% CHAPTER 12 %

Taylor sneezes again. "Have a good first day," she says in a feverish slur. Her cold hasn't gotten any better. If anything, it seems to have gotten worse.

Have a good first day. She honestly doesn't mean that. I can tell by her eyes that she means, "I hope you rot in hell and you get so embarrassed you're going to wet your pants in front of everyone."

Sorry Taylor, but that's not going to happen.

We're already situated in the new house. We're currently in the living room, with Taylor standing leaned against the back of the couch, her arms wrapped around a tissue box as she sneezes continuously. I stand in front of the couch, directly across from her. Slinging my backpack on my shoulder, I quickly take a step back.

"Hey, don't get me infected now. And keep the couch clean. I'm planning on having some new friends over this afternoon."

I hope she doesn't mind that I'll be bringing home a girl or two. Who am I kidding? She's going to hate me for it. That's why I'm doing it though, right? To see her reaction, take a picture, and laugh at it for the rest of my life.

I'm pretty sure she'll be exploring today so she'll find some places in the house where she won't hear the moaning of that satisfied girl who had her prayers answered. I laugh at the thought. To think I'm still a virgin.

"Oh my lord. You haven't even made any friends yet. You haven't even gone to school yet! How can you be so confident in bringing people over if you haven't even met these new friends of yours?"

"It's all part of the charm." I wink.

With my backpack now fully on my back, I step out of the house and close the front door behind me. Rachel is waiting for me in her convertible. The top is down, which is odd since it's still practically winter, but hey, it's California. People can get away with anything here.

Rachel is Taylor's agent. She probably hates that she's been reduced to a babysitter of two teenagers for a few days, especially since that isn't in her job description, but somehow, Derek must have convinced her. Man, I'm so glad that my dad is my agent. It makes things so much easier.

Rachel's fingers tap against the top of her rolled down window. When she sees me, she stops and shifts the car into drive.

"You ready?" she asks me. Her choppy layers ruffle in the wind.

"Definitely."

The school is not far off from the house. I could honestly walk if I wanted to, but it's high school. Who walks to high school these days?

In about two minutes, we reach the school parking lot. Rachel parks the car and unlocks the door to let me out.

"I'll be driving you these first days while Taylor is homebound. But after that, you or Taylor will drive. And hey, Derek told me to tell you that if you drive, the other person has to be in the car too. It's this buddy system Derek learned about on the Internet. He doesn't want one of you to get hurt and the other to not know about it."

My eyes narrow at the new information. "Seriously? Does Derek not realize the buddy system is for elementary schoolers?"

Rachel shrugs. "I don't know. I'm just repeating what he told me. If you've got a problem, talk it up with him. It's not like I wanted to be taking care of you two kids anyway, no offense. I mean you two aren't bad, but I've got adult things to do...and other actors to discover. I can't be downgraded to a chauffeur for too long."

I nod. "Gotcha."

"Okay well see you then. Bye." She then drives off.

I watch her drive away before turning around to face the school. Everyone is watching me and chattering amongst themselves. I just love being the new kid. By the end of the day I'll have people worshipping the ground I stand on.

I grin and start walking. As I near the school, I spot a sexy red head and walk over in her direction.

"Hey could you lead me to the front office? It's my first day and I'm sort of lost."

Her friend's jaws drop to the floor. Same old, same old. They're all wondering in amazement why I chose her. Wow. I fight the urge not to roll my eyes and smile a little wider. I'm pretty sure I've knocked their socks off by now.

"Su-sure," Redhead stutters, still flabbergasted I'm even making conversation with her. Well, she's cute, why wouldn't I ask someone like her? "It's just down this hall..."

She bites her lip. It's a failed attempt. No one does that better than Taylor, I find myself thinking before I can stop it from coming to my head. Shit. No, stop thinking about her. You've got a gorgeous redhead standing right in front of you, ogling you, no, worshipping you, but instead, you're thinking about that crazy girl that is sneezing her lungs out at your new house. What the heck is wrong with me?

I open the door for the redhead toward the front of the school and we walk together down the hall.

"So who was that girl with you that drove you here?" The girl asks desperately.

The wheels in my brain are churning. I have to be careful with the way I answer this one. If I say she's my chauffeur, they may get suspicious about me. Okay not really. The most they'll suspect is that I'm rich or something, not a movie star, but still. I can't risk anyone getting any ideas.

I sigh. Can I pull it off? Maybe I should wait for more girls to surround me before I play this card. If I do it now, it might not go around. Oh who am I kidding? This girl is a gossipers, I can tell. Half of the school will know by the end of the day.

"She's my girlfriend," I say.

All happiness sweeps from the redhead's face, before it returns quickly. So this girl likes a taken man, huh? I figured as much. A lot of girls go for that thing. I don't get why. If I had a girl, I would never want to share her, so why are they okay with sharing their men?

"Really? She looks like she's in her twenties."

"Nineteen," I reply. Okay, so Rachel is probably ten years older than that, but I can't have my fake girlfriend being too old.

"Isn't that illegal?"

"Well, in my heart, the love that we have can't be brought down by the law," I say with dreamy eyes and just the right amount of soul. Being the main character of a chick flick really helps.

When I take a glance, I see I've won her over. Her eyes catch mine and I can tell she's living out some sort of fantasy where I'm saying those words about her. Man, am I glad that more girls are like this one than like Taylor.

Now that Taylor is on my mind though, I find myself wondering what she would have replied to that. I find myself yearning to know what she'd think. You're a dick, she'd say. Something along those lines. It's so blunt, but that's Taylor when it comes to me.

"We're here," the redhead states and I snap out of my thoughts. Wow, I still don't even know her name.

Right before she opens the door, I see Her. All legs she is. Her legs literally travel for miles. They're almost as nice as Taylor's. That girl can walk. I try to keep my composure and make my eyes veer away from her. Girl players these days are pretty confident about who they are, and dear lord have I just met one. This girl is definitely off limits.

I open the door and forget about her dirty blonde hair with pink streaks in it, focusing on the redhead in front of me.

I look at the lady behind the desk. Her head is down so I can't see any features. "Hello ma'am. I'm new here and I'd like my schedule."

"Name?" Her voice is thick and velvety, not fully developed for an adult. I'd say she's a student here and is just an office helper.

"Bret Mendoza."

The lady lifts her head. I was right. It's just a girl. Her school ID hangs around her neck and her lips curve into a smile. "Oh really?" She says seductively. Her voice is a little on the high pitched side though. I fight the urge to cringe.

"I'll just go ahead and go. See you later Bret!" The redhead squeaks.

"Yeah." I lean against the desk.

Her eyes widen at my closeness. I see her take me in with her gaze and I realize that she's just another clueless girl. I can take her.

"Here's your schedule," she says in a way that's supposed to be flirting. Wow. That's just pathetic. Taylor can flirt better than that and flirting isn't even in her vocabulary!

"Thanks." I give her a dazzling smile before walking out of the office. I'm pretty sure she's on my side.

With a new burst of confidence at how easy this school has been so far, I take my time to get to first period.

$_$_$_$

By the time the bell rings for lunch, I've got the system down and have a whole bunch of girls swarming me like lights on a Christmas tree.

"So who was that girl that drove you to school this morning?" Blonde #1 asks curiously.

"That was my girlfriend. She just wanted to drop me off."

"Well isn't she like 19 anyway? Why don't you just dump her?"

"But I love her. I haven't told her yet." Then I let out a loud sigh.

"What's wrong?" Blonde #3 asks.

"I just don't feel like she loves me anymore." I give a halfhearted smile.

The girls don't know whether to be ecstatic or sad. Most of them go with sad.

"Aw I'm so sorry!" Redhead coos.

"It's not your fault. If anyone's at fault it's me."

"Why?" This time its Blonde #3 again.

"Maybe I haven't been putting a lot of effort into the whole relationship thing." I sigh again.

Girls just love stories like this. They'll fall for it every single time. Well except Taylor because she has no heart, but she's not like most girls.

I decide to ditch these girls to get some lunch. They almost don't let me leave. For crying out loud, it's not like I'm leaving forever! I'm just getting some food! Most of the girls there probably don't know what eating is though.

After waiting in the line, its finally my turn. I grab some pie and a sandwich before walking into the eating area. Then I see her again. The girl with blonde hair and pink streaks. I ignore her. She's not getting anything from me. The worst thing a player could ever do is be played. I'm not saying that I'm a player, but I'm pretty sure those girls that are aware think I am. Well I'm not. I have a heart. These girls are just back ups.

I walk over to the girls that adore me. I'm pretty sure they act ruthless with one another when I'm gone. They're probably fighting over me. Typical girls.

If Taylor were here, she'd talk about what a big ego I have for thinking that, and that girls do more than just obsess over stupid guys like me. Damn, why is my inner voice turning into Taylor right now? She dictates my life even when she's not around.

"I'm back," I say and greet the girls with a dazzling smile. "But I'm sorry I don't think I can sit with you."

I know if I sit with these girls, it will ruin my manhood, so I have to sit with the guys. Jocks preferably. I'm into sports myself, except bicycle riding.

"Aw why not?"

I look the blonde straight into her eyes. This is a role, I tell myself. It's all just a role.

"Well you see, I've got to make other friends. This is my first day. I still don't know that many people. I think I'll go sit somewhere else and make a few more friends."

Of course the girl is sad, but she tries hiding it nonetheless."Okay, but you're always welcome here!"

I nod and go look around. I've already been talking to some guys in class so I'll sit with them. If I can find them.

I search around for some of the guys I've met. I finally find them sitting near that blonde girl with pink streaks. It's like she's haunting me or something. Could she be another Taylor?

I walk over to them calmly. "Hey guys," I start. "Mind if I take a seat?"

A guy I know as Aaron smirks. "Sure dude. Go ahead. I almost thought you were going to braid some girls hair at that chick table over there."

I snort. "As if."

Another guy looks at me and smiles. "They're all over you bro. Like queso with chips."

I laugh at his comment. "I'm Bret." I hold out my hand and the guy shakes it.

"Yeah we know. Those girls have practically been screaming your name out. My name's Jake, and this here is Isaac." Jake points to the guy that hasn't spoken a word. "He's silent now, but once you get him talking, you'll see he's the social type."

I sit down and watch Isaac study me. Then he smiles and holds out his hand. I gladly shake it. "You got a way with those girls dude," are Isaac's first words to me.

"Yeah but sometimes they're hard to shake off," Jake says. "Like ticks."

I chuckle. "You got a good way with words man."

He nods his head proudly. "Just a bit of similes and metaphors I've picked up along the way."

"Oh shut up," Aaron says. "School's not about education. It's about social life."

Finally someone agrees with me upon this matter. I shake my head. "Taylor doesn't seem to think so."

"Taylor? Who's that?"

"Oh this girl-"

"Is it that chick that dropped you off?"

"Oh no. That's Rachel."

Isaac's eyes widen. "Dude! You even have girls from different schools!"

I'll just let him believe that one. "Anywho, Taylor's my cousin." There's no other way to explain it. If these guys come to the house and see Taylor there, they're going to be suspicious, and she doesn't resemble me at all so we can't be siblings.

"Is she going to this school?"

"Yeah, but she caught a small cold so she didn't come today."

"Oh okay. Well that's understandable," Aaron says and nods.

"Is she hot?" Isaac asks.

The way he asks seems like he wants to use her. Well good luck with that one Isaac. Not even I can get through to her. Still, for some reason, him saying those words gets me on edge. Yeah, Taylor is pretty hot. Are other guys going to think that too? Is she going to end of dating some guy worse than me? I shake those thoughts away. I'm being ridiculous.

Before I can answer, Jake says, "Dude that's his cousin! You can't do that!"

"Says the guy that was dry humping my cousin Victoria at that party," Isaac replies.

Jake's face turns red while Isaac gives a satisfied smirk. "Bro I was drunk okay? Cut me some slack!"

"Oh you know you've been ogling that girl for a while Pantera," Aaron says, using what I'm guessing is Jake's last name. "When are you going to admit you have feelings for the girl?"

"What does she look like?" I ask.

"Victoria? She's right there." Isaac points to that girl. The one with pink streaks in her hair.

Well Lord have mercy. I guess she is haunting me.