Three years later - September 2010

Sophomore year

Cam's POV

The first day of school always sucks. At least I get to see my friends.

"Camdyn, time to go or you will miss your bus to school!!" My father screams from downstairs in the kitchen.

Let me guess - Tosca probably told on me to dad. She is so annoying. And, she wonders why I tease her. After grabbing my school bag, I made my way downstairs to get something quick to eat.

As soon as I entered, Tosca stuck her tongue out at me. I almost grabbed it to yank it out of her mouth, but I was caught.

"Camdyn Alessandro Calabro, I better not ever see you doing that again!" This time my mother yelled.

"But mom, she...." I was about to say but didn't get to finish.

"Tosca Alessandra Calabro, stop provoking your brother! Now, the both of you get out of here before you miss the bus." I'm sure you all, meaning the readers, are laughing because we have the same middle name, except Tosca's ends with 'a.'

We simultaneously said, "Yes ma'am." Then, we made our way outside to wait for the bus. We have the same group of friends. We are considered both 'popular' kids. They say popular kids only hang with popular kids. But, I am the opposite. I speak to everyone because that is how our parents raised us.

Our school bus, or as kids call it "cheese bus" comes at 7:45 am. And, we see it coming around the corner. We were fortunate because it stopped right in front of our house.

Once we boarded the bus, Tosca sat with the girls and I sat with the guys.

"Hey everybody, I hear Cocoa is back in town after being away for three years. I hope she is going to Oak Park." Tosca's friend, Mercedes says.

"I wonder what happened to her? And, I hope she goes to Oak Park too. Our group will be back together." Says a cheerful Kalyani.

I turned on some music from my Google playlist on my phone after they said that. Not a phone call, text, email or anything from Cocoa. Am I supposed to welcome her back with open arms? Not likely. I assumed she lost interest in me, so I started liking someone else. Her name is Bianca and I can't wait to see her. One face I hope I don't see is Channing. How he gets to be the starting quarterback of the football team is beyond me.

The bus made several more stops until we reached our school - Oak Park High. I can't wait to get out of there and move on to college. I started out as a slacker. But, my father pointed out to me, "If your grades do not improve this year, no sports, no driving lessons, and especially no Bianca."

My father is no joke. He is one of the best ER physicians in the country. He definitely got good grades throughout his school years, so he wants the same for us. And let's not forget my mom, she is one of the best lawyers there is.

"Yo Cam, look who is waiting for you to get off the bus?" Chen chuckles out as the others laugh with him as well.

"Ha! Ha! Let's not start the year by making fun of me."

As soon as the bus stopped at the school, everyone got off and headed inside. After getting off the bus, I walked over to Bianca. Tosca and the girls don't like her. Neither do the guys like her. I can't understand why though.

"Hey there, handsome." I gave Bianca a hug, and we walked hand in hand in the school. "I hear we have a new student coming today. I hear she is pretty. But, I'm sure she is not as pretty as me." She says as we enter the school building.

"What class do you have first?" Bianca looked at her schedule. "I have English with Mrs. Watson. The classroom is on the second floor."

So, that is where we headed. After walking Bianca to her class, I went to the third floor for math class. I need to take math class more seriously if I want to stay on course to become an architect. I at least saw one of my friends in the same class. And, ugh Tosca and Channing have the same class as me. This is going to be one, long school year.

Cocoa's POV

I wonder if any of my friends go to this school? And, I'm pretty sure Camdyn has moved on to someone else. But, I still need to tell everyone why we suddenly left. Thankfully, my grandmother is no longer sick.

I took out my schedule to see which class I am in. "Hmm, I have math class first." The classroom is on the third floor, so I better get moving. The second school bell just rang.

Dang, I am going to be a few minutes late to class. Well, at least I will know which way to come tomorrow.

I knocked on the classroom door. Then, I opened the door.

I looked at the teacher. "I apologize for being late to class. This is my first year here."

"That's okay. Have a seat. I was just about to take roll call for the class."

I scanned the room for available seats. I heard a few throats clearing like they were saying, "Sit next to me." Somebody even whistled. Yes! I saw Tosca and there was an empty seat right next to her. As I walked to the seat, I saw that Camdyn was sitting near her. He is even more handsome than before. I just smiled, but he looked upset. The guy sitting near him winked at me, but I don't know who he is.

Tosca and I gave each other a quick hug, then the teacher proceeded to call each student's name.

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I didn't see Tosca for the rest of the morning. The next time I saw Tosca, she was about to enter the lunch room. "Tosca! Wait up!" She heard me because she stopped and waited.

"I'm so sorry about the way I left three years ago. I'll explain once we get a table."

"I know it had to be something serious. Don't worry, Cocoa. The girls are going to be glad to see you back. We all go to this school. And, I can tell you who to avoid, such as the tramp that Cam talks to. But, who cares about him? Let's get our lunch and chat."

We entered the cafeteria and headed straight over to the line to choose what we want.

"You are going to like the lunches here, Cocoa. Our group always sits outside." We made our way down the line. I just got a chicken salad sandwich, potato chips, small fruit salad, and a bottle of water. Once we were done, we walked outside.

I followed Tosca as we walked to meet the girls. As soon as we walked up to the table, I set my tray down and gave the girls a hug.

"Cocoa! We missed you! How are you doing?' Li Ming and Mercedes excitedly say simultaneously.

"I missed you guys too. I'll tell you what happened." We all took a seat and I began to explain why we suddenly left.

"Three years ago, around 2:00 am, Lalita came running in my room and told me that my grandma was extremely ill. She could have died. I had to get up, get showered and dressed because we were leaving immediately. I was the last one to get ready, so I had to make sure I locked the front door of the house and then got in the car. While we were on the way to the airport, I realized that I forgot my phone and purse. My dad said we didn't have time to go back. Our flight to North Carolina was leaving within an hour. The town where my grandma lives is small, so I wouldn't have been able to get cell service anyway. We was fortunate we was able to watch television. We couldn't get on the internet either. My grandmother's health has improved greatly, so we moved her up here to Maryland this year. I had no way of contacting you guys. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize. Your grandma's health was more important. We are just happy that you are back and that your grandma is feeling better. Looks like Channing is coming this way. I saw him wink at you, Cocoa in math class. He's the star quarterback of the football team. Channing and Cam are rivals, even though they are in the same school. Go figure. I think Cam is jealous of Channing." Tosca mentions to me.

"Channing and Cam are the two guys that all the girls want to date. Cam, unfortunately, likes the school witch, Bianca. She is nasty and I can't stand her. Surprisingly, she doesn't have a group of minions stalking behind her. But, she is trying to recruit girls. She is truly pathetic. When she is around Cam, she pretends to be an angel. She is as phony as they come. And, she was the head cheerleader last year." Mercedes says with a scowl on face.

Sure enough, that Channing fellow sat right next to me.

"Cocoa, is it? Welcome to Oak Park. I didn't see you last year. Are you new?"

"I am not new to Maryland - born and raised here. But, I was in North Carolina for the past three years. But, I am new to the school. And, thank you." Out of the corner of my eye, every girl that was sitting outside was looking our way. Okay, I have to admit this guy is hot. But, I am going to make him work to ask me out.

"Listen Cocoa, I am not one to beat around the bush. How about you and me at the movies this Saturday?"

I turned around to face him and said, "Listen, Channing, I will admit that you are hot, but I am not one of the types of girls that fall at a guys' feet like most of the girls that are currently looking this way." They suddenly went back to eating their lunch.

"Well if not this Saturday, how about next Saturday?" He says as he puts his arm around me.

I politely took his arm off of me. "How about no? First of all, you would need to get past my dad. Good luck with that one. My dad is no joke - Richard Baker. Second, what makes you think I would go out on a date with you anyway?"

His mouth was wide open. "Your dad is Richard Baker - star quarterback of Oak Park back in the day? No way! To answer the second question, your pretty and I am hot, your words not mine."

"Conceited much? How about no to this Saturday and no to next Saturday?"

"Playing hard to get? I am going to bug you until you say yes to a date with me. I guarantee it." He wrapped his arm around me again, and I politely took it off.

"No, it is called making you work for it. That star quarterback stuff may work on other girls, but not for me."

"You're feisty. I like that." Channing says with a goofy grin on his face.

I continued eating my sandwich, which was quite tasty like Tosca said.

"Here comes Tosca's boy toy, along with Dior, Leighton, Chen, Benicio, Cam and the witch, Bianca." Mercedes grumbles when she says the last part.

"If she starts something, I am going to finish it." It is clearly obvious that Tosca does not like this girl. I remember Chen, but not the rest of the guys. He sat next to Tosca. The other guys sat next to the girls.

"Hey guys, remember my friend I told you about? Cocoa next to Kay is Leighton. Next to Mercedes is Dior. And, next to Li Ming is Benicio. Cocoa had a family emergency in North Carolina and now she is back with us." Tosca mentioned to the guys.

"It is nice to meet you, Cocoa. And, let me guess - Channing here has asked you out on a date already." Leighton says and everyone chuckles.

"Hey, and what is wrong with that? She is very pretty." Channing retorts to the group.

After side-eyeing Channing, "Yeah he has, but I told him he is going to have to work for a date with me. Plus, my dad is Richard Baker."

Their eyes went wide when I said that. "Woah, he is your dad?!"

As Cam and the witch, I mean Bianca approached the table his smile changed to a scowl. And, what comes out of his mouth had everyone shocked.

"What is she doing here?!!!! She can't sit at our table!"

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Thank you for reading chapter 1.

Outdoor high school dining area courtesy of Can Stock Photos - © Can Stock Photo / dosecreative

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