Friday was Physical Education day. It was that day in a week when I especially hated the person who thought that it would be nice to add something as stupid as Physical Education in every school's curriculum.

Like, come on! That person could've added more useful classes instead... like a class on how to stop thinking about an annoying prankster, or a subject on how to discover the secrets of a teenage hacker. I bet those classes would be more useful to me right now than learning how to hit a freaking ball.

I managed to avoid PE over the past few years by volunteering to be a first-aid medic of our school's emergency squad but when I learned that I needed at least one unit of PE to graduate, I had no other choice but to take up Coach Hendricks' class.

Now, if there was one thing I could say about Coach Hendricks, it was that he hated me to the core of his existence. I first suspected it when he made me run ten laps around the gym for a "warm up" and made me do sixty sit ups because he thought I could use some abs.

The bastard.

He made PE more unbearable than it already was.

I grumpily put on my gym uniform and running shoes while wishing that a meteor would fall and miraculously obliterate the whole gymnasium without hurting anyone so that today's Volleyball lesson would get cancelled.

Of course, the heavens did not answer my prayer.

As soon as I walked inside the gym, I spotted Kenji sitting on one of the bleachers talking to Collin and Connor Anderson. As usual, they were surrounded by their fangirls, drooling over them like they were venti cups of Starbucks frappe.

What was it about football players and their legion of girls?

Surprisingly, I didn't feel the usual flutter I always felt whenever I see Kenji. It might be because I had already accepted his relationship with Sophie, or maybe it was because I knew I was about to embarrass myself again in front of him.

I inwardly cringed when I remembered the spectacle I caused during one of our basketball lessons. I was really aiming for the ring back then, but the ball seemed like it suddenly developed a mind of its own. It hit Coach Hendricks' head instead, causing his wig to fly off straight to the open cooler.

Poor Coach, he had to endure a whole day wearing a wet wig and being called baldy Hendricks.

Come to think of it, I was pretty sure that was the reason why he hated me so much.

"Alright, alright! Gather 'round kids and let's get this over with." shouted Coach Hendricks.

We gathered in the middle of the court and stood in a semi circle. Without intending to do so, I found myself having an eye-to-eye contact with Kenji when I looked up from staring at the rubberized floor. He obviously didn't expect to be caught staring, a look of surprise flashed his eyes for a second before he smiled adorably at my direction.

The Kenji Yamamoto just smiled at me. Good Lord.

I realized I might have been giving him a weird look so I composed myself and flashed him a shy smile.

That's right, Sky. You are now learning how to act like a normal person. Way to go!

Our little connection was interrupted by Coach Hendricks' surly voice.

"The earlier we end this, the sooner I'll get rid of your infuriating faces." He said. I swore he was looking at my direction when he said the "infuriating faces" part. I made a face at him when he wasn't looking.

Ha! Take that, baldy!

"I need two captains. Go on and volunteer before Ms. Davies here decided to be one. You don't want that to happen, do you?" he warned while covertly shooting me a sly smile.

I let my face remained impassive even though I was already imagining the most painful torture I was reserving especially for him, like making him walk a mile on a road full of lego bricks, or make him watch all of the seasons of Keeping up with the Kardashians. Ha! That would teach him!

"I'd like to be captain!" volunteered Kenji to no one's surprise. He was an all around sports man, I couldn't think of a sport in which he didn't excel at. Hell, I even saw him playing Sepak Takraw once with some Malaysian exchange students. I didn't even know that there was a sport like that until I saw him playing it.

"I'll be the captain of the other team." said a voice we hadn't heard in PE for a long time. I looked behind me and saw Parker. He never really felt the need to attend this class before. Why attend now?

He stood beside me.

"Skylar." He said, giving me his signature, panty-dropping smile.

"Parker." I greeted, smiling back at him.

To be honest, I was now used to his flirtatious manner. I learned that acting like a professional gigolo was just his favorite hobby so I didn't get annoyed anymore whenever he tried to flirt with me. He flirts with all the girls anyway, and I when I said all, I meant even the janitress and the teachers. He'd even flirt with a pole if you put a skirt on it.

Now he would be an added viewer to the weekly "Embarrassing PE Tales" starring Skylar Davies. Life was such a bitch.

"Thank you for gracing us with your presence, Fray." said Coach Hendricks.

"You're welcome, coach."

"That was sarcasm, idiot. Now pick your team mates so we can start this nonsense."

Coach Hendricks blew his whistle and gave us a look that clearly said he despised us all. It always made me wonder why he chose this profession. It was obvious he'd rather murder us one by one than teach us if he had a choice.

"Charming." I heard Parker whisper.

Kenji's first choice for his team was Connor. The two guys did a high five before Connor faced Parker.

"You're gonna get your ass kicked big time, Fray!" Connor dissed.

"Didn't know you're that obsessed about my ass, dude." Parker said, throwing him a smug smile.

Connor laughed without humor.

"Please! Even your mere existence pisses me off." He said.

"And do I look like someone who gives a fuck about your happiness?" challenged Parker.

Connor stepped forward but Kenji was faster, he stepped between the two guys.

"Chill, man, it's just a game." He told Connor in a hushed voice.

Collin, the other Anderson twin, also stepped forward and pulled his brother's jersey.

"Give it a rest, bro." He simply said.

Connor, unable to get passed Kenji and his twin's grip, just gave Parker a look of pure loathing while Parker just watched him with an amused expression the whole time.

We all just stood there, wondering what the hell was going on with these guys. I didn't know Connor and Parker had a beef going on between the two of them. I wondered what caused the fight. Did it have something to do with a girl?

"So, can we finish choosing members of the team now? Or do we have to watch your moronic, testosterone-filled drama the whole day?" Coach Hendricks said in an annoyed voice, eyeing the four guys with contempt.

"I'll pick Skylar on my team." said Parker like he wasn't a bit affected by what happened.

There was a split second silence after that, and it was immediately followed by sniggers from our classmates. Apparently, I, being chosen first was enough to make them forget about the fight.

I shot Parker an annoyed look.

"Thanks for setting the spotlight on me."

"You're welcome." He said, smiling sheepishly.

Coach Hendricks blew his whistle again to silence the class.

"Stop with the sniggering! Just because Ms. Davies is the most uncoordinated girl I know doesn't mean her team has a ninety nine percent chance of losing. There's still such thing as a miracle, you know? What's wrong with you, people!" he shouted.

If that wasn't a proof of his secret hatred on me, then I didn't know what else. Couldn't Connor and Parker just start fighting again so that these people would stop giving me insulting looks?

Parker shot the coach and our classmates a cold look before putting his arm on my shoulder.

"Let's show them." He said in a determined voice.

I found his fortitude cute but he wasn't here when I managed to almost kill several of my classmates when I accidentally tripped on my own foot and landed on a jug full of water causing it to spill to the whole court while people were playing basketball. It was a good thing only two of the players got sprained legs.

"You haven't seen me in PE before, have you?" I asked him.

He shrugged.

"You may be bad, Sky, but you will never be that bad enough to ruin my game." He winked.

"Besides, Hunter will kill me if I let these idiots make fun of you." He continued, almost as if he was talking to himself.

Hunter.

Just the thought of him made my cheeks burn. I never had the chance to talk to him again after I left him at the music room yesterday. He wasn't waiting in front of my locker this morning like what he usually did and I was wondering whether it had something to do with my musings about his secret the last time we talked.

That idiot was obviously avoiding me.

"Hunter's busy helping Rachel with her programming project. He said that's the least thing he could do after destroying the files in her laptop." Parker said as if he was able to read my mind. He was watching me carefully for my reaction.

I felt something tug deep inside me. Hunter was currently spending time with a girl who hated me and who obviously had the hots for him. I didn't like it. I felt like thousands of needles were pricking my heart at the speed of one hundred miles per hour.

"Don't worry, Hunter's just trying to make up to her after all the pranks he pulled on her these past few days." Parker explained.

"I'm not worried!" I said defensively. "Why would you think I'm worried? There's nothing to be worried about. Hunter is free to choose whoever he wants to spend his time with. I'm definitely not jealous. Ha ha, no way." I blabbered embarrassingly.

Parker smiled, clearly entertained by my reaction.

"If you say so." He simply said.

"I'm not jealous." I repeated, not sure if I was telling it to him or to myself.

"I didn't say you are."

I did not reply. I was pissed at myself for being too affected. Why the hell did I care?

I flinched when I heard Coach Hendricks blow his whistle for the third time, telling Parker to finish choosing the members of our team.

The whole time Parker spent choosing our team mates, I was convincing myself that what I was feeling was just annoyance at Hunter and not jealousy. What kind of friend hangouts with people who might or might not be plotting your murder? That traitor!

"Let the game begins!" signaled Coach Hendricks, taking my mind out of my resentment.

"Great." I murmured.

I felt Parker tapped me on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, kiddo. I've got your back." He assured me.

"That's what I'm worried about."

***

When Parker said he got game, he wasn't lying.

The guy could play volleyball like a pro. My utter lack of coordination didn't affect his insane skills a bit. The sound of his powerful spikes echoed throughout the gym like cannon balls being hurled at every direction.

I always thought volleyball was the least manly sports I knew, but seeing Parker, Kenji and the twins play made me think otherwise. Those guys were monsters on court. We had Collin on our team and it seemed like he didn't have any problem with Parker. They were a perfect match against Connor and Kenji.

We were on the last set and I survived the game by simply alternating between hiding behind Parker's back or moving out of his way. He even set clean shots on my direction a few times making it possible for me to send some impressive shots to the other team to my classmates' utter disbelief.

Parker was about to send the finishing spike when we heard someone clapping.

"Nice game, ugly!"

Parker froze. He missed to hit the ball and it bounced on the ground with a weak thump.

Kenji's team cheered their unexpected victory.

"Boo!" jeered Connor.

"What the hell, man?" said the confused Collin, giving his twin brother the finger. Ah, sibling rivalry at its finest.

Coach Hendricks grumpily walked out of the gym as soon as the game ended as if he couldn't stand to stay with us for another more second.

I looked around to see who called Parker.

Standing at the side of the court was a very beautiful girl wearing St. Mary Montessori's all-white uniform. St. Mary Montessori was where the rich kids of our town study. Students there had a reputation of being uptight and snobby.

The girl looked nothing like those students though. She had long, silky, black hair, heavily lidded dark eyes, lips the color of cherry and skin as white as snow. She looked so angelic that a Boticelli angel would look like an ugly gargoyle next to her.

"Roe..." Parker breathed, looking so terrified that it was almost comical.

He then looked at me, as if begging me to save him.

"Are you okay? Who is she?" I asked, slightly worried. The guy was already turning green.

"Would you believe me if I tell you that that girl is a monster?" he asked wide-eyed.

I looked back at the girl who looked like an apparition from heaven. She was definitely the last thing I'd associate to a monster.

"Ahm, no." I said honestly.

Parker nodded.

"I thought so." He murmured. "Sorry about this Sky, but I gotta run. Bye!"

Faster than Usain Bolt on steroids, Parker ran towards the exit opposite the girl's direction. He was gone within ten seconds.

I saw the girl run towards me, not caring about all the curious glances she was getting from the other students.

"Where did Parker go?" she asked sadly, eyes twinkling with unshed tears. Poor girl.

"I don't have any idea." I said.

"Maybe he thinks he'll get away from me that easily." She sounded so dejected that I felt the urge to kick Parker's ass. How could he run away from such a sweet girl like this one?

But then, her expression turned from sad to menacing in a split second. She laughed darkly under her breath.

"I swear I'm going to make that idiot pay." she said, clenching her fist. "He'll be dead."

I could almost sense the red aura enveloping her at that very moment. Now I understood what Parker was so afraid of. This girl was scary.

"Uh, I hope you don't mind me asking, but, who are you?" I asked, trying to get rid of the tension.

It seemed like the girl suddenly remembered that I was still there. She gave me a beatific smile.

"Sorry about that. I get so consumed by my emotions sometimes." She explained; now back on her angelic mode.

"My name is Gabrielle Roe Lightwood, I am Parker's fiancée."

"Fiancee?!"

Who gets engage at eighteen?

"I know what you're thinking. You might be wondering why a smart, decent and beautiful girl like me would marry a loser like Parker Fray, right?" she eyed me, as if urging me to ask her the question.

"Uhm, no. I'm actually just wondering how you managed to enter the school premises. You're not even a student here."

"It doesn't matter." Roe waved her hand dismissively. "I need to speak with Parker. Can you help me look for him?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at me.

"Errr..."

What should I do? Parker obviously didn't want anything to do with this girl evident by how fast he ran away upon seeing her, but I couldn't just ignore her request. These past few days, I seemed to have developed a knack for managing to get myself entangled with the lives of the popular ones. And by God, these beautiful people were such a pain in the arse.

Thankfully, Connor butted in the conversation.

"Still playing games with that jerk, Roe?"

Oh, so they knew each other. Why wasn't I surprised about that?

Roe eyed him warily.

"I didn't notice you're here."

Connor's face hardened.

"That's because he's all you see." he said, pain evident in his voice.

Roe subconsciously played with the hem of her blouse. She looked like she was also having a hard time maintaining her composure. I wasn't an expert when it came to relationships, but by the way these two were acting, I was sure there was something romantic going on between the two of them.

"He's my fiancé." Was the only thing Roe managed to say.

"You always have a choice." Connor said, sounding really emotional.

It was like being stuck in an episode of Glee. I was half expecting them to start belting a heartbreaking Bruno Mars song. Just my luck, now I just got myself witnessed to a love triangle. Great. Just great.

"Uhm, excuse me, can I leave now?" I couldn't wait to get out of this awkward situation. I had a feeling I wasn't supposed to witness this emotional exchange between the two of them. I felt like I was intruding.

The two of them looked at me in surprise as if they'd forgotten that I was still there.

Connor ran a hand over his hair, looking embarrassed while Roe gave me an awkward smile.

She pulled out a pen from her shoulder bag and grabbed my hand.

"Here's my number. Please text me if you see him." She begged, writing her number on my palm.

I nodded and quickly walked away, wondering why the lives of these people were so complicated. I had a cheerleader worried about a private video, a playboy who ran away from his fiancée, a jock in love with an engaged girl, a gifted hacker who was struggling with his demons, and a best friend who might or might not be in love with a Harry Potter fan.

Just two weeks ago, before I got involved with any of them, my only problem was choosing what movie to watch on Netflix. Now my life was slowly turning out to be like one of those popular teen-fiction stories I read at Wattpad.

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Hunter turned out to be a vampire, a werewolf, a gangster or the Mothman himself. Things like that often happened in books, and Hunter was shady enough to be a paranormal character.

Speaking of Hunter, I bet he was having the time of his life with Rachel right now. He was probably teaching her some lessons that had nothing to do with computer codes and had everything to do with anatomy. Ugh. Why did that image made me want to gouge my eyes out with a Swiss army knife?

I was pondering those thoughts while walking towards the changing room when suddenly; a hand came out of a broom cupboard and dragged me by the wrist inside.

Oh my God, this can't be happening!

An arm wrapped itself around my waist, my back pressed on someone's chest and a hand covered my mouth to keep me from screaming. Not that there was a need for that. I was frozen from shock and fright that no voice would even come out of my mouth even if I tried to.

I started to panic when the hooligan closed the door of the cupboard and I was greeted by pitch black darkness. My breath caught inside my chest while I was trying to convince my brain to start functioning now that I needed it the most. I pushed and writhed from the person's grasp, desperately trying to get passed the close door.

"Ugh, stop pushing!" said the kidnapper, dropping his hand from covering my mouth. Wait, that voice sounded familiar.

"Parker?" I guessed hesitantly, trying to make out his face despite the darkness.

"Shhh! Be quiet or else she'll find out I'm here." Parker said in a really worried voice.

I breathed a sigh of relief and silently thanked my lucky stars that he wasn't the serial killer I thought him to be.

He sat down and pulled me along with him so that we were sitting side by side.

"Why the hell are you hiding inside a broom cupboard?" I gasped, trying to adjust my sit. The cupboard was too tiny to accommodate two people so I found it hard to find a comfortable position.

"I'm not hiding! I'm just... uh... contemplating."

"In a broom cupboard?" I asked incredulously.

"What? It's comfortable here." He said defensively.

I scrunched up my nose.

"It smelled like a cat died here several centuries ago."

"You're just imagining things."

I rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see it. Why couldn't he just admit that he was hiding from Roe? It was pretty obvious he was here because he wanted to avoid her.

"Remind me again why do we need to whisper?" I asked.

"Because we don't want to disturb the dead cat's spirit."

Right.

I sighed. I wasn't sure why he felt the need to drag me along here but I just couldn't leave him, could I? Parker was a friend. He defended me from Rachel and Jessica last time and if he needed someone to be with him right now, then I just had to stay.

"Why are you running away from your fiancée?"

If I would be spending alone time with him in this smelly broom cupboard, then he'd better entertain me with his stories.

"I told you, that girl is a monster. She could single handedly defeat a legion of sumo wrestlers if she wants to."

I folded my legs and hugged them towards my chest.

"If you think she's a monster then why did you agree to be engaged to her?"

My question took him off-guard because he wasn't able to answer for a while.

"It's a game. The first one to back out of our engagement loses. I intend to win." He explained after a minute of silence.

"Love is not a game." I said, "You can't just go around playing with people's feelings. That's just wrong."

I heard him laugh beside me, his shoulders shaking from his mirth.

"What's so funny?"

Parker shook his head.

"Now I know why Hunter is so fond of you." He said, still shaking from his barely contained laughter.

I was surprised when he turned towards me, cupped my cheeks and turned it so that we were face to face. Then, he dipped his head so that our foreheads were pressed together.

"What are you doing?" I asked, perplexed by his actions. He was getting more and more confusing the longer I spend time with him in this little cupboard.

I still couldn't see his face but I imagined him smiling because of my question.

"Isn't it weird?" he said using his trademark seductive voice. "Right now, we're closer than what's considered friendly. But are your feelings the same as when you're this close to Hunter?"

I froze. No. I wasn't feeling the same thing.

I didn't feel like the whole ecosystem was having a blast inside my stomach. My heart wasn't doing its crazy drumming that usually put Metallica's drummer to shame. My skin wasn't tingling from his touch, and my brain hadn't shut down yet. What it did mean?

If what I was feeling for Hunter was caused by pheromones, then why didn't I feel the same thing for Parker?

"Think about what you feel, Sky." Parker said in a somber voice.

Was I... was I... in love with Hunter Cole?

Before I could answer, the door of the cupboard opened. Both Parker and I shielded our eyes from the sudden almost blinding light that came pouring in from the outside.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I need my buddy now." said a very annoyed voice.

I looked up and saw Hunter looking down at the two us, a scowl on his handsome face.

And there went my stomach, my heart and my brain, doing exactly what they always did whenever Hunter was around.

He bent down and grabbed my hand to help me get back on my feet.

He wrapped an arm around my waist possessively and pulled me closer to him before he looked back at Parker.

"Roe threatened to castrate you if you don't show your face to her today."

Parker groaned.

"Such awful news at this time of the day isn't good for my mental health, Cole."

Hunter shrugged.

"She's at the garden right now with Connor. They were sitting pretty close to each other when I saw them."

Parker abruptly stood up.

"What?!" he exclaimed.

Hunter ignored his question and simply dragged me away from him and the magical cupboard.

"Get your shit together, Fray." He said without looking back at him.

I glanced back at Parker and saw him clenching his jaw, looking really pissed off.

"Why do I feel like Parker is in love with Roe despite everything he said?" I murmured.

Hunter pulled me inside an empty room. He came in and stood in front of me, eyeing me intently with those unique eyes of him. I suddenly remembered who he was with the whole day and the annoyance I felt came back in full force.

"Done teaching Rachel some lessons?" I asked bitterly.

"Done getting all up close and personal with Parker?" he shot back.

I blew out a breathy laugh.

"At least I wasn't fraternizing with the enemy." I was sure I was pouting but I couldn't help it. How dare he get mad at me for hanging out in a cupboard with Parker when he was the one there who didn't show his face to me the whole day because he was helping Rachel with God knows what! He was pissing me off big time!

Hunter raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. Instead, he crossed the small distance between us, and gently pushed me towards the close door so my back was leaning on it.

"I have a question." He said as he placed his hands on my waist, his thumb gently brushing the exposed small strip of skin between my shirt and jeans.

"Y-yeah?" I asked, feeling my body shuddered as I felt his thumbs rubbed dizzying circles on my waist. His hands pushed up my shirt just the slightest bit and his expert fingers skimmed the sensitive skin making me feel like I drank a bottle of Tabasco sauce. Shivers after shivers passed through my body as his fingers never stopped their teasing movements.

He leaned into me and placed his lips next to my ear.

"Are you jealous?" he murmured huskily.

Was I jealous?

He lightly nibbled at my ear and I couldn't help the involuntary gasp that came out of my mouth. My whole system was in red alert but I was too dazed to give it a thought. I could feel his warm, minty breath all over my face, and his eyes were sending waves of heat down the pit of my stomach.

Oh, dear lord. Help my poor, tortured soul.

"I-I'm not jealous." I managed to croak out.

Hunter smiled as if he was enjoying a private joke.

"You're a bad liar, Skylar."

And there he was again, looking at me as if he'd known me his entire life. I wanted to discover the reason behind his half smiles, I wanted be a part of the inside jokes, I wanted to know him, really know him.

"Tell me your secret." I almost begged.

A finger placed beneath my chin tilted my head up so I was looking at him straight in the eyes.

"Why? Are you now ready for a kiss?" he asked.

Holy Guacamole.

***

A/N:

Any thoughts about the story so far?