Steve's POV

"See ya, Nat!" I exclaimed, waving goodbye to my friend as she clambered into her car and started it.

"You sure you don't need a ride home?" she called to me.

"No, I'm gonna work in the library for a bit." I waved to Natasha as she pulled out of the parking lot. I made sure she was out of sight before I turned around and marched down the street towards my house.

"STEVIE!!" Someone called to me as I neared the road that ran behind our school. I spun around and saw Bucky leaning against a tree. A huge cloud of smoke poured from his mouth. He gestured for me to approach him, and I reluctantly took a few steps forward. The smoke surrounding him caused me to start coughing so violently that my eyes began to water.

His eyes widened and he quickly dropped the cigarette and stomped it out with the heel of his boot. He ran up to me and dragged me away from the smoke, then backed up, clearly scared of harming me further. I waved at him to indicate that I was fine before reaching for my inhaler. I breathed the medicine in and felt almost instant relief.

"It's okay Bucky I'm fine. My dad used to smoke a lot and being around him so much gave me asthma so..." I trailed off and smiled weakly at him.

"Just can't have you dying on me Stevie," he responded. I glared at him again.

"Stevie's a chubby twelve-year-old. It's Steve!" I said, jamming my hands into my pockets and slowly walking towards him, kicking at the grass on my way.

"Too bad Stevie," he joked. I rolled my eyes and spun around, starting to walk back towards the street and in the direction of my house.

"Oh come on Stevie don't be mad. I didn't mean it," Bucky called after me, clearly trying to imitate a cheesy romance movie. I flipped him off and continued to storm away. "Where're you going, Stevie?"

"Home!" I shouted back, turning around briefly to talk to him before turning back. I heard heavy footsteps running up behind me. Someone grabbed my shoulder and spun me around.

"You're walking?" he asked with a weird expression. It almost appeared to be concern. I nodded, turned back around, and tried to pull myself from his hold but he held onto my arm with an extremely strong, though not painful, grip.

"Lemme give you a ride," he offered.

"No, I got it. It's not that far away," I said.

"Come on I'm gonna drive you." He steered me away from the street and towards the parking lot. I rolled my eyes but allowed him to lead me. He brought me to a beat up pickup truck and climbed in the driver's seat. He stared at me and raised his eyebrow until I reluctantly clambered in.

"Put your address in," he said, shoving his phone in my hand while starting the car. I glanced nervously between Bucky and the phone, before quickly typing in an address.

"Thanks for the ride, Buck," I said. Bucky looked at me weirdly before shrugging and pulling out of his parking space.

"What?!" He smiled and shook his head, looking out of the windshield. "What!" I whined again.

"You just shortened that stupid nickname you gave me into a smaller nickname." I rolled my eyes while he chuckled at me.

"Buck you!" I exclaimed. Bucky pulled over on the side of the street, clutching his sides and gasping for breath as he laughed.

"Sorry but the name James sounds like the King of England or something," I said once he had calmed down.

"Who said I don't wanna sound like that, Steven?" He asked, smiling over at me before beginning to drive again.

"Do not call me Steven," I warned.

"Stevie it is then." I rolled my eyes at him and leaned my back against the car door.

Bucky turned the corner and saw that the street in front of us was empty. He rolled down both of our windows and sped up to a scarily fast speed. He roared with loud laughter, and I admired the way his hair blew away from his face.

"Bucky! Slow down!" I said through chuckles.

"Life is short. Drive fast. Leave a sexy corpse," He said, though he did concede to my request and slowed down slightly.

"Hey if you don't mind me asking, what's with the glove?" I asked tentatively, nodding towards his gloved left hand. His faced suddenly darkened.

"I do mind you asking," he snapped. His expression automatically softened and he ran his gloved fingers through his hair nervously, "Sorry I just don't really feel like talking about it." I nodded and the car fell into a semi-awkward silence.

"Wanna pick the music?" Bucky asked after a few minutes. I shrugged.

"Put on whatever. I don't care," I responded. He threw his phone at me. "OW!"

"Any Panic! at the Disco!" He yelled through laughter. I rolled my eyes at him, plugged in the aux cord, and selected a song.

"I'M A MOONWALKER!!!" Bucky and I both scream-sang along with the music.

"Dancin, dancin, dancin's not a crime." I raised my eyebrows as Bucky sang the normal notes perfectly while I was forced to sing at a lower octave. He glanced over at me and his voice quickly quieted when he saw my surprised expression.

"Go ahead!" I said, "You're a good singer." He smiled, sang slightly louder, and started to move his head up and down to the beat.

"Here you go!" He said, pulling up next to the house. I hopped out of the truck and grabbed my backpack.

"See ya, James!" I said, bowing to him. I cursed myself at my terrible awkwardness.

"Goodbye Steven." He blew me a kiss and drove away, thankfully before he could notice the blush that spread across my face. I spun to face the house he had dropped me off at, then turned to the right and started walking. I marched about a quarter-mile down the street, then through one of the backyards to my neighborhood.

"Hi, Mrs. Carter!" I said, waving at my neighbor. I used to be in love with her, but as I grew, I realized our age difference and my childhood crush faded. Three years ago, her niece moved in with her. I wasn't great friends with Sharon but we hung out occasionally. Plus Mrs. Carter happened to be the head football coach.

"Hey Steve!" she called from her porch, "How was school?"

"Good! How's Sharon?"

"She's good! Field hockey started last week so she'll be at practice every day for a while. You ready for football?"

"Yep, I've been practicing for a while!"

"Well, you have pretty good chances!" She exclaimed. I waved goodbye to her and jogged home.

I carefully opened the delicate and worn-down wooden door to my house, hoping not to cause any more damage to our already broken entry

"Hi, Mom!" I exclaimed when I entered the room. I ran into the living room and smiled at my mother who was laying on the couch. I kissed her on the cheek.

"How was school?" She asked. I walked a few steps to the kitchen.

"Pretty good!" I exclaimed. I opened the fridge and looked at the few options. Instead of trying to make a meal out of the little food we had, I checked to see if I had enough money from my job to buy pizza for the two of us. Thankfully I did. I ordered the pizza quietly so my mom wouldn't hear and insist on paying.

"Did you make any new friends?" She called to me.

"Not really. I met this guy but I'm not really sure if we're friends or if he hates me."

"That's nice honey," she responded absentmindedly. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Nat also grew a third head and Clint moved to Arizona." I leaned against the doorframe and watched as she replied while reading her book.

"Good for her! I always knew she could do it!" I sighed, smiled, and ran up to my room.

I threw my backpack on the cold hardwood floor and flopped onto my thin mattress.

"James Buchanan Barnes," I said to myself. I couldn't say that he wasn't good looking. Because he was. He was extremely hot. But he appeared distant like he was hiding something. He seemed to be sensitive about his past, and I wanted to be his friend, but I was afraid of triggering something that could make him hate me. But he's really hot. Like insanely hot. And every time he looked at me I got nervous but at the same time, I felt at home when looking into his stormy blue eyes.

I groaned and pulled my hair in frustration before sitting up and pulling my thin blanket around myself.

Senior year just got a bit more interesting.

Hey y'all. I don't know if you can tell yet but I literally have NO idea where this book is going. Also, I didn't feel like editing this because I had a very hectic weekend. I met Kennedy Holmes though so it was pretty cool. Plus my school's musical won four awards.

Anyways, EVERYONE GO WATCH LUCIFER RIGHT NOW. IT IS SO GOOD.

Love y'all.

~Kate