August 15   It was the last day of summer vacation. The last day that I had to worry about ever going back to the first day of school.Well, that was until I started college, but it would be so different then.I wouldn’t have to worry about the Hawks and the Hawkettes and who they were torturing this year. Not that they’d ever done anything to me in the past, I was invisible to them, and that’s the way I liked it. I stayed under the radar, got done what I needed to get done, then got the hell away from the school.I only participated in the debate club, because, well, that was one place I wouldn’t have to worry about any of the elite ever showing up, the soccer stars of the school and the band of um, what would be the right word to describe them…hoes that followed them around. None of them would ever be caught in such a club, as none of them knew much about anything that didn’t d

   I looked in the mirror one more time. The outfit that I’d picked out last night just didn’t seem the same now that I had it on this morning. There was still time to change before I had to leave, but what would I wear if I didn’t dress in this.Ten minutes later, I walked out of my room and downstairs. I still had on the leggings and tunic shirt that I’d selected earlier. It wasn’t the best attire in my wardrobe, but it was comfy, and that ranked higher than wearing the latest sleaze fashions that everyone else would have on.“You look…nice.” Mom poured another cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. “What happened to all those clothes we bought with Clarissa yesterday. Those were cute.”I rolled my eyes and wobbled my head side-to-side. There always had to be a ‘but’ in whatever compliment my mom gave me. This time it was the ‘that’s a nice outfit, but

I glanced up the hallway. Why of course the soccer team would be on the prowl, it was the team's yearly tradition ever since I could remember. It had gone on since I’d been a freshman, since Clarissa had been a freshman, and probably since the team was organized years ago.The bad boys of the school, the ones who thought they ruled, had placed themselves on exhibition so everyone could get a look at their pretty selves. They were all quite handsome, like in a way that made every girl fantasize at night, but so wrapped up in themselves that it was a total turn-off to me.Not that I had a chance with any of them, since only the elite of the elite, the Hawkettes, ever got close enough to them. But with me being above average in size and an academic nerd, sort of left me out of the running as date material for any of the soccer guys…well, yeah, any guy in general except for another geek that might need a date for a dance or something.“Why are the

I couldn’t believe that I was the one that had Ethan Lowry as a lab partner, and this wasn’t in good way that most girls would be getting their panties all wet over. Ever since I saw all the shit that the Hawks and Hawkettes liked to do that made everyone else’s life miserable, through my sister’s association and leadership role, I stayed far away as possible from this group. Not that it was friendly invites, but ones that my sister probably had ordered, but I’d been invited to several of their parties over the years and had gracefully declined with a ‘hell no.’Our science teacher went on to discuss what we’d be learning over the course of the next nine months. As I assumed, the seats that we’d picked today would remain our permanent seats along with the person seated next to them as our yearlong partner.Everyone high-fived each other because they would be partnered with the one that they wanted, except f

‘What the fuck.’ I just couldn’t believe the chances of this happening again, but holy shit Ethan Lowry just had to take the seat right beside me, again. We had classes together before, but there were always other Hawks or Hawkettes in the room for him to sit beside.It would be okay if these seats weren’t connected together, but these particulars had two chairs joined together at every desk station.I felt the body heat radiating off of Ethan, and smelled the sweetness of his cologne. I would have to give him the credit of being the pretty boy, smelling really good, and…well that was about all. His attitude and whole demeanor made the rest of him unattractive.I tried to keep my focus on what the teacher was saying, but the presence of having Ethan sitting this close once again was proving to be too much of a distraction.I’d seen the little show that was put on at lunchtime today. It seemed