_Chapter One- I'm one of the rare cases_

After classes and lunch breaks are the times when there is a bustle in the school. The cafeteria is the place where you will find every new rumor. And to be honest, I'm not very much interested in these rumors, but when you have a friend who knows about others lives more than her own, there is no escaping.

"Did you hear that?" Jessica asked.

It always starts like this, and I know where it leads to.

"What?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

Jessica is a simple high school girl who has beautiful brown hair and slightly tanned skin. Her heart-shaped face is well decorated with perfect features. But she is not a popular girl because of her glasses and braces. She is not a nerd. She is pretty athletic compared to me. But hanging around me has given her a status of nerd and outcast.

"Blaise Anderson is back to school after summer vacation. He came a week later. I had thought he left school when he didn't show up. I'm so happy now," She squealed in excitement as if she had won a million dollar lottery.

I rolled my eyes. She has a little crush on Blaise Anderson, star football player and one of the most popular jocks in the school. Every girl is crushing on him, except for me, not that I'm bragging about it. But if you ask any girl, she'd definitely say she has a little crush on Blaise because he is... well, Blaise. He plays with girls and all that stuff. So, I hate him.

"Hey, see, he's coming with his friends," Jessica nudged me.

I sighed in annoyance and my eyes traveled to the door which Blaise and his friends just passed.

I stared in awe. No, not looking at Blaise but his best friend- Nick Conman, the captain of the basketball team. They are the Golden boys.

Nick Conman is the hottest man alive on earth. If you look at him, you can't help drooling. He has bright blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. He has broad shoulders and an eight-pack. His Facebook page has a maximum number of likes especially when he is shirtless.

"He's hot," Jessica said.

"Yeah," I agreed with her, my eyes permanently fixed on Nick as he walked to his table.

Every single girl in the cafeteria was ogling these boys so I could stare as much as I wanted to blend in with the others. I was praying he'd see me, take notice of me. But that never happened. He laughed at something Drew Millers said. Tate and Josh laughed with them but Blaise had a passive look on his face. When is he ever smiling? Whenever I look at him, his mood is always down. That frown never leaves his face. How can a girl like someone like that?

My eyes met his. No, not Nick, but Blaise. That was only for a second but it was enough to run my blood cold. The coldness of his eyes is just so contagious. I immediately ducked my head low cursing mentally. Blaise is not a boy you'd like to mess with and I don't even want to look at him.

"Did you see that, Beryl?" He looked here!" She asked jumping up and down her seat.

I sighed again. She is just so obsessed with him.

I muttered a 'yes'.

"Oh my God! He looked here. Maybe he wants to sit with us. Maybe he wants to be friends with you. Oh my God! He definitely looked here and I guess he looked at you. Did you see that? I guess he has a crush on you. I can't believe it. My best friend, girlfriend of Blaise Anderson, the Blaise Anderson. You will be together everywhere and I will tag along with you. Maybe one of his friends sees me. Look at them, all of them are so freaking hot. I definitely want Josh Roberts. He is so delicious. I want to eat him at first sight. And then we will have babies. You will become an aunt and Blaise will become an uncle. And then you both will have babies and I will become an aunt. I see a very bright future ahead. We will all be together, completely happy, with our crushes."

It is hidden from no one that this girl rambles a lot but very less knows that she has a very wild imagination. I wonder what she hasn't reached the level of grandparents yet.

Jessica is not very fond of Nick because he is with Kim, his plastic girlfriend. She had a crush on him, before Kim. She despises my crush on Nick and instead tries to ship me with Blaise Anderson, I try to ignore every moment. According to her, I'm Paige and he is my Leo while Nick is Jeremy. Let's just not talk about her obsession with romantic movies, especially 'The Vow'.

"Yeah," I muttered again under my breath.

"You don't believe me," She gasped. I don't know if she was being dramatic or serious.

"Uh. I do," I mumbled. If I say a word against her, that'd be the last day of my life and I don't want this day to be that one. Being killed by my friend isn't on my bucket list especially when I very well know about her wild imagination. She paints a very bloody picture when you talk about killing someone. And I don't want to be that someone, ever.

"Of course you do. You and Blaise look so good together." She cheered happily clapping her hands.

I looked around the cafeteria if someone heard her; I'll be the one killing my best friend.

"You never saw us together. We are never together. I've never been within five meters distance from him," I told her.

"But I see you together every day," She argued and I raised my eyebrows. "In my dreams."

I rolled my eyes at her. She is always living in her dream world and believes they will come true one day.

"Shouldn't you be the one with him in your dreams?" I asked quietly. If anyone heard this conversation ever, I'm in deep trouble. That'd be so embarrassing. I don't have any chance with Blaise and frankly, I never want one.

"I tried one day but it ended up you being with him and me with Josh," She shrugged.

"Your dream, my nightmare," I muttered under my breath. She frowned at me. "You know that it will never happen in real life," I said bluntly. It was rude but I want to know her that dreams don't come true. I'm not living a fairy tale.

"It can if you try."

"And why would I try?" My appetite was lost when Blaise had made eye contact with me, or should I say ice contact. She was happily chewing her pizza probably imagining it to be Josh. When she mumbled 'delicious', I wrinkled my nose in disgust and shook my head to throw the unhealthy thoughts away.

"Because you should," She answered shrugging.

Nothing has to be any great deal to her. She just skids on the problems as they are nothing. Not that Blaise is my problem but her idea of me being with him is heavily nauseating. Maybe if I puke on her, she will stop her assumptions or better, I can puke on Blaise but he'd definitely punch me in the face.

I decided to move the conversation to class. More talk about Blaise and I'm dead. I hope she liked Nick only a little bit so we could talk about him and not the Devil called Blaise.

"How were your classes?" I asked taking a gulp of water.

In school, I don't drink much water because it's so annoying when your bladder starts disturbing you in the class and I find it overwhelmingly embarrassing when I have to ask to go to the toilet. It's that my bladder can't control much, especially in school. The more times I ask to go to the washroom, the more embarrassing it gets. That only happens in school and not in school. I hope it was the other way around.

"Boring. Mr. Davison paralyzed half of my brain and Ms. Justice the other half. By Mr. Deville's class, my brain was in a coma so I slept. I mean who won't. And being the indifferent teacher he is, he gave me detention. I mean who gives detention just after a week of school. I think we should protest against these teachers. I want to write about teachers like him in School newspaper under heading 'Mr. Deville, the Spawn of Devil.'" She grumbled and I chuckled quietly.

If Jessica is not in good mood and you laugh at her rambling, she goes whole ballistic on you. I've learned my lesson never to laugh at her in situations like this after being a victim of her outburst three times. It's a surprise my limbs are at their position and none of my bone is fractured.

"What about you? How were your classes?" She asked me raising her eyebrows.

"Nothing special. We discussed-"

"No, stop it. I get it. You studied." She held her hands up in submission and nodded calmly.

"That's what we do in school- study," I answered as a matter of fact.

"No. That's what you do in school- study." She corrected and I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever. I'm going to the library now. Mr. Peters has not come to school today.

"My next class is going to be free. I'm planning on doing my Physics homework in that." I told her grabbing my paraphernalia and marched outside the cafeteria not before throwing at a glance at Nick but as usual, I caught Blaise's cold eyes.

*

"Hey, Beryl." Garry looked through his glasses removing his gaze from the book. He is a senior but we still are good friends because he is my neighbor. He helps me with my studies sometime.

"Hey, Garry. What are you reading?" I asked smiling at him.

"The Scarlet Letter," He answered.

I raised my eyebrows at him. Garry always prefers Action, Adventure, and Horror books unless...

"Ms. Justice," He told me.

"Not bad." I smiled at him though I've never read the book.

It's not like he's going to ask me to tell him the story. Gary reads books on his own. He doesn't need anyone's help in reading. If you tell him the storyline before he reads, he gets all Hulk on you.

"I'm looking forward when she's going to make us read Fifty Shades of Gray."He shrugged his shoulders as if it's nothing. His sarcasm always amuses me.

I shook my head. Garry's relationship with Ms. Justice is as good as Batman and Joker. That's what he says.

Silence settled between us. We were the only students sitting in library buried in books. And we separated when the bell rang marking the end of lunch break.

"You have class now?" I asked Garry as he collected his belongings.

"Yeah, with Mr. Milton. The Euclid of our school." He told me grabbing his bag.

Mr. Milton is a Geometry teacher. You'd always wish you never knew that man. He is a genius in his subject. When he teaches, he only teaches and doesn't care anyone is paying attention but when there are tests, you wish he was never born.

"Best of luck." I said and he marched outside throwing a 'thank you' over his shoulder.

I returned my attention back to book. Students from Mr. Davison's class often come here. Most of them would like to spare their time in class where the substitute teacher will let them complete their assignments which I've done already. Pre-Calculus is one of my favorite subjects and I personally hate Gym. I can hardly run for half an hour before dying. To say that I'm not the star player was an understatement. I mean I don't run much but I can do several things like that doesn't exactly involve in running. In athletic events, I'm good at only one thing- shooting.

The library is my second favorite place. Silence and fragrance of the books fill the air. Students disrupted the silence as they made their way to bookshelves and sat on tables in order to complete their homework or to read random books. These moments ceased after few seconds and silence settled again.

I was lost in the world of the book in my hand that I didn't realize someone sitting at my side until they poked my arm. One thing I hate most apart from running is being poked in the forearm. The person who did that had a smirk on his face, his white teeth showing.

"What?" I hissed at him with narrowed eyes. He continued to smirk at me. I had to restrain myself from slapping it off his face because if he reacted to my action, I won't be able to look at my own face let alone show it to anyone.

"I heard that Mr. Valentino is going to give us an English project. Sit with me so we partner up. And then complete the project. Don't forget to get my sign on it before submitting." He told me.

I clenched my hands in fist tightly. In my head I kept enchanting- Don't hit him. Don't hit him. Your punch will do him nothing but his punch will knock you out cold.

"Fine," I grumbled. I was glaring at the words written in books sitting in front of me on the table. My breathing was slow and controlled. The way he's taking advantage of my situation angers me so much that I'm always tempted to run him over by my car.

"Yeah, or else you know your crush will know about your obsession." He smirked at me.

I nodded. If I tried to say anything, it would come out as curse words directed to him. And he'd go running to Nick and tell him about my feelings. He's the only jerk here to know about my crush and he's blackmailing me about it from last year. I have to do his homework and projects. God knows how much I want him to forget about that thing. I even went as far as to whack him on the head with encyclopedia with a hope he'd lose his memory or something because this blackmailing issue is annoying me now.

He left soon leaving me growling internally in anger. He's the most annoying person I've had the misfortune to meet. That Jerk overheard my conversation with Jessica and came to know about my crush which he calls 'obsession'.

For rest of free time, I couldn't read even a single word. He angers me and I also fear him because he can go tell Nick about everything and he will think I'm a crazy stalker or something, not that it's not true. I always check his Facebook and stare at him and always look for him whenever I pass his house. I make efforts to get partnered up with him in projects. If that's not stalking then I'll call it hero-worshipping. That sounds better.

I made my way out of the library and towards locker for the next class which happened to be English. Mr. Valentino is going to kill me if he notices I changed my seat but it's not like I have any choice. I walked silently towards the class in slow steps. If some attractive chick sits with him, he will not bother to have me sat with him and I will be free. A minute delay would be worth it. Hallways were almost empty and I almost made it to class but something collided with me. It was like a train. I bounced back falling on my butt. Pain erupted from the source and I gasped. Falling on butt hurts so much. I groaned in pain mentally cursing the person who didn't watch where was he going.

A hand was waiting for me in front of my face and I glared at it before my eyes traveled up his arm to face and I mentally cursed myself for being a klutz. Hesitantly I grabbed it gazing into Nick's beautiful gray eyes, my cheeks burning. He had a soft look on his face that made my heart race.

"I'm sorry." He apologized and I nodded my head bending to pick them up.

"It's okay," I said standing straight and smiling nervously at him.

He nodded and entered the class with me following. Mr. Valentino looked at us coldly but didn't say anything. Nick didn't seem fazed by time bomb glaring at us. He casually walked to his seat with a guy I recognized from basketball team; it's hard not to recognize him. Blaise didn't even look at me which I was completely okay with, or should I say glad about.

I searched for the guy I wanted to avoid more than death. When I caught his gaze, I wish I had never walked into the class. He seemed to murder me at any instant. The seat on his side was empty. Just my bad luck. Why didn't a chick decide to sit with him? He is handsome if you ask me but for me, he's completely repulsive.

With my head hung low, I made my way to his side wishing him to disappear somehow once I get there. But unfortunately, he was still sitting there with a murderous look on his face. I wanted to dig a hole and crawl inside it.

"We were discussing the project before two students decided to interrupt us." Mr. Valentino said glaring at Nick. His behavior didn't seem to fit with the old man.

"The person sitting at your side will be your partner and those who don't know what project is can ask about it from their partners. I'm not going to repeat everything just for the sake of some unpunctual student." He looked again at Nick and didn't even spare a glance at me. That was a kind of relief.

I was silent as sheets were passed, not daring to look at boy boiling at my side. He seemed to explode at any moment.

Class went normally and students discussed their projects while I was getting the silent treatment from my project partner.

"Ms. Parker, you will need to find a new partner for you. Mr. Clark won't be here in this school for long enough to submit this project." Mr. Valentino told me. I frowned at him wondering what he meant but he continued with what he was saying instead of explaining anything. "You can work on this alone if you want or you can pair up with Mr. Anderson and Mr. Conman considering they hardly submit their projects on time." I nodded with a frantic beat of my heart.

"And both of you will do this project. Don't load her with work you are supposed to do." He told Nick and Blaise.

My stance was completely rigid, just like that of the person sitting at my side. Information was being processed in my mind with a speed that it all got jumbled up. My breathing became sort of heavy because of it. I was almost having a panic attack at that moment. The world disappeared around me and I tried to comprehend the situation again.

"Are you dead?" My seatmate asked me but I didn't respond. I didn't know in which direction I was looking at. It was hard to soak the information. And mostly to believe what was true.

"Should I call 911?" He asked again and I looked at him for the first time.

"Tristan Davis Clark," I said.

"Full name? I didn't do anything wrong." He muttered.

"Can you please explain to me what just happened?" I asked trying to maintain my cool. Inside my mind was a complete havoc. I might be overreacting because I didn't know what to do exactly. Should I be happy, or sad or what? Maybe I was hallucinating. Because of my crush on Nick, I might have created my own world.

"My dad got transferred to Australia. I'm moving out of the country, or the continent, in a week. And since I can't be here, you will be alone. For this project, you won't have a partner when I'll be leaving so you are working with the boy you crush on and the boy who you use to hide your crush," He told me.

I frowned at him.

"I don't use Anderson to hide my crush," I told him bluntly.

He just stared at me for what seemed like forever. I bravely held his gaze for the first fifteen seconds but then it started making me uncomfortable. I squirmed on my place and cleared my throat. He continued to look at me.

"Stop staring at me." I snapped at him. That seemed to bring him out of whatever world he was living in.

"You are oblivious or you try to ignore that. Whatever. But I'm happy this project is no longer mine. Best of luck with that." He shrugged and started scribbling something on his notebook.

"What is the project?" I asked with a frown and he just shrugged. I got late for nothing. Tristan is leaving that means no more blackmailing. I'm going to get rid of him and then work with my crush. What can be better than that? Today is just my lucky day.

A smile appeared on my face. This is amazing. But I tried to control myself from smiling much. If Tristan finds out that I'm happy with leaving him, then I'll be in trouble. Who knows he will go to Nick and reveal my secret?

"Tristan," I whispered.

"What?"

"Will you