I heard, what sounded like, a gritting of teeth. “Guess it's too much to expect an apology.” His sarcasm was thick, his words ground out through obvious clenched teeth. “Probably.” I quipped, finally looking up into the most amazing pair of brown eyes that I had ever seen.

Hot damn. Cue the violins and happy cartoon bunnies, I was in the middle of a Disney moment. Because this guy was gorgeous. And we were standing so close to each other. If he hadn't been holding onto a barely contained rage directed at yours truly, it could have almost been construed as romantic.

Just add delusions to my growing list of issues.

Mr. Cutie stood there in all of his infuriated glory - and he was seriously angry. His perfectly symmetrical face -(covered in a fine dusting of adorable freckles, I might add-) was flushed a rather concerning shade of red. Those awesome brown eyes that I had already noticed flashed murder. He was quite a bit taller than me, with dark hair that curled around his forehead and ears as though he hadn't bothered with a haircut in a while. He had a cleft in his chin and a tiny scar under his right eye. And despite his obvious good looks, he appeared decidedly unhinged. Wow, they were only papers.

Cute boy took a deep breath and closed his eyes. I jammed my hands in my pockets and made the decision to get the hell out of there. I started to move around him, making sure to give him a wide berth. His voice, much calmer now, stopped me. “Well, you could at least tell me where the main office is. You know, after practically running me over and all.”

If his tone had been playful, I would be able to pretend he was flirting with me. But nope, he was terse and irritated and in a very bad mood. And I had had enough of it for one morning. So cuteness aside, this guy could go take a flying leap somewhere.

“You're a big boy, I'm sure you can handle this one on your own.” I turned my back and quickly walked away. “Thanks for nothing.” He yelled after me. Yep, hot boy came with a bad attitude. Not really my idea of a good time, thank you very much. I couldn't get away fast enough.

Chapter Two

“That's it! I'm swearing off every member of the female population. Do they still have monasteries? Cause a life time of praying and bad haircuts sure as hell beats chicks and their freaking drama.” Daniel's lunch tray came down with a loud clang on the table.

Rachel and I rolled our eyes in unison and turned to the third member of our trio with what we hoped were supportive expressions. “What did Kylie do this time?” Rachel asked, popping a Cheeto into her mouth. Daniel ran his hand over his buzzed blonde head. He was clearly very agitated. But honestly, when wasn't he agitated? Daniel was as big a drama queen -(or king, or whatever-) as any girl.

He let out a long, tortured sigh and propped his chin on his hand. Rachel's eyes went all gooey and I saw the tell-tale signs of her unrequited crush rearing its ugly head. Looking at our best friend, it was easy to understand why she felt the way she did. Daniel was easily one of the best looking guys at Jackson High School. If he wasn't the closest thing I had to a brother, I would have joined Rachel in crush land. His puppy dog eyes and perfect lips were many a girl's dream and definitely helped in the popularity department. Rachel and I, being his best friends, gained popularity by association. Not that I cared much about all that.

Daniel's on and off again relationship with Kylie Good, a perky junior who happened to be co-captain of the girls' field hockey team and was so cute you wanted to slap her, was the source of a lot of drama. Honestly, it was exhausting, even as a spectator. Kylie was nice in a fake kind of way, but in my opinion, it was her insane insecurities and ever more insane jealousy that made her truly insufferable and a really shitty girlfriend.

Personally, I thought Daniel got off on the craziness of their relationship. Some people were like that. Getting some sort of thrill out of constant turmoil. Otherwise I couldn't wrap my mind around why Daniel would put up with all of that nonsense for the last year and a half.

“I've been staying after school getting help in trig from Laura Johnson. Shit, it's just school work. And it's f**king Laura, granny panties, Johnson! It's not like I've been secretly banging her as she whispers math problems in my ear or something.” Rachel and I stifled a giggle. Daniel shook his bottle of chocolate milk, his admitted weakness, and opened it roughly. Daniel raised his eyebrows as we tried to stop laughing. I trained my face into blank attentiveness.

“So Kylie thinks you're getting it on with Laura? Really? Has she lost what little brains that haven't already gone missing from one too many hockey sticks to the head?” I asked, popping open my can of soda. Daniel frowned and chose to ignore my comment. Rachel jumped in, the epitome of understanding and support. “So what happened, Danny? Did you guys have a fight?” Daniel's expression smoothed out and he sighed again. Yep, total drama queen.

“Yeah, Kylie just went off on me. She says I shouldn't be spending so much time alone with girls that weren't her. She is just completely irrational.” “What about us? You spend tons of time with us. Last time I checked, we fit in the vagina column.” I remarked. Daniel choked on his milk. Rachel snorted.

Daniel cleared his throat. “You guys don't really count. I mean, you're Rachel and Mags. Kylie knows that you guys might as well have a penis.” Well, that was more than bordering on offensive. Rachel moved her hands into her lap, clearly hurt by Daniel's words. He was so dense. How could he not see that saying something like that could hurt someone's feelings?