Here's what you need to know about Brandt Roscoe: he is a god among men. He also teaches my eighth period English class and wears elbow-length button-up shirts.

See, he's the kind of guy who you just know reads e. e. cummings in his spare-time and will over-analyze The Great Gatsby if he's given the chance, yet he still looks like he makes it to the gym. And don't we all want a sensitive man with abs of steel?

Right now, he stands at the front of the room, marker on whiteboard, dark green plaid shirt and khakis. Shay leans towards me.

"Can I see your notes?" she asks in an exaggerated whisper. I nod and hand them to her, margins of the paper covered in doodles. In correlation with my huge crush on Mr. Brandt, English is the only class where my notes can be trusted, regardless of the drawings.

Mr. Brandt finishes writing and I glance at the board as he steps away.

The panda eats shoots and leaves. vs. The panda eats, shoots, and leaves.

The determined look on his face is cute to me, like he'll beat proper punctuation into us if it comes to that—an idea I'm not completely adverse to.

Shay finishes copying the page just as the bell rings, and we stand to leave just as Mr. Brandt says, "See you tomorrow, have a nice day."

Grinning, I wave at him like a madman on my way out the door. He plops into his swivel chair and probably starts swiveling as soon as we're gone.

Shay and I stop at her locker and afterward, she latches onto my arm in the crowded hallway. "Where're the twins?" she asks. "Sid needs his script."

By the twins, she means my older brothers, Sidney and Blair. Years ago, they were inseparable, but grew apart freshman year. There's no dramatic story behind it, they just ended up with different types of friends.

They're easy to tell apart by now because Blair is thinner, paler, and, compared to Sid's sort of open happiness, downright menacing. Blair can almost always be found in a pair with Avery LaRue, who I sometimes call "The Street" since I'm in French class.

Sidney tends to be trickier to find, though.

He's friends with a bit of every clique, talks to everyone, goes everywhere. Right now the school is doing a production of Pinocchio, which Sidney somehow got in despite the stuck-up theater kids and his inability to act. He's Jiminy Cricket; Shay is Mr. Lambert's errand-girl and has been assigned to giving Sid his script.

"I'm not sure," I answer and agree to help her find him. We look everywhere, starting at his locker, moving to the gym, and eventually spot him near the cafeteria talking to two of his friends.

"Hey, Sid!" I exclaim as Shay and I go towards him. He glances over and smiles.

"Lainey," he greets and hugs me, then purses his lips and pats Shay on the shoulder. While this is happening, I check out his friends. I recognize Peyton immediately because of his cute puppy look and how popular he is. I've never seen the other guy before; he kind of scares me.

Sidney sees me looking. "Oh, sorry!" he says. "I wasn't thinking. Elaine, Shay, you know Peyton." We nod. "This is Kade Jamison." I stare up at him. He appears to be about six feet tall, which beats Sidney's five-foot-five and really beats my five-foot-one. Shay is less impressed at five-foot-seven.

But I notice that it's not just his height. How he stands, in itself, is intimidating, almost in a mob-affiliated way. He's all teeth when he grins at me and extends his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you," he drawls, taking my hand into his. I'm still in a bit of awe but I note the dark green of his eyes before he turns his attention back to Peyton.

During this time, Shay seems to have given Sidney his script, so we say our goodbyes, parting from Sid and his friends.

Upon entering the hallway, I notice that aside from the occasional stray student, we're alone. I pull Shay to the edge of the hallway and whisper, "I have a plan."

She narrows her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Shushing her, I continue. "I have a plan that'll help me seduce Mr. Roscoe."

She rolls her eyes and says, "Oh God, Lainey. I told you: hopeless."

I shake me head and say, "I'm gonna serenade him."

Shay's face loses all expression. "And?"

My eyes widen. "No, you don't get it! It'll be in Spanish, language of love an' all that, baby, but it's ironic because he teaches English! See, he'll get it. He knows."

She raises her eyebrows a little. "How'd you write a song in Spanish? You're in French, and anyway, you're not a good songwriter."

"Well, I did it," I state, frowning. "I mean, it wasn't hard. I just put in a little 'mi amor', 'uno, dos, tres'. You know, just the romantic stuff."

"Yeah, 'cause it's the counting that reels 'em in." I nod solemnly in response and we both don't talk for a while.

"Hey, I'm gonna get out of here," she says and offers to drive me home. I tell her I'm going to stop by my locker and then get a ride with Blair.

After watching her leave for a second, I turn in the direction of my locker, begin walking, and run smack dab into Kade Jamison, though I don't know this at first.

Disoriented after falling on my ass, I look up at him. He could be the angel of death.

He doesn't apologize but offers me his hand, which I grab it, remembering the warmth of our handshake.

"Kade, right?" I ask once I'm standing.

"Yeah," he says, looking me straight in the eye. "Elaine," he says more than asks, but I nod anyway. "I couldn't help but overhear you talking."

I think about that for a second while biting the inside of my cheek. "What did you hear, exactly?"

He smiles. "Well, I heard all about Mr. Roscoe." By his tone and the look on his face, I can tell where this is going.

"So, what?" I start. "You're trying to blackmail me?"

"Yes," he replies.

"Well, too bad. What're you gonna do? Tell Mr. Roscoe I have a huge crush on him?"

He pats my shoulder like he wants to console me. "That's the plan."

I laugh. "Man, you are slow. I mean, how dumb would he have to be if he hasn't noticed it already?"

The look on his face screams shock as I step past him, and I'm not gonna lie, it's kind of cute.

I find Blair in the parking lot smoking a cigarette with Avery 'The Street' after getting my books, but who I'm really looking for is Sidney again. I want to ask him about what happened with Kade.

"Hey," I shout when I'm halfway to the car. Blair notices me but Avery doesn't seem to, just snatches the cigarette from him, his sunflower yellow tank-top riding up to reveal a pasty white strip of flesh. When I get to them, I ask, "Where's Sid? Aren't you driving him home?"

"Nah," he answers and unlocks his car. Avery plops from his place on the hood to the ground and then gets in on the passenger side. "He's hanging with Kade, I think."

I scrunch up my face as Blair adjusts his seat to let me in the back. This Kade guy is just popping up everywhere today.

note: title subject to change as it has nothing to do with the story.
anyway, this is my ficathon challenge. go check out the livejournal, link on my profile.
it's not very revised, or edited for that matter, sorry. if there are any mistakes, please tell me.
critiques appreciated!