Lucas

"Spanish was lame. I couldn't go to the bathroom because I forgot how to ask in Spanish." I groan, grabbing a lunch tray.

Julian sighs. "It's the easiest thing to say in Spanish." Julian reaches for a milk.

"No, it's not. It's "hola"." Carter runs his hands through all the apples.

"Don't touch all of them! We don't want to eat your stupid germs!" Julian shoves Carter away from the apple tray.

"That's barely a sentence. Besides," I grab a hamburger. "It means "bye"."

"No." Julian looks horrified. "No, no it does not." I hand the lunch lady five dollars and walk toward our table with my tray in hand.

"It's important to me that you know it does not, Mabry." Julian calls behind me.

I take a seat on the table and crack my neck, it's been a stressful day. Half the student body knows I got a two week detention and the other half congratulated me for beating up a geek. On the plus side, I got about eight phone numbers and many friend requests on snapchat.

"Have you seen that Victoria chick? She's hot." A jock says a couple seats away from me.

I perk up my ears. At this point, I'm willing to fight for a date with Victoria. She may not be at my level of popularity, but in due time she will be.

"Kinda nerdy, isn't she?" Another jock asks.

"Let's not forget she rejected a Mabry."

"Ooo!" The jocks chorus. Avan, whose sitting beside me, jabs my side.

I roll my eyes and wipe my mouth. "She wants me, I know it." I declare, making sure my voice is loud enough for all the table to hear.

"Okay. Okay." Avan utters, face twisting into a smirk.

"She's coming."

I sit up, wiping the ketchup off my mouth with my sleeve. Victoria waltzes inside the cafeteria, her two friends by her sides. She grabs a tray and gets in line, talking with her friends.

"For a pretty girl, she's hanging out with some real geeks." Carter mutters beside me, taking a bite of his apple.

I shrug. "Charity?" It's a joke, don't hate.

"One of the girls is her cousin. Not that it matters much." Julian opens his milk. "I mean, the girls could have a good personality."

Wyatt gives Julian a hard pat on the back. "Personalities aren't a thing if the host looks like a freakin' ghost." Wyatt laughs along with a couple football jocks.

"Ha!" I lean away from the table. "That's the dumbest thing you've said."

"It was lame." Carter laments, adding a third hot sauce packet on his hamburger.

"Whatever, Mabry." Wyatt bites his hamburger, his face twisting into a hard expression.

Mabry wins this round. Suck it!

Victoria makes her way towards the table near the trashcans. Along the way, Victoria glances at me. Her posture is rigid but her mouth is smiling. Once our eyes align, it drops.

"Ooo, She don't like you." Carter whistles.

"She seemed pretty annoyed during chemistry yesterday."

"Wait." I stop chewing my food and glance at Julian. "You share chemistry with her?"

Julian has the best reputation with girls, they love him. I bet he can talk me up!

Julian blinks and sets down his hamburger. He runs a hand through his face and nods, grunting. "Yes, yes I do. Can you guess who shares chemistry class with me too?" I shrug in response. "You do, idiot." He exasperates.

I gasp. "We both share chemistry with her?" My hands tingle in excitement.

"Seems so." He takes a bite out of his hamburger.

I lean over and punch his shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me?!" My tone of voice comes out a little louder than expected. Half the cafeteria stops what they're doing to look at me. I raise my hand in a questioning manner and glare. "Look away!" And they're back to doing their own thing. Mostly anyway.

Julian coughs. "You made me swallow it!" He rasps. His face turns a pinker shade.

"If you die, can I have your Jordan's?" Carter asks, hands reaching towards Julian's feet.

Julian kicks his hand away and gulps down his milk. Once finished, he gulps down mine and coughs again. "You asshole." He coughs. "I could've died."

"I think you didn't." Carter pouts.

"You don't look good pouting." I mutter.

"Neither do you."

"I don't pout!"

"Hand me your milk, Carter."

Carter hands his milk over to Julian, who consumes it all in one gulp. My eyes go over to Victoria's table. They seem to be preoccupied with their conversation except the one girl who keeps glancing over at our table. I can't tell who it is she's looking at.

I grab my tray and stand up. Half the student body looks up at me.

"Where you going?" Carter munches on his apple.

"To Victoria's table."

Carter's jaw drops.

"Please don't tell me you're doing what you said you're doing." Julian hide his face with his hands.

"I'm just going to talk to her."

"Near the trashcans?" Carter shakes his head. "Only the geeks and nerds eat over there."

"Not necessarily." I grin.

Tip 7: A popular should be able to make any table the table.

There were countless times when Lucas would go to a different table and we'd follow him, no questions asked. And the only way to see if it will work with me is to try it.

I take slow but swift steps toward the table. The talking dies down but it doesn't stop the whispers from increasing. Victoria looks directly at me, face full of surprise.

Every step is like walking to my doom.

"I think he's real." The blonde girl beside Victoria squeals.

I momentarily stop, debating if it's a good idea, but I grab a seat and sit across from Victoria. She slaps her friend's arm and glares at her.

"What we talkin' about here?" I wink at her.

She rolls her eyes and leans close to the table. "We are talking about how much we despise soccer players." She bats her eyelashes.

I smirk and lean as close as I can to her. "How do you know I'm a soccer player?" The ends of my mouth curl up.

She must have asked about me!

She leans away, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. I grin. Coming to this table wasn't a total waste of time. I don't even care that the other jocks didn't follow me.

"She asked us." The blonde girl says, her eyes wide. Victoria shoots her friend a glare. Her friend's cheeks turn pink and she looks down.

"It's okay." I wink in her direction. "I have that effect on girls."

Victoria groans. "I only asked because you're some type of slimy bug I can't get away from." Victoria looks up at the ceiling, face full of regret. "I mean, you're everywhere I am. It's annoying."

"So you've noticed me?" I tap my chin. "In other words, you look for me." I can't help the grin that breaks out my face.

Victoria hides her face in her palms, muttering. "I hate his stupid face."

"Some would say my face is handsome."

"Argh." Victoria slams her palm against the table, her blue orbs glaring at me

I hum happily. Is it wrong that I like this side of her? She's sizzling.

"How's it... going?" Carter sets down his tray on the table, sitting beside me. I can tell he's confused with the staring contest I'm having with Victoria. Normally, I'd stop to explain things to him but I'm having so much fun staring into her eyes.

It's doing things to my lower area. A wink! - forget I said that. Nothing's actually happening down there, except sweat.

Once again, Victoria's friends are in shock while ogling Carter.

"Hey, I'm Julian." Julian smiles at them, teeth sparkling.

The girls gasp. Victoria, on the other hand, keeps her eyes locked with mine. I hum, not breaking eye contact, with my chin on my palms.

"What are your names?" Julian politely asks.

The girls don't respond.

"They haven't blinked." Carter mutters, sipping his milk while observing Victoria and I.

Julian scratches the back of his head. "I play soccer with Lucas and Carter. I'm the goalie." He coughs. "Are you girls in any... sports?" Julian's cheeks turn pink.

"Are you really Julian Kidd?" The brown haired girl asks, her hand covering her mouth.

Julian smiles politely but leans close to my ear to whisper, "I'm scared. We should go." He shakes my arm.

Victoria's eyes narrow, her lips pursing in defiance. I move my head from side to side, happily.

All I'm seeing is "I Want You" in her eyes.

"Is this what sexual tension feels like?" Carter asks dumbly.

Julian whispers again. "I'm going to crap my pants. Seriously, she knows my last name." Julian begins to whistle awkwardly.

"I'm aroused."

That's all it takes for Victoria to break eye contact.

I glare at Carter, raising an eyebrow. "How are you saying this out loud?" I hiss at him.

"Me too." The brown haired girl dreamily sighs while her palms hold her chin, eyes on Julian. Julian leans away, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"Have some dignity!" Victoria slaps her friend's arm.

"Have you ever... ?" Carter pauses, face twisting into thought. We all look at him. Carter shakes his head. "No, I can't make this un - awkward."

"That isn't a word." Julian mutters in a low voice, avoiding eye contact.

"So..." Carter sighs, face in thought. "No." He shakes his head.

"We're gonna go." Victoria grabs her tray, glaring at me. Her friends lift their trays and stand up with her.

"Why? Afraid you'll like me too much?"

Shut it, Lucas! Don't make a fool of yourself.

"I'm afraid I'll barf." Victoria sneers.

"After or before we kiss?"

Was that smooth or not? I can't tell.

"Go to hell." Victoria hisses, walking away with her friends in tow.

"See you there!" I call out behind her.

Victoria stomps out the cafeteria but not before glaring at me with her signature blue eyes.

"Call me!" The brown haired girl makes a phone signal with her hand, batting her eyelashes at Julian. Julian hides behind me, gripping my shirt and peeking over my shoulder to make sure she's gone.

"I messed this up, didn't I?" I question.

I see Carter nod from the side of my eyes. "If she didn't hate you before she does now." He whistles, patting my shoulder.

"I'm doomed." I bite my lip.

I guess telling her I'd see her in hell wasn't the brightest thing to say. In my defense, I didn't think about it. I just said it because she said it first but now I look like the bad guy because I said it to a girl. And by the looks of hate I'm receiving from some girls, some of them heard.

This might delay my popularity plan a little bit.

"Oh no!" Julian screams into his hand. "I have her phone number in my pocket!"

"No way!" Carter almost squeals. "How'd she do that?!"

"I think I'm scared." Julian whispers, lips twitching in what I think is fear.

"I wish that happened to me." Carter whispers. "Maybe we should follow them." Carter takes a step towards the cafeteria doors.

Julian and I exchange a look.

"No!" We yell out in horror.