Okay, here's chapter one. I hope you guys enjoy this story. It's my first shot at a more light-hearted romance.

Rating: PG-13(just to be safe, this chapter alone is probably PG though).

Bon appetite!

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Okay, now I’m not saying that a wet face is the worst thing to wake up to, because it’s really not. I mean, a nuclear attack would suck big time, but honestly, why is my dog obsessed with practically drowning me with his slobber? Umm…eww.

“Boger!” (yes, my dog’s name is ‘Boger’ – deal with it). I practically threw him off of my bed. So what if he hit his head and killed a few brain cells – it wouldn’t make that much of a difference. Boger is, shall we say, not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Okay, he’s a dumbass. I thought that mutts were supposed to be smart. Boger is a Yellow Lab/Border Collie mix and is officially the dumbest dog I have ever met.

I am not a morning person at all. My brain doesn’t start functioning until at least 10:30, but school starts at 8:00 – woe is me. Needless to say that at 6:00 in the morning I am bound to make decisions that are…not well thought out. Such as throwing the dog off my bed (he is not a small dog), and consequently having my mother scream at me from the kitchen and tell me that “Ann Marie Lucas would not be happy!” Jeez, ever since my mom started watching Animal Precinct she thinks she’s an ASPCA agent. Give me a break.

After successfully shooing Boger out of my room and drying off my face, I decided that what I needed to wake myself up was a nice, cold shower. No way in hell am I ever doing that again. I don’t know why people in movies are obsessed with taking cold showers, but let me tell you, they’re not as mind-clearing as they’re cracked up to be. I felt like freakin’ Jack from Titanic. Shit this is cold! Shit! Shit! Shit!

Anywho, after that disaster was all said and done, I groped my way downstairs to a breakfast of Lucky Charms – part of a complete balanced breakfast. I never understand cereal commercials. Whenever they show the cereal it’s always alongside bacon and eggs, some toast, and like a freakin’ cantaloupe. Who the hell eats all that for breakfast? And when they say it’s part of a complete balanced breakfast, do they mean just the cereal? Or are we supposed to add in the cantaloupe as well? They should really make these commercials less confusing if they’re directed towards eight-year-olds.

Breakfast is very routine in the Riley household. My five-year-old sister, Katie, always runs around in just her underwear and a shirt screaming because she doesn’t want anyone to put clothes on her. Trust me; no one is more weirded out by this than me. My other younger sibling, Jake, doesn’t wake up until 7:30, despite my mother’s constant screaming. Jake is fourteen, and ever since he started high school he thinks he’s god or something. He doesn’t do anything besides sleep, eat, skateboard, and play guitar. He goes to school and everything, but all he does there is sleep.

Thump, thump, thump. I groaned. “Madi, please go open the porch door for Boger,” my dad said, without even looking up from his Wall Street Journal.

I reluctantly removed myself from my seat at the table and walked into the living room where Boger was relentlessly slamming head-first into the glass door. “Move, move, move,” I mumbled, shoving him out of the way. Before I even had it fully open, Boger wiggled through and rushed out into the backyard. I slammed the door shut and glared at him, secretly sending him death rays, before returning to my Lucky Charms.

By 7:45, Jake was finally dressed and we were all ready to face the day. Jake and I piled into my father’s heavy-duty Army assault vehicle – the minivan, while my mother struggled to buckle Katie into the back seat of her Audi. After my dad kissed his beautiful wife goodbye (shut up), we were off. Headed north bound on the highway to the never-ending drama that was Lakeview High School.

Yes, I come from town of Lakeview, New York. You’ve probably not heard of it. It’s a one-Starbucks town, nestled in the suburbs New York City. My parents both work in the city, and it’s about a 40-minute drive though. They don’t drive to work, though, they take the train - because we’re all high tech like that.

But back to my high school. Yes, Lakeview High, it really is something. I don’t think it’s really considered large, what with about 1,000 students and all. I’m not popular, nor am I unpopular. I have a solid group of friends, most of whom I’ve known since middle school.

And now I shall fill out in on the uber fun adventure that is my life. My name is Madison Louise Riley, and as you may have already taken note of, Madi for short. I am a junior at Lakeview High School. My brother, Jake, is a freshman. I have lived in Lakeview my entire life. I guess you could say that I belong to the typical suburbian family. My father, Scott, is a stock advisor – he works at the New York Stock Exchange. My mother, Amy, works for the New York Times. I guess I’ll fill you in on everything else as it comes, because right now I have to get to school.

I jumped out of the minivan and ran towards the school building, hoping to make it out alive before my father could do anything embarrassing, which he always managed to do anyways, so I’m not sure why I even try.

“Go get ‘em, Champ!” I heard him call to Jake. I turned around and watched my brother turn one hundred shades of magenta. Bad move on my part. “Madi, don’t forget your mother is picking you guys up today, I have a meeting that will run a little late! Have a good day, Princess!” Oh God. He had addressed me by name. I felt like puking. I turned around and tried to let the surrounding snickers and whispers fall on deaf ears.

“Harsh,” said my friend Alyson, falling into step next to me. I glanced over at her. Although she was trying to be sympathetic, I could tell that she thought it was funny.

“Shut up,” I mumbled, pushing through a crowd of people that always surrounded the entrance.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s not funny. I am not laughing.” I whipped my head around and saw that she still had a grin on her face.

“You’re the worst friend ever,” I replied, my own face breaking into a grin as soon as the words left my lips.

Aly smiled. “I love you, too, Madi.”

We made our way towards out lockers, which were right next to each other. Now I know what you’re thinking. ‘Yeah right, that never happens.’ And it didn’t. But Aly is a very forceful person. She basically threatened the boy who previously owned the locker with a nasty herpes rumor. Why he thought anyone would believe her is beyond me, but my friend and I now have our lockers next to each other, so it’s fine by me.

28, two spins to the left, 10, one spin to the right, 17. I opened my locker and deposited the books I had brought home last night, keeping the ones that I needed for first period under my arm. After shoving my backpack into my locker and re-locking it, I turned around and held my books up to my chest. “Do you realize that we’ve only been in school for a month?” I looked over at Aly after asking this.

She closed her own locker and leaned back against it before answering. “I know. It seems like six, doesn’t it?”

I nodded. “Only a month in and I still feel swamped with work.”

“Junior year is hell,” she said, closing her eyes and leaning her head back.

“Tell me about it,” I replied.

She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when a cheery red-head bounded up to us. “Hey, guys,” she said, skidding to a half in front of me.

“Bonjour,” I said.

“Hey, Becks.”

Becks, or Rebecca, is my other best friend. Maybe now is the time to fill you in on my best friends. Rebecca and I have been friends since the fourth grade, while Alyson has been my friend since Kindergarten. Rebecca is a bit on the shorter side. She’s been 5’1” since the eighth grade. It’s always made me feel superior to her, standing at a Yao Ming rivaling 5’5”. Aly is about an inch taller than me, and probably one of the most beautiful girls I know. I’m not saying that I’m ugly, but she is…really pretty. She has long black hair and light blue eyes, and her skin is an olivey tan. She’s Greek – lucky bitch. She’s also very skinny. Now I’m not fat, but I’m more athletically skinny if you know what I mean. She’s model skinny. I’m not sure if that makes any sense whatsoever. Rebecca and I are both on the soccer team. Aly hates sports with a passion. She’s in all the school plays though – she’s an amazing actress.

Rebecca and I are the more sporty ones (as you may have already noticed with the aforementioned soccer). We’re also on the track team together. Rebecca has pale skin, wavy red hair, and grey eyes. She’s my petite little Irish maiden. I, on the other hand, have straight dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes. Well, my mom calls them hazel, I just call them green. What’s the difference anyway?

The bell rang, startling me. I jumped slightly – I’ve always been a jumpy person, something my friends have taken way too much advantage of by always sneaking up behind me and whatnot. Rebecca and I made our way to first period English. It was there that I saw him. “Him” being Chris Atwood. The hottest guy in the junior class.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not your typical bimbo, I-fall-for-any-guy-who-can-walk-talk-and-kiss kind of girl, but Chris Atwood is different. He’s not your typical I-fall-for-any-bimbo kind of guy. He’s funny, and smart, and athletic, and talented, and…way out of my league. Unfortunately, he’s in a Courtney Star kind of league. Oh, Courtney Star – the most popular girl in the junior class. Not by my standards, though. I hate her and don’t understand at all why anyone in their right mind would consider her popular. “Popular” is defined as widely liked, and let me tell you, Courtney Star is anything but widely liked. She is the polar opposite of widely liked. She is your typical, blond, more-make-up-in-her-purse-than-brain-cells-in-her-head cheerleader.

It makes me cringe just to think about her. And apparently I did cringe because Rebecca smacked me in the back of the head and dragged me to my seat by the elbow.

“What the hell was that?” she asked, looking at me as if I had just screamed to the class that I eat my own earwax.

“What?”

“You had this nasty look on your face and you were staring at Chris. I thought you were deranged or something.”

“Oh,” I said. “I was just thinking about Courtney.”

“Ugh. You’re forgiven,” she replied, setting her books down on her desk and leaning back in her chair.

I followed suit and let my eyes fall on Chris again. Granted, it was the back of his head, but it was still so…beautiful. Light brown hair, bright blue eyes. Oh, the color of his T-shirt matched his eyes. Why was I so lovesick over this boy that I barely even knew? We had been partners in history class once. I ended up doing most of the work, but he did come over to my house once. The experience in itself was magical.

“Hey!” Rebecca’s voice cut into my train of thought.

I looked over at her.

“I just remembered something.” I inclined my head towards her. “Andy’s coming back today!”

Andrew Parker. He and his father had been in Australia since the beginning of summer. Andy had said that he was being home schooled for the first month, but Rebecca was right – he was coming back today. I had talked to him on the phone a week ago.

The thought brightened my day. I couldn’t wait to see him again. Four months was a long time to go without seeing one of your best friends. I’d known Andy since the sixth grade when he moved in next door to me.

I was busy thinking about Andy when Mr. Stephens cleared his throat loudly, drawing the attention of the entire class and bringing the noise level down sufficiently.

“Before we begin class,” he said. “I would like to re-introduce Andy Parker, who I’m sure all of you will remember from last year. He’s been in Australia all summer with his father. Andy, why don’t you stand up?” I practically choked on my own tongue.

This was a joke. That was Andy Parker? My next-door neighbor? The first thing I noticed about him was that he was much taller. When he had left he was only an inch taller than me. He’d grown at least five inches over the summer. And he had always been lanky; now he was…well, not. He wasn’t broad-shouldered or anything, as a matter of fact he was still slim, but now he had muscle. I could only imagine a chiseled set of abs under his brown T-shirt. And his hair. His dark brown, almost black hair used to be shaggy, but now it was short and slightly gelled down. His dark brown eyes looked deeper now, and more mysterious. And I never thought he’d had any baby fat around his face, but if he had, it was completely gone now. And he was tanner. He had a nice tan in fact.

I don’t think I was the only one gaping over him, because when I looked behind me, Lisa Malone’s jaw was practically on the floor. Andy had long since taken his seat, but every single girl in class was still staring at him.

Mr. Stephens had begun droning on about some project, but I was completely focused on Andy. He looked over at me. Oh my God, he looked at me. And he smiled! He smiled at me. I barely managed one back before returning my attention to the front of the classroom.

Rebecca leaned over to me. “Oh my God, Madi, did you see Andy? He’s a total hottie!”

I simply nodded in response, keeping my eyes locked on Mr. Stephens for fear of them wandering. They did occasionally wander, though. In the middle of class I found myself staring straight at Andy when I didn’t even remember adjusting my gaze.

The bell rang and I jumped before quickly scrambling to collect my books. As I was walking out the door, Andy fell into step beside me and flashed a quick smile. “Hey, Madi,” he said. I sighed inwardly. At least his voice was the same.

“Hey,” I said, smiling warmly. “It’s good to see you.”

“Yeah, you, too.”

“You…you look good,” I nodded slightly towards him.

He grinned. “Thanks. So do you. How was your summer?”

“Oh, it was great. I had a job, so that was kind a bummer, but all in all it was okay. How was Australia?”

“It was amazing,” he said. “I had such an awesome time. You should definitely go there someday.”

“I’ve always wanted to,” I replied honestly. I actually had always wanted to go, and he knew that.

“Well when you do, I’ll give you the grand tour.”

I laughed. “Thanks for that,” I said, locking eyes with him momentarily. Wow, he had amazing eyes. “What class do you have next?”

“Uhhh,” he referenced his schedule. “Art.”

“I’ve got French. I guess I’ll see you later.”

“Definitely,” he replied, before heading off towards his art class.

I sighed as I watched him go. He had on a light brown shirt, slightly baggy blue jeans, and black Etnies. I’d been there when he bought those Etnies. I’d picked them out.

I felt a presence beside me and turned around to see Aly.

“He’s back today, isn’t he?” she asked eagerly.

“If you’re talking about Andy, then yes, he is back,” I replied, as we made our way towards French class together.

“Of course I’m talking about Andy. And you’re still just as in love with him as ever, aren’t you?”

I gaped at her. “I am not in love with him, thank you very much.”

“Madi, give me a break,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You’ve been in love with him since last year, so stop pretending that you’re not.”

I frowned. “He’s so different. He changed.”

“What, is he like a freak now?”

“No, no, not like that. Actually the complete opposite of that,” I said, smiling sheepishly.

“Ah, he turned into a hottie over the summer, didn’t he?” she asked. “I’ve seen it before a million times.”

“Hey, he was cute before,” I defended.

“In Madiverse maybe,” she replied, as we sat down in our seats.

I slowly opened my French book and sighed. It was true; I had liked Andy last year. More so because of his personality that his looks, but now…now he had it all. Not only was he an amazing person, but he actually rivaled Chris Atwood for looks. By lunch, every girl in Lakeview High would know who Andy Parker was. If I had ever had a chance with Andy, that chance was gone now.

-

By the time lunch rolled by I was starving. I put my tray down at the table and slid in next to Rebecca, who was babbling on about Andy. Maybe now is the time to introduce the rest of my friends. Evan Goldstein is Aly’s boyfriend of one year. He fits her perfectly – they’re both gorgeous. He’s an athlete though, so that’s one thing they don’t have in common. And he’s cute in a beachy type of way. Shaggy blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. He’s the quarterback of the football team. I know that in most schools that would qualify him as super-popular, and he is, but like I said, I’m not unpopular. Then there’s Seth Matthews. He’s definitely the genius of the group - kind of nerdy, but super-hilarious. He’s definitely the clown of our little group of friends. And last, but certainly not least, Sarah Davidson - our perky brunette. I befriended her freshman year. She’s in the drama club with Aly.

“Can you believe they’re already planning Winter Formal?” asked Rebecca. “I mean we just had homecoming. I think it’s a bit much.”

“Does anyone else find it sad that we don’t have any fundraisers for our dances? And that Marie Powell’s dad just pays for everything because he’s the big CEO of some company?”

“I think it kind of stereotypes the people at our school,” contributed Sarah. “I mean, all of our rival schools know that we don’t have any fundraisers and they never let us forget it.”

“Do you guys remember last year when the school decided to have fundraisers anyway?” Aly looked up with a smile on her face.

“God, that was a disaster,” I said. “I think that the bake sale sold like one cupcake.”

“Because no one cared,” said Evan. “Everybody knows that Mr. Powell is going to pay for it, so there’s just no point.”

“What’s going to happen next year?” asked Rebecca. “I mean, Marie’s a senior now, so who’s going to pay for Homecoming?”

“Marie’s little sister, Anna, is going to be a freshman next year,” said Aly, casually popping a French fry into her mouth. “So Mr. Powell will still have a kid here.”

I felt a tap on my shoulder and practically jumped out of my skin. I turned around and saw Andy smiling at me.

“Some things never change,” he said, shaking his head dismally.

“Andy, my man!” Evan yelled, jumping up to go and say hello. He was quickly followed by Sarah and Seth, but everyone else had already had a class with him.

He sat down next to me. “So what have I missed?” He asked, looking around at everyone.

“Well, it would kind of be impossible to fill you in on an entire summer and the past month in one lunch period, but we were recently discussing Homecoming,” said Sarah.

“Didn’t we already have Homecoming?” Asked Andy.

“Yes, a week ago, but they’re already planning Winter Formal. It’s not until December,” said Rebecca.

“Becks, dances are a big deal at this school. Get over it,” said Aly with a shrug. Rebecca threw a French fry at her, and Aly retaliated with a straw.

The rest of lunch basically consisted of Andy telling us about Australia, and a few more French fry wars. His arm occasionally brushed mine, sending tingles up my spine. We walked together to Pre-Calculus, and my heart was pounding the entire time. Why was I acting this way? Andy was one of my best friends. Just because he was a little bit easier on the eyes now didn’t mean that I should go completely ga-ga over him. Andy expected us to be the friends we always had been, and nothing different.

He met me at my locker after school and waited while I emptied books into my backpack.

“Are your parents picking you up?” I asked, after shutting my locker.

“Nope,” he said, as we walked along together. “I’m bussin’ it.”

“Hey, why don’t you come home with me? My mom’s picking me and Jake up. It’d be way faster.”

He considered this for a second. “Okay,” he finally said. “That’d be cool. I haven’t seen Jake yet.”

“He’s been working on his skateboarding all summer,” I replied.

“That’s great. I never knew I’d had such an effect on him,” he said, with mock dramatics.

We sat down on the grass in front of the school, awaiting the arrival of my mother. “Are you going to be on the soccer team again this year?” I asked. Even though Andy skateboarded, he was still an avid sports fan, and one of the best soccer players on our guys team.

He nodded. “Yup, coach said that there’s still a spot for me on the team. Even though the season’s a third of the way over. You’re playing again this year, right?” I nodded. “Awesome.” He smiled.

My mother’s silver Audi pulled up a moment later. I heard a call of “Andy” from behind us and turned around to see Jake sprinting towards us. I sat in the front seat so that Jake and Andy could talk because I’m just an amazing older sister like that.

“Andy,” my mom said cheerily. “It’s so great to see you.” She agreed immediately to giving him a ride home (he lives right next to us, though, so it doesn’t even really matter). “How is your father?”

“He’s great,” replied Andy.

“And how was Australia?” my mom Asked, turning around to look at him.

“Oh, it was amazing.”

“That’s wonderful. It’s good to have you back, though.” We zoomed out into the street. Jake and Andy immediately started animatedly discussing deck width or something like that. I pretty much zoned out due to complete lack of interest.

Fifteen minutes later we were home. Andy bid us farewell and walked towards his own house. I dumped my stuff in the kitchen and opened the fridge to grab an apple.

“Andy’s certainly changed,” said my mom, coming into the kitchen a few seconds later.

“Yeah,” I replied, ripping into the fruit.

“He looks a lot different,” she continued. I nodded. “Madi, he’s very cute.”

“Yes, Mom, I know. I have eyes, too.”

“Excuse me for having an opinion,” she said, holding up her hands.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed my backpack, then trudged up the stairs to my room. She was only telling me what I already knew. Andy was different. He was different from the way he used to be, and he was different from any boy I’d ever met. And yes, I was falling for him again, but so was every other girl at Lakeview High.

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I hope you guys enjoyed chapter one. Please review! Constructive criticism is welcome:)