My first thought was, OW my face, as I turned the corner too quickly and plowed headfirst into what I thought was a wall. And then I realized the wall was warm, and it had its hands on my arms, keeping me from falling over. Looking up, I found myself staring into his eyes. Oh sh*t. I'd just faceplanted into this guy. Of course, he had to be the school's bad boy player, just my luck.

"Err...heh, sorry about that," I said, blushing. It didn't help that he had the most amazing grayish blue eyes that I kept getting lost in.

He smirked. "In a rush today, huh?"

Oh my god, he had this voice that was just...wow. I wanted to slap myself, why was I thinking this? He was a player. He'd take my heart and then break it, just like he did with countless others. But I managed to get out a reasonable response. "Yeah, I have a test in science today...I'm kind of nervous," I laughed uneasily. God, I sounded like a complete nerd, rambling about a science test...

"Oh really? Don't worry, it's not that bad," he reassured me. "By the way, the answer to the bonus is lanthanoid." He winked at me and said, "Well, I'll see you around," and walked past me down the hallway.

I made my way to class, my head spinning about what just happened. He actually wasn't that bad, but then again, I never talked to him at all until this morning. Sitting down in my seat in science, I pulled out my study guide and went over it. About forty five minutes later, I was out of science and heading to French.

Madam Marie—Elise was one of my favorite teachers. Being fairly young, she understood her students better. She moved from France a few years back and was a very good teacher, kind and understanding. Madam always had her hair pulled up into a high bun and only on Fridays would she let it cascade in brown curls down her back.

She greeted me at the door, "Bonjour, mademoiselle Hanna."

"Bonjour, Madam Elise," I returned. All her students left off the 'Marie' in her name, she told us to just call her Madam Elise or Miss Elise, apparently 'Marie' made her sound old. As if.

One by one, we filed into class. I took my usual seat in the back of the classroom. We had double desks, but no one ever sat by me, and I was perfectly okay with that. I just used the extra space to put my extra books on. As I took out my yellow flowered agenda and started copying down today's homework, I became acutely aware of someone intently staring at me. I shifted uncomfortably, not bothering to find out who it was. Then I caught the most amazing scent. It was manly and woodsy, and it made my head spin. I peeked at the class from underneath my eyelashes and saw a very familiar looking figure up at the front, handing a paper to Madam. He turned around and I gasped slightly. It was Max, the boy I ran into this morning.

Madam clapped her hands, "Can I get everyone's attention?" The class quieted down and I fixed my gaze on my agenda, scribbling random things in its margin. I pleaded with her in my head, begging her not to say what I thought she was about to. "Please welcome our new student, Maximillian. Max, would you like to introduce yourself?"

I heard snickers and giggles emanating from various parts of the class, but Max ignored them and good—naturedly waved at the class. "Hey guys, I'm Max, and I like playing COD and being outdoors." Well, that certainly was descriptive. People applauded anyways, and a few guys came up to give him a pat on the back like, hey dude, welcome to French.

I went back to doodling on my agenda but before long, I heard Madam Elise telling Max, "Oh, you can sit wherever you want, just find an empty seat."

Footsteps stopped next to me and I dared to look up. Yep, he was standing there.

"Hi, can I sit here?" I swear, the entire class went silent at the fact that this popular guy was asking to sit next to me, a nobody.

"Sure..." I started moving all my stuff off the desk, knocking over a stack of binders.

His hands stopped me. "It's cool, I got it." With one swipe of his arm, he had all my books balanced in one hand and gave them to me. Damn it, why'd he have to be so coordinated? Max plopped down in the seat, oblivious to the stares. I sank lower and lower in my seat as I caught Ally's death glare. Figures. She was this popular kid in our grade and was pretty much the school bike and had liked Max since forever. Ally was probably pissed at me. Joy, I've made a friend.

"Can I see your notes?" Max asked.

I nodded and slid them over.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

I took more notes on Madam Elise's lecture. At least, I tried to. The little things that Max kept doing were getting to me and I noticed them way too much. The way he tapped his pencil on the desk when he didn't understand something, the way he wrinkled his forehead when he was working hard. I had to shake myself a few times to snap out of it, I couldn't be seen staring at him like an idiot.

To top it all off, I found out that the amazing scent I'd smelled earlier was him. I'm not trying to be a creeper but it was intoxicating. It didn't help that we were super close together either. The double desk was of average size, and I was kind of small I suppose, but Max just kind of took up the rest of the space. He had to be at least six feet and while he wasn't bulky or completely buff, he had broad shoulders and prominent muscles when he moved. God, he made me feel tiny.

So there I was, pressing myself against the table leg to get as far away from him as possible. Still, I only managed to put about two inches of space between us. I spent almost the entire class in that incredibly uncomfortable position. When it was near the end of class, I just gave up. I went back to my normal spot and tried to ignore the crazy feeling that was bubbling up inside me. I wanted to slap myself. I couldn't like him as more than a friend. He was a player, he'd hurt me eventually.