically looked past where I was but when they realized that I was the only one there, they reluctantly settled their eyes on me. All of them had the same confused expression on their faces, like that was the first time they ever saw me (Fun Fact: I had been studying in this school since seventh grade).
I felt like I was on a death march while walking towards my locker. Everyone just kept on staring at me and whispering to each other.
"Who is she?" I heard someone asked.
"I don't know. A transfer student maybe?" answered Jonas Kirk. I sat beside him in Spanish class our whole junior year.
I didn't know if I should feel insulted or glad about that.
I kept my head low, wishing I followed my gut instinct and just kicked Hunter to the cliff when I had the chance. Now it was too late.
I felt so self-conscious with all those eyes on me that I couldn't even walk like a normal person. I was sure I was walking like an epileptic zombie who was also suffering from severe constipation.
Hunter, who was either oblivious to my new found fame, or just didn't give a damn about other people's misery, beamed at me like I was Jesus Christ on his second coming.
"Happy Monday, Buddy!" He greeted, his dimples making all the other girls swoon.
He looked like a model who just came out straight from a magazine even in a simple white t-shirt and ripped jeans. I couldn't even blame the girls for giving me murderous looks right now because of him.
However, nothing could have compared to the look on Rachel's face when she saw Hunter put his arm around my shoulders. She looked like she swallowed a whole live ferret.
I would laugh if I didn't feel like giving Hunter a nice kick in the ass.
Didn't he realize that his fan girls were already staring daggers at my direction? Talk about adding fuel to the fire.
"You didn't have to shout my name, you know?" I whispered, trying to move my shoulder to get his arms off me.
The jerk didn't even budge.
"You love it when I say your name." He said happily, clearly enjoying the whole ordeal.
He then did the unimaginable and winked at me and I was sure everyone caught that mortifying moment.
Great! Now everyone would think Hunter and I were flirting. Could someone just hand me a blade so that I could cut myself to death?
"You really should stop overdosing on your ego steroids." I said.
"And you really should stop thinking of me until the wee hours of the night, buddy." He teased. He sounded playful but I thought I saw a look of concern flashed his eyes for a second.
I knew I looked like shit today, and it was all thanks to him.
I wasn't able to fall asleep last night, worried about what would happen. I pretty much expected my schoolmate's reactions but it still embarrassed me. So much for my rule number three. I had already associated myself with a popular kid, and now I was about to experience the consequences of my idiotic actions.
Bye bye peaceful high school life! Hello psycho fan girls and Hunter-related crimes!
"I was up all night thinking of ways on how to burst your delusional bubble only to realize that the only way to do that is to drive your head straight to a concrete wall. Do you want to try that now?" I offered sarcastically.
"Oooh. Kinky." Hunter whistled.
I made a gagging gesture and jerked my shoulder hard to finally release it from his hold.
"Don't look." I warned him before I entered my locker combination. He just smirked and stood there like he was my very own body guard.
I was depositing my things inside my locker when I heard Rachel's voice.
"Hi handsome, party at my house on Friday?" she said seductively.
Only Rachel could make that wholesome invitation sounds like a sexual innuendo.
"No, thanks. Sky and I already have other plans." Hunter said coolly.
Plans? What plans?
There was a brief pause. I glanced at them and saw the look of shock on Rachel's face.
Apparently, no guy had ever refused Rachel's invitation before, especially for someone like me.
She immediately got over her shock though and gave me a condescending smile before she turned her attention back to Hunter.
"You're kidding, right? Why would anyone want to go with her?" she ran a hand over Hunter's chest and batted her false eyelashes at him.
"Come on, I'm sure we will have a lot more fun at my party."
She purposely moved closer so that Hunter could have a better view of her barely-covered chest.
It was like watching a live, soft core porn. I had to admit I was slightly entertained.
Hunter, to my amazement, removed Rachel's overly-friendly hand from his chest.
"Sorry, but me and my buddy here have some sleuthing to do. You ever heard of what happened to Heather's locker?" He picked a strand of Rachel's blonde hair and twirled it around his fingers, a dangerous smile playing on his lips.
"R-really? I-I don't know." Rachel suddenly looked nervous.
Hunter shook his head, looking disappointed.
"It was such a shame." He made a "tsk" sound; clucking his tongue in a way that made all the girls in the crowd squirmed.
"You know what I do when someone messes with the people I like?" He asked sweetly but his voice dropped to a chilly tone. The hallway turned very silent, like everyone in there was hanging to his every word. Rachel was about to say something but Hunter put a finger on her lips, stopping her.
He leaned towards her and looked at her straight in the eyes.
"I retaliate."
He said in a voice like honeyed poison. Rachel shivered and so did I.
That was scary.
Hot, yes, but mostly scary.
I almost felt sorry for Rachel. Her artificially tanned face turned as white as Robert Pattinson's face in Twilight.
Hunter dropped the strand of hair, turned back to me and smiled like he didn't just terrorize someone.
"Let's go?" he said cheerfully, totally ignoring the murmurs of the crowd around us.
I nodded.
I was surprised when he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards our first class, leaving a crowd of dumbfounded people on our wake.
I shot Rachel one last look and regretted it almost immediately when I saw her giving me a look of pure loathing.
Oh no!
I should have stuck with being like a broccoli, existing but unnoticeable.
Now I was like a pizza.
Everyone wanted a piece of me.
***
For the third time that day, I felt a poke on my back courtesy of Hunter's equally evil pen.
I let out an irritated sigh. He already made a hell out of my morning; couldn't he just let me learn the theory of relativity in peace?
"What now?" I shifted on my seat so that I could look behind me towards where he sat.
Hunter pulled his hand back and tapped the black cap of his pen on the corner of his lips. He was chewing something that suspiciously looked like skittles. Honestly, this guy couldn't go on a single hour without eating something.
"You should join me and my friends at lunch later."
"How about no?" I said in a hushed voice, afraid Mr. Charleston would hear us talking while he was discussing Einstein's theories.
Hunter leaned forward, his shirt stretched over broad shoulders. He tipped his desk down and I heard the soft inhales from the majority of my female classmates who, for some reasons, were watching us with curiosity burning in their eyes.
"That could be problematic." He said thoughtfully.
I glanced at Shawn who was sitting beside me. He was looking intently at his book but I was sure it was all pretense due to the fact that the book was upside down. He was such a bad actor.
"I always eat lunch with my friend, Shawn." I said.
"Both you and Montgomery here should join us at lunch then."
Shawn snapped his head to Hunter's direction so fast I wondered how he didn't break his neck.
"Really?" he asked, clearly in his fanboy mode now.
"Why not?" asked Hunter, looking genuinely confused.
"Well, we're not really someone cool people like you would want to be seen having lunch with."
"Shawn!" I protested, embarrassed by what he said even though I knew it was completely true.
Hunter shrugged.
"You're pretty cool. That's why I gave you my cards"
Shawn smiled from ear to ear. I could almost feel the love overflowing from him.
"We'll think about it." I said quickly before Shawn could say something that would embarrass us all.
"Well, Ms. Davies, how about you think about the brilliance that is E=MC(squared) rather than spend my entire class exchanging sweet nothings with Mr. Cole?"
My cheeks flooded with color as I tried to ignore the giggles from the other students who witnessed my ass getting chewed out by Mr. Charleston.
"Hey, Prof, don't be so hard on her. Who wouldn't be smitten by my charms? You know you did the first time you saw me." Hunter said, making everyone including the traitor that was Mr. Charleston, laugh.
All I wanted was to disappear on the face of the earth right at that moment.
Let me list down all the fantastic things that happened to me during the first two hours of school:
First, the whole school finally came to know about my existence.
Second, I was immediately added to Rachel's hate list.
Third, a total of eighteen Hunter fan girls had given me a look that clearly said they wished me a very painful death.
Fourth, I got repeatedly poked at the back with a demon possessed pen.
And now, Mr. Charleston and the rest of the class thought I was smitten by Hunter's non-existent charm.
What a great way to start the week!
I thanked all my lucky stars when Physics finally ended and I had to finally part ways with the devil.
A friend of his, Callan Greyson, was waiting for him outside our room.
Now, here was one good thing about my school, there were a lot of gorgeous guys around here. It didn't matter if most of them were chauvinistic pigs, the fact remained that they were an added attraction to this otherwise ordinary school. And when you see Callan hanging around the corridors, you could say it was a really special day.
With his bronze hair, sculpted jaw, grey heavily lidded eyes and rosy lips, he was certainly a nice view. And unlike most of the gorgeous boys here, Callan was miraculously not a douche.
The only problem was that he usually just spent all his time on the school rooftop, sleeping the day away. He always wore the same bored expression on his face, like life itself didn't impress him a bit.
To see him awake during this time of the day took me by surprise.
He raised one eyebrow when he saw Hunter and I walking out of the room together, arguing about the lunch set-up.
"Cal!" Hunter walked up to him and gave him a bear hug. Cal looked like he wanted to punch him.
"Get off, asshole." Cal said in a poker face.
I immediately liked him.
Hunter pinched him on both cheeks like he was a toddler.
"You're so sweet. Now be a darling and say hi to Skylar." Said Hunter.
Cal looked at me for a really long time that I started to feel a bit uncomfortable. When he opened his mouth to speak, I thought he was going to say something really important.
"Hi." He said in a monotonous voice.
Nice.
"Hello." I waved.
He turned his attention back to Hunter.
"Is she the girl?" he asked him.
Hunter flashed him a warning look before looking back at me.
"See you at lunch." He said then immediately pulled Cal away from me.
What was that all about?
I decided to just let it pass and proceeded to climb upstairs towards the Music room which was on the third floor.
I sighed.
It was gonna be a long day.
I was so preoccupied with my predicament that I didn't notice the last step on the stairs.
I felt my stomach dropped as I lost my footing and slipped. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the body pain that was about to follow.
Only it did not happen. I felt two strong arms caught me before I fall to my death.
"Are you okay?" said a worried voice.
I opened my eyes slowly and found myself staring at Kenji's brown eyes.
I closed my eyes, counted to three, and then opened them again just to make sure that he wasn't just a product of my imagination. But he was still there. He saved me. Again. For the second time.
"I... I..." I didn't know what to say.
My heart was doing cartwheels inside my chest that I found it hard to breathe. What were you supposed to say when the boy of your dreams was finally holding you in his arms?
Kenji furrowed his eyebrows.
"You seemed shock. Do you want me to take you to the infirmary?" he asked.
I shook my head. I didn't need to go to the clinic. I needed to be in his arms forever.
"Alright, but are you sure you're okay? You're not hurt anywhere?" he ran his eyes over me, checking for any injury.
It hurts! Here in my heart, because you already have a girlfriend.
I just nodded, still couldn't find my voice.
He helped me to get back on my feet since I proved to be close to catatonic.
"I needed to get in class now. Be careful, okay?" he said, giving me one last worried look before he turned around and walked towards his room.
I watched his back as he stepped further away from me. No, no! He couldn't leave just yet! I needed to say something!
Come on, Sky! You can do it!
I closed my eyes and gathered all the courage I had.
"Kenji!" I shouted.
He looked back at me.
"Yes?"
"Thank you! For saving me!"
Kenji smiled and it almost melted my heart.
"You're welcome."
I stood there for a long time even after he was gone. I couldn't explain it, but I felt like something heavy was lifted from my chest. I was finally able to thank Kenji, and it made me feel good.
I wiped a single tear that fell out of my eye and looked at the droplet in wonder.
They were right. Sometimes, all you really needed was to say thank you.
***
When someone like Hunter Cole took an interest in you, you could expect the whole school to follow suit.
I spent half of the day being ogled at, and whispered about. Eyes followed me wherever I went and the reactions varied based on genders.
Most of the girls acted like they were the spawn of satan while male students tended to just check my butt.
By the time lunch came, the happy bubble caused by my encounter with Kenji had already evaporated into thin air. I was so hungry I could eat the whole Safari.
I met Shawn near the cafeteria's entrance.
"Are you okay?" Shawn said, looking concerned as he took in the state of my well being.
I shook my head.
"Bad day. I need food." I grumbled.
As soon as we entered the school cafeteria, a tall, very good looking guy blocked our way.
Wait, I knew this guy! Black hair, green eyes, and a smile that could make any girl dropped to her knees and do the unthinkable... It was the ever popular, Parker Fray. The king of the douche!
It was the first time I ever saw him face to face. He was usually hanging around at the dark corners of school, face buried to a girl. There was a rumor that his greatest dream was to sleep with one hundred girls before he graduated high school. And he was on his 87th girl right now.
Amazing. Such accomplishment. Wow.
The douche was currently checking me out.
"What do you want?" I said suspiciously, aware of all the eyes watching this little gathering.
He cocked his head to the side and gave me a lazy smile. He also had dimples like Lucifer. Why was all the douchebags in this school looked like a freaking Hollywood star? It was really unfair.
"I'm Parker. I'm just here to check you out."
You don't say?
I looked at Shawn and saw him busy with his Nintendo DS. He was completely oblivious to the fact that we were now being confronted by the biggest player in this school. What a reliable best friend I had here!
"Well, are you done? I'm hungry. I need to eat as soon as possible." I said, really having a hard time hiding my irritation.
In the span of four hours, I had already met the top five most gorgeous guys at school, and four of them didn't help lighten my mood a bit.
"Good news! Your new boyfriend sent me here to assist you to our table." Said Parker, excitedly.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Boyfriend?"
He cocked his head towards the center table in the cafeteria where Hunter, Cal, Rush, Heather, and two other girls were seating. They were all looking at our direction except Cal who seemed to be drowsing off to dream land.
Hunter grinned and my stupid heart skipped a beat. This was not good.
"Hunter is not my boyfriend." I said darkly.
Parker nodded.
"Of course. Why would anyone want to be his girlfriend? How about we ditch him and let's go somewhere we can be alone? Honestly, I'm way hotter than that asshole." Parker gave me a seductive smile.
I rolled my eyes.
"Does Hunter share his ego steroids with you?"
Parker laughed.
"I like you. Now come on."
He positioned himself between me and Shawn, put his arms around each of our shoulders and assisted us to the center table where the Gods of Diamond Crest High were lounging looking like they were some sort of royal celebrities.
"Harry Potter girl!" Exclaimed Shawn, looking at the table's direction like he'd just seen a ghost.
I followed his gaze and saw a familiar face. Sitting beside Cal was the cute girl we saw at the Fudge!
"Get your hands off her, Fray." Hunter frowned as soon as we reached the table.
"Since when have you been that possessive, Cole? We always share things before, right?" Parker pouted, putting his face closer to mine for the sole purpose of annoying the shit out of everyone including me.
"Oh for God's sake, Parker! Stop harassing the girl! Do you want me to tell Roe?" said the stunning brunette girl with big golden eyes. Parker froze as soon as he heard the name Roe.
He gave the brunette girl an accusing look before dropping his arm from my shoulder, muttering something that suspiciously sounded like "Traitor".
The brunette ignored him and smiled at me.
"Hi, I'm Penelope Holden. Call me Pen. I'm so happy to finally meet you."
She offered her hand to me for a hand shake. I awkwardly shook her hand.
"Skylar Davies." I smiled.
Her gaze moved to Shawn who was now blushing and staring at his chucks like it was an amazing work of art.
"He's my bestfriend, Shawn Montgomery." I said when it became obvious that Shawn wasn't planning to utter a single word.
Pen clapped her hands and excitedly ushered us to the vacant seats. My assigned seat was between Parker and Hunter which was just a proof that I was one unlucky girl.
Parker was still muttering under his breath, probably still in a state of shock. Whoever was this Roe girl, I was sure she was one hell of an amazing woman to be feared by Parker Fray himself.
Shawn got to seat besides Harry Potter girl who, to my surprise, was also blushing from head to toes. I wondered what happened to those two?
"Great! Now guys, introduce yourselves to our new friends." Said Pen in a commanding voice. It was obvious that she was the leader of this group.
"Hi there! I'm Heather and this is my boyfriend, Rush. You don't know how thrilled we are to finally meet you." Heather greeted cheerfully. She gave Hunter and I a teasing look. Hunter just rolled his eyes at her.
I couldn't help but notice how Hunter and Heather treat each other. They acted so friendly that it actually blew my mind. I was no relationship expert but I heard exes tend to develop a certain degree of awkwardness, if not animosity, towards each other. Hell, just last week, Rush and Hunter tried to kill each other because of Heather but now, the three of them were like best of friends again.
That must have been one hell of an amicable break-up.
Rush threw Hunter a meaningful glance before smiling at me, diverting my attention to him.
"We already know each other. We sit beside each other at Music Class." He said.
I smiled back at him. Out of all the boys there, I liked Rush the most. He was a good musician, and he didn't talk much. My kind of guy.
"Hello. I'm Natalie Cross. Nice to meet you." said the red-faced Harry Potter girl. She glanced at Shawn who was now looking like he drunk a gallon of chili sauce prior to this meeting. The two of them looked really cute together.
Shawn said something that sounded like: "ghrjfjkjdfihuihriekenf"
It was Cal's turn to introduce himself but since he was probably in lala-land by now, we decided to just skip him.
"You're going to sit with us starting today. Isn't that exciting?" exclaimed Pen, looking like the poster kid for active-Z.
"Amazing." I whispered sarcastically.
I looked around and saw Rachel and her minions looking at my direction with an obvious hatred in their eyes. I reminded myself to watch my back starting today. I just created a new enemy. A very dangerous enemy at that. Wonderful.
"Don't mind her. I won't let anyone bully you." I heard Hunter say. He was munching a chocolate chip cookie which reminded me that I needed to eat something if I didn't want to turn to a monster.
"You want one?" Hunter offered me one of the cookies in his gigantic pack. I was so hungry I didn't have the strength to refuse anymore.
"Sure." I said.
His lips tip up to a crooked smile, exposing his beautiful dimples as he leaned towards me, his mouth just an inhale away from mine.
"Come and get it."
What?
Hunter placed the cookie between his sinfully luscious lips.
Bloody hell!
My jaw literally dropped open and I wished to the heavens above that I wasn't drooling because that cookie... those lips... I needed a drum of holy water ASAP!
Most of the girls within the ten mile radius made sounds that confirmed I wasn't the only one having an on the spot test of will power but I couldn't bring myself to look at them. I felt my cheeks redden, hyper aware of the eyes of everyone, waiting for my next step.
Hunter arched his eyebrow, daring me. Holy mother of seductive teenage boys everywhere! I didn't know what to do! He didn't expect me to take the cookie from his mouth, right? Because that was ridiculous... and really really tempting.
"I think I'm going to throw up." I heard Pen say, frowning at Hunter's direction.
"Here, here!" agreed Heather.
I was saved from humiliation when Parker leaned closer to Hunter and took the cookie from Hunter's lips using his mouth.
He then tapped Hunter's shoulder with satisfaction.
"Thanks, man! That was a great show."
He and Hunter did a high five while I just sat there with my heart beating frantically inside my chest, wondering what the hell I got myself into.