I eyed myself with the mirror, a towel tightly wrapped around me. I wasn’t ugly, I knew that, and without my usual clothes, I actually looked feminine. Yeah…I looked like a girl. Then, it was as if the light bulb over my head lit up. I thought of something. What if…

I scrambled over to my walk–in closet and searched for the clothes Anna bought for me which I hadn’t taken out of the bags yet. I dug my fingers into one of the cardboard bags and fished out a pair of Daisy Dukes. The denim shorts were extremely short, and even just by eyeing the pair, I knew they were extremely tight, so what if…

It wasn’t like I was giving into peer pressure, or even the social pressure of acting like a woman. I just decided to wear shorts instead of a pair of baggy jeans. All the rest stayed though – my oversized polo and my Nike’s. The only difference now was that my legs were exposed for the whole world to see, and then I cursed. I could imagine Jack and the others laughing their asses off.

“Morning, sweetheart,” my mother greeted when I walked into the kitchen. As of that moment, she was pouring coffee into her mug. “Are those shorts new?”

My mother was unemployed. She had no job ever since she turned forty, but thank goodness, our family wasn’t going to announce bankruptcy anytime soon. My mom used to be a big name in the Information Technology industry back when she was still working, and that was during the IT boom. That said, she had earned and saved enough money to practically last our family a lifetime, and add to that my dad’s job. He built his business from scratch since he didn’t want to follow the footsteps of his father. His family just gave him a few thousand dollars to start his own business, and all the rest was history. Now, he was the owner of a global corporation, with offices based in as far as Europe and in Asia. Last time I saw him, he was leaving for Japan, and that was about a week ago.

“Yeah, mom,” I said, getting coffee myself. “Anna bought it. You know how she’s been forcing me to act more like a girl.”

My mom laughed at this. We were close, and I told her a lot of things, but of course not everything. She knew how Anna and the girls on my team kept forcing me to wear dresses, heels, and more make–up. At times, my mother would agree to what they said, but after multiple trials and failures, she grew tired of fighting for a lost cause.

“I don’t know if I should be happy or sad with the fact that you don’t enjoy shopping,” she said, cutting up the leaves of her breakfast salad. “Well, good for me you’re not spending all of my money.”

“If you want me to, just say the word,” I said, just to tease her. “Besides, you have Marissa to do that job.”

Marissa was my older sister, my only sibling, and unlike me, she was the epitome of what a woman should be. She loved shopping, and she was absolutely stylish. Even better, she could pull off flawlessly the latest trends without looking like a slut or looking like she was ‘trying too hard’. We were close and we talked on the phone often since she only came home during the Holidays. She wasn’t only fashionable and pretty, but she was intelligent as well. She was a sophomore at Columbia, and to add to that, she was there on a full scholarship. Yeah, she was the perfect daughter, but she was also the perfect sister, so never once did I feel jealous of all her accomplishments.

“But seriously, sweetheart,” my mom began. “Don’t let your credit card rot in your wallet, alright?”

“Yeah, mom. After school I’ll head over to the Benz shop and get myself a SUV.” My eyes gleamed mischievously. “What do you say?”

“Go ahead, but I won’t be buying you a condo unit when you go off to college,” was her equally teasing reply.

I rolled my eyes at her before I kissed her ‘goodbye’ on the cheek. I then left the house chuckling to myself and realized my mom wasn’t joking back there. I could actually get myself a car, a luxury one at that, but that condo offer was tempting too.

When I arrived at the parking lot of Krait High, I quickly parked my car where I usually did, the space beside Jack’s, and when I got out of my pick–up, Jack was there waiting for me. The moment he saw me, I expected him to laugh like there was no tomorrow, but instead, his mouth hung open, and he was staring at my shorts.

“Eyes up here, dude,” I said, pointing to my face and laughing. “So what’s got you looking like a fish out of the water?”

He slung an arm heavily on my shoulders and steered me through the crowded hallways of the school’s main building. When we got to Jack’s locker, Will, Alex, and Marco were already there. I tried my best not to act awkward around Marco since he, himself, didn’t look like he was feeling uncomfortable with the two of us being close to one another.

“Nice legs, dude,” Alex said, winking at me, and in return, I stuck my tongue out at him. “It’s good to know you aren’t wasting Anna’s money.”

“Now we’ll have to protect her from rabid bastards who are out to hump her dry,” Jack said, and I swore he sounded vexed. “Pigs.”

“I think Jack just described himself,” I couldn’t help but say, and all the guys ended up laughing lightly, all except for my best friend. “Someone here doesn’t enjoy being the butt of the joke.”

I couldn’t help but look up at Jack, and I saw that he was wearing a scowl on his face. Then, he eyed Marco before looking away, and I placed an arm on his shoulder to cool him down because I was starting to see him flex the muscles on his arms.

“So the happy couple’s still M.I.A., huh?” I asked them all, referring to Caleb and Anna.

In that moment, the morning bell rang, and all five of us parted ways, except for Marco and me. The both of us had the same homeroom, so we just walked to class together. I was expecting things to feel awkward between us, but it was anything but.

“You look nice,” Marco said, starting the conversation, and I couldn’t help but smile up at him. “No seriously, and I’m sorry about dinner last week. I asked you out after saying a few things…”

“Eh, let’s just forget about that,” I then quickly put in, nudging him on the arm. “You were right anyway, and thanks, I guess…for the compliment.”

“Anytime,” he returned, holding the door for me when we got to the classroom.

When we entered the class, I noticed that a few of our classmates were whispering while looking at us. I didn’t understand it at first, but when Marco and I sat down on our seats, someone approached me, asking, “So you and Marco Shaw are a couple now, huh?”

Gaping, I looked at Aaron, my classmate, and immediately raised an eyebrow.

“No, we aren’t, but where’d you get that from?”

I saw the guy breathe a sigh of relief before he answered my question.

“Well, a few people saw you two having dinner last week at Katazaru, so yeah, everyone’s saying you two are an item now.”

From my seat, I could see a few girls interrogating Marco, probably asking him the same questions I was being asked, and when the two of us made eye contact, I couldn’t help but laugh at him, and in turn, he sent me a wink.

“So you’re single?” Aaron prodded further, running a hand through his dark hair.

“Last time I checked.”

Then he gulped, as in I saw a lump go down his throat before he let out a deep sigh and turned his head to look me in the eye. He looked serious, and I wondered why he had that kind of facial expression on.

“So do you want to go with me to the movies later?”

That was when I stared at him and actually noticed him. He certainly wasn’t repulsive to look at. Oh, hell no. He was very, very, and I’d say it again, very attractive, but seriously, where did that question come from? From what I knew and eventually accepted, I was a tomboy and no one wanted to go out on a date with me, and right now, this guy just sounded like he was asking me out.

“Are you asking me out?” I couldn’t help but voice my thoughts out loud, and when he nodded, I didn’t know whether to jump for joy or sulk in my room. It was definitely flattering to be asked out on a date, but it was sad that I didn’t feel like going out with that particular guy. “I’m sorry…”

For a moment, I saw disappointment in his facial features, but a second right after, he replaced the feeling with a miniscule smile. He said a small ‘oh, okay’ before turning around and walking back to his seat. That was when I decided to stop him.

“Hey, wait, Aaron,” I said, wrapping my fingers around his arm, and he immediately stopped. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, go shoot.”

“Why did you ask me out?”

He looked uneasy for a while, unsure about how to respond to that kind of question.

“Because I wanted to.”

“It just seems so random, you know…” I put on a thoughtful look before telling him to take the seat beside mine. “After my dinner with Marco and the rumor about the two of us going out…”

“Uhm, Sienna?” I faced him when he called me by my name. “Can I explain everything to you later during lunch?”

“Are you trying to ask me out again?” I teased, and thankfully, he was laughing with me.

“Maybe? It’s just going to be a one–time lunch date though.”

He looked at me with hope, and how could I say ‘no’ to a cute guy like him? I smiled at him before nodding my head. Then, he beamed at me with so much happiness that I couldn’t help but keep laughing.

“One–time lunch date it is.”

“So I believe you owe me an explanation?”

Aaron and I met up at one of the picnic tables just outside the small cafeteria building. I had already bought my lunch, a tray of cheeseburger and fries, when we met up, and by the look of it, he already had his lunch as well. We sat across each other and then placed our trays on the circular wooden table.

“Err…the thing is, Sienna,” he began, twisting his pasta noodles with a fork. “I’ve wanted to ask you out ever since we were juniors.”

This was a revelation for me since even before, I knew I wouldn’t be, never ever would be, the kind of girl guys wanted to have as their girlfriends, and here was Aaron, telling me he was into me.

“I’m not some kind of bet, am I?” I asked warily, afraid of losing a shred of my dignity if, indeed, Aaron just asked me, the school’s resident ‘tomboy’, out on a date in order to earn some money. “Because if I am…”

“No…! Hell no!” Aaron quickly cut in, waving his hands furiously in front of me. “I was just being a wuss.”

“But why?” I asked, confused, and I certainly didn’t expect that kind of answer from a jock. “Last time I checked, you were a player.”

“Uh, well, thanks for that,” he replied sarcastically. “It’s not exactly easy to ask you out, you know? And if things ended badly between us, it would be hell to get on your bad side. You should know that.”

“But why?” I asked, saying the exact same thing I said before.

“Seriously, Sienna…” It made me smile to hear a guy say my name since usually I was just ‘dude’ to them, and yeah, it might be nice to have lots and lots of close guy friends, especially if they were hot, but that was also a pain for my womanly ego. “You’re friends with Jack, Caleb, Will, Alex, and now, Marco…those guys would do anything to protect you which sucks for us guys…we’d be beaten to a pulp even just by looking at you the wrong way.”

“I don’t know whether to hate them or love them,” I said to myself, still smiling at Aaron. The guy was definitely a cutie, but I just knew that he wasn’t the one for me. “Eh, I’d rather have them than a whole pack of girly girls anyway.”

I then shivered at the thought of myself talking about the latest Vogue issue or the hottest pair of aviator sunglasses. That would probably be one of my worst nightmares, if not the worst.

“And trust me, I’m not the only guy who feels that way,” he then said, almost finishing his lunch. “We’re all just a bunch of cowards, but when we heard that you and Marco had dinner together, and today, we saw him all in one piece…well, some of us grew enough balls, so don’t act surprised when someone flirts or asks you out.”

With one final smile, he picked up his lunch tray and mouthed a small ‘goodbye’ before he entered the cafeteria to probably hang out with his friends. After a while, I, too, decided to head inside the canteen, and when I got to the usual lunch table, the one at the very center, I saw Jack and the rest eyeing scraps and scraps of papers.

“What are those?” I said, sitting beside Jack as always. “Are you guys playing some numbers game?”

Marco chuckled, and then he explained to me, “They’re all phone numbers. I see you have a lot of admirers.”

From a distance, I saw Aaron with a number of his football buddies. When we made eye contact, I smiled at him and showed him the pieces of paper with numbers scribbled on them, and just like that, he understood what I meant. When I looked back at my own group of friends, they all raised their eyebrows at me.

“What was that about?” Jack asked me, avoiding eye contact.

“Nothing, we just had lunch together and talked,” I replied nonchalantly, and the guys found this as the perfect opportunity to tease me.

“Did you guys have a lunch date or something?” Will asked, his eyes sparking mischievously.

“Ha! Lunch date…nice one.”

That was Alex, and he obviously looked like he was just joking around, and it was just a bummer that I didn’t have a camera to capture their facial expressions when I, indeed, told them we had a lunch date.

“You aren’t being serious…” Jack said, shaking his head. “What did I tell you? All guys are pigs.”

“I’m serious!” I said to them, holding my arms up in the air before I turned to face Jack. “And are you finally admitting you’re a pig too?”

“Do you see me throwing myself at you?” he asked, obviously not pleased with my question.

“No, you aren’t.” I then crossed my arms over my chest. “But you’re acting like you’ve got a stick up your ass.” Marco, Will, Alex, Caleb, and Anna all ‘oh–ed’ and ‘ah–ed’, and with the way Jack was glaring at his half–empty plate, I couldn’t help but feel like something was up. “Seriously, Jack, are you okay?”

“Our captain here just realized today that he’s got a lot of competition,” Anna said, playing with the scraps of paper on the table while Caleb had his arm languidly resting around her waist.

“You’re the best in basketball, dude,” I said, placing a hand on one of his shoulders, and with my touch, I felt him calm down. “Competition’s nothing for you.”

Marco and Caleb began laughing their asses off, and they completely ignored the fact that they were disrupting the conversation of the other tables near us. It was as if they owned the place, with their boisterous laughter and all, and the sad thing was, all the students in this school acted like my five best guy friends did rule the school.

“Whoever said we were talking about basketball?” Alex then said, and with the way his eyes mischievously sparked up, I quickly knew that there was something they weren’t telling me.

Author's Note:

Hey! I just want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, and...THANK YOU!!! I'm in a rush, so that's all I can say for now! Sorry loves! But I'll update again asap. Thank you!!:D