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  “Oh yay! We have that class together!” Dev said happily.

  “I’ll see you then, but if you get lost…” she quickly got out a scrap of paper and a pen and wrote something. “…Call me. Here’s my number. Text me yours when you get a sec.”

  “Will do. Thanks.” Holly took the piece of paper from Dev.

  “It’s really great meeting you, Holly. You’re going to have so much fun here.”

  The warm and friendly look in Dev’s eyes made Holly feel funny inside. Like she was happy.

  Well that hasn’t happened for a while.

  “Thanks Dev. It’s great to meet you too.”

  They waved to each other and turned to go to their classes.

  Holly made her way down the hall, trying to find her way through the mass of tall people. She looked down at the map in her hands and was glad that she was still going in the right direction. She needed to pass three more doors, and then her ‘A.Eng’ class would be the next door on the left. Holly, felt a chill down her spine and she lifted her head just in time before she almost walked into a huge wall of…chest.

  “Hi, you must be one of the new people.” A male voice said to her.

  The voice rolled over her, sending shivers through her body and breaking out in goosebumps. Holly looked up and saw the most gorgeous thing she had ever seen in her whole life!

  Black hair that was long on top and short around the sides, some strands falling down into big chocolate brown eyes that were framed in thick black lashes. Cheek bones that most girls would kill for and lips that looked full and juicy and kissable and…

  "Español?" He asked, sending another wave of tingles through her body.

  Holly found that she had lost the ability to speak and just stood there…staring…the heat began in her neck, and she felt it creeping up to her face.

  Oh no! Please don't blush!

  "Francais"? He narrowed his eyes a little, pushing his hands into his pockets.

  Nope…still nothing. She was frozen, staring at the beautiful and extremely tall guy standing in front of her. He had to be over six feet at least.

  "Are you ok?" He now had a look of concern.

  Holly swallowed and found her tongue could finally move again.

  "Um…I…”

  Holly couldn't form any other words and she walked away, completely embarrassed, as fast as she could.

  Holly got to her classroom, slightly breathless, her heart beating fast, and introduced herself to the teacher.

  He showed her to her desk, and she sat down putting her head in her hands. Her face was still on fire, and she had to take deep breaths to calm herself down.

  I cannot have a panic attack now!

  Whenever Holly got scared, or worried, especially about someone she loved; she would often go into a panic. The last attack she'd had was when she'd gone on holiday with her sister, Emily, and her then boyfriend, Jeff. Some young boys thought it would be funny to push Holly into the pool. Holly couldn't swim and, even though the water was shallow and she had stood up, she had a panic attack and Emily had gotten her out of the water before she passed out.

  Holly managed to calm down when she had a strange feeling in her stomach and looked to the doorway, just as the Hot-guy as she'd named him, walked in.

  His eyes locked with hers for a split second before she looked down and tried to focus on a small scratch on the corner of the desk.

  As everybody took their seats, she felt Hot-guy behind her. Not directly, but close enough to keep her goosebumps present. If she were to look over her right shoulder, she would see him. See his eyes that she imagined could look right into her soul. His lips that she swore had hidden magnets inside, pulling hers in their direction, his black hair that she wanted to run her fingers through…

  The teacher addressed the class and said the five dreaded words she didn't want to hear.

  "We have a new student…”

  As the teacher introduced Holly to the class, and told them she was from England, some of the students actually said 'Hi' to her. She didn't want to appear to be 'snotty' so she looked to those who had spoken and said 'Hi' back to them. As she looked towards the back of the room, she made eye contact with Hot-guy and he was smiling at her.

  Oh. My. God his smile!

  Her stomach knotted with the butterflies fighting over each other for space.

  Holly felt the heat creep up her cheeks again and turned back to stare at her desk. She kept her head down for the rest of the class, not really hearing what the teacher was saying. The bell went for the next period, and Holly bolted out of her seat and practically power-walked to Chem class, making sure not to look back as she went.

  Holly walked into Chem class and looked for Dev. She saw her, sitting near the centre, waving her over to her desk.

  "Move over Jake" Dev said to the guy sitting next to her.

  A blonde guy, about six feet, short hair that was spiked on top and blue eyes. He reminded Holly of a typical 'boy band' kind of guy. He had that look about him. He smiled wide when he saw Holly walking towards them.

  Dev pulled a chair next to her for Holly to sit down.

  "How'd your first class go?" Dev asked with a smile.

  "Oh it was OK, I guess. You know, new girl, embarrassing introduction to the whole class…” Holly replied, trying not to think about why she was really embarrassed.

  "Hi, I'm Jake." Jake butted in, his hand outstretched for Holly to shake.

  Holly just looked at his hand and then to Jake. She recognised him from homeroom. He’d sat at the front and had smiled at her when she walked in.

  "I wouldn't. You don't know where he's been." Said Dev with a chuckle.

  "Hey!" complained Jake but laughed it off, dropping his hand down. "So…Holly. You're new. How are you liking our school?" He asked blinking his eyes quickly, trying not to be obvious as he was looking Holly up and down.

  "I've been here for two hours." Holly replied. "I can't really tell yet."

  "Well I'm sure I can make things more pleasurable for you." He said with a wink.

  Oh dear God.

  "Jake! Don't be such a pig! I'm so sorry about him, Holly. He's an ape. Just ignore him and he might go away. I do." Dev said as she scowled at Jake.

  "I'm just kidding jeez! Anyway, how old are you?"

  His question caught Holly off guard. She frowned a little in confusion.

  "Seventeen, why?"

  "Just asking, you know, getting to know you. So…did you leave anybody behind in England? A guy? Boyfriend or something?"

  Dev rolled her eyes at Jake, as though he had tried this before and it was his usual thing.

  "Jake, leave her alone." She spat.

  "I'm just asking. Come on! What's the problem?" He turned back to Holly. "So? Anybody special in your life?"

  Holly's thoughts immediately turned to Hot-guy. He was pretty 'special' alright. The kind of special you wanted to squeeze, just to make sure they were real.

  "Um, no.” She said as she cleared her throat. Her pulse racing as she thought about Hot-guy's lips, smile, hair, eyes…

  "That's good. There's a party at the weekend, down at the hill. Wanna go?"

  Holly was surprised at how forward this guy was. He didn't know her, and yet he was asking her to go to a party with him?! Not. A. Chance!

  "Um, Sorry, no." Holly replied as she looked into her bag for her Chem book.

  "Why?" Jake asked as Dev was trying to hold back a smile. Holly wanted to be polite and make up an excuse, but what was the point? There were only so many times the ‘I’m washing my hair,' or ‘I have lots of homework to catch up on' can be used.

  Holly had already caught up on the work she had missed from the beginning of the school year. She'd started it even before stepping foot onto US soil. Yes, she was all caught up and didn't have anything that 'had to be handed in urgently'. She decided to be truthful. It might hurt sometimes, but she didn't want to lie and make him think that she would have gone with him if 'insert excuse
here' hadn't stopped her.

  "I don't want to."

  Jakes' mouth popped open and Dev couldn't hold back as a giggle escaped from her lips.

  "What do you mean?" He asked as if he'd never heard that before.

  "I mean I don't want to go to a party with you. Or anywhere else. Please don't take offence, but I don't know you. I've been in this school for a couple of hours, and you ask me out as if it were a given that I would agree. Well, I'm sorry. That's never going to happen. You seem…sweet, but the answer is no."

  "Oh, well ok then." He said, looking as if he didn't know what had just happened.

  "That was awesome!" Dev mouthed to her as the teacher got everybody's attention to begin the lesson.

  The bell signalled the end of class, and they picked up their bags ready to leave.

  "I have math class now. Ugh. Algebra is kicking my ass!" Dev complained. "How about you, Hol. What do you have?"

  "I have a free period, so I'm using it to take Spanish lessons." Holly replied. She’d wanted to take Spanish lessons for a while. Since the holiday with Emily and Jeff, Holly wanted to learn the language. She’d been left in a room with a first aider, when Emily had gone to call her Mum. The lady couldn't speak English, and Holly couldn't speak Spanish. That prompted Holly to learn. That and the fact she thought the language was beautiful. It sounded so nice to listen to.

  Holly even had some songs in Spanish that she liked to listen to and even sang along, but she didn't have any idea what they were saying.

  "I could teach you Spanish!" said Dev.

  "You can? You speak Spanish?"

  "I'm fluent." Dev answered with a shrug as if it were common knowledge. “My Parents are Spanish. Well, my Mom's Dad is American and her Mom's from Madrid, but my Dad's parents are from Alicante. They came over here a couple of years before my Dad was born."

  Holly could’ve kicked herself for not noticing Dev's heritage. The olive skin, dark brown eyes, dark hair…Hispanic. Like somebody else she thought of…Hot-guy. He had the same olive skin as Dev. She'd seen quite a few students that also looked of Spanish heritage. Some, possibly, Italian or maybe mixed heritage, she didn't know. But, she knew that Hot-guy had some serious gorgeous features and she imagined those features right next to her…

  ”Holly are you ok?" She heard Dev say.

  "Oh…yeah…Um…Thanks. I'd be grateful if you could help me that would be great. I'll still take the lessons though. I don't want you to miss any time with your own stuff to help me. Besides, I really need to start with the basics. I'm a complete beginner."

  Holly knew she was rambling. She couldn't help it. She’d been zoning out with images of Hot-guy in her head she felt bad that she might have ignored what Dev was saying to her.

  "That's a good idea. I might get carried away. Did you put my number in your phone?"

  Holly nodded that she had.

  "Good. Text me your number and, if you get a chance, text me in class, and let me know how it's going. I have to get going anyway. Alex will be waiting for me. We have Algebra together."

  Dev left for her class and Holly walked to the languages department.

  'Let’s hope this goes well'. She thought as she, once again, drowned in the sea of student’s bodies.

  Chapter 2

  Alex waited outside the classroom for Dev. He saw her walking towards him, and he smiled. He was close to his little sister. Well, she was two minutes younger but she was definitely ‘little’. She stood at five feet and seven inches next to his six feet and three inches.

  “Hey little sister.” He teased.

  “Hey stretch. What’s up?” Dev asked in greeting.

  “Nothing. Ben’s just left for his free period.”

  They all had Algebra, but the way the school worked; some had Algebra on different days. Today, he and Dev had their Algebra class, but Ben’s was on a different day, even though they were at the same level. That was supposed to be changing soon though. He hoped so. It would mean that he had more lessons with his best friend, and maybe he’d be able to keep out of the path of Stacey ‘psycho’ Scutter.

  She’d moved to their school, two years before, and she’d been trying to hook up with him since day one. She made his skin crawl, and not in a good way at all.

  Truthfully, he felt nauseous around her. It was a running joke that she had a weird fixation on him and that he should just ‘give it up already’ so she would leave him alone. That was never going to happen. Not in this lifetime, or any other for that matter.

  Dev could deter her so much, when they had classes together, but when he was alone…Stacey made him miserable. Some days he felt so depressed, when he would actually take to hiding in storerooms away from her.

  “Awww what a pity I won’t get to see his smiling face.” Dev said sarcastically.

  Alex laughed.

  “Be nice Dev. What is up with you two? You seem to be fighting a lot lately. More than usual.”

  “Nothing.” Dev answered with a shrug. “He just gets under my skin. Some days I can tolerate him, others I feel like I want to squeeze his throat. Other than that…things are peachy!” She said with a huge fake smile. “Let’s just go and get this over with.” She groaned as they took their seats.

  Ben was Alex’s best friend. They’d known each other since they were six, when Ben started Kindergarten. He’d moved from his previous one when his Dad had opened up his metal shop business, and they’d moved house to be nearer to the city. Most of his Dad’s jobs were there so to move closer made sense. It had worked out great for them. They’d been inseparable ever since.

  Ben was like family. A brother for him and another for Dev. Maybe that’s why they had fought so much.

  It seemed to start after they’d turned fourteen, and Alex and Ben were out doing ‘guy’ stuff and Dev hadn’t wanted to go. He figured it was a ‘girl thing,’ and she wanted to hang with other girls more. Maybe she resented Ben for taking up a lot of Alex’s time, which didn’t make sense really. He saw Dev every day at school, at home, and Ben even stayed over. He even had his own room at their house!

  He’d asked Dev what was wrong between them, but she always replied with, ‘he gets on my nerves’, ‘he irritates me’, or one of his favorites…’He’s an overgrown ape and I’m allergic to his fur’.

  When asking Ben about it, he would say ‘Dude; I have no idea why she’s pissed at me. I try talking to her, but she jumps down my throat!’

  Alex’s thoughts were interrupted when the teacher got the attention of the class.

  “We have a new student.” She said and Alex looked around for Holly.

  He didn’t see her when they went in, and he couldn’t see her then either.

  “Everybody, this is Kate. Kate is from Texas. Let’s make her feel welcome.”

  Alex’s heart sank that the teacher wasn’t talking about Holly.

  Kate looked around the class with a big smile.

  “Hi y’all” she said in her southern drawl.

  She was about to say something else but stopped when she looked at him. Her eyes widened, and her smile got bigger as she looked him up and down.

  Oh no!

  He sank into his chair a little and looked to the front of the room, feeling self-conscious.

  “Another one bites the dust, huh?” Dev whispered as she giggled.

  Alex didn’t like the way some girls looked at him. He could see their eyes and expressions change when they saw him. They would openly stare, wide eyed, and their mouths would either hang open or they would bite their lip and smile seductively at him. As if that was supposed to entice him…it didn’t work. It actually annoyed him because they were judging him on his looks.

  He knew he was considered good looking or ‘Hot,’ but he couldn’t see that. He was just…him. Alexandro Valencia. Trying to get through High school in one piece. He didn’t want to be ‘eye candy’ or ‘eligible’ as he’d heard girls say about him. He wasn’t a piece of meat.

  ‘Man, you sound lik
e a girl.’ Ryan, one of their other friends had said when he was complaining about it. He didn’t care. Everybody had the right, guy or girl, to go about their day without having somebody drape themselves over them without permission. He was sick of girls trying to touch him.

  Yeah he liked to work out but now that he was older and ‘mature’ it was getting worse. He didn’t try to look a specific way to get attention either.

  There was one exception though. One that he’d met that day. He’d liked it when she looked at him.

  She’d walked in his direction, her head down looking at the map in her hand. Her long dark hair, tied in a loose braid, hanging over her shoulder. She’d worn a loose fitting, short sleeved, shirt but he could tell from the tone in her arms that she worked out regularly.

  He wondered what she was hiding under there. His heart rate had picked up as soon as his eyes had spotted her. Gradually increasing the closer she got. He felt his pants tighten…a feeling no other girl had elicited in him before. He wanted to talk to her, to look at her, he wanted…her. Before he could halt his foreign thoughts, she seemed to tense up and stopped still…just before she almost walked into his chest.

  He would’ve moved out of the way, but his feet seemed to be glued to the spot. He couldn’t have gone anywhere if he tried. He didn’t want to. In fact, he was cursing, in his head that she hadn’t walked into him, just so he could touch her.

  She didn’t say anything when she looked up, but she seemed to freeze. He was glad because he saw the most beautiful green eyes looking back at him. Her long black eyelashes fanning out, casting shadows on her rosy cheeks. Were they rosy, or was she… blushing? He looked to her nose. Cute and dainty, perfect in the centre of her face.