"So," Brandon said as we made our way through the building, "why don't I know you?"

"Oh, I'm—I'm new," I answered, not having to hurry at all. Brandon was matching his steps to mine; in fact, he was walking so slowly that I had to slow myself down as well. "I moved here over the summer."

"Transfer student, huh? Guessed so." Brandon opened a door for me. "What grade are you in?"

"Junior."

He raised an eyebrow. "We're in the same year," he remarked.

I nodded excitedly. "It's a shame we don't have any classes together," I blurted out and then instantly blushed. "Wait, no—I didn't mean—"

"We might, actually," he replied. "Sometimes I skip class."

Skip class? That was something I'd never, ever have the courage to do. "Why?" I asked, awe-struck.

"'Cause it's like a prison."

I paused, trying to comprehend his words and failing. "How?"

"Think about it," he said. "You get locked inside a small room for hours on end where people tell you what to do and what to think and you can't even eat or go to the bathroom unless they tell you to." He scoffed. "I have better things to do than let them turn me into their mindless robot all day."

Well, I thought…he had a point. School rules were strict, and he hadn't even touched on the subject of dress codes. Then again, as a guy, that sort of thing probably didn't affect him as much.

"I see!" I replied. "But what do you do when you're skipping?"

Pausing in his steps, Brandon smirked.

"I could tell you," he said. "But it's a secret."

There they were again, butterflies, a whole army of them. I couldn't bear it, that smirk, not with those impossibly green eyes directed straight at me. Smiling nervously, I looked down.

"I won't tell anyone," I said.

"Someday I'll tell you."

He held open the door for me again. I kept my eyes glued on his face as I passed through and nearly stumbled sideways into a girl I didn't know. "If you're really cool," he said, "I might even take you with me someday. How's that sound?"

To be honest, I didn't think that was cool at all, and the thought of skipping class still terrified me—but maybe, I mused, if I spent enough time around this guy, all of that could be arranged. "Awesome!"

"Great. Just one question." We had arrived at the school gate, and Brandon paused. "You scared of high places?"

Extremely, but I was not going to ruin this by saying that. "A little bit," I answered. "But it's nothing I can't handle…why?"

He only gave me another smirk. But before I could figure out what to make of it, a large guy in a football jersey came running up to us. "Brandon!" he called out. "Where the hell are you, man? Coach says if you don't show up today you can't play on Saturday!"

His smirk disappearing, Brandon's beautiful face was contorted by a scowl. His eyes took on an icy glint as he glared back at his teammate. "I show up whenever I want," he growled.

"I'm serious, Brandon. He's pissed."

"Tell Coach that he knows damn well our team will lose if I'm not in," he shot back. "I get us wins, and he leaves me alone. That's our deal."

"At least show up for the strategy meeting!" The teammate was growing visibly desperate. "Please, just fifteen minutes!"

Brandon clicked his tongue.

"Guess I have to go," he said with an apologetic smirk to me. "See ya 'round, staircase girl. I have to be a robot for a bit."

Nodding, I waved at him as he turned and followed his teammate into the direction of the football field.

I stayed glued to my spot until he vanished out of sight. Only then did I tear myself away and hurry to catch the school bus, but for the rest of the day I couldn't think of anything other than Brandon Prince.

~ ~ ~

The next morning I was still thinking of him, hoping to run into him again soon, but he wasn't there. Who was there, however, was Sunday, who was absolutely delighted when I told her what had happened between us.

"Man, good thing Dan's not here to hear it," she said. "He'd be so mad, but oh my goodness! I can't believe you've been noticed by the hottest guy of the school!" Grinning deviously, she threw an arm around my shoulders. "You go, girl!"

Blushing again, I giggled. "Hey, maybe it was a one-time thing," I said. "Don't make me get my hopes up!"

"Come on, Pearly. If he doesn't talk to you again, then you're a big girl who can approach him too!" Sunday gave me a thumbs-up. "Even if he's not into you, it's gonna tick off Felicia so much!"

My smile faltered a little at the thought. The queen bee…what would she do when she found out I was talking to her ex after all? Would she start rumors about me like she had about Brandon? Would I get bullied, like in all the books and teen movies?

The best way, I thought, was probably not to let her find out about this at all.

~ ~ ~

I had barely left the classroom and parted with Sunday when I got cornered in the hallway by Felicia and her friends.

"I know you were talking to Brandon again yesterday," she said.

I froze. Busted. What now? Deny everything? Make up excuses for why we had needed to chat? Start crying and apologizing? Okay, maybe that would be a little too much. Besides, I couldn't cry on command.

"Really?" I said awkwardly. "Uhm…how did you know?"

"Chelsea saw you, and she says you were blushing so hard you literally looked like a strawberry." Felicia crossed her arms. "What did I tell you about getting close to him?"

Oh great, here it was. I swallowed. "Not to?"

"Exactly. I literally warned you." Putting on an obviously fake smile, Felicia bent forward into my personal space. "So why are you still following him around like a lost puppy, hm?"

I shrank back against the wall. Felicia was wearing heels, but even without them I figured she'd be several inches taller than me. The other two were closer to my height, but right now they still seemed to tower over me.

"I, um…" My eyes darted from side to side, searching for an escape. I tried to make pleading eye contact with the students who passed by, but they all turned away and pretended not to see us. "We were just…talking?"

"Let me tell you something. That's how it always starts." Felicia's smile disappeared. "Oh yeah, you're just talking, and next thing you know you're hanging out, and then you're going on dates and it's super romantic and then you can't get away from him anymore." She narrowed her eyes. "So don't even talk to him. He will literally ruin your life."

"Okay…" I pondered her words for a moment, then asked, "But why are you telling me this?"

She gaped, then laughed. "Isn't that obvious?" she replied. "Girl, I don't want him to hurt you! Why else would I say that?"

I chose not to reply with the obvious answer.

"Seriously," she muttered. "What did you think this was about?"

Chelsea slowly lifted a hand. "Um, Felicia…"

She spun. "What?"

"I don't know how to say this, but…we didn't realize that either."

Felicia stared.

"What are you talking about?" she asked. "You two literally know how I feel about Brandon!"

Louie nodded slowly. "Yeah," she said, "but we thought you were just trying to intimidate her."

"Intimi…?! Come on, I wasn't intimidating." The look on Felicia's face was one of utter disbelief. "I was just warning her!"

"Yeah, about that…" Chelsea looked uncomfortable. "It wasn't very…believable."

"What do you mean, I wasn't believable? I was even nice!"

Louie and Chelsea looked so baffled I almost laughed out loud.

"What?" Felicia replied. "I was nice! Wasn't I nice?"

"Well," said Louie.

And Chelsea continued, "You sounded pretty, how do I say it…"

"Sarcastic?" I completed the sentence.

The other two nodded. Felicia looked back and forth between the three of us, then she sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Jesus!" she exclaimed. "And none of you guys just told me? Pearl, I'm so sorry about that." She lifted her hands into a pacifying, apologetic gesture. "I wasn't making fun of you, this is just how I talk."

I didn't know how to respond, so I just gave an awkward laugh. "It's okay," I said. "Thanks for clarifying…I guess?"

"Okay!" From one second to the next, her smile was back as she looped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me away from the wall to walk down the hallway together. "If you wanna know just how much Brandon sucks, I can't tell you right now 'cause we're all gonna be late for class, so just come sit with us at lunch and I can tell you the whole story. Deal?"

I hesitated. "Technically, I'm—"

"Sweet! See you later." Letting go of me, Felicia waved graciously as she started to walk away. "Don't be late! And remember, do not. Talk. To Brandon." She glared, then smiled again and blew me a kiss. "Bye-bye!"

I still had no idea what was going on, but I figured I'd better follow that invitation to avoid her wrath. Sunday and Dan would just have to put up with it for today, even though I knew Sunday wouldn't be happy.

Besides, if Felicia explained everything, maybe the past day and a half would finally make sense.