Lucas Grady. Every girl in her school wanted him, and ever guy wanted to be him, and he didn't even go to her school anymore. He had graduated from Centennial Academy, a snobbish, rich preppy school, two years earlier and was still a known legacy. He had ruled the school, no doubt, and only knew the girls worth knowing and only hung out with guys who were on the football team.

He was handsome of course with light blond hair, that stood up in some places and blue eyes that made ever girl, whether they knew him or not, melt. He was in shape, always working out or playing football. Some girls would skip their classes to sit on the gym bleachers and watch his gym class, obviously just him, play basketball, while Coach Bender wasn't there.

He had never been in a serious relationship with a girl before. He would tell them anything they needed to her just to get them into bed, and then break their hearts. He doubted he would ever find a girl that would make him want to change the way he was living right now; college freshmen who knew about every single party there was, who got every girl he wanted, and who couldn't give a shit about school because he didn't need to. He'd be working for his father after he graduated anyway, no matter what his grades were. It had been a miracle that he had actually graduated high school. He had taken a semester off to work part-time as a bus driver for his old high school, his father's orders. He didn't really mind, it was better than being in school, and he got to see hot girls that had been fourteen or fifteen the last time he had seen them.

There was one girl though, one girl that he couldn't figure out. He hadn't remembered her from when he had gone to Centennial, but he wished he would have. She was beautiful, though he would never admit he thought of her that way to anyone. She had light brown, almost blond, hair that waved to nearly the small of her back, and green eyes that were so electrifying.

He didn't know why he even talked to her. She wasn't his usual type of girl. His usually type were hot, self-centered bimbos that only cared about themselves and getting into bed with him, but she was different. She was shy and quiet, she actually cared about school, and she didn't get all dolled up for him, and he somehow oddly found that attractive.

“Good morning Vanessa.” He smiled, as she climbed onto the bus, and slid into the first seat behind him.

“Morning Luke,” She said, pushing a cup of what seemed to be coffee towards him. He had taken it without hesitation, and smiled at her again.

She only spoke to him when she got on the bus for about ten minutes until would arrive at the next stop. She was the first stop in the morning, the last at night, and with her being the only one at that stop, it made it easier for her and Lucas to talk. She didn't know why but she felt it would be easier if people didn't know they were friends, because that would cause a lot of corruption and unwanted attention for her.

“Big exam today?” He asked, and she nodded. She had been speaking about these exams for about two months, since November, and the big day had finally arrived. Her mid-term examinations were being held today at her school, and even though she was the top in her class, she was nervous. “Don't be nervous,” He said, though he had read her mind. “I'm sure you'll do amazing. What subject is it today? English?”

She nodded again. “We have two and a half hours to write a 400 word essay on 'Virtual Students'.” She said.

“What the fuck is that?”

She laughed and rolled her eyes at his choice of words. She had gotten used to it by now though. Lucas didn't give a shit about what anyone thought about him, and she envied him for that. “It's this new program that the school board members are working on,” She explained. “It's like … instead of coming to school, the board has created a “virtual classroom” where you can just sit in front of your computer or tv screen, and have your class taught to you.” She said. “So we have to write an essay explaining our opinion, whether we think it's a good idea because it would reduce overcrowding and save money on bus transportation, or say we think it's a bad idea because we think some students who don't attend school in person will not develop the skills necessary to compete in the real world.”

He nodded, understandingly and then smirked cockily. “Well, you think it's a bad idea, right? I mean, if they do this virtual classroom shit, then you wouldn't be able to see me anymore.” He said, giving her a wink.

She felt herself blush, and immediately started laughing, to make it seem as though she wasn't blushing because of him. It was hard not to though, he was Lucas Grady. She had had a crush on him ever since she was a freshmen, and now she was a senior. She had liked him for three years. She sometimes called herself pathetic for liking him that long, but she couldn't help it. She had never been in a relationship before, she was always focused on being the best in school. The farthest she had ever been with a guy was a kiss on the lips at Brianna Sinclair's birthday party in eighth grade. That was two years before. To say she was “inexperienced” was an understatement.

“I suppose so.”

“What other exams do you have today?”

“Spanish.” She groaned. “I think I'll do alright on that one though, I mean, Mr. Delgado adores me, and my Spanish isn't all that bad.”

Lucas smirked. “You'll do fine.” He said, cocking his head to the left, indicating that they were about to stop. She nodded and quickly stood up, and walked to the back.

It wasn't as though they didn't want anyone to know about their friendship, or whatever it was, they just didn't want people thinking the wrong thing. Vanessa may have liked Lucas, but he definitely didn't like her.

She could feel his eyes on her as she slid into the last seat, and waited for the pile of students to get onto the bus. She would always feel a little jealous when girls flirtatiously waved at Lucas, and he flirted back by giving them a wink or a nod. She knew he didn't like her like that, but she couldn't control her feelings.

Lucas tried prying himself away from Brianna Sinclair, as he continued staring at Vanessa. He had only known her for six short months, but it felt like so much longer. He felt like he could tell her anything. He had never felt that way around a girl before. Girls were just girls to him. He didn't really care about them much, or how he made them feel, but with Vanessa it was different. He cared what she thought about him. He always seemed to be trying to impress her, but he didn't know why.

He had never stared at her like he was staring at her right now. She felt herself go tense as she stared back at his reflection in the mirror above him. There was about four or five girls surrounding him, and he wasn't even paying attention. That was a first. Maybe it was because they were seniors in high school, and he only cared about college girls now. Even if that was true it wouldn't make any sense at all, because he was still staring at her with such intensity that she could barely move.

“Hey Grady! You gonna move the bus or not?” One kid shouted, causing Lucas to shake his head, look away and shout some stupid comment back. Vanessa had been too busy staring at his blue cobalt eyes to listen to what he said.

Vanessa looked away too, and when she did she met the eyes of her best friend, Ben Granger. She gasped in surprise, and said, “Jesus Ben, you scared the crap out of me.”

Ben smirked. “Staring at Grady again, aren't we, Vanessa?” He laughed. “You keep this up, and I'm gonna think you're in love with him or something.” He said, sarcastically.

But Vanessa just rolled her eyes at that. “Very funny.”

“You nervous for today?” He asked, placing an iPod headphone into his right ear. “I don't think you need to be, I mean your like the smartest chick I know,” He started. She glared at him when he referred to her as a “chick” She hated when guys did that. She was a girl, a woman, not a “chick” or a “babe” or a “sweetie” or any other stupid nick name boys came would come up with these days.

“Only a little.” She admitted. Even though she was one hundred percent sure she would pass every single exam, she was still nervous. She was nervous that she would for some reason forget everything she had been studying for and learning the past six months, and fail miserably. Her parents, her teachers, Ben, and other close friends of hers had reassured her that she would pass the exams with flying colors, but she couldn't take their word for it.

She was tired of living up to everyone's expectations, and wished she could live a life like Lucas's. He was carefree and worryfree. He could do whatever the fuck he wanted, and Vanessa desperately wanted to live a life like he did. She could do that too, not try, but it wasn't in her nature to do so. She couldn't do it. She had this obsession with being the best at everything. She hated any form of failure, and took it pretty hard when she did fail something, which was rare anyway.

“What are you listening to?” She asked, taking the earphone that was dangling on Ben's neck, and placing it in her ear. The music wasn’t playing as loudly as Ben usually played it but she could still hear it filtering through the ear phone.

“The Kooks.” He replied. Ben and Vanessa had always enjoyed the same music. They weren't interested in any sort of rap, techno-the usual music that teenagers listened to these days. They were interested in numerous bands that none of the kids in their school had even heard of, and if they had heard of them, they didn't necessarily like them. Oasis, The Enemy, The Kooks, Led Zepplin, The Bravery … those were just few of the hundred bands they loved and listened to.

The bus reached to a halt, and the bus filled with students was quickly emptied but Lucas was reluctant to let Vanessa leave without speaking to her again. Passing by him, she pulled a strand of hair out of her face and brushed it behind her ear. He had always loved when she would do that, and he couldn't understand why.

She gave him a quick smile before starting down the steps, but he stopped her by grabbing her arm, and pulling her towards him.
Her eyes widened by his actions, not knowing what he was about to do. “I want to take you to a movie…” He said, almost as though he was trying to convince himself that.

“What?” She said, after a moment of silence. This had to have been a dream. Lucas Grady had just asked her out, and she was frozen solid. The last time she had been scared to talk to him had been back when they first met, and feeling scared around him wasn't turning out to be such a good thing at the moment.

“I want to take you to a movie,” He said, a bit slower this time. “Friday? I'll pick you up at seven.” He insisted, not believing the words coming out of his mouth. He never asked girls out, he didn't really need to. He had never met a girl that wasn't interested in him before, and even though he knew Vanessa was interested, there was still a chance that she could say no.

She continued to stand there, still completely rigid. She glanced down at her arm, his grip was still on her and even though he didn't notice, she liked the feeling of his arm around her.

“Well?” He said, knowing he shouldn't have asked her in the first place. “I know it's kind of sudden and like, really random, but I feel like I need to take you to a movie or somethin'…please don't think I'm weird…I'm really not…I just…” He was rambling. Lucas Grady was rambling while trying to ask her on a date. This was all too good to be true.

“What Luke, did you like, lose a bet or something?” She asked, now feeling slightly offended. Hell must have frozen over if Lucas Grady wanted to go on a date with a girl like her. It was impossible to Vanessa for him to EVER be interested in her.

He chuckled. “No, I just want to take a nice girl to a movie, is that too much to ask?” He couldn't believe that these words were leaving his mouth. How was it possible for him to be feeling this way over Vanessa? Why was he acting like this all of a sudden? Had it been the all the alcohol he drank the night before at Michael Richardsons' party? He was definitely hung over, but hangovers didn't cause people to say things they didn't necessarily mean. Did they? He made a mental note to look that up. What? What was wrong with him? Why was he rambling trying to ask a girl out? That had never happened before. “I'm sorry Vanessa, maybe I shouldn't have asked you …”

“No!” She found herself shouting. “Um, sure…I'd love to go to a movie with you,” She said. “Friday at seven it is?”

He nodded and smiled. “Friday at seven.” The bell rang, indicating Vanessa had about five minutes to make it to the gymnasium where all the senior English exams were being held.

She gave Lucas a sweet smile and then turned around to find herself running into the school. Lucas smiled thinking of what had just happened. He’d thought he just wanted to be on his own but now, faced with the choice, it didn’t seem quite such an attractive prospect. An evening with Vanessa Devlin on the other hand … Well, that was a different story.