"Kiera Byron, aren't you a sight for sore eyes," came the chirp of my best friend, Lila Samuels.

"Good morning to you too, beautiful," I said, smiling widely. "New school year, new faces. I wonder if there are any new kids?"

"Sweetheart, we go to public school. There are always new kids."

I laughed a little and hopped into Lila's car. She drove her mom's old minivan, but we liked to pretend it was a fancy convertible.

"Are we picking up the rest?" I asked, referring to our cheer squad.

"Hell no. Just Janie, Nadia, and Margo. Karen, Lucille, Sia, and Maia left early because they're testing out a new routine. The coach apparently wanted them to see if it's too early this year for trampolines to be involved. Plus, Mikkie's got a match in two weeks and I really want our routine to look stellar," she added, dreamily.

Michael Kress, otherwise known as "Mikkie", was the star quarterback and most popular boy of the school. He'd been dating Lila for nearly two years now, and the two were still as lovey-dovey as they had been when they first got together. It was a little sickening but mostly cute. Because Lila was dating him, the rest of us automatically joined the popular circle or whatever. We had the coolest seats in the cafeteria, and we were the cause for 90% of the gossip that went around in the school. Not that I, personally cared, it was more of an observation than something I was proud of. Lila, Nadia, and I were the only people who mingled with other kids outside of our social circle. The rest of them kind of did everything together and only together- from partying to inter-dating to even just talking to. It got a little monotonous, but there were so many of us that I guess it was okay.

"Of course," I said, laughing a little.

"Kiera Byron," Lila said suddenly as if she'd just had an epiphany. "This year, we will find you a boyfriend."

"Absolutely not."

"Oh, come on!" she exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "There are 487 kids in our grade, plus new ones this year. Fifty kids in our friend group alone, including the jocks, male athletes, and party dudes. There has to be someone you'd totally bang."

"No one to date, though," I pointed out, causing Lila to groan. "Listen, I'm perfectly fine being single. I'll find the love of my life in college and have pretty babies with him if that's what you wanted to hear."

"Everyone has a fling-thing in high school, sweetheart," she explained. "Do you remember how Mikkie and I got together? I tutored him. Remember how much I hated him with a passion before that? He thought he was the cat's whiskers. Five months later he asked me out. Now we're the power couple of the grade. Cheer captain and quarterback. Who'd have thought?"

"Literally every single student called it," I pointed out, and she rolled her eyes. "I can't help it if no one likes me," I said, slowly. "Not my fault no one thinks I'm attractive."

"EVERYONE thinks you're attractive. Literally. You're a goddess. You're just way too hard to get."

"And that is a problem... how?" I asked, adjusting my seatbelt to face her. "Don't guys want the chase? Don't they find that thrilling? Exciting? When they want a challenge?"

"No, guys just want a girl who will laugh a lot at all their stupid jokes to help inflate their egos," Lila said, simply. "Look, maybe there's someone out there you haven't talked to enough. Hardwick's cute. So's Joshua. Or maybe you'll find out you've been a lesbian all along, in which case Makayla's all yours. So am I, if you want me to dump Mikkie for you, but I'm warning you that I have never found you sexually appealing. Even if, you are, kinda. Just not interested."

"You wound me," I deadpanned, as we rolled over and saw Nadia and Janie in the distance. The two were twins, but couldn't be more different. They had biracial parents, so while Nadia looked like your average black haired Latina beauty, Janie was a total blonde. Nadia was the very nerdy one who shut herself out from the world weeks before finals, while Janie was the party girl badass who was most likely to be hungover the day of the exam. Nadia was tall, with legs for days, while Janie was tiny and cute. They fought a lot, but everyone knew they loved each other more than anyone else in the world. "Hey, it's my favorite duo!" I greeted, waving to them.

"Hey bitches," Janie said, stepping into the back. "God, Lila, your car gets mustier every year," she groaned.

"Learn how to drive and get your broke ass to buy yourself a car, then," Nadia retaliated. "Don't mind Janie, she's been dry for two weeks and has started to get pissy."

"Shut up, you nun. Everyone knows you wanted to get with Nick at the party last week but chickened out when you realized he wasn't into brunettes!"

"Shut up, you losers," Lila said, rolling her eyes. "Or I'll kick you both out. God, you guys have all the time to argue at home. Please don't pull your fights into my car."

"It's your mom's," Janie said, leaning over the seat to kiss Lila on the cheek. "Sorry, love, I really am dry. Can I ask Mikkie to hook me up with someone?"

I placed my face in my palms and groaned, half laughing in the process. We were close to Margo's place now. Margo was shyer than the rest of us and became our friend when she started dating the basketball captain. She was a national gymnast and a super nice person, one of my favorites by far in the whole group.

"What, virgin Mary?" asked Janie, staring at me. "Just because you're all holier-than-thou with your no-sex-till-marriage policy doesn't mean the rest of us can't have fun."

"I never said that I had that policy," I said, turning around to face her. "No one's good enough for me," I said, doing a faux-hair flip. Janie rolled her eyes.

"Also, you're a little scardey-cat. I heard Joshua wanted to ask you out, though," she said, winking. Nadia pushed her a little.

"Janie! You weren't supposed to tell her!"

"What, and leave my best friend thinking no one likes her? Yeah, no thank you. Kiera Byron, my favorite hot piece of ass, you could even sign up to be a Victoria's Secret model if you wanted to. Just date someone. Please. If I had a face like that, there wouldn't be a single hot guy in America who hadn't seen my t-"

"Hey guys," Margo said, knocking on the car door. Lila unlocked, and she hopped in. "How was everyone's summer?"

"Margo, baby, you just saw us three days ago," Janie said, pinching her cheeks. "We were each other's summer. I don't think I hung out with other people except for our friend circle."

"That's just because you don't bother socializing with anyone else. It's too bad you've got only a limited number of people to tolerate your bullshit," Nadia said, with fake sympathy. I couldn't help but laugh at their antics. My friends were incredibly stupid sometimes, but they were also pretty cool and I did love them.

"So, Margo, do you believe it's time for Miss Byron here to finally open up her flower?" Lila asked, sweetly.

Margo's cheeks turned red with secondhand embarrassment. "I mean, yeah, I guess," she mumbled. "She's the hottest girl in school. Not to mention the nicest. Who wouldn't want to date her?"

"Me, because she'd give me a 24/7 inferiority complex on what a horrible person I am to everyone who breathes," Janie said, raising her hand. "But honestly, what I'm more interested to find out is who Little Miss Perfect's new pet project will be this year." There was a chorus of approval from my friends at that.

It was a standing joke that I had a "pet project". Every year, since middle school, I found someone who needed help and took them under my wing. Last year, it was Sia, our newest cheer recruit. She'd suffered from social anxiety, and I paired myself up with her to be my science lab partner. The year before that, in sophomore year, it had been Joshua, when I found out his cousin had died in a car accident with him. I was the only person he opened up to. In freshman year, it was Lila. Mikkie and I "saved her", in a way. I found out that she'd had severe eating disorders, and we helped her through it.

Ever since middle school, I'd always find someone to care for.

I didn't do it to gain a barter of sorts, so they'd care for me back. I did it because I loved them. And I wanted people to be happy because I didn't want anyone to die feeling like they weren't good enough.

"Nah, I'm taking the year off as the school counselor," I joked. The girls collectively gasped, pretending to be horrified. "I mean... it's senior year. I don't want to devote all my time to someone who I probably won't see again, you know what I mean? I want to spend it with you guys. This year, I won't help someone else become happy. I'll make myself happy."

"Aww, that's so sweet," Nadia said, smiling. "And we're going to make this the best year for you, we promise."

We pulled up at school, and I bounced out of the car. We were all in our cheer uniforms: blue, white, and pink, with our hair tied up in high ponytails with ribbon through it. "Hey girls!" I exclaimed as the rest of the squad ran to us to give us hugs. We were really touchy-feely, but I liked the rush of seeing my team. We'd been through a lot together, so we had each other's backs. "Aww, you guys look so great!"

"Thanks, babe," Karen said, kissing my cheeks. I grinned, before giving Sia a tight squeeze. I'd always have a soft spot for her.

The football squad approached us, and I swear, Mikkie and Lila started making out like they'd not seen each other in years. "Guys, keep it PG," Janie yelled.

"Janie's just salty that she's not getting any, don't worry about her!" Nadia replied, just as loudly.

"ARE YOU GOING TO INFORM THE WHOLE WORLD THAT I'VE NOT HAD SEX IN TWO WEEKS NADIA RODRIGUEZ?!" she screamed. We all fell silent. "Well, shit," she said, placing her face in her hands, mortified.

"No, I guess you're pretty good at doing that yourself," Nadia commented before the rest of us burst out laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, quality humor can suck my di-"

A car revved towards us, and we all stopped short. No one usually parked here- it wasn't exclusive, but usually, our cars were all parked in this area and everyone else kind of... knew it. This was unusual.

"Don't trespass on private property," Joshua yelled, before coming towards me and slinging his arm around my shoulders. "Hey, beautiful, how was the summer?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't be too harsh, it's probably a new kid," I said, before turning towards him. "And summer was great. I saw you like last week, so you don't need to ask like we had different plans," I added, laughing.

He pinched my cheek and looked forward at the unfamiliar car. Joshua was tall, with caramel skin and dimples. He had light blue eyes and messy, light brown hair. He was probably one of the most attractive guys at our school, but I'd never liked him as anything more than a good friend.

A boy got out, looking pissed off. "Bye, have a great day!" someone called out from the car. He didn't bother looking back. The girl who'd said it got out. She looked younger, perhaps a freshman. She threw the keys at him and he deftly caught it, exposing the muscles on his lean arms.

He was tall, dark, and had worry lines greater than the grand canyon. He had black hair, a strong jaw, and high cheekbones. My heart nearly stopped as I took him in, realizing how similar he looked to Harry, the boy I'd met who died.

"Hey, new meat," Mikkie said, stopping him. "Who are you?"

"None of your damn business," he replied, glaring at us. I watched him in awe. His jaw was ticking, and he took us all in. His eyes rested on me for a second before looking back at Mikkie.

"Well, listen up, we park around this area, so next time, park somewhere else."

"Kiss my ass," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Listen up, punk," Joshua said, pressing a finger on his chest. "You better start acting nicer to us or we'll-"

"Or you'll what? Ruin my life? Hunt me down? Kill me? By all means, go ahead," he said, lazily, a faint hint of the shadow of a smile crossing his face. His eyes moved to Joshua's arm across my shoulder. He looked at me with his intense, brown eyes. I felt like he was looking at me through an X-Ray and involuntarily moved back. He snorted. "Have a good day. Or don't, for all I care. I'll park my car wherever the hell I want to."

And then, he walked away.

I squeezed my eyes shut. No, no, no. This year was about me. Not about anyone else. Definitely not an attractive, horribly troubled boy. Absolutely not. I wasn't going to let someone else step in so I could live their life. Even if he looked like Harry. Even if he looked like the one boy I couldn't save. No way. I wouldn't do this.

"I think Kiera just found her new pet project," Lila muttered.

I opened my eyes to see everyone watching me with amusement. My cheeks burned red with embarrassment. Heck, who was I fooling? Of course, I was going to do it. I knew at that moment that if anything happened to the boy we'd just met, I'd never forgive myself.

"Guys, stop it," I muttered, before slipping Joshua's hand off my shoulder and walking towards the doors of our school. "He's a person. A mature young adult. He can handle himself. This year is going to be about me."