Chapter 1

Nate sat in his class with a scowl. He was still annoyed about meeting that stupid girl. She is lucky that he would never mess with girls, or she would’ve ended up with some broken bones for crossing him. The door opened, so he looked up.

You’ve got to be shitting me, Nate thought. It was her. Now he has to be in the same class with her too?

“Oh look, it’s my new friend Nate,” Amelia said with a big smile that irritated him even more.

“I’m not your fucking friend,” he said and furrowed his eyebrows.

“You know, it won’t hurt you to be nicer to me. I may become a very valuable friend if you give me a chance,” she said.

“I don’t think so. Now stop talking to me,” he snarled.

Amelia stared at him intently for a minute but didn’t say anything. She turned back around as the teacher walked in.

“Alright, everyone, today I will assign you a partner for this project you will be working on. You’ll be working in pairs, and no, you cannot choose your own partner,” the biology teacher Ms. Webb declared.

Several of the students groaned at that announcement, including Nate. He didn’t like working with another person anyway, and he wasn’t too thrilled about working with some nerd.

“I’ll be announcing the names now,” she said and started to read the names off of a paper.

“Elle and Jessica, Aaron and Sam…” she kept reading the names, and Nate was getting impatient.

“Nate and Amelia,” she called.

Oh, fuck no! There was no way he will work with this annoying chick. It was like he couldn’t get away from her.

“It looks like you can’t get away from me,” Amelia smirked. “This must be fate.”

Fate my ass, Nate thought. “Um…Ms. Webb?” He called, waving his hand. “Can I have a different partner? How about Ricky over there?” he pointed at the scrawny, nerdy kid in the back. Ricky frantically nodded his head no as he was terrified of Nate.

“Now, Mr. Wolf, I told you in the beginning, I will be assigning partners for everyone, and you are not an exception to that rule. I’m sure you and Ms. Martinez will get along just fine if you give her a chance. “Ms. Webb said.

Nate stood up and walked toward the teacher’s desk. He leaned in and whispered, “you don’t understand, this girl…I think there’s something wrong with this girl. You need to find someone smarter to pair with her because I don’t think I can handle it, you know what I’m saying?”

Ms. Webb narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know what is going on between you two, but I suggest you work it out because my decision is final. Ms. Martinez transferred here with a very high GPA, so I know she can handle this project just fine, so you should be all set. Now please go back to your seat so I can resume my task.”

Nate scowled and walked back to his desk without saying another word. This is going to be a long semester.

The project was simple. They had to create a replica of a flower of their choice and identify each part. Then make a presentation explaining how each part works.

“I can sculpt a Lily flower out of clay! That’s my favorite flower,” Amelia chirped.

“Whatever, I just want to get it over with,” Nate yawned.

Created with Sketch.

They met up after school because Amelia insisted they have to work together on it. She threatened to tell Ms. Webb if he didn’t agree. He couldn’t afford to get a failing grade, so he complied.

And that’s how they ended up hanging out together.

“Nah uh…buddy. I’m not doing all the work for you. You are going to help me create this masterpiece. How about I create the sculpture, and you type the report?” Amelia suggested.

“Fine…that’s okay with me,” Nate agreed. “Just don’t expect me to just hang out with you. This is strictly for the project,” he added.

“I get it. I get it. You are too cool to socialize with anyone and all that, but we’ll have fun, I promise!” Amelia chirped.

“I doubt that, so where are we working on this? Your house?” Nate asked.

“Yeah, sure! Come on over to my house after school tomorrow. I’ll have all the materials ready to go,” she said.

“Great, now if we are done here, goodbye,” Nate waved at her with two fingers and strode out of there.

Amelia shook her head. What was this guy’s problem? It wasn’t like she was so hideous that he couldn’t stand to look at her. Guys usually liked her. What was he afraid of?

The next day, Amelia wrote her address and the phone number on a piece of paper and slid it toward Nate.

“I’ll drive you home since you have to ride the bus,” Nate said.

“I’m shocked! I figured you would keep as much distance from me as possible since you always act like I have some type of virus or something,” Amelia said.

“I regret my offer already,” Nate grumbled.

They drove to the house after school.

“Mom, I’m home!” Amelia yelled as soon as they entered the house, but they were greeted with silence.

“Wait here while I get the stuff for our model. Mom told me to keep boys out of my room, so I can’t let you go upstairs, sorry,” she said.

“Fine by me, it’s not like I’m interested in that kind of thing with you anyway,” Nate shrugged.

“Ouch! I’m slightly offended. Are you telling me I’m not hot enough for you to take advantage of me?” Amelia pouted.

“That’s not what I’m saying… " Nate protested.

“So, you do think I’m hot?” she pressed.

“No… I mean, yes, I do think you are hot. I’m just not interested. I find you annoying,” Nate said bluntly.

“Geez…shoot me where it hurts the most, I guess. Anyways…I’ll go get the stuff.” with that, Amelia went upstairs.

Nate looked around the house. Amelia wasn’t rich. Her house was a cozy little place compared to his place. He lived with his dad, who owned a huge house that could fit five families. He didn’t particularly enjoy living there since he was all alone. Instead of people talking, he heard echoes of his footsteps.

He started to look at the pictures hung on the walls. Amelia with her parents, Amelia was playing in the park with another boy who looked a few years older. She looked happy.

“Oh, that’s my brother Jeremy,” Amelia spoke suddenly behind him. “He is at college now.”

She pointed at the dining room table, which now had some craft materials.

“Shall we get started?” she asked.