*.*.*.*.*.*

The students are gathered in one spot, and when I enter my class, the first thing I see is Dray Carter flexing his muscles and showing off his brawns. I roll my eyes, hugging my books closer to my chest and stepping into the pit of doom.

Yes, you guessed it ... Calculus!

Dun, dun, dun!

As you can see, after the entire cry-baby episode that kind of freaked my dad out, I've gone back to being my usual socially-awkward-but-pretending-to-be-a-total-badass-queen self. Nobody sees the vulnerable side of me -- except my dad -- and I had put on my mascara and my sunniest sweater, and strutted into school like I owned the place.

I sense movement beside me, and look around to see the familiar face and black clothes of Xavier Hunt, who is officially the most amazing person I have ever met. After my dad, of course.

He glances my way, one side of his lips twisting upwards in what I assume is a smile, and my own lips curl into what I'm sure is the goofiest smile any girl can ever give a boy she likes. He probably thinks so too, because Xavier's smile widens.

"Xavier Hunt?"

The summon from behind us makes not only Xavier and I turn towards the source of the voice, but also catches the attention of the crowd.

"The counselor wants to see you," says a guy who I recognize from the school admin office but don't know the name of.

Oh, my God, the counselor wants to see Xavier?

Wait, it's probably just the school counselor and not the counselor of the state.

Silly me.

Without glancing my way again -- even though I want him to -- Xavier leaves the classroom after the admin-dude. I want to follow them, but the teacher enters the class and closes the door behind her.

Scowling, I turn towards the front of the class, making my way towards my seat.

"Time for the emo freak's therapy!"

Dray's voice catches my attention, and my gaze snaps in his direction as everyone laughs.

"They should kick him out already," he smirks. "Hunt is nothing but a bad influence. He's probably on drugs anyway. I saw him around that rehab the other day."

Hearing his comments and all the people who mutter their agreement with his opinion, my temper begins to rise. I have half a mind to kick Dray Carter where the sun doesn't shine, resisting the temptation because the teacher is opening her drawers and pulling out her books.

What I do, however, is bow my head and pass Dray by ... not before I accidentally step on his shoe with my heel, hoping to crush at least a few of his toes.

He cries out in pain, snatching his foot from underneath mine.

"Oops, sorry," I say innocently. "Didn't see you there."

His face flushes red, but he doesn't cuss me out, fooled by the adorable smile I give him. Instead of complaining though, he follows me to my seat. Limping, to my satisfaction.

"Hey, Haley, you know prom's coming up," he says, leaning one arm over the back of my seat and bending over me so that his onion-breath fans my face.

Ever heard of personal space, dude?

"I know, Dray, I come to school just as much as you do," I say, wrinkling my nose and leaning back to avoid the disgusting odor.

"Well, what do you say you and I go together?" he wiggles his eyebrows so that they look like dancing worms.

I say ... no thanks!

"What are you talking about?" I ask him, trying to stay polite even though that is honestly the last thing I want to do.

"I mean, you're pretty, I'm hot; we'd surely win the prom king and queen," he says, smirking in a way that he probably thinks is hot.

I disagree.

"No thanks," I finally speak my mind, and damn, does it feel good!

"Wh-- why not?"

"I can't," I simply answer, pulling out my books and glancing at the teacher who is too busy checking her phone. Shouldn't she have done that before she came to class?

"What's your problem, Haley? Why do you play so hard to get?" Dray whines, his face reddening.

"I'm not. Look, I'm not coming to prom, okay? I have family commitments."

I lie; I don't have any commitments.

"What family? All you have is your dad," he says.

I take a deep breath and count to five, even though my hand twitches with a desire to punch the quarterback in the face.

"In that case, I have commitments with my dad," I rephrase my lie.

"I'm the quarterback --"

"So go date a cheerleader then," I snap. "Isn't that how the cliché goes? Or maybe that nerdy back girl or something. As you can see, I'm neither."

"You're such a bi --"

"You want my heels to say hello to your little Dray next?" I ask threateningly.

He looks deeply offended, but a little scared too. He probably didn't expect me to lash out at him; I'm usually a nice girl. Something about Dray just pisses me off. Maybe it's the fact that he thinks being quarterback somehow makes him superior, or that he's so shallow I could slap him and not care.

To be honest, though, I have started hating him more since I got to know Xavier and noticed how Dray passively bullies him.

Sure, he doesn't give Xavier weggies or noogies, and he surely doesn't steal his lunch-money or something, but in real life, these aren't the forms of bullying in the first place. The way he mutters things about Xavier behind his back, just loud enough so he would hear too, is bullying. The way he smirks when Xavier is mentioned, or gives sly looks to him, is bullying. The way he talks bad about him and spreads rumors, is bullying.

Dray Carter bullies Xavier, and I couldn't hate him more.

Class begins, and I wait for Xavier to come back. He doesn't. So when class finally ends, I hurry towards the counselor's office. I'm hoping to catch Xavier before he disappears.

I stop outside the counselor's office, sneaking glances on both sides of the corridor to make sure no one's watching me. I place my hands on the glass on the door, trying to peek in and see if Xavier is still in there or if he's gone.

Suddenly the door opens, slamming hard against my nose. I stumble backward, cupping my nose with my hand and cursing under my breath.

"Haley?"

Xavier's voice startles me, and I catch myself against the wall to prevent myself from falling. My wide eyes -- still watering -- focus on the confused face of Xavier, who closes the door behind him without taking his eyes off me.

"God, are you okay?" he asks, reaching out to me.

"I'm fine." I laugh loudly, hiding my embarrassment at being caught stalking him. I smile widely, waving a hand and trying to lean against the wall.

The wall probably vanishes because I land with a thud on the cold floor. A hand grabs my arm so my head doesn't hit the ground.

Xavier pulls me to my feet, watching me with a look that's clearly asking me 'what the hell is wrong with you?' He lets go of my arm and I straighten up, fixing my bag on my shoulder.

Say something, Haley! Tell him you weren't stalking him.

"I ... I came to see if you were in trouble," I say truthfully, lowering my gaze and ignoring the throbbing pain in my nose and arm on which I fell.

Xavier doesn't answer for a moment, looking around the corridor. The next class has begun, as most of the students are in their classes. Those that aren't, are hiding out of the teachers' sights to avoid being caught.

"Mr. Robinson was talking to me about my grades," he finally says.

"And?" I ask uncertainly.

"He said I should apply the same techniques I use for calculus and classics for my other subjects too."

There is an edgy undertone to Xavier's words, and I can't help but smile.

"What did you say?" I ask.

He shrugs. "I said I'll try."

Seriously? Seriously, Xavier, could you be any less romantic?

I don't say anything, staring at my feet and hoping I don't look grumpy. Xavier doesn't notice, and if he does, he doesn't say it.

"You should get to class," he says to me.

I glare at him, but he ignores it, turning away. My phone rings and I try to control my temper and pull it out of my pocket to answer it.

"Yes, dad?" I ask.

"Baby, let me talk to Xavier if he's around," my dad says.

Taken aback by my dad's sudden demand, I shift my gaze back to Xavier, who is standing two feet away from me.

"It's for you," I mumble, feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

Frowning like he's just as confused as I am, Xavier takes the phone from me. I listen closely, wondering what my dad could be wanting to talk to Xavier about.

"Yes, sir? Yes, sir ... Yes, sir ... Yes ... Yes, sir ... I'll see what I can do ... Yes, sir ... Thank you, sir. Yes ..."

Okay, listening to Xavier talk is pointless.

He holds the phone out towards me, nodding, turning away, and leaving. Still staring after him, I put the phone to my ear.

"Dad?" I say.

"Yes, dear, okay, I'll leave you to study then. Goodbye."

He hangs up.

Wow.

Should I be happy that my dad and my crush get along? Or feel uncomfortable because they're both keeping me out of the loop? Whatever they're planning, at least they could let me know. It's not like I'm some evil queen-bee who is going to order them around.

Pouting at my own feet, I trudge back to class, planning to show my dad how mad I am at him.

I don't talk to my friends after that, not even getting lunch. I'm totally annoyed with Xavier, who keeps acting like we're nothing. I mean, fine, we are nothing, but does that mean we have to act like nothing too?

Not only does he not show his feelings to me so I'm still unsure if he likes me or not, his constant silence and aloof, but indifferent attitude also makes me hesitant about sharing my own feelings too. I wouldn't mind being the one to take the first step if I wasn't so afraid of him not reciprocating it.

I mean, I've imagined it plenty of times and every time, it seems more embarrassing than the last. For instance ...

Me, uncomfortably: Xavier?

Xavier: *looks at me*

Me, smiling: I like you.

Xavier: *silence*

Me, nervously: Will you go out with me?

Xavier: *raises an eyebrow*

Me, grinning: We could be so perfect together.

Xavier: *silence*

Me, disappointed: Or ... not, I guess?

Xavier: *looks away again*

Yeah, and this is my best case scenario imagination.

I'm also mad at my dad. I hardly talk to Xavier at school, and somehow dad just had to find out, call me to talk to him, and make me feel like I'm not important enough for either Xavier or dad to tell me what the hell is going on. How is this even fair?

And then he says he loves me.

Crap, that's what I call it.

I have totally planned to show my dad how mad I am at him for what he did today. I'm not going to eat, scowl a lot, not answer his questions, so he knows something is wrong. And when he asks, I'll tell him what he did.

Smart plan, I know.

But my fool-proof plan totally fails when I get home. Why? Because my dad isn't there. Instead, Xavier is.

"Xavier? What are you doing here?" I ask him, stopping in front of where he sits on my porch stairs.

He stands up, only a foot distance between us.

"Babysitting," he answers calmly.

"Babysitting? Who?"

A ghost of a smile appears on his face as his grey eyes bore into mine. His pale face looks completely serene, watching me closely. My heartbeat picks up, and I'm suddenly very afraid to hear his answer.

"You."

Okay, new plan. I'm killing my dad.

*.*.*.*.*.*