NOTE: This book is in the process of editing—well, practically re-writing as my writing was a pile of crap when I started it. Unfortunately, I lost all my precious comments, but on the bright side, it's more bare-able to read 😌 Enjoy! 

CHAPTER 1
First Days and Bad Impressions

"Blake, get up!" I shouted. 

"Noooooo," he whined in response, sobbing in between.

"Blake, we have school!"

"Let's skip," he mumbled, hugging the extra pillow to his chest.

"No, we can't. It's the first day of senior year."

"Don't care, Lynne."

I smiled, missing the sound of that nickname only he used. While most people called me Addy, he called me Lynne—the second half of my name—since he was my "best friend". 

I hadn't seen him for the entire summer vacation that I spent alone Paris. I talked to him over the phone every night, but something about hearing his voice in person felt much better. 

"Fine then," I sighed. "I'm going to take a shower and I was hoping you'd join..."

I noticed him opening an eye, and I smirked before continuing. "Oh well! I guess I'll shower on my own then."

"I'm up!"

Within a second, he was up and in front of me. I laughed as he picked me up bridal style, carrying me to my bathroom.

After breakfast, we drove to school. 

The car stopped in the parking lot. Straightening my maroon plaid skirt, I stepped out, planting my gaze on the grand wooden stairs, leading up to the entry of our school.

Although old, our school was one of the most prestigious ones, meant only for the elite. That is, with an exception of a few scholarship students given admissions every year for a front page in newspapers.

Blake rushed to my side.  "I forgot how hot you looked in our uniform," he whispered in my ears.

"I look hot in everything," I said, flipping my blonde hair over my shoulder. 

He laughed and pecked my lips before leading me to the school. As we stepped in, the loud hallways quietened. Feeling every eye focused on us as we strode between the lockers, I smirked. 

Indifferent to the stares, the moment we reached my locker, Blake pressed me against it, leaning down to kiss me. But before he could, he was pushed aside.   

"Addy!" A shrill sound squealed. I couldn't process anything as a lean pair of hands wrapped around me, almost choking me to death. 

"Really, Hazel? Did you have to interrupt us?" Blake groaned at the brunette girl as she broke apart from the hug. 

"You had her last night, Blake. Now it's my turn!" she fought, earning a glare from him. 

"Bye, Blake! See you at lunch." I pecked his pouting lips, waving as I walked away. 

"How was your vacation?" I asked as we walked down the hallway. 

"It was the best summer ever!" she exclaimed. "But I missed you, Addy."

"Everything's more fun with me," I stated, making her laugh. "Now, give me a list of every guy you hooked up with this summer."

"There was just one." She blushed, looking away from me.

"Really? Just one the whole summer?" I raised an eyebrow, a smirk climbing my lips. "This must be serious. Who is it?"

"Asher," she replied shyly.

My eyes widened. "Asher? Oh my god! I've always known this would happen! I've been shipping you two since the beginning of time."

"I know; I know. Just calm down." She laughed, but I could fight the huge grin taking over my face.

Asher, though was my best friend, was like a brother to me. Him and his family were the only people I had in my childhood. 

"How was your trip?" she asked.

"Lonely," I replied, "but I needed it to figure out my feelings for Blake. We've had this friends-with-benefits thing for almost three years. It's weird now that feelings popped up."

"Are you still hooking up with him?"

"Yeah, he picked me up from the airport last night. Then we went home, and well..." I smiled dreamily.

"Addy, things have changed now. You're in love, and love makes this so-called relationship harder. You know he's sleeping with other people, right?"  

Blake and I had a complicated relationship. We were friends with benefits, and we had been for the past two years. We weren't exclusive, so we both slept with other people.

A month before the school closed after junior year, I realized that I was in love with him. Of course, I never told him that because it could ruin things between us.

Ignoring the pang in my chest, I plastered a fake smile. "Nothing has changed, Hazel. It took a while to figure things out, but I've always loved him. It's not going to be any different now that I know."

"But—" 

"It's okay, Hazel," I assured. "Moving on... how was the cheer meet?"

"It was good," she replied hesitantly, watching me carefully for any reaction.

My smile faltered, but I forced it back up. "Please tell me that Kate's the new head cheerleader. The rest of them don't stand a chance."

Hazel relaxed, buying my faux easiness. "Yes, she did."

"Good," I replied softly.

Kate was one of my best friends, and I wanted to be happy for her. But that position was supposed to mine if my parents hadn't paid the school to remove me from the cheer squad. They wanted me to focus on academics than extracurriculars, and the only game they knew how to play was with their money.

Unfortunately for me, I never even amounted to a pawn in their games.  

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

"Jack is such a pain in the ass. Why am I dating him?" Kate whined, exiting fourth period with me.

"Because you love him," I teased with a laugh.

My laughter died the moment my eyes landed on Blake's locker. His blue eyes twinkling with a smile didn't make my heart flutter like it usually did. Instead, it made my blood boil, seeing the short brunette girl next to him.

He placed a hand above the unknown girl's head, trapping her between his locker and him, whispering something as she blushed like her life depended on it. The girl looked up at him, her eyes locked and in deep conversation with his.

"Addy," Kate whispered, "let's leave."

"Who is she?" I asked.

"I don't know," Kate replied, "but whoever she is, it's not a big deal. Blake plays around. You know he's never serious about anyone but you."

My eyes remained glued on them as Kate pulled my arm. I looked forward, clenching my jaw at the memory and entering the cafeteria. 

Purchasing my food at lunch, I walked to the 'it' table meant exclusively for the most popular and richest people in school—my best friends and me.

I found Hazel and Asher with their tongues down each other's throat, making Kate let out an awkward cough. They broke away from their kiss, Hazel giving us a sheepish smile as Asher grinned.

"Addy, I missed you!" Asher exclaimed.

"You've said this fifteen times since second period," I pointed out, sitting down next to him.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up at Blake as he bent down to kiss my cheek. The simple act made my heart flutter, but the uneasiness from seeing him with the other girl remained.

He sat down, leaning closer to me. "Are you okay? You seem a little upset," he whispered, placing a hand on my lap.

It's alright, I told myself, he always comes back to me. I'll wait till he's ready to stay.

"I'm great." I smiled, pecking his lips.

I turned back to my friends, answering their questions about my trip. Every time I talked about a French man that I hooked up with, Blake let out a disapproving grunt, bring a smirk to my face.

A chair scraping against the floor interrupted our conversation, and I looked up at Cole, one of my friends. I smiled at him, but my smile dropped seeing the same girl from Blake's locker next to him.

Her eyes focused on Blake, and he smiled broadly, making a raging storm build in me.

"Who is she, and why is she at my table?" I asked Cole, eyeing her from her brown messy hair all the way to her cheap criss-crossed shoes, making her shrink behind Cole.

"This is my Terra. She's new here, and she's living with my family." He gave her a soft smile which made her visibly relax.

"Terra..." Hazel trailed off questioningly, hinting for a second name.

"Terra Hale," she replied shyly, her voice barely audible.

"Hale? Never heard of the name. Did you just move here?"

"Umm, no. My family isn't popular," Terra answered.

"She's a scholarship student," Cole said nervously, and everybody on the table stopped their conversations to glare at him.

It's not that we thought low of poor people. Scholarship students never got along with us. They belittled us, saying that we had no purpose but to spend money. They were arrogant because they got into the school because of their intellect, but us paying for education didn't make us any dumber.

They acted like everything's easy in our lives when they know nothing about us. With the smallest slip up from us, they stirred up the nastiest rumors, making us seem like the villains.

In short, they hated us, and we hated them.

But if Cole befriended her, she had to be different, right? 

But I couldn't assume it without seeing it for myself. 

"So, a scholarship student?" I asked and she looked at me for probably the first time since she sat down and nodded.

"Explains the hair", I said trying to provoke her. I don't actually give two fucks about her endless number of split ends, but her reply to this decides what kind of a person she is. If she's worth being friends with, I'll just apologize for what I said later.

"Typical rich bitch", she murmured under her breath.

"What's that you just said?" I asked with a smug look even though I already heard it.

Her irritation towards me fueled her non-existent confidence and she glared at me before she spoke again.

"I said typical rich bitch. I know people like you. You all think that you're too good for the rest of the world. Always treating us like trash. But honestly, you would be nothing without your money and reputation. I don't have perfect hair because I'm busy building a life. Unlike you rich people, who never have to break a sweat to get anything in life."

The whole table went quiet at what she said. She looked proud of herself until I started laughing.

I'm the one who insulted her, so if she just insulted me back, I'd respect her. But the fact that she just insulted everyone born to money, proves that she's just as narrow minded as the other scholarship students.

"Why are you laughing?" she asked confused.

"Because you're one of those people. You know, those who think they're better than us. Deep down inside, I think you're jealous. You wish to be just like us, don't you?" I asked and the others smirked at my words.

"Lynne, stop." I heard a voice from beside me. I looked over at Blake giving me a disappointed look. 

What's wrong with him?

"Can we talk about something else?" Cole asked rolling his eyes.

"Gladly," Blake said, giving me a glare and then turned to Terra with a smile. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon." He gave her that bright smile I loved so much, making me clench my teeth in annoyance.

"You two know each other?" Asher asked.

"Yeah, we have chemistry together," Blake replied.

"It's Algebra," Terra corrected.

"But I still think we have chemistry together." He winked, leaning towards her. Cole glared at him, his face showing exactly how I felt.

Terra blushed and hid her face with her hair. Satisfied with that, Blake spent rest of the period shamelessly flirting with her whereas I tried to ignore the constant discomfort I felt in my chest.

Blake had been with many girls, but none of them mattered to him the way I did. I was pretty sure that this would be just like that. 

Nothing to worry about, right?

Author's Note

Okay, so what did you think about the characters?

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And if you made it till the end, thank you for reading and I love you so much!

Okay, have fun, enjoy life.

Signed,
Me