His horror was understandable. We were only fifteen—perhaps too young and inexperienced to deal with such a serious matter. If I had told an adult about it, I would've probably been snorted at and been told that it was just a feeling that sprung from naivety. The love that seemed like the fairy tales we're told. One that wouldn't last long.

But what I felt towards Autumn wasn't like that at all.

I had no other words for this euphoric feeling other than love. I knew—I was positive it was what I felt, my entire being devoid of any shadow of doubt. There was no explanation to it. Nothing I could logically fathom.

Now the cheesy songs on the radio and Ryan's compositions for his crush started talking to me. As an old-school punk rock music kid, I always lived and breathed in songs about teenage rebellion and breaking societal norms, but one day I just found out that those sentimental lines from Drake's songs made sense, and now I found myself thinking about Autumn far too much every single day.

It was dangerous sometimes.

"You've been acting strange lately."

My stupor broke in a blink of an eye, but it took me a few seconds to restore my awareness of my surrounding. I was in the school's courtyard hanging out with my former band mates. Nate, Clint, and their new recruit Rose were gathered around a table while Michael and I were leaning our backs against a railing. Michael was giving me a curious look, and I shook my head.

"It's nothing, Mike. Just ignore me."

"It's too strange to be ignored, Finn. Never seen you so preoccupied before." He paused. "Who is she?"

"What?" I chuckled, trying to play it cool. "Who said anything about a girl?"

"It's always about a girl," he stated confidently.

I couldn't disagree further. This guy could see right through anyone as if they were just a well-scrubbed windowpane. I rubbed my face with my hand and grinned stupidly. "Okay, you got me. I've got a girl on my mind."

"Is she your girlfriend?"

God I wish. "No, she's..."

I trailed off as my attention was drawn to Autumn's incoming presence. There she was, looking radiant as ever. She was clutching a book to her chest, and her face held only a blank expression. I was expecting her to notice me but she was staring off into space. It appeared that her mind was once again off to somewhere else. The moment felt like a scene from the movies in which everything would move in slow motion once the love interest of the protagonist was introduced.

Still looking at the source of my happiness, I nudged Michael, pointed my finger at her, and said to him, "Do you see that girl with a bright red hair? One day she's going to be mine."

Michael's eyes followed her until she entered the building. Then he turned back to me and smiled like the proud older brother I considered him to be.

"She seems great," he said.

I told him about her because I trusted him. I thought there would be no harm if I did. Looking back now, I wish I knew better. At the time, however, I was too elated to really care about anything outside my bubble of interest. The belief that she would be mine was so strong that I probably could've shouted it to the world if I didn't have one big concern.

While I longed for her to feel the same way I did, I never acted upon my feelings. Many times had I thought of doing so, to march up to her and be forthright, but I just couldn't do it. Rich, handsome, popular, I thought the world was at my feet... but when with her, that overconfidence flew out of the window and I shrunk into nothing but a helpless boy who could only wish that his heartbeats were loud enough to convey his feelings to the girl, so he wouldn't have to talk.

Day after day, month after month, ninth grade ended and I hadn't been able to do anything but admire her in silence. Most of the summer days were spent wondering what she might be doing. And some days were spent cursing at myself for not having the balls to ask for her number. 

Things began to take a turn when school started up again in the fall. It was shaping up to be the highlight of my youth, and it all started when Lance developed a crush on a certain girl.

"Dude, I swear she gets hotter and hotter every day," he said one morning, nudging me vehemently as if I was about to miss a world-changing event.

I followed his gaze and upon seeing the source of his captivation, I rolled my eyes. Sunny was walking ahead of us; her dark hair that was pulled up in a neat ponytail was swinging smoothly like in shampoos commercials.

Sunny was easily one of the prettiest girls in our grade, but it wasn't her looks that attracted guys the most. It was her attitude, the way she carried herself. She was frisky and chill about anything, always carrying a bright smile. Her playfulness was infectious, which made her as the kind of girl that an unpopular guy could fool himself into thinking he could score with.

"Hey, Sunny!" Lance called her.

As she turned her head and saw that he was checking her out, the carefree look on her face was suddenly replaced by a look of repulsion. She gave him a hard, cold glare—a warning that he'd better stop staring—before she turned away and walked faster.

Lance displayed a smug smile and said, "I think she's into me."

I snorted in amusement, knowing his chances with her were practically nonexistent. And it wasn't because he had a reputation of not taking a bath for three straight days because he was that damn lazy and she found him disgusting for it, but because Sunny was very unattainable. She snubbed all the guys that came to her—even the most respectable ones—even before they could attempt to woo her.

"Right. I could tell from the way she scowled at you."

"Hey, hey, listen here, son." Lance draped his arm over my shoulder and waved his hand as if he was about to lay down some noble, philosophical speech. "Women are the most confusing species on the planet, okay? They act like they hate you but secretly they want you to chase them. Sunny's may be cold and harsh with me right now but I know for sure she's gonna warm up over time."

"Oh yeah? Prove it," I challenged him.

He pulled his arm away and rubbed his chin in contemplation. "I'm planning to do some appropriate physical contact like standing or sitting next to her and see how she'll respond."

I laughed. "Good luck with that."

"At least I'm willing to try," he returned with a smirk. "Unlike someone I know who chickens out on asking a particular redhead for a date."

I knocked him at the back of the head, and he broke into a loud chuckle.

Later that day during gym class, he told me about his plan of getting close to the unattainable girl. As I listened to him, I wondered if his head had been hit by a basketball multiple times. Autumn and Sunny were lab partners in Biology class, and he wanted us to switch partners with them, which we were prohibited from doing so. Mr. Brook had implemented the rule on the first day of class.

"I know, man. I know. But we're not gonna ask him to make us switch partners. We're gonna force him."

I stopped dribbling the ball and narrowed my eyes at him. "Force? By how?"

"Pissing him off."

Shaking my head, I dribbled again and aimed for a three-pointer. The ball hit the inner rim and bounced back out. I played good in soccer, but basketball? Average. Despite having the speed.

Lance chased the ball and passed it back to me. "So what do ya think?"

"You and your dumbass ideas, Lance." I was beginning to be convinced that he and my cousin shared the same brain. "Are you serious about that?"

"Fuck yeah, I am." He grinned. "I know it sounds nuts, but that's the only way we have to get to sit next to the girls of our dreams."

I scrunched up my nose. What crap had he eaten for breakfast to make him say that Sunny was now the girl of his dreams? "Are you sure it's gonna work?"

"Absolutely. Jessica said that Mr. Brook did it last year with a pair who was planning to blow up the lab in the middle of an experiment."

I didn't know who the hell Jessica was. Probably some girl he also tried to have a chance with but failed. Him bringing up a random name like that multiplied my skepticism. "But there are 36 of us in the class, man." I dribbled and shot. "It sounds unlikely that Mr. Brook will pick them to switch with us." The ball bounced off the rim again.

He retrieved it and replied matter-of-factly, "Oh, he definitely will. They have the top grades in the class and we... well, we just have to admit that we are dead last. He's gonna do it to balance the pairs. You get me?"

I shook my head. "Seems risky, man. That's gonna send us to detention."

"Dude, the detention room is basically your second home!" He guffawed. "Jeez. Man the fuck up, Finn, and take some risk to get the girl you want. Don't wait till you get old and life has passed you by. Otherwise you will have wished you weren't a pussy."

I was about to retort when he suddenly drove toward the basket, jumped high into the air, and slammed the ball down through the hoop. Then he threw his arms out in an arrogant worship-me pose, and I hung my head down in defeat.

Damn it. He had a point.

***

i rewrote this chapter several times over because my ideas were all over the place. i'll fix everything once i'm done with this. anyway, i have to inform you that this spin-off will be following the original draft of twiwb. there will a big-ass difference between the book version and the wattpad version (you'll see it once the book is out). don't worry, i have made sure that the plot remains the same :)