SEPTEMBER

I normally can tell when my brother gets home from his night job because there's a small flashing green light that blinks by my bedroom door. It indicates there's someone at the front door. So when I glanced over to the flashing light, I got up from my desk and opened my bedroom door to walk to the banister.

My brother was at the bottom of the stairs, finger on the labeled switch I saw in my room. Zade raised a brow, tilting his head. "Still awake?" he asked, and must have seen my bedroom light on through my curtains when he parked. I sighed, figuring it was a little late to still be up doing homework and required reading.

"Yeah," I nodded. "Studying."

Zade sighed, saying that he just wanted to let me know that he was home. He disappeared and I headed back into my room, shutting my door.

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In the middle of a math problem I was working on, I felt the vibration on my desk coming from my right. I frowned, knowing it was Zade and peered over at him. He was standing beside me, his fist resting on the edge of the desk. My brother lifted a brow, tilting his head as he always does when he waits for me to put my hearing aids on. He always knows when I take them off. Typical brothers.

I let out a short breath, my lips in a tight line and reached for my annoying contraptions. I grumbled under my breath as I put them back on.

Zade pursed his mouth to the side once I turned to cross my arms and stare at him. "Still mad at me, huh?" He had that soft look on his face.

Lowering my gaze, I shrugged then sighed, "No..." while my shoulders relaxed, dropping my hands to my lap. I glanced at my brother. "Not really."

My brother hummed, turning so he could sit against the edge of my desk. Now he was the one crossing his arms. He pursed his mouth to the side before letting me know again that he was really sorry for how he acted at the library that day.

Although Paige didn't ban me from the library like I expected her to, I was very cautious with my time management when I waited for my brother after school. I'd give myself exactly ten minutes before football practice ended to pack up and then wait another five minutes right outside of the library. I couldn't find myself to face Paige after how my brother treated her and even though she would come over to lock the doors, Paige gave a short knock on the window so I would turn. Paige would give a small smile, a short wave and then I'd return it before she disappeared. So, it was safe to say she understood my reason for not waiting inside the library like I did before.

"I don't think it's me you should be apologizing to, Zade," I pointed out, raising my brows.

My brother scrunched his nose, nodding. "Yeah, I know, I know." He mentioned that he tried to apologize to Paige, or as Zade referred to her as that girl, that day but Paige shoved him out the door. "Actually," my brother frowned, staring ahead. "She slammed the door in my face."

I grinned a bit. "I would, too."

My brother shot me a look but then sighed again. He said he really was sorry for how he overreacted but on that particular day, Grayson had riled my brother up which was at the back of Zade's mind the rest of the day.

"And then with our team getting a new player, I am just a bit overwhelmed because of how good this kid is." My brother frowned, crossing his arms tighter.

"Why does that matter?" I swiveled back to my homework, picking up my pencil to doodle on my notebook. "You're a great player, Zade. So what if this kid is just as good?"

"That's the problem, Shella."

Zade looked worried when I glanced up at him. He swallowed, fearful of losing his spot on the team because 'Boy Wonder,' as he called the new kid, was able to play different positions on the field. He turned to me, raising a brow. "He knocked down Malik at the tryout."

My eyes widened, pencil dropping. "Malik? Really?"

Zade nodded, letting out a slow breath of air. "I'm kind of worried Coach is going to see what Boy Wonder is made of and might scoot me out of my title."

I frowned, swiveling to face him. "I don't think Coach Fargle would do that to you, Zade. Whether this kid is good or not, you have heart. That counts for just as much as talent."

Zade nodded, brows furrowed though he countered, "But heart doesn't get you to Nationals."

I narrowed my eyes, raising a brow. "It does if you really want it."

My brother decided to change the subject, shrugging off my response and glanced at what I was working on. He asked if I was almost done with my homework as he pointed out that it was pushing half an hour past midnight.

"You should be asleep, Shella."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious."

I yelped, swatting his way after my brother flicked the side of my head pretty hard. He told me to cool it with my back talk. I frowned at him. Zade grinned, shaking his head and stood up. He asked if I was hungry and I replied that I ate already but that I left him some mac and cheese I made. His eyes lit up.

Mac and Cheese was Zade's favorite late-night meal. He'd eat that all the time if I didn't remind him about keeping in shape for football and baseball. Not that it would matter, my brother was in good shape for being in sports all his life. Maybe it was a subconscious thing for me because I gained whatever my brother ate.

As he walked to the door, I asked if he was going to try to apologize to Paige again.

"Who?" he frowned over his shoulder, tilting his head.

I deadpanned, "That girl...?"

"Oh." He winced, a blush painting his face as he rubbed the back of his neck. My brother wasn't sure he wanted another door slammed in his face but Zade would try to talk to her if he spotted her around school.

"Like she'd let you," I grinned, though it made my brother confused.

I pointed out that clearly Paige didn't like Zade and with how embarrassed Paige was, she'd ghost Zade the rest of the year. Zade frowned, clearly not liking that. He was a friendly person and thought highly of that. He wanted to be a friendly person to everyone. Fine, most people. Grayson and his circle didn't count.

Scratching his head, Zade grumbled he would think about how to approach—

He squinted, craning his neck forward. I rolled my eyes and leaned forward to stress, "Paige." before Zade nodded, "Right, right. I knew that." and bid me goodnight. My poor Doofus.

I turned back to my homework, frowning because I hated math but knew if I didn't finish this I'd have to get up an hour earlier to finish it. Ugh. Not happening. I like my sleep. I'd need an extra bowl of Mac and Cheese before I finished though, so I ran out of my room to ask Zade to bring me up a bowl, too.

"But you're way up theeeere... and I just got hooooome so... No!" he called back from downstairs. I growled under my breath.

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My brows furrowed deeper the longer I stared at the note taped to my locker. It was folded awkwardly and my name was scribbled on it. And spelled wrong. I didn't think that was possible but there it was, written as:

SHELA.

My nose scrunched as I reached to remove the note and looked around to see who might have left it. Everyone was minding their business or walking past so I had no clue to who left this. I had to open it up to notice that the penmanship of this person hinted it could very much be a boy. Plus, the person who signed off on it was a boy.

Shela,

Meet me after school by the fountain. It's important.

- Grayson

Lowering a brow, I wondered what was so important I needed to meet up with Grayson. And after school of all times. We weren't in the same classes, the same year, the same anything. Except maybe lunch period. So what was his deal?

I rolled my eyes at myself, remembering how fired up my brother said he was after the lunch thing with Grayson last month. I sighed, shaking my head and folded the paper back up and tucked it into the pocket of my sweater.

After I got all my books from my locker for my morning classes, I turned to hear Sydney coming up with Diana.

They weren't exactly my friends. Not really. We hung out during school but I think it was just because we worked well together on group projects. Surprisingly, they held up their ends on said projects but with us in the same classes, we just kind of stuck ourselves together. Sydney was more of the ring leader and Diana just went along with what she said because of how quiet she was. Sometimes she would look to me when I tried to stand up to Sydney but Sydney always got to Diana's head in the end.

"—soooo cute! I think I'd let him make out with me if he asked." Sydney told Diana who frowned at her.

I rolled my eyes as the girls approached. Sydney turned to me, flipping her hair off her shoulder and crossed her arms. She stuck up her chin as she gave me that piercing look she gets when she'd get annoyed and everyone should know why. I found that usually I was that reason.

Lowering a brow, I glanced at Diana who was more timid than our friend. She just gave me a small smile, shrugging. I sighed as I looked at Sydney. "What's wrong...?"

"What's wrong is that your brother ruined my face time with Grayson some weeks back," Sydney snapped. Called it.

"Did he now..." I mumbled, trying to adjust the papers sticking out of one of my notebooks. I raised a brow. "I can't do anything about that, Sydney. I told you that I wasn't allowed to sit with those boys. You're the one who went to sit with them. That has nothing to do with me."

"It does when your brother came over demanding to know where you were and then made Grayson get rid of us!" Sydney stuck up her chin. "He hasn't wanted us to sit with them since then!"

I gave her a 'let's be real' kind of look and pointed out that Zade and Grayson didn't like each other. So neither would budge on making the other do something they didn't want.

Sydney blushed, frowning at me that if I was such a know-it-all then I'd know to make sure my brother was happy so it didn't interfere with Sydney's face time with Grayson.

"Does he even like you?" I asked, not trying to be rude. Okay. Maybe a little. Even Diana reeled in her lips, glancing at Sydney who scoffed, eyes widening.

Sydney said how rude I was being and that she was sure Grayson would like her more than he did now if it weren't for the interruption on my brother's part. I frowned, telling her to stop blaming my brother for everything.

"Grayson is his own person, Sydney. Maybe he just didn't want to hang around the likes of you because of how high maintenance you are."

Diana sucked in a breath, eyes wide and I frowned at the narrowed-eyed look Sydney was giving me. Pursing my mouth to the side, I shrugged, not bothered if I hurt her feelings. I was just telling the truth.

"Well then..." Sydney flipped her hair off her shoulder again. "I guess you can find another table to eat at then because as someone with high maintenance, I should only have the best surrounding me. Which... if you haven't figured out... you're not." She purposely glanced at one of my hearing aids and I frowned, feeling my face get hot.

Sydney grinned with that stupid twinkle in her eyes. "You can hear that loud and clear... right?" before she nudged Diana and insisted on leaving. She stomped off and Diana whispered an apology while I watched them head down the hall.

I swallowed hard, my hand instinctively raising to touch one of my ears. I glanced to the side, hoping no one was staring and decided that I needed to focus on what I had been planning to do before my classes started. Whipping around faster than normal was not the brightest idea. Not for me or the person I rammed into. Although, if we were being honest... I suffered more injury.

After yelping and stumbling back a bit, I lost my footing and landed on my butt. I winced, feeling the throbbing in my tailbone.

"Shit! You okay?"

I frowned, peering an eye open and looked up. There was a boy in front of me, already kneeling to pick up my notebooks that tumbled with me. He looked right at me and I sucked in a breath, eyes widening. There was a sudden rush of heat filling my face as the boy's gray eyes stared back. I winced, feeling embarrassed that I fell like I did. So typical.

"You okay?" he asked again and I noticed that his voice was a little deeper than boys in my grade which meant he was either a junior or senior. I glanced down at the hand he offered me and I swallowed, nodding as I placed my hand in his.

"Yes," I assured. "I'm—I'm okay, thank you. I just... I should be the one saying sorry! I didn't pay attention to what I was doing."

The boy helped me up, kneeling again to finish grabbing my stuff and I tried to bend down too but then he straightened and the back of his head collided with my chin. The boy hissed, holding a hand to where my chin got him. I held a hand to my chin, turning away with a groan at the throbbing in my lower jaw. I noticed people were staring and I was ready to abandon all my stuff and book it.

Making sure to slowly turn around to face the boy, I noticed that he was a heck of a lot taller than I thought. He had to be a senior.

The boy's brows furrowed, tilting his head as he asked if I was okay again. The corner of his lip tugged up a bit and I caught the deep dimple in his left cheek. Holy cow. Dimples are fascinating.

"I take it you are standing so far away to avoid another collision?" He pointed out, gesturing to the wide span of space between us now.

I weakly smiled, shaking my head that I wasn't normally a walking hazard. He replied that I could have convinced him if it weren't for the not one but two accounts already.

"I'm afraid that won't hold up in court," the boy reeled in his lips, shrugging his shoulders. It was how I discovered that there was a dimple in his other cheek.

The boy laughed a bit, holding out my belongings. I realized he was holding them out longer than necessary and I quickly took everything. My face went hot again as I tucked my hair behind my ear. Then I noticed his eyes glanced at me do this and I quickly hid my ear again. Stupid hearing aids.

"So..." the boy grinned, tucking his hands into the pockets of his uniform pants. Although all the boys had to wear them, this boy pulled them off way better. The uniform looked really good on him. Which was when I realized maybe he wasn't a senior after all, or maybe he didn't want to sign the waiver. But, who wouldn't sign the waiver?

The boy tilted his head, holding out his hand. "Who did I have the pleasure of running into?"

I blushed. 'Pleasure? Really? That's a first.'

"Sh—Shella," I answered, shaking the boy's hand. I smiled, holding up my notebooks in my other arm. "Thanks for your help. And I really am sorry about bumping into you. And... and using my chin as a skull crusher." Oh, Shella. Why.

The boy blinked, brows furrowing a bit but that grin appeared again (with the dimple) as he chuckled, "It hurt, I have to admit but I don't think it's that lethal."

I just shrugged, smiling a bit and realized I was still holding his hand. I quickly pulled my hand back, muttering a small apology while he tucked his hand back into his pocket.

With that grin of his, the boy asked if I thought I'd be able to wander the halls for the rest of the day on my own. I blushed, frowning for a bit but then forced a small smile that I'd be fine. He just nodded, still grinning at me. Glancing to the side, I pursed my mouth as I realized we were just standing there. Awkwardly. Well, I was being awkward. This boy was so casual with his hands in his pants' pockets. He made that pose look good too.

"I, um," I stammered, realizing that my hand just tucked my hair behind my ear again. I covered it quickly. "I have to be somewhere before class starts so..."

The boy smiled, dimples revealed again. "I get it. Trying to make your escape after almost knocking me unconscious. Devious."

My eyes widened as I shook my head, waving my hand in front of me. "Oh, no! That's not it! I just have—"

"It's okay!" The boy laughed, shrugging a shoulder that he was just teasing. His nose scrunched, brows furrowing as he mentioned that he didn't do that often so it was something he'd have to practice. I felt a little better that he had flaws. Even if I didn't think it was one.

The boy smiled again, nodding in the direction behind him as he stepped aside. "Go on. You're in a hurry. Didn't mean to keep you."

Holding my stuff to my chest I nodded, thanking him again for helping me as I made my way past him. I snuck a glance at him and those gray eyes were still watching me. I couldn't help my smile get a little bigger.

"It was nice meeting you, Shella," he nodded, tilting his head a bit and doing so made his blond fringe slide to the side, covering one of his eyebrows. Oh, wow... he was really cute!

"You—You too!" I replied a little too enthusiastically then I winced and he chuckled. Clearing my throat, I stammered, "Well... It—I better... go."

He nodded again, watching as I turned away and walked some distance before making me halt when he shouted something at me. Frowning, I looked over my shoulder at the smiling blond, still tilting his head in that totally illegal way that boys in movies and books did.

"Huh?" was my lame response, raising a brow.

The boy grinned, that beautiful left dimple appearing. "I said my name's Ransom. You know..." he shrugged. "In case you were wondering."

Another rush of blush filled my face again.

Ransom smiled, taking small steps backward—and amazingly not bumping into anyone at all—then nodded, "Your hearing aids need a little color but they're cute. Just like you." And then he was gone, turning around and heading down the hall and disappeared into the sea of students.

I, on the other hand, just stood there, staring at nothing while my warm blush became scorching. I tucked my hair behind my ear to feel my hearing aid. Lowering my hand without bothering to hide my ear again, I looked in the direction Ransom disappeared and smiled to myself. Maybe this year wouldn't be so bad after all.