"Jolie, hurry up!"

It was the first day back from spring break, and Mark was already freaking out. Graduation couldn't come fast enough.

"I'll be right down, chill!" I slipped my Chucks on, grabbed my bookbag, and ran down to meet him in the kitchen.

He was leaning against the counter, looking perfect and ready to go. I shrugged, "Why are you in such a hurry? Are you that excited to get back to school?"

"Definitely not, but I'd be even less excited about walking into class after the bell. Everyone else already seated, staring at me as I walk in. Like I really want to give them an excuse to gawk."

"You mean besides that super handsome face?" I pinched his cheek like a Grandma, making Mark roll his eyes and give me a little grin. I couldn't wait for him to stop caring about what other people think. "Screw them. If they weren't so damn boring, they'd have something else to talk about."

"Yeah, I know. They'll get over me and my awesomeness eventually." He said it like a joke, so I smiled, but his voice was too sad for it to really be funny.

I was starving, but I didn't want to take any longer to get out of the house, so I grabbed a bottle of water and a Pop-tart, and we were out the door.

As we buckled in the car, Mark gave me an appraising once over, making me sigh. He always looked like he was about to have his picture taken while I was ready to lounge on the couch or exercise. I liked to be comfortable, who cares?

"What did I do wrong today, Mark?"

"Nothing, it's just skinny jeans and a white t-shirt. Don't you want to change it up a little? What about that dress you bought when we went shopping?"

"It's just school, what's the point? My hair would still be unmanageable, and I'm not going to start piling on makeup like Samantha or one of her bitchy little clones."

"Yuck. Who wants you to be like them? You're prettier anyway."

I ignored the compliment. "Besides, you didn't dress up."

"No, but I always look good," he gave me a huge smile with side-eye, and I cracked up.

"At least you're not good looking and conceited. That would be terrible."

He laughed, and the sound brightened my mood. I worried about my sweet, pretend confident best friend.

He came out to his parents last summer, and they disowned him. He'd shown up at our door with two duffel bags and a look of shock on his face. When Mom asked him to live with us, he was so relieved; he'd cried. That was almost a year ago.

Of course, living in a small town meant it took about five minutes before everyone knew what happened. The summer wasn't bad. We spent a lot of time at home watching movies and working out. I think the extra exercise helped with his stress, plus he was getting even faster on the speed bag, and his shoulders looked great.

Things got harder when school started. If we ran into someone from school over the summer, they might have whispered, but no one said anything ugly directly to Mark. Unfortunately, when small-minded people get together, it makes them brave.

Suddenly, lots of people had opinions they needed Mark to hear, so they'd yell them from across the hall or parking lot. Mark wasn't one to get into fights at school, but he couldn't really help it the first week after the summer break. A couple of guys were waiting for him by our car.

Ben and Toby wanted Mark to know he wasn't welcome at school anymore. I guess they thought if they beat him up, he'd decide to skip his senior year. They'd always been idiots. Unfortunately for them, they weren't as awesome as they thought. Mark knocked them both to the ground.

By the time I got there, Mark was putting his book bag in the car, getting ready to go, and they were helping each other up. Thankfully, none of the teachers saw anything, and those jerks weren't going to tell anyone Mark had beaten them up.

He didn't talk about it in the car, and when we got home, he went straight to his room. I checked on him later; he said he was fine, but he didn't want to talk about it, so I left him alone. He knew I was always around if he needed me.

The next morning, he acted like nothing happened. There were a few extra stares and whispers at school, some people even looked impressed, but no one said anything. All the jerks seemed to be giving him more space, so overall, I'd say it worked out great.

When everyone realized Mark was living with us, I started taking some heat, but I didn't care. I was already a weirdo anyway. Too smart, too short, hair too big, boobs too small, giant eyes, and freckles. Top all of that off with my love of the outdoors and athletic build that had nothing to do with cheerleading or ogling football players, and I wasn't exactly popular.

"What are you thinking about over there, chica? You look way too serious for this early in the morning." Mark said as he poked me on the arm repeatedly.   

"Nothing, I was taking stock of all of my amazing attributes. Since you didn't notice, I'll point out that I used that super fancy hair serum you got me for Christmas." I smiled at him and gave my ponytail a little shake.

"Really?" He leaned over to sniff my hair as I drove. I could see his perfect caramel skin and dark brown eyes in detail with him leaning so close. So handsome.

"You did! If you'd left your hair down instead of in your standard ponytail, I might've noticed. It smells great."

I took a deep breath of his shave gel, "Thanks, so do you, and your pretty skin and long lashes are making me jealous. If you weren't like a brother to me, I'd probably have a huge crush on you."

He laughed, "OK, sure, and if you weren't like my sister, and you were a guy, we could date." He poked my side, tickling me.

"Cut it out!" I laughed. "I'm already driving and eating. Are you trying to kill us?"

"So safety conscious; we're here anyway."

We were both smiling as we pulled into the school parking lot. We weren't technically late, but we had to park way in the back.

Mark groaned, "I told you we were running late."

"Sorry! We'll hurry in; the bell didn't ring yet."

"You need to move those tiny legs."

We grabbed our bags and started toward the school. The parking lot was almost deserted; the few students I could see were walking in the door.

I was trying to make sure I didn't get any blueberry Pop-tart on my shirt and walk fast enough to keep up with Mark when he sucked in a gasp, "Wow, look at that," he whispered.

I followed his eyes and on the other side of the lot, headed toward the same door as us, was a new guy. He was super tall, with wavy dark hair and wide shoulders. I couldn't see his face well, but what I could see made me want a closer look.

"Wow is right. I wonder ifbwahhh!" I felt my foot catch the curb, and I went down fast. I had just enough time to feel my face flush red before I smacked into the pavement. "Crap! Ouch, help me up!"

Mark laughed, but as a testament to our friendship, it was only for a second, and he was already helping me up. "Are you alright?"

He was still smiling, but I couldn't blame him. I didn't fall often, but it was always at the worst times, never without an audience.

"No, I'm not alright," I whispered, "I'm about to die of embarrassment! Holy crap, how does this stuff always happen to me? Do you think he saw me?"

Mark looked at me with an over-done frown, "Yes, manita, he definitely saw you."

I squinted at him, "I know you're calling me that to butter me up after laughing."  It was his Puerto Rican play on little sister and a reminder that he loved me.

Chuckling, he asked, "Is it working?"

"Maybe."

Taking my hands with a smile, he turned them palm up to inspect the damage, "At least you're not bleeding much this time."

When we walked into the school, the new guy was still outside. Mark and I said goodbye and went in opposite directions. I was half expecting stares or giggles, but I made it all the way to my locker without anyone pointing and laughing; that meant no one else saw my belly flop.

I was putting up a couple of books I didn't need when I noticed everyone around me was whispering, and some of the girls were giggling. They were looking past me at the boy coming down the hall.

Crap on a cracker! The new guy was headed right toward me. Probably coming to make some smart ass remark about my fall, fantastic.

Just put your stuff up, Jolie, hurry, and maybe he'll go away. Oh no, he's slowing down. Geez, he's tall. A couple of lockers away from me, he stopped and started spinning the lock.

He wasn't coming to mess with me, weird. Maybe he was good looking and a decent person, a rare combo. I didn't want to stare, but half the people in the hall were openly gaping at him, so I decided to take a little peek. He wouldn't notice.

I barely came up to his chest. He had to be over six feet, and wow, did he have nice arms. Just rearranging his books was making the muscles do interesting things. He had a nice voice, too, deep but soft.

Crap! He was looking at me! Was he talking to me? What did he say?

His eyes were so green, grass green, deep, unusual, it was like he was looking right into me. Dang, it! I was still staring. What's wrong with me? Say something, Jolie!

"Huh?" Wow, that was eloquent.

"I said, hello. Are you alright?" His half-smile was making my heart beat faster as he raised his eyebrows like he was waiting for an answer.

Great, he thinks I'm a moron. "Yes, sorry, I'm fine. I was just thinking about...something. Hi!" That was better. I sounded totally normal for a crazy person.

"Were you injured?"

"What? No, I'm fine." Geez, it's sweltering.

"That's good. It looked like you hit the ground pretty hard." He reached over to take my hand the same way Mark did, checking for injury. His touch didn't feel anything like Mark's, though. When he gently rubbed his thumb across the scratches on my palm, I felt my neck tingle, and I knew I was blushing. 

His face was so kind, I knew he was just being nice, but I heard the whispers all around us. I was sure everyone was wondering why the beautiful new guy was holding my hand. I snatched it back, maybe a little faster than necessary. I didn't like being part of the gossip if I could help it.

"I'm fine, thanks. Gotta go. It's almost class time." I gave him a quick smile as I closed my locker and walked away. Don't fall again, dumbass, just make it to class and move on with this craptastic day.