I was at my locker, still trying to process things when a certain tall blonde came up to me.

"Okay. Tell me exactly what happened," Riley said, leaning up against the lockers beside mine.

I looked up at him, taking in his expression. He looked angry, but I couldn't tell if he was angry at me, or just frustrated that Drew got suspended.

"If you're here to yell at me, then go away," I muttered, closing my locker and heading to second period.

He probably wasn't expecting my cold response, but I was on edge and couldn't filter my attitude.

"I'm not gonna yell at you," Riley said with a sigh, running his hand through his hair as he walked with me to my next class.

"Okay, good," I sighed, letting my guard down. "What do you want to know?"

I figured, if anyone deserved to know what happened, it was Riley. He already helped me out two different times, and that was all on my first day. All the other nosey kids could take their questions and stick 'em where the sun didn't shine, but I'd do my best to answer his.

"People are saying Drew got into some fight with a junior. Is that true?"

"Yeah, it is," I answered, void of any emotion.

"Well, who is he? I heard someone say it was a fight for your honor? Does that mean the guy was your boyfriend or something?" he asked, bending down to my height as he looked me in the eyes.

He looked serious, but I couldn't keep from making a disgusted face at him.

"Gross! No! Paully is my step-brother," I stressed, making sure that point was very clear.

"Ah, that makes sense. The other new kid would be related to you. At least I know why he hates Drew, too."

"First of all, Paully is a Castrano. I am a Drake. We don't share the same blood, so we're barely related," I started saying as he listened attentively, holding his chin with his hand.

"Second of all, Paully wouldn't hate Drew just because I did; which I don't. I strongly dislike him, but I don't hate him."

"Well, you shouldn't. He's actually a good guy."

That stopped me dead in my tracks. A good guy? Ha, yeah right. I just met the guy, but even I can tell that's not likely.

"Riley, I literally witnessed him pounce on a sophmore and beat his face into the ground. That doesn't sound like a nice guy to me."

"Yeah, well you don't know him. He could have had a very good reason to do that."

Once again, I was confused on how I felt about this potential friendship with Riley. He was super outgoing and friendly, and I felt really comfortable around him. He was currently my favorite company here, although it was only my second day.

Plus, it was obvious he and Drew are best friends. Just yesterday, in class, I could tell there was a serious bromance that'd been going on for years between them. So, if I wanted to be friends with Riley, it'd be inevitable that I would see Drew more often than I would without Riley as a friend.

"How long have you known him?" I asking, no longer wanting to focus on my thoughts.

"Drew?" he asked with a smile. "Man, I've known that guy since second grade."

Yup, that could be a problem.

Seeing I had no further interest in knowing more about his friendship with Drew, Riley went back to questioning me.

"Well, now that I know it's not Paully, I'm curious. Do you have a boyfriend?"

"What does that have to do with Drew and the fight?" I snapped.

I didn't really mean to be so sharp with him, but just hearing the word "boyfriend" made me think of Ryan and Kennedy. I had zero closure for that wound and it was a fresh one.

"Sorry," I apologized before he could respond. "And no, I don't have a boyfriend."

I looked away from him so he couldn't see the change of emotion on my face. Telling a stranger how I felt about my fresh break up and betrayal, despite how cute and friendly he was, was not something I wanted to do.

"Good. That's one less guy for Drew to piss off and get in a fist fight with when he bothers you again," he joked, winking at me.

I must have a better stone-face than I give myself credit for.

"Fingers crossed," I said, putting in effort to show that I was only slightly amused at his comment.

When I got to second period, with help from Riley, I waved him goodbye and went in.

"See you later, Natalie!" he yelled into the classroom, cupping his hands around his mouth.

When I looked at my teacher, another overweight balding guy, he was thoroughly displeased, but his eyes were on me. How is this my fault!?

"Riley, get out of here," I said, shooing him away in a whispered yell.

He did as I said, but not before dazzling the whole girl population in the room with a killer smile. Well, every girl but me; although I was still able to semi-appreciate his cuteness. I just was not in the mental space to entertain his light flirting today. At least, I thought he was flirting. I could've been wrong.

Anyway, I needed a couple of days without boy drama. I hated admitting that it was because of Ryan, but I thought I meant more to him. Hearing how he moved on with my best friend (EX best friend) was hard. But, at least I had the rest of the week without having to see Drew's face. Suddenly his suspension seemed like a gift from God.

That period I had Computer Art/Digital Studios, which basically meant the teacher gave us a project that we worked on for like a month, while he waited to judge them.

Mr. Chester assigned us a topic for a promotional ad that we had to make to raise awareness on and mine was "Homelessness". Some people were making pamphelets, others were making websites, but I settled on making a short film. I'd need to find actors, but it would give me an opportunity to meet more people.

Not long after being released to work independently, a few guys came up to me.

"Hey, you're Natalie Drake, right?" one of them asked. He was chewing his gum grossly in my face; at least it was spearmint, my favorite.

"Yeah," I sighed, not bothering to look up from my computer. I already knew what they were going to ask.

"We heard you got in a fight this morning with Andrew Collins. They say you gave him a black eye. That true?" the other chimed in.

Seriously, who comes up with these rumors?

"No, it's not," I said, but they were oblivious to my annoyed undertones.

"Dude, of course she didn't. She's too small to reach his face. I mean, just look at her."

He had a point.

"I am, man. Trust me," the one with gum smirked, shamelessly checking me out.

Ew. Just the look on his face made me feel dirty.

"Will you just leave me alone? I'm trying to work," I said as nicely as I could.

"Mmhmm, but can I get your-"

"Oh my God! She said to leave her alone! What part of that did you misunderstand?!"

I was surprised, but also grateful that the girl beside me said something. Honestly, did the guys around here get away with everything? I mean, Mr. Chester was there the whole time, and he didn't even bother to tell them to go back to their seats.

"Whatever, Kimi," he muttered as he and his friend walk away, but not before he gave me a clumsy wink. It looked more like a mix of a sneeze and a blink; definitely not the sexy wink he was going for.

"Thanks," I said, giving her a grateful smile.

"No problem. Jack hits on every girl that hasn't already turned him down. Hopefully he won't bother you again."

"Yeah, hopefully."

The rest of class we focused on our work, chatting in between. I learned her name was Kimi Jang and that she planned on being a journalist. I also learned that she was Korean, but grew up in Texas.

She was adorably small, about two inches shorter than me. Her hair was a deep reddish-brown, but her roots showed that her hair was naturally black. I also learned that she disliked Drew as much as me, if not more; although her reason dated back way farther than mine. She promised to tell me the story later, putting her number in my phone.

She even added a picture, joking that she didn't want me to forget who she was. I doubt I could, I freakin' loved this girl. She was the type of person I would gravitate to for a best friend, although I was still willing to give Lauren a chance.

When the bell rung, we said goodbye and I headed to my locker to put some stuff up. Waiting for me was the familiar blonde I warmed up to. When he spotted me coming, he smiled and waved. I'll be honest, it made me feel good, but strictly in a friend-way. I already told myself, NO BOY DRAMA right now.

"You're eating lunch with me today," Riley stated, very matter of factly, when I reached him.

"I can't. I'm already eating lunch with Lauren," I said as I put my stuff up in my locker.

Now I was actually grateful she asked me to sit with her yesterday; it gave me a valid reason to turn him down.

"But you have to! You already know that Drew got suspended, and Jayden is eating with his girlfriend today. Please don't make me eat alone," he pleaded, sticking his bottom lip out like a five year old.

"Oh, shut up. You could ask any girl here to eat lunch with you and she would say yes," I teased.

"Every girl except you," he sighed as he leaned back on the locker next to mine.

His blonde curls spilled over and onto his face as he looked down at me.

"I guess I'm the exception."

A small frown grew on his face as he thought. It was funny, I don't even think he knew it was there.

"I know! I'll just sit with you guys! Problem solved. And I'm sure Jayden will be happy to have some extra testosterone at that table."

He was beaming, clearly proud of his smart thinking, although I thought it was a pretty obvious solution.

"Whatever makes you happy," I laughed, rolling my eyes playfully.

When we got to the cafeteria, I literally felt like a sardine in a can. It was packed. I didn't even know where to go to get food or where to look to find Lauren.

"Where's the lunch line?" I asked, getting on my tippy toes to try and see over the many people rushing by.

Noticing my confusion, Riley placed his hand on my shoulder. I could tell he was amused because of the dumb smirk he tried to hide.

"Follow me," he instructed, leading me towards a crowd of people.

When he stopped walking, I could see a sign that read, "LINE STARTS HERE".

"This blob of people is the line?! How was anyone supposed to know that?!"

He just smiled, soaking in my expression. Well, I was glad I was able to entertain him.

(If you've paid attention, you'd notice I use sarcasm a lot.)

When we got our food, I followed closely behind Riley to Lauren's table.

"Nat! Hey!" she squealed when she saw me.

I noticed the handsome guy sitting beside her kind of cooing her to calm down.

I could see why she was so lovestruck when she talked about him yesterday. He looked biracial, probably African American and Caucasian, and he wore his hair shaved down on the sides with a little left on top.

When we got to the table, Lauren insisted I sit in front of her, and Riley helped himself to the seat beside me.

"Hey. I'm Jayden," he said, giving me a nod. I noticed right away how bright of a hazel his eyes were against his brown skin.

"Natalie," I replied with a smile.

"Oh, I know. Riley told me all about you," he added, a chuckle coming out at the end.

I looked at Riley inquisitively. He was just about to take a bite of his taco when he noticed.

"What? I had to tell him who pitched the gritball that pissed Drew off. He certainly wasn't going to admit it was you."

Well, that made sense.

"From what he said, you should try out for the softball team. They are in desperate need of a new pitcher. The girl they have sucks," Jayden mentioned passionately. I definitely just found the jock of the group.

"Yeah, Short-stop. You should. You'd be great."

I sent Riley a glare for his dumb "short joke" before responding to Jayden.

"Nah. I'm more of a swimmer. I competed back in New Jersey, although I had to beg my coach to let me try out."

"Why would you have to do that?" Lauren asked, finally adding to the conversation.

"He thought I was too short to be any real competition," I shrugged.

"And were you any good?" Riley pressed, raising and eyebrow.

"One of the best in the region," I admitted proudly.

They probably assumed it was because I won a lot of races that I was smiling the way I was...but that was not the main reason. When I swam, I felt connected to her.

"You should totally try out for the swim team, then!" Lauren exclaimed.

"I don't know..."

"You should. It would give Riley a valid reason to go, instead of just going to check out the girls in their swimsuits," Jayden added, shooting Riley a teasing look.

"Pft, I do not go there for that," Riley retorted as nonchalantly as possible, but I could see him blushing.

"Awe, it's okay, Riley. We all have things we're not proud of," I said through giggles.

The rest of the table joined me in laughs, while Riley continued to protest.

"Can I just eat my tacos in peace, please?!" Riley whined, wanting the attention off him. I couldn't help but smile. It was funny seeing him so uncomfortable.

After a few more minutes, Lauren was about to start a new conversation topic when I heard a voice speak up from behind me.

"So, you're Natalie."

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