"Dude, you look... good."

Zane Gibson pushed his hand through his hair, evening out the haphazard way his dark locks stood out from his scalp.

"Really good. Awesome, in fact."

He flashed a smile. Peering at the mirror, he examined a faint red spot on his forehead. A poke with his finger revealed that while it might become a zit eventually, it wouldn't be an issue today. He spread some Clearasil over the area just in case, then stepped back and took in the overall effect.

Yes. He was just as attractive as he remembered himself being last spring, back before his family had moved from Florida to the west coast. Today was his first day of school in his new town. Zane pointed some finger guns at his reflection. "You are gonna rule this school."

He swaggered on down to the kitchen, where he poured himself some cereal and sat down to eat beside his little brother Owen. Owen had mixed Fruit Loops, Corn Pops, and Lucky Charms together in a small mixing bowl and was eating this new kind of cereal with a serving spoon. This meant their mother had not finished putting on her makeup yet.

"Mom's going to yell at you," he informed his brother.

Owen shrugged. After chewing a few times, he said through a mouthful of sugary essential grains, "You look like a One Direction reject."

"You don't know anything about girls," Zane retorted.

Mrs. Gibson shuffled into the kitchen, yawning. "Morning, boys. You're up early."

"It's the first day of school," Zane reminded her.

"Your senior year," Mrs. Gibson said with a far-off look in her sleepy eyes. "You're going to make so many memories."

"He's going to get a football scholarship," said Mr. Gibson, entering the room. "Isn't that right, champ?"

"You got it, Dad." Zane flashed his father a thoroughly genuine-looking smile. It was his trademark.

Zane would have had a football scholarship in the bag at his old school. He was a star quarterback, and had the grades to be valedictorian, and could have had his pick of any girl at school. He had no doubts that he'd soon make his way to the top at this new school, but he'd really have to work at it. If they hadn't moved, senior year would have been a breeze. Zane sighed.

"Not nervous about your first day, are you?" Mr. Gibson asked.

"Not at all," Zane lied.

***

Zane slid his Lexus ES into a parking space in the Palos Verdes High School lot and stopped to look around at his new classmates. He had a backpack, and it looked like messenger bags were "in" here. Other than that, his designer jeans and plain white T-shirt weren't going to make any waves. He shrugged his backpack on and started to head inside...

...when the blonde girl leaning against the brick wall near the entrance caught his eye.

She was, in a word, gorgeous. Long, tanned legs in super-short denim cutoffs, a lacy white tank top. There were some other students near her, but Zane barely saw them. This girl, she had to be the most popular girl in school. Her disinterest in her own group of friends meant she had the power to not pay attention.

As he approached, Zane tried to see what she was staring at, without being too obvious about it. Was she simply people-watching, or waiting for a boyfriend to arrive? There was nothing in her line of vision except some palm trees and the driveway where parents were pulling up in expensive cars to drop off their kids.

He was only a few feet away now. He relaxed his face into that carefree grin that always won girls over back at his old school. His smile turned real when he saw that the blonde girl's stare had finally focused on him.

"Nice hair, Twilight," the girl said.

She didn't laugh, but her friends did, and Zane felt a wholly unfamiliar sensation. His face got hot, and he hurried away.

All morning Zane could not focus in class. He spent most of his time looking around at the other guys in his classes. How had he not noticed that none of them wore the tousled hair that was popular back home? Most of the guys with longer hair looked like surfers, and wore it just hanging down in their face. There were a few Justin Bieber types who looked like they were trying too hard. Most of the others had shorter hair. Zane kept running his hands over his head, hoping he could counteract the mousse he'd used that morning, until he could get his hands on a pair of scissors. Who knew Owen of all people would be right?

By lunchtime Zane had barely spoken to anyone, and he was sure he'd made a terrible first impression on his teachers. Not that he ever sucked up, of course, but he usually tried to appear bright-eyed and paying attention. At least it was only the first day and the teachers were mostly focused on handing out textbooks and talking about class expectations.

He sat down at an empty table and pulled out his bag lunch, then looked around. Did anyone else here do bag lunches? Was this a buy-your-lunch kind of school? The cafeteria actually smelled like a restaurant, and it looked like there were a lot of healthy options up there. He noticed a few other kids with bag lunches, so he tried not to second-guess himself anymore. Back at his old school the food was terrible, and in order to stay in shape for football he packed his own healthy lunches. It looked like that wouldn't be a problem here.

He dug into some spinach and egg whites.

Then he felt a hand in his hair.

He jumped. "Hey!"

Turning, he saw that it was her. The blonde girl. Surrounded by her posse.

"Your hair looks sad now," she said.

"My hair is thrilled to be here," Zane shot back.

"Whatever you have to tell yourself," she said. She squeezed behind Zane's chair and made her way to a table. She never looked back at him.

But she had remembered him from this morning.

Zane was going to have to do something to get her attention in a good way. And find out her name.

"You're sitting at my table," said a male voice.

Zane looked up, his mind too distracted by the blonde to know whether he should apologize and move or stand his ground and act like the popular guy he was inside. Before him stood a short dude with braces.

"Just kidding," the guy said. "I'm Wilson Boone. We're in AP History together?"

"Oh. Right." Zane had no memory of this kid. Wilson didn't even look like a senior. He wasn't sure what to do as Wilson sat down beside Zane and pulled a squished sandwich out of his backpack.

"So, you caught Harmony's eye, eh?"

"Harmony? Is that her name?"

"It's so obvious you're new here, man. Everybody knows Harmony." Wilson took a bite of his sandwich and grimace. "God, I hate sunflower butter. I wish I knew which of these dicks has the peanut allergy."

"I don't think she likes me," Zane said.

"Okay, let me clue you in. Harmony Gutierrez doesn't like anyone. She is bad news, my friend."

"She seems popular."

"Oh, she is... Hey, you seem like a jock. Are you on the football team?"

"Not yet. I have to talk to the coach since I missed tryouts."

"Sweet! You'll be my first friend on the team with me."

"You? You're on the football team?"

"What, you haven't noticed my rippling biceps?" Wilson crooked his arm to make a weak muscle. If this was what the football team was made of, Zane would have no problem getting a spot. "I'm an alternate. I'm good for running mostly."

"Cool," Zane said. At least Wilson wasn't a total nerd. He was finally getting somewhere at this school.

***

Before heading home at the end of the day, Zane went to the gymnasium to find Coach Thompson. The coach wasn't in his office. Zane found him in the equipment cage, putting soccer balls into a netted bag.

"Excuse me, Coach?"

"Yes?"

"I'm Zane, I'm new here."

The coach barely glanced at him. "Good for you."

Couldn't he catch a break? "I was the captain of the football team at my old school, MVP three years running, all that."

The coach just looked at him.

Zane cleared his throat. "I'm not bragging. I just came by to see how I could get on the team here. I'm sure I missed tryouts–"

"Yes, you did."

"But I trained with my old team all summer, so I'm still in shape. If you could put me on the team, even as an alternate, you wouldn't regret it."

Zane gave the coach his smile, all the time thinking Please put me on the team, and not just as an alternate. Please please please.

"Well, I do have some openings for alternates," the coach said finally. "And, quite frankly, there are several guys on the team I'd love to cut. If you want it, we'll have our first practice tomorrow right after school."

"That would be awesome!" Zane said. "Thank you so much, sir, you won't regret it."

Finally, things were going his way. Soon he'd have Harmony, and his senior year would be golden.

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