I jerked at the sound of my name.2
“There you go day dreaming again!” accused my best friend Shelly. 3
“S-sorry I’ve just been outta my head lately” I apologized as I brushed my straw-berry blonde hair out of my face.4
“Yeah I noticed.” Shelly remarked with a slight scoff as she glanced into her pocket mirror. “Something on your mind?”5
“No not really, it’s just-”6
“Good because prom is in less than a month and we can’t afford any fall backs.” She snapped her pocket mirror shut and turned to me. “So I was thinking of finally saying yes to Brad, what do you think?”7
“Huh? Oh yeah sure” I nodded. “I think he’d really like that.”8
“Duh!” Shelly flipped her long golden locks and rolled her eyes. “He’s been waiting for my answer for weeks. I think it’s only fair since I’m the only girl he wants to take to prom. Maybe…”9
Actually Brad had asked me to prom and then turned to Shelby after I turned him down in the kindest way I could, but my best-friend didn’t need to know that, so I sighed inwardly and pretended to listen to her, nodding obliviously as I drifted off again.10
The rest of class was going by in a blur. Everything did lately. I found myself frequently staring into space and not paying attention to anything in particular.11
The funny thing was that I didn’t even know where I drifted off to. All I knew was that it felt peaceful and like I belonged. I’d been feeling so put of place lately, like there was a missing piece in the puzzle of my life and until it was fitted back in, I would continue to fill this way.12
I had to convince myself that it was just a phase I was going through, either that or I was going crazy.13
As I sat there in history class, I spaced out for what seemed like hours…14
“Hi, is this grade twelve history?”15
It was a low firm masculine voice and that stood out, loud and clear in midst of my daze. I was bumped right back to reality.16
I blinked several times as I straightened myself and focused my gaze at the front of the class. There, stood a tall boy with lean defined looking build showing through his fitted black shirt. 17
“Yes it is” replied Miss Bailey, the history teacher, “You must be Blake Denver?”18
He nodded.19
“Well, find your self a seat.”20
He turned around as he ventured towards an empty seat and his eyes suddenly met mine. For the several seconds, his coffee coloured eyes stared into my green ones, my first instinct was to avert my eyes but I couldn’t look away. Those eyes sparked an unbearable curiosity in me, I felt my heart-rate quicken and as he turned away and kept walking, it stopped abruptly and went back to its normal pace.21
I fidgeted and looked around self-consciously. Shelby was giving me a puzzled look. Perfect. I sunk into my seat.22
At lunch time, my friends couldn’t stop chattering about prom. Shelby, as usual was the ring leader. My mind was pre-occupied with something else. Like who on earth that guy was. The teacher had said his name was Blake. Why couldn’t I get him off my mind? Sure, his looks weren’t bad, but it was way more than that, I was positive of it. Great. I’m starting to sound crazy again. I was pretty sure I was the most delusional person I knew.23
“How about you Samantha, have you found a dress for prom yet?”24
I stared up from my cold food at Penelope, a French exchange student whose looks and accent had made her popularity rise at an alarming speed.25
“Um no, still looking… waiting for the perfect one you know?” Good thing I knew how to speak prom language because frankly, I really wasn’t too psyched about it.26
“I know what you mean.” Shelby jumped in. “I haven’t gotten mine either, you and I should so go shopping this weekend.”27
“Sure.” I nodded numbly before turning back to my food and then I realized it was no use. I had to get out of there.28
With an excuse to go to the bathroom, I rushed out of the cafeteria. I paced quickly down the hallway and until I reached my locker. I leaned against it and sighed. What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I be all giddy and excited like a normal girl of my age at this time of the year? Like Shelby; all preppy and care-free. 29
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of several footsteps heading down the hallway. When it got closer, I noticed it was three guys. Blake was one of them. I don’t know; what made me do it, but I instantly opened my locker and buried my head inside, using the locker door to conceal myself as best as I could.30
I heard the footsteps coming closer, their playful banters becoming louder until they stopped a few lockers away from me. My heart-rate increased again, it was like I -felt- him standing there.31
“So what do you guys say we crash this prom and see what all the hype is about?” I heard a masculine voice say with the same joviality as their moods.32
“I’m all up for crashing it as long as I’m not doing it alone… and I don’t mean you guys” said a different guy. “I’m talking about finding me a hottie to go with!”33
“Wouldn’t mind one myself.” That voice. It was the very same low, firm, raspy one that knocked me right out of my daze in class. Blake. I felt my heart pounding hard against my chest.34
“Yeah… like those two blondes we sat behind at the caf.” said the first one. “Man they were smoking.”35
I was starting to get pretty anxious. What if they noticed me standing in front of my locker way longer than usual? 36
“Heh! Forget it men.” said the second one said with a teasing scoff. “I heard the first one turned like five guys down already, and the other one’s going with some dude named Brad.”37
Oh my gosh, could they have been talking about me and Shelby?38
“You should try asking her, Blake.” One of the guys suggested. “Since you’re pretty lucky with girls for some reason.” He said that with slight resentment.39
The thought of Blake asking me to prom, gave me the weirdest case of butterflies. I hadn’t even said two words to him and yet I felt connected to him somehow.40
“She’s not my type.” I heard his firm raspy voice say and any form of butterflies in me turned into an unexplainable anger.41
“What do you mean ‘not your type’” The other guy chastised. “Since when did you have a type?”42
“I dunno, I don’t like girls with short hair.” He insisted with a short laugh and I felt my face redden. I kept my hair at neck-length so it wouldn’t get in the way. What was his deal? “She’s not even really blonde anyway.”43
“You’re pretty weird sometimes Blake. You know that?”44
“Come on guys, let’s head back.”45
I listened to their footsteps fade as I fumed behind my locker door. When I was sure they were out of sight, I slammed my locker door shut and headed back to the cafeteria. I couldn’t care less about what guys thought about me, even when they seemed interested, why should it matter to me what Blake thought? 46
After school, Shelby, Penelope and some other girls made plans to head to some party called Black Lace, and apparently I was tagging along even though I wasn’t aware of when they made these plans.47
“I’d just like to have an idea of what’s going on, next time you guys kidnap me for some after school jam.” I weakly scolded Shelby as we headed down the hallway.48
“Will you relax?” She chided, “It’s not like you do this often!”49
“Yeah, is staying home all day babysitting your sister all you do after school?” Penelope inquired in a thick French accent as she twirled her long black curls. “You really need to get out more.”50
“I guess I do.” I muttered as I gave up. It was never any use arguing, which was why I rarely bothered.51
I hadn’t realized my eyes were on the ground until I felt myself bump into some one or something. I almost lost my grip on the stuff I was carrying.52
“Watch were you’re going!” I heard a familiar voice say and I looked up to see an all too familiar pair of coffee coloured eyes.53
“Watch were YOU’RE going!” I shot back automatically. A couple of heads turned in my direction. His face, laced with mischief, twisted into a smirk as he walked away.54
I would have kept walking if it weren’t for the fact that the girls I was walking with were frozen in their tracks. Their stunned faces were fixated on me. 55
“What?” I asked weakly.56
“Oh la la…” Penelope exclaimed.57
“Where the hell did that come from? You totally went all she-beast on the guy” Shelby’s blue eyes where wide in astonishment though I could see a hint of a smile lingering on her perfectly-glossed lips. “Not that I’m complaining though, but wow… that was so not you.”58
“Mmmhm.” Penelope agreed as we resumed walking.59
I shrugged “I dunno, I heard his kind of a jerk.” What a lame excuse.60
“A jerk?” said Cherry a red-haired girl who was walking with us. “That’s the first time I’ve ever heard you say something bad about someone!”61
“He probably is.” Shelby scoffed. “Word has it that Blake and his friends are like major bad news.”62
“Anyway enough of that.” Penelope said just when my curiosity had peaked. “First stop the mall, next stop Black Lace!”63
I got home that night at a quarter to twelve, my latest time to ever arrive from school. As I unlocked the house and entered, I slipped off the black leather strap heels Penelope had picked out for me and did my best to sneak up the stairs as quietly as possible. Boy, were my parents going to be mad in the morning, how was I going to explain this to them?64
As I made it upstairs, I couldn’t wait to hop right into bed, but not before checking on my little sister Katie. I crept down the dimly lit hallway and opened her room door as quietly as I could. I peeped in and saw the cutest little thing fast asleep beneath the covers. Her brown hair was toppled all over her face so adorably; I was unaware of the smile that crept to my lips. Katie had stolen my heart from the day she was born, and even though we looked nothing alike, I felt like she was a part of me.65
I looked nothing like the rest of my family. While the rest of them had chestnut brown hair, I stuck out like a sore thumb with my reddish-gold locks and green eyes.66
I was now fiddling with them in front of my mirror as I sighed and studied my reflection, clad in the black tight fitted, strapless dress I’d worn to the party. I didn’t look bad at all; maybe Penelope wasn’t lying when she said I looked almost as good as her. Penelope’s beauty was the type that you couldn’t hide even if you dressed her in a potato sack. Sure most guys saw me as some “pretty blonde” but her kind of beauty was unique.67
I sat on my bed and sighed, not all guys thought I was pretty though. The thought of Blake came rushing back into my mind. His raspy words replayed in my head. “She’s not my type…I don’t like short hair… she’s not even really blonde.” It stung that he’d found so many problems with me without even getting to know me. Why did it matter so much?68
I sat up sharply and stared around my well lit room. It was morning already! Had I drifted off? 69
I couldn’t believe I fell asleep in my entire outfit! Must have been all that wind, I knew I should have shut the windows. I turned around to close them and gasped when I realized they were already shut. Mom must have come in to close them. 70
My eyes darted to the clock and I realized there was a very slim chance of me making it to school in time, so I scrambled out of my dress and into a pair of jeans and a top, ran a brush through my hair and headed down the stairs.71
The rest of my family where already in the kitchen. My dad was getting ready to drop Katie at school, while my mom stood at the doorway with my back-pack and lunch in her hands.72
“You’re late.” She said curtly. “So here’s your stuff, get going, and when you get back I’ll be here to talk about last night, trust me.”73
I winced at the dead-seriousness in her tone as I grabbed my bag from her and gave her a quick kiss and just before heading off to school, I turned around and asked, “Hey did you come into my room to shut my window while I was asleep?”74
“No honey. We figured you were probably exhausted judging by the time you came home, so we all left you alone.”75
“Oh.” I said lamely before heading off.76
I shoved my stuff into my locker; while Shelby and Penelope chatted about what a blast they had last night. I, on the other hand, couldn’t make any sense of it. I could have sworn the windows were open when I fell asleep, where else could the wind have come from? What I get for letting Shelby convince me into having a couple of drinks.77
The bell went off and Shelby and I headed of to history class together while Penelope went her own way. 78
“You looked absolutely stunning in that outfit yesterday.” She was telling me as we made for class. “You turned a lot of heads… and then you blew them off again. But its all good… there’ll be other parties and just so you know, you actually have to say “yes” to a guy to get a prom date, he’s not just going to magically appear out of thin air.”79
“Hey.” Someone called behind us.80
Shelby and I turned around at the same time to find Blake Denver standing there with his muscular lean features clad in jeans and a black T-shirt.81
“I think you dropped something.” He said in his raspy tone as he looked directly at me with his palm displaying the earring I had worn to Black Lace yesterday. I must have forgotten to take it off this morning after the other one fell off because I was in such a rush. That meant I’d been walking around all day with only one earring in. My hand automatically went to my ear, I felt nothing there.82
“It’s not mine.” I said tonelessly. 83
“You sure?” He pressed with a smirk and I saw something in the gorgeous depths of his dark eyes. They twinkled as if he knew some kind of secret. A secret to do with me. “I thought I saw it fall off you.”84
“It does look an awful lot like the one you wore yesterday.” added Shelby.85
“It’s not mine okay!” I said with a slight snap in Shelby’s direction and she looked puzzled. I shot him a cold glance; the after-burn of what he said about me yesterday. “I don’t know what you saw, but it’s really not mine.”86
“My mistake.” He said as he pocketed the earring, but those eyes still twinkled knowingly at me. It gave me the chills and made me melt at the same time. “See you in class.”87
For the rest of history class I didn’t space out or drift off once and that’s because I was fidgeting self-consciously. I didn’t understand why Blake’s presence made me so uncomfortable. My eyes unconsciously kept drifting to him and three times he caught my gaze and I would quickly look away and blush. This was crazy.88
When it was over, I couldn’t wait to run out of there with Shelby tailing behind me. As I pulled out the stuff for my next class I noticed something drop from my locker. It was a small envelope and inside it was the earring I’d dropped on my way to class. There was also a note inside it. It read: I know it’s yours
-B89I couldn’t believe it, I turned around to find Blake standing a few feet away talking to his friends, but his eyes were on me. He winked when he caught my gaze and I quickly looked away, slammed my locker shut and walked away.90
“Hey you okay?” Shelby said as she sped up to keep up with me. “You’ve been acting weirder than normal lately, is something wrong?”91
‘Yes something’s wrong, something’s always been wrong you’re just to caught up in your own superficial world to notice!’ 92
I couldn’t believe I was about to say that to her. I was never one to take out my frustration on anyone, I usually bottled it up inside and kept a plastic smile on my face, which was what I did. “No Shelbs I’m cool.”93
“Uh-huh” She flipped her lustrous gold locks clearly unconvinced. “You sure this has nothing to with that weird guy? I mean I guess he’s kinda hot… if you into weird, dangerous looking…”94
“Shelby I said I’m fine!” I sighed sharply.95
“Okay.” She said as we parted off to our different classes, but not before eyeing me suspiciously. “We’re having lunch outside today, see you there.”96
I sat in bio, fiddling with the note as I pondered over confronting him about it or not. He had a lot of nerve sticking it in my locker even after I said it wasn’t mine. This was stupid. If it was any other guy, I would have held on to it and pretended like it never happened and Blake was any other guy, right? 97
At lunch time, I saw my friends already heading out side and as I hurried down the hallway I felt someone grab my arm.98
“Hey you got my little package?” I glared at him as I tugged back my arm.99
“If you’re referring to the earring you shoved in my locker, even after I said it wasn’t mine, then yes”100
“Yeah.” He smiled down at me sarcastically and it was so breath-taking and yet so familiar. “But I was pretty sure I saw it fall off you… so.”101
“So you put it in anyway.”102
“Well as much as I like jewellery,” He pushed back his dark locks to reveal a silver piercing. “It wasn’t real my thing so I figured you should have it back.”103
There was something about the way he looked at me, that gave me the feeling that he knew me. It was creepy. 104
“I gotta go.” I said pushing past him, but he immediately slammed his hand against the lockers blocking my path.105
A couple of students sent concerned glances in our direction, but I glared daggers up at him. For some reason I felt like I was up to this confrontation and at the same time it gave me the same feeling I felt when our eyes first met: A strange connection and curiosity.106
“You know, I never took you for a liar, why lie about something so pointless?”107
I could feel myself fuming. He really had some nerve. “What do you care?” I seethed.108
“I don’t.” He said curtly, “I’m just curious.”109
“If it’s so pointless then why are we having this conversation?” I challenged. “Why can’t we just leave it be?”110
“What if I don’t want to?” He challenged with such a dangerously smothering gaze in his eyes, it made me want to melt into his arms and kick him in the shin at the same time.111
I swallowed hard and squinted coldly at him. “Why wouldn’t you? It’s just a stupid earring.”112
“C‘mon this really isn‘t just about a stupid earring. You know that”113
I was completely puzzled. “What on earth are you talking about?”114
He leaned in closer, his dark eyes bored into mine. “You don’t remember do you?”115
“Remember what?”116
He lowered his eyes and smirked, before murmuring something I couldn’t quite catch. “You’ll find out soon enough.” His hands went into his pockets as he walked away. “See you around Sarah.”117
“It’s Samantha!” I called after him.118
“Of course.” He turned around to wink at me. “My mistake.”119
I saw Shelby, Penelope and the girls sitting at by fields outside and when to join them. I sat beside Shelby who didn’t even send a glance in my direction. She was still pissed at me snapping at her earlier.120
“Look Shelby…” I started. “I’m sorry about earlier, I’ve just not been myself lately. You know?”121
She scoffed and sent a sideways glance in my direction. “It’s okay, I suppose I’m getting used to your random-acts-of-weirdness.”122
“I’ll assume that means I’m forgiven.”123
“Here.” She handed me an invitation. “Jeremy’s sister is hosting a black white party at the Chassinton hotel.”124
“Wow!” I exclaimed. The Chassinton was a five star hotel “And we’re invited?” 125
“I and Penelope were… but I was able to persuade Brad into persuading Jeremy into getting us and extra ticket.“ She winked at me “Bet you’re feeling pretty lucky to be friends with me right about now.”126
“I sure am.” I said mechanically as my mind drifted back to my earlier conversation with Blake.127
************128
“Is mom home?” I asked as I spotted my sister on the couch in our living room.129
“Nope.” Katie said without taking her eyes off the television.130
“Oh, good…” I sighed as I unloaded my jacket and my school bag in the hallway and went to join her. “Maybe she forgot, I could be safe.”131
“I wouldn’t count on it, she said to tell you that you and her were gonna have long talk about your punishment when she got back.”132
“Oh great!” I groaned as I flung my head against the couch. 133
I felt my sister’s gaze shift from the television to me.134
“What were you doing out so late anyway?”135
“Shelbs dragged me to some party”136
“Of course.” I heard her mutter and I lifted my head off the couch to look at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”137
“Nothing. It’s just that… Shelby’s your excuse for everything-”138
“She my best-friend.”139
“I know that, its just… you seem to be the one doings things with her, when her she ever done anything with you… or for you?”140
I remained silent for a while before pretending to close my eyes in frustration, because I couldn’t think of an answer. 141
“Look… I really don’t need this right now, I’ve got a lot of things going on. Mom, Shelby Blake…”142
“Blake?” There was a distinct rise in the pitch of her voice. “Blake who?”143
I shook my head as if to say it wasn’t a big deal. “It’s just this boy…”144
“Boy? You never talk to me about boys. You don‘t even act as if they exist” She winked at me. “I guess this one must be kind of a big deal.”145
“No he’s not!” I snapped before I could stop myself. “far from it. In fact he’s the smallest deal you could ever imagine!”146
“Apparently not.” My sister said slowly as she eyed me with cheeky suspicion. 147
“Ok.” I gave up. “He drives me crazy, but in a totally bad way, he seriously freaks me out sometimes.”148
“In my opinion, any guy that can hold your attention for up to twenty four hours has definitely got to be something and if he’s as bad as you say he is, then just shut him out like you do every other guy.”149
I let my head fall on the couch again. 150
“I can’t” It came out as a whimper.
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