Chapter 3: Tara's Arrival

Ever since the minute he leaves Tara at her class; Cory can't get that first image of her out of his mind as he sits through his next class.

Damn, she's really pretty, and she was flirty. Hey, wait, what if she's like that with other guys too? Ugh, great, now I'm back to another Vanessa situation. Lowering his head, he sees a note sitting on his desk.

Rotating his eyes over, he sees Rick motioning slightly to open the note he tossed. "Open it," he mouths, wanting Cory to hurry up while the teacher writes notes on the board.

Hey, so how bad is that girl you had to show around school? I've heard both sides—that she is smoking hot and that she's ugly as hell. So which is it? Also, you ain't stopped smiling since you got in here, so what's up?

After he flattens out the note to hide it from the teacher, Cory quickly jots down why he seems so chipper. She's beautiful, man. Long brown hair and tan. Funny. She seems smart, and just wow! I have her number on my hand, so when we get out of here, I plan on asking her out. He folds the note back up and heaves it through the air as Rick snatches it seconds before the teacher turns around.

Rick barely gets his hand down before the teacher sees him. Both boys sigh a bit of relief as they keep their eyes forward to avoid having their note read out loud for the entire class to hear, as the teacher imitates their voices mockingly for entertainment purposes.

When the chance to finally unfold the note to see his boy's response about the new girl. Rick is taken by surprise when he looks over to Cory, nodding his head just before they both close their books and binders, waiting for the bell to ring.

Once the sound of freedom dings, the fellas head to the lunchroom.

"So I have an idea, my brother of another mother. Let's find this girl, or hell use the school's payphone to call her and leave a message, giving her your number. Then ask her out on a double date with me and my girl."

Cory is about to take up Rick's idea when they enter the game room, where they see Tara getting hit on by a tall but kind of chubby male, brushing his ear-length long black hair back out of his eyes.

"Yo, Lloyd, back off. That's Cory's woman!" Rick yells to their friend. They both begin to laugh when Rick and Cory come strutting over.

"Hi, I'm Tara, and who might you be?" she asks, extending her hand out to Rick.

"I just might happen to be Rick, the eyes and ears of all that is RiverCreek. Wow, what an accent. But your beauty makes that Southern sweetness complete. My boy was right. You are a sight to behold."

Blushing and hunkering her head down, all Tara can manage to squeak out is "Thank you," enjoying the attention.

"Excuse me!" Rick hears coming up from behind him.

"Sorry, honey. I was just trying to be nice. You know how I am, and Cory's into her."

"He best be, or else you ain't walking out of here with your balls intact," a female voice calls out.

Rick goes wide-eyed, covering his genitals, turning around to face his girl. She's standing there with her hands on her wide hips and head cocked slightly sideways. She might be short, but everyone knows her attitude is nothing compared to her temper when it blows.

"It's true, Kayla. He's into her. In fact, it was my idea to see if you wanted to double date with them this weekend, if she's interested," Rick babbles to save his ass.

Cory immediately blushes a right shade of red when Tara looks over at him, hiding her playfulness.

"Really ... I'm the new girl in town, and you think you can get with me just like that?"

Cory picks up the hint that he's about to get shot down when Lloyd takes up for him.

"Hey, give 'em a break. He's a good guy. I say do it, let him show you around and maybe go watch him play on the ice," Lloyd says, then adds, boosting the bass in his voice, "He should be captain, but the preps around here control all that with Mommy and Daddy's donations to the school."

Everyone agrees to that statement, but the subject quickly swings back to Cory and Tara.

"So what ya say, Tara? Give him a chance." She places her hand under her chin, pretending that she's thinking it over.

"Well, you've talked him up since I mentioned him in class. I guess I could do Mr. Shy Bones here a favor and say yes."

Cory makes a huffing noise, standing there in the middle of everyone.

"Well, then, I guess it's a date," Rick teases, slapping Cory on the back, then walks away with Kayla stepping in line for lunch.

"C'mon, you two love birds, let's get something to choke on," Lloyd comments, tugging on Cory's shirt.

Cory follows closely behind Tara to the end of the line and watches her ass wiggle along the way.

"Like it?" She mentions, letting him know she was doing it intentionally.

"Yup. So how were your first two classes?"

"Really! I'm here flirting and hitting on you, and all you can do is ask about my classes. Well, I guess it's better than most other guys. They was fine, I guess. I have American History next with a Mr. Desmond."

Cory's luck kicks in when he speaks up. "As do I. So I guess you can sit next to me, since I am one of the smartest kids in school."

That causes the entire group to laugh as they look back at them.

"You're sweet, Core, but c'mon. Don't be the geek you usually are. I mean, she is pretty and so much nicer than that bitch Vanessa," Kayla mentions, looking over her shoulder.

Caught off guard, it grabs Tara's attention when she asks, "Who's that?"

Kayla motions for her to come to her as they engage in girl talk while the line continues to move slowly.

"Yo, man, looks like you got the hookup and, you're welcome, by the way," Rick tells him, smiling, glad to see his boy out of the funk he was in over the Thanksgiving Break.

Lloyd takes his turn helping to assist Cory to get out of his shyness, which is a first for them to witness.

"Yeah, bro man. All she's done is talk about you since Home Ec. She's into you and loves the fact you're not a typical football or basketball jock."

Tara covers her mouth when Kayla brings her up to speed about how Vanessa has treated Cory and all the times she's cheated on him. "What a slut!" she barks out. Unfortunately, a teacher passing by overhears the insult.

"Excuse me, young lady. There is no need for such foul language around here. Give me your name. I'll have an incident report sent to your principal this afternoon.

"Tara Rose, ma'am, and I am sorry."

The teacher notices her thick accent.

"You're not from around here, are you?"

"No, ma'am. It's my first day."

Feeling pity for the new girl, the teacher let's her off with a warning. "Well, I'll let it slide, but just this time. Next time it's an incident report, but welcome to RiverCreek High."

A grateful Tara dips her head. "Thank you, ma'am." The teacher begins to walk away as Tara looks horrified at being overheard so easily.

"Wow, you really are a spitfire. I like her! Cory, you're keeping this one. I like making new friends."

Cory responds in a sarcastic tone, causing the guys to laugh at his mockery, "You got it, girlfriend!"

"Say that one more time and you won't go home as a mister." Cory backs away, holding his hands up, still chuckling.

"C'mon, girl. You're with me for now. You can deal with his goofy butt in class." The girls turn around, ignoring the boys as they take their food from their grip and walk out of the game room.

The guys search for a table near the back of the room, where the sun is reflecting off the snow covering the ground.

"She seems really nice, bro-man. Like, f'real. And she is hot," Lloyd says after tearing into his soggy school pizza.

"Yeah, homie. Do what me and Kay are doing and go slow. I mean, we tease and whatnot, but ya know we don't wanna screw this up."

The boys laugh as they wait for Cory to say something.

In a single deep breath, Cory reveals something. "Yeah, the instant I looked her in the eyes, I forgot about Vanessa, and she is just ... wow. I'm thinking Friday night should work since I have a game on Saturday at one."

"Cool. Tell ya what. Let's make an evening of it. Dinner, movie, and hey, if you wanna impress her, then show up with something sweet," Rick says, thrilled to see the way his best friend glows in delight.

Cory looks over to Lloyd and asks him if he's coming with his own date. "So you think you and 'George' are gonna be brave enough to come out and join us?"

Lloyd sighs, rolling his eyes. "He's still afraid to come out and admit he's gay. I mean, we've all known this about me since, what, sixth grade or so? But he doesn't want to hurt his parents' feelings. I doubt he'll come along, but, yeah, I'll be there as a wingman for sure. I got your back, Cold Core."

Before anything else can be suggested the bell chimes for the next group of students to come to lunch. Kayla escorts Tara back to the edge of the game room where they wait for the boys to walk together. They break away when they head toward their next class.

The last two to walk to class are Tara and Cory, still feeling out of place, not knowing what to say.

Cory takes any chance he can to get a glance at Tara. She sees him and smiles each time she notices him looking over at her. When she brushes her hair back behind her ear, she slowly takes her hand and plays with Cory's hand, teasing him to take hers.

"So does this mean we're a thing for sure?" Cory asks, taking her hand and interlocking their fingers.

"Guess so, cutie." They stop and smile at each other for a moment.

The moment continues to build, and they're feeling the connection of wanting to kiss. Cory keeps in mind what Rick has suggested and turns his head, pointing with his free hand to their classroom a few doors away.

"There's our class. C'mon, let's find a seat close together." Tara feels a little shunned, huffing as Cory leads her to the classroom.

Walking into the room, they're greeted by stares from Frankie and his friend Kevin.

"She's cute," Kevin whispers when he notices the couple letting go of each other's hand, taking a seat near the door.

Kevin gets up, walking in front of Tara. She looks up to see an extremely skinny, short-haired boy looking down at her with intensely with his olive-green eyes.

"Can I help you?" she snarls, leaning back in her seat.

"Yeah, you and me, tonight, my place, alone," Kevin suggests, placing his hands on the corners of her desk, leaning in with a kiss gesture on his lips.

"Ugh, as if, bean pole. Get lost!" she replies, shoving her hand into his face, sending a quick wave of anger through his body.

Cory gets up, standing off to the side of Kevin. "You heard her. Get lost, Kev, or else," Cory warns him, standing there, ready to strike.

"Or what, ya worthless little townie?" Kevin goes to turn to Cory when the teacher walks into the room.

"Okay, boys, take your seats before I send you both to detention. As for everyone else, please take out your books to page three hundred and ninety-four, 'The Industrial Revolution,'" Mr. Desmond demands, taking his spot in the front of the class.

As the lecture begins, Cory begins jotting down the notes he needs but also has a spare piece of paper to write a note to Tara. After quickly scribbling down what he wants to say, he folds it in half, passing over to Tara, and waits as she quickly reads over it and replies to him.

Checking to make sure it's clear to open the note, Cory places it under the notes for class and reads it.

Thank you for taking up for me before class. It was sweet. And yes, I would love to see a movie and go to dinner. I love eating pizza, and I love Applebee's too, by the way.

Plastered with a smile, he looks over to shake his head and mouths "okay" to Tara. Before he can look back to the teacher, he sees Frankie staring at them with a glare of anger. With his mouth he silently says "what" over to him , Frankie quickly flips him off, turning around so Cory doesn't stare at the damage done to his face from the game.

Ignoring his teammate, Cory returns his attention to Mr. Desmond. He's now anxious for Friday night to come. That's all that's on his mind the rest of class as he exchanges smiles and winks with Tara. She giggles quietly and smiles when their eyes meet.

When the bell rings for them to head off for the final class of the day, Cory escorts her to class before he takes off to the gym on the other side of the school, trying to beat the tardy bell.

Through the door, just seconds before the bell rings, he gets the coach's attention. Then he heads to the locker room to get changed. He quickly finds himself cornered.

"So you think you can already claim that new townie?" Frankie calls out as he walks up behind Cory.

Sliding his gym shirt on, Cory turns around, preparing to assault Frankie if he needs to.

"Yeah, I'm making the first move. I'm not having you do what you did with Vanessa. You used her to get back at me. And, hey, you want her? Go get her, man. She's nothing but a tramp."

Frank can't help but rub his face in the past. "Yeah, I know, she sucked my dick several times when you two dated all because she said you couldn't get it up. So what you hiding? You a rear-packer like Lloyd, just trying to hide it still, or what?"

Cory takes offense to Lloyd being taunted and shoves Frank into a locker. "Listen here, you rich bastard. I tried to treat her with respect, and if she was fucking around, why risk getting something? Judging by that shit on your face, I'd say she's got something bad. Oh, wait, that's right—she's the one who had the dick between you two, am I right?"

Curling up his fist, Frank slugs Cory in the jaw. Before Cory can come back at him, Kevin steps in, stopping the punch.

"Your boy ain't here now, so you wanna make this two on one, or do you wanna get out of here alive?" Kevin threatens, clinching Cory's fist, ready to interject himself into the fight.

Realizing it's not worth it, Cory steps back, allowing Kevin to release his grip.

"Thought so, ya little punk ass."

They both walk away, laughing at how they kicked Cory's ass. Pissed off at the incident, Cory rubs his jaw as he leaves the locker room last and goes about playing basketball for the duration of class.

Still angry about the team up in the locker room, Cory hurries up to the front of the school. He is waiting to see if he can get a glimpse of Tara before he heads to practice.

"Hey, Cory," he hears. He notices Tara walking up from the west side of the sidewalk.

"Hey, you, wanted to say I'll call you when I get home from practice."

"Sounds good. I'll have my phone on me, but I see my mom waiting on me. Call me for sure, and think about me," she says, blowing him a kiss, going over to the silver Honda Accord sedan waiting for her.

"Will do, beautiful," he says, waving as he walks backward to his car to head to practice.