"Everyone's been talking about me? Why?" she asked in horror. She hated the thought of people gossiping about her behind her back.

"Probably because you're hot and you're from New York and you're the shiny new play thing," he smirked. "So I saw you walking with the jockstrap earlier. Is he your boyfriend?"

"No he's my next door neighbor and he's been showing me around the school to help me get settled in," she whispered back.

"So do you have a boyfriend then?"

She looked over into his brooding dark brown eyes and wondered why he wanted to know before finally answering.

"No."

"That won't last long," he said so confidently it made her face flush.

She went back to taking notes and tried to focus on what the teacher was saying. Right before the bell rang she asked Blaze if he could help her find her next class, pulling out her schedule. He leaned over in his desk until his face was right up next to hers, staring into her eyes intently.

"Only if you give me a kiss," he whispered.

She was frozen in place for a second in shock, staring into those dark mysterious eyes. She swallowed hard, studying his face. There's no way she was going to be forced into her first kiss. She exhaled and turned her head.

"Never mind. I'll ask someone else," she told him asking the girl sitting in front of her. She said yes and they walked together out of the classroom, leaving a smirking Blaze behind. She found out the girl's name was Bailey. She was skinny and short with straight red hair and black-rimmed glasses and she seemed a little shy but she was still friendly.

"Thanks so much Bailey! I'll see you around," she told her as she walked into class. She was happy to see Austin's familiar face when she walked inside and smiled, taking the seat next to him.

"Hey what are you doing tonight after school?" he asked.

"I don't have any plans. Why?"

"I have a football game tonight and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me after the game to Roller Gals Diner to eat. It's the local hangout where everybody goes after games."

"Sure. That sounds fun," she smiled. Inside she was wondering 'Is this a date or just two friends hanging out?'

Austin grabbed his lunch out of his locker before heading to the cafeteria. He always packed his own lunch because the school lunch wasn't healthy and didn't give him enough protein for bulking up and it didn't fill him up. He made his way to the cafeteria and sat at his usual table with his friends from the football team. Chaz Hernandez, who he normally didn't sit by because he thought he was a huge douchebag, plopped down in the seat across from him.

"So Fox, tell me about this new chick. I saw you walking with her earlier."

Austin looked over and saw Jolie in line waiting for school lunch and waved at her before looking back at Chaz.

"Her name's Jolie. She's my next door neighbor and she's pretty cool. Why?" he asked.

"I was thinking about asking her out before someone else snatches her up. She's hot," he said glancing over his shoulder at Jolie in line. Austin's best friend Ryan who was sitting next to him agreed with Chaz and gave him a fist bump.

"Forget it Chaz. She's not your type," Austin growled.

"Not my type?" he laughed. "She's hot which makes her my type."

"No, she's not like that. She's not going to have her first time with an asshole like you that will just toss her aside like a piece of trash after he gets what he wants. She's better than that," he said, aggressively biting into one of the pieces of steamed broccoli from his lunch. Chaz was getting on his nerves. Just the thought of him going after Jolie made him so mad he wanted to punch that smirk right off his face.

"She's a virgin? Really?" Chaz asked, eyeing Jolie in line with a devious smile and thinking. "Ok boys, I've got an announcement to make," he said to the whole table of football players. "I am officially announcing that I will be the one to take the new girl's virginity by the end of the school year. Mark my words. It will happen," he boasted.

"Not if I beat you to it," another one of the football players yelled, making everyone at the table laugh.

"Guys chill out. No one is taking Jolie's virginity. You're all acting like a bunch of assholes," Austin said.

"No one besides you, you mean? I'm so tired of everyone acting like you're some kind of God in this place just because you're the quarterback. I bet I could get her into bed before you could Fox," Chaz sneered.

"Dude, I'm not making any kind of bets with you on this. Just forget about it," Austin growled, tightly squeezing his hands into fists.

"Ok. Austin doesn't want to bet on it so who will?" Chaz asked the table.

"I will......I will.....I will," several people around the table said, even including Austin's best friend Ryan. Traitor.

'Why did I have to open my big mouth about her being a virgin in front of Chaz of all people? Of course he was gonna see that as a challenge. I'm such an idiot!' Austin thought. He was so angry at himself and at Chaz.

Jolie came and sat down beside him and he looked over and smiled at her. He felt so guilty for letting it slip to the guys at the table that she was a virgin and starting this whole thing. 'She's gonna be so mad when she finds out and I'm gonna look like a total jerk' he thought.

"Hi Jolie. I'm Chaz. It's nice to meet you," Chaz said holding out his hand and smiling at her innocently.

"Hi" she said shaking his hand.

"Chaz weren't you just about to go back to your usual lunch table over there?" Austin asked, narrowing his eyes at him.

"Nah, I think I want to sit here with my team today. Do some team bonding before our game tonight, you know? That is if that's alright with you quarterback?"

Austin hated the way Chaz always called him quarterback in that condescending tone because he was still angry that he wasn't chosen as the quarterback at tryouts. For some reason he had thought he deserved it more even though Austin had double the completed passes and half of the fumbles and interceptions he had. Chaz got the backup quarterback position so he would sub in if Austin got hurt. Normally though he played as the receiver.

"Whatever," Austin grumbled and turned to Jolie trying to have a conversation with her and ignoring Chaz. It was impossible because he kept butting into their conversation and adding in his opinion of whatever they were talking about. Jolie looked like she was getting aggravated about it too.

After lunch he walked her to her next class and when they got there he looked at her schedule and said, "I won't be able to walk you to any more of your classes today because I'm on the other side of the building. I'll just meet up with you after school in the parking lot. Okay?"

"Sure I think I can manage to find my other classes. I'm a big girl," she smiled, folding up her schedule and stuffing it in her pocket. "So do you still want me to go to your game with you tonight?"

"Yeah. I'll pick you up at 5:00. I have to be there a little early to warm up with the team."

"Ok sounds good," she said, looking up at him and he studied her face for a minute, caught up in her striking beauty. Her blue eyes were so stunning they looked like two portals to the ocean, surrounded by long dark eyelashes and clear smooth skin. He glanced down at her round plump lips and daydreamed about what it would feel like to run his hand across her smooth cheek and lean in and press his lips to hers.

Instead he instinctively wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug, because that's what he always used to do when he walked his ex-girlfriend Mandy to class. Her body tensed up and she was stiff as a board making it suddenly feel really awkward so he let go and said "I'll see you after school," before turning around and hurrying down the hallway.

"Idiot," he said to himself under his breath. He didn't know what was wrong with him. He had never acted like this around a girl before. It was like he lost all of his confidence and swagger when he was around her and he became a fumbling, awkward, stuttering mess.

As he was sitting in his last class of the day he got a text from his best friend Ryan, who had been at the lunch table earlier during the conversation with Chaz.

' his text said before he sent a link to a webpage.

When Austin clicked on it he couldn't believe what he saw and his heart sank and he felt sick.