I woke up to the sound of the news on the TV. Adam Bradford always woke up like an early bird to watch the news and write his well-known posts on his blog. I was the victim of his early morning obsession, not even during the weekends I could sleep in.

After tossing around under my cover that felt so smooth over my body I decided to take a look at the time. I sprinted from my bed shocked feelings a few curls from my messy hair getting in my eyes. I was so late for school, and I knew the bus will leave me.

I hurried up and ran to my bathroom and took a shower. I left my hair for later in the afternoon so I could make it fast, and just put it in a messy bun, brushed my teeth and hurried to my room to get dressed with the first  thing I saw in my closet and took my homework. I did everything in less than twenty minutes. A record time for me.

I took my bag from the sofa and went as fast as I could to the main door to see if I was still on time to take the bus. I was willing to run if I had to and beg the bus driver to stop, no matter how crazy people might think I am.

"Where do you think you're going?" Dad asked, peeking his head out of the kitchen door frame, making me stop in my tracks "You need to eat"

I sighed "Oh! I'm so late to take the bus, Dad," I said, looking from him to the door in front of me, feeling like a wreck of nervousness.

"Then eat it on the bus" he said, giving me a granola bar and a milkshake. "And remember I want you back home after school."

"Yes, Dad," I said taking the breakfast from his hands "I know I'm grounded." I turned around to hide my pissed off look. I understood him but it didn't mean I liked it. I felt betrayed by myself. If it wasn't a for my stupid inability to tell lies I would be fine.

At the thought of what happened this weekend I felt like something was missing, but to get to school on time was definitely more important than staying here overthinking.

I was about to open the door knob when we heard a knock on the door. I looked at my dad and he looked at me. We were both curious about who could be now in the morning.

I opened the door to find myself face to face with Maxwell. Shit! I completely forgot about him. He looked fresh and clean. His blue eyes were burning me as I took in his perfect outfit. He was drool worthy.  He took his time to get ready, the opposite as I looked right now after taking only twenty minutes to get ready.

"I've been waiting for you for the past twenty minutes, Jessica." he said, interrupting my staring. "I told you 7:30 sharp! What part of that you didn't understand?" he asked, looking at me, his voice was soft, but still stained by annoyance. As I looked back at him with sheepish brown eyes, I saw how tense he held his jaw.

"I'm sorry," I said, giving him a sweet smile, "I forgot you will pick me up." I wanted to persuade him from being mad at me.

I was so worried about getting to school that I forgot about him. If I was honest, I wasn't used to have guys picking me up every morning.    I walked out the door, hurriedly trying to avoid a moment with my dad but he didn't let me.

Dad opened the door as I was going down the porch and to my horror Max wasn't following me. Instead he was greeting my dad with his remarkable wide smile. 

"Is this a normal thing, sir?" Max asked, his polite manners attracted my dad's attention.

"No, she's usually on time," my dad told him, shaking his hand. "Maybe she was trying to get rid of you. That would be something she would do."

“ I have to agree with you. She hates my guts so that wouldn't surprise me" he laughed and to my surprise dad joined him.

I felt I was missing something. They were chatting as if they saw each other all the time. Like old friends. 

"It was good to see you, Max," my dad said, giving him a polite smile. He turned to look at me with a "you're-going-to-explain-this-later" look.

"You too, sir," Maxwell told him and walked towards me leaving the house as we walked towards his car.

He stood in front of me for a few seconds, checking my outfit. I felt insecure under his gaze, and all I wanted to do was to get done with this. I already knew it wasn't  going to be a good day.

"You didn't have enough time to fix your hair?" he asked while walking towards his car leaving me behind.

"I woke up late," I said, snapping at him as I got in the passenger seat.

Great, Jessica! That's the way you're planning to make him fall for you? To wake up like this every freaking morning? Well, I have to be myself, right? I will be ready on time the next time.

He took his seat and we headed out of my driveway.

“ Couldn't sleep last night?” he asked, with his gaze on the road but a light frown growing on his forehead.

“ It was a tough night" I replied sincerely, surprising myself. 

“ Is all good?” his voice was softer as he snapped his head towards me.

“ Yeah.  Just a lot to think about”  I whispered, feeling suddenly vulnerable.  I stood there awake the whole night thinking about my horrible crush on him for years.

I also thought about how much I wanted to get over my fear of falling in love. Was it him the one I should fight for? 

He didn't ask further questions, since he seemed to get I wasn't going to say more. I took out my makeup bag and my hairbrush.

I was so focused on what I was doing that I didn't notice he was looking at me with an amused expression on his face. I felt his gaze on me, and I turned around.

"What?" I felt his gaze turn even more intense than before.

"How can you do that in a car?" he asked while stopping at a red light.

My hand lost control drawing a thin long line of cherry lipstick on my cheek.

"What the fuck, Maxwell!" I yelled at him when he laughed. "It's not funny!"

"It is!" he said between laughs. "You look like a pretty clown now, all pink."

"I'm going to kill you" I said while taking a napkin out of my bag and cleaning the extra makeup.

"I have basketball practice at eight before school, and you made me miss it," he said with a goofy smile on his full lips.  "I had to make you pay for that," he added with a cocky smile.

"I don't know how you like to make friends, but this is not a good way to start" I tried to sound harsh but it only went out as pout.

I put my sunglasses on, without looking at him and stayed quiet. I can make him worry.

"Hey! I was joking" He said when he understood I wasn't going to cooperate. He made his way into the parking lot, but his eyes were fully on me.

"Yes, I know" I told him with sarcasm. I took my bag and books when he parked on his usual spot.  I turn a bit to open the car door when his voice cut me short.

"People are going to stare at us as soon as we get out of this car" He said looking through the front glass.

He didn't sound worried about it. He was more concerned about my own reaction to what will happen next. You know, the rumors and being the it topic for a few weeks.

"I don't care. It is not like we can hide now" I said, feeling annoyed. That's what I chose to show him. I was nervous as I felt my inner peace crashing between my bones.

"Jessica is willing to walk through those doors beside me?" he asked with a smile on his face. He gave me a little reassurance when he smiled.

"For all one knows we are friends," I said, ignoring his last question.

"So are we friends?" he said, turning off the car. I saw him feel more confident and hopeful.

I looked at him and threw a killer half smile, before opening the car door. There was nothing else to say.

I was moody due to being late, but, somehow during this time I felt secure of putting my plan into action.

I walked towards the main door. I didn't care about all the weird looks I was receiving because I arrived with him. I knew it will be the topic to gossip about in school but that's exactly what I wanted.

It was kind of stupid how people would react to that, but the entire school knew what my position towards Max was. People knew I wasn't going to fall head over heels. Or well that's what they think.

I was almost through the main door when I heard my name. I kept walking, knowing who was walking behind me. Eric Thomas.

Eric and I, had a rocky start two years ago. He cheated on me. Since then he had tried to mend things between us, but deep inside I still felt betrayed by him. I didn't want to put my trust in him. Not even as a friend.

"Are you dating him?" he asked when I got to my locker.

I gave him a blank look and kept ignoring him since I knew he was messing with me. He knew Max wasn't interested in me. I took my bag and looked for everything I needed for cheerleader practice after school.

"No," I told him while closing my locker. "I'm going to class now. Please, Eric, stop doing this," I pleaded him.

He looked at me for a while and then sighed. "I know I have to." He gave me a sad smile before turning his attention to something behind me.

"Don't make him fall too hard," he told me while pointing with his jaw to where he was looking at.

I turned around to see Max walking toward us. "What are you talking about?" I asked him, getting nervous. What did he know about the plan? "I'm not planning to do that."

"I know you're not planning to, but he will fall," he said with confidence, walking a few steps back. "That's the special thing about you. You don't even have to try." He smiled and turned around, leaving me alone, or I thought I was.

I felt a warm nice breath on my neck, making me jump in surprise. Maxwell was in front of me with my math book on his hand. The time stopped for those seconds while people in the crowded corridor looked at us. Some trying to hide their surprise  and others shamelessly looking us.

We both knew what was going on but didn't let it affect us. Max shook his head before holding the book towards me.

“ You left it in the car" he explained louder than I would liked him to. He was showing off to those that were waiting for the juicy details I knew my the almost smirk he had on his beautiful lips.

“ Thanks" I said with a smile, taking a step towards him to take the book.

"Do you like him? Wasn't he the one who cheated on you on our sophomore year?" he asked, looking at Eric greeting his friends.

"It doesn't concern you," I told him and took my book out of his hands. It was a topic I will save for later.

"You're not in a good mood today. I wish it didn't have to do with me," he said, looking around, avoiding my eyes.  "I will leave you alone. I have a basketball practice at four. Please go to the basketball court and wait for me."

"I have a cheerleader practice anyways at three on the football field," I said, looking at him. I couldn't decipher what was going on around us and why the murmuring was louder because I got lost in his eyes.

He nodded and that's when I noticed how close we were. I took a step back when I heard a girl whisper “they're going to kiss" and we walked in opposite directions. I walked to my social studies class and greeted my friends before getting to my desk. I saw Mila in her place, as I got close to talk to her.

"Mila, how you doing?" I asked, but she didn't answer. I shook her shoulder only to make her scream in surprise. That's when I saw her wireless earphones.

"Jess!" She hugged me. "You need to tell me what's going on," she said while making me sit on the chair beside her. "People are talking about you and Max coming to school together."

"He's grounded too thanks to my big mouth!" I said with a sarcastic smile. "He has to take me to school and then take me back home until next year."

"Oh! That's a good thing for you, right?" she asked, smirking. "Now it will be easier to put your plan in action."

"I guess, but sometimes he annoys me because I feel he takes everything so easy"  I told her, confused. Since our teacher was always late, I had enough time to tell her about what happened the night before.

"You need to take the first step, Jess," Mila told me, taking her notebook and books out.

"I don't know," I said, doubt bouncing in my voice. "Today?"

"If you want to try this for real then you should," she said, looking at the front desk when our teacher walked in.

I walked towards my desk. The class started and I tried to pay attention but all I could think of, was the first step.

Find something in common and spend time together. 

It will mark the difference in our current situation. It could make us become closer.  The two hours period went by fast and before I knew I was walking out of the classroom with Mila.

“ I will make a stop in the restroom. Save me a place next to you" I whispered to Mila as I handed her my books. She nodded absencely with her eyes fixed on the new guy.

I founded weird because she had a boyfriend, but shrugged it off while I walked down the hall towards the restrooms close to the stairs, I was still thinking about my plan that I didn't notice someone until I bumped into him. The crash was so hard that I lost my balance and fell from the stairs.

I felt my entire body smashed by the staircases. I felt my ribs on fire and my arm whilst I hit them rolling down the stairs. When I landed on the last staircase I broke my feet. The pain shot throughout my body making me scream in pain, stupidly grabbing my feet as I tasted the blood coming from the cut on my lip.

"Oh God!" I screamed in pain. "Oh God!"

The pain was too much. I tried to get up by myself but I couldn't do it. I looked up to see what I could do, and that's when I saw people going out of the advance classes on the fourth floor. My screaming caught their attention.

Someone came close and helped me to stand up. The pain was too much, my face was already covered by my tears. Everyone that came close to me asked if it hurt, or if I was fine. I ignored them as my vision blurred with more tears.

The person helping me took me downstairs in bridal style to the nurse's office. It was a man, but still immersed in my pain I didn't dare to open my eyes. I buried my face on his chest, holding my hands onto his shirt waiting for something to relieve the pain.

I felt how he gently placed me on the nursery bed. I heard his voice explain to the nurse what happened, and I recognized him.

Eric Thomas.