Alex was walking to his new school on Monday, trying to stay calm and not think about barfing, running away, or all the cute guys he was going to have to put up with in the friend-zone. Whispers whirled around him like tiny, invisible ghosts, pelting him with their little pebbles of insults.

That's when a real rock hit him.

"What the-"

Alex turned to see a group of boys whooping and chucking rock after rock at him. "New kid!" they yelled. "New kid, new kid, new kid-"

A rock flew in a perfect arc, sailing through the air and landing right on the top of his head. Alex collapsed, dizzy with pain and nausea. A shadow passed over him, and he stayed awake just long enough to see a lot of blond hair pass over him.

Awesome, Alex thought groggily. Another girl to worship me. Great. Just great...

Alex woke up on a hard white cot. His head was throbbing like crazy; he was fairly sure it had exploded in his sleep and they had somehow pieced it back together. 

Why was it hurting this bad, again?

It was a rock, something to do with a rock. And being a new kid... Oh. Right. The memory came back to him in a stinging reality. He was a new kid, and nobody in their right minds would befriend a new kid. Except for people who had no friends themselves, and people who have way too many friends already and just want to make themselves look good. 

Alex was pretty sure it had been the latter, as they were much more common.

There was an Upper Class Of Popular Teens in every school, along with People With No Friends That Care, People With No Friends That Don't Care, People Who Eat Alone At Lunch, Nerds, a few Popular-and-Snotty Girl Groups, Those Who Don't Use The Bathrooms, and of course a healthy smattering of Jocks. 

Oh, And don't forget the New Kid variety.

Alex was currently trying to fit into the People Who Eat Alone At Lunch category, as at least though they were lonely, they were regarded with some respect. Just a little. But right now Alex was lumped into the New Kid Black Hole Of Loneliness, and he wasn't sure when he would ever claw his way out.

Lost in a very depressed space, Alex only woke up when someone clapped their hands in his face. Blinking slowly, he looked up at the offending clapper.

"What?" he said groggily.

"I said, are you okay? You've been out for a whole hour. I'm getting kind of worried." 

Blinking faster, the image of a person flooded Alex's vision, with a cloud of blond hair. The person that had checked him in. Alex yawned and stretched, his vision clearing.

"Yeah, I'm fine-" Alex stopped. The person was not a girl.

It was an unfairly gorgeous and decidedly straight-looking Jock, with waves of blond hair and glittering topaz eyes with very long lashes. His pale hands were shaking in his lap-

Oh.

My.

God.

A beautiful Jock was sitting by his sickbed. Worrying about him. Alex thought he would faint. 

"Um. Are you OK?"

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMIGOD NO I AM NOT OK AN INCREDIBLY HOT GUY IS TALKING TO ME. 

I AM NOT OK

I AM NOT OK

"Yeah. I'm OK."

NO I AM NOT OH MY @#$%ING GOD

"So, you can come out of the nurse's office now?"

Um, No. I need to stay in here and recuperate.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Okay."