Chapter One: Laila

My self-esteem was low. My irritation was sky-high; therefore, I enlisted Eric Clapton to lift my spirits. "Layla" was playing on my iPod on repeat as I walked towards my gate. My carry-on bag was loaded with all that I needed for my flight changes until I reached my temporary home in Switzerland: cell phone, laptop, iPod charger, money for food, and a book.

I had been making this sort of trip since I was ten. That's how long I had been sent to the boarding school that resided in Switzerland. I didn't mind. Their educational system was great and it kept me occupied.

I didn't have too many friends, but enough to keep me entertained when I wanted to be. I had a boyfriend, but his continual suffocation of me became the downfall of a short relationship. The idiocy of it all was that he didn't quite understand the phrase, "Leave me alone!" Therefore, I had taken to calling him "Rover"; he was a love-sick puppy.

I sat down in the gate's waiting area and pulled out my phone. I had three new texts from Xavier Lucas, the Hated One. Promptly, as I had made a new habit of, I deleted them on the spot. Whatever he had to say to me was not worth my attention.

"Gisele, please pick up!" I heard someone beg loudly beside me. I turned and saw the last person I expected to see: Jaiden Rochester, an exceptionally gorgeous senior at St. Thomas's Academy for Exceptional Students.

Now, when I say exceptionally gorgeous, I mean he was a walking god amongst other men. He had a crown of chestnut brown hair that had the rebellious tendency to fall into his eyes. His near-adult facial features were strong and his beautiful blue eyes were clear as day. He was tall, well toned from his soccer expeditions with the school team, and looked great in anything he wore.

"Gisele, please!" he said into his cell phone. I knew that Gisele was another senior at the same boarding school—and his two-year girlfriend that dumped him for a teen model.

"Dammit," he breathed as he hung up. I knew that he didn't notice me; I doubted he knew I even existed. Jaiden was pretty high up in the school's hierarchy; therefore, he wasn't required to know lowly sophomores like myself. I didn't mind, it meant less trouble for me.

My flight was called and I stood up when the first-class was called to board first. I nearly toppled over from shock when Jaiden stood up as well. God had it in for me, I swear.

I was in front of him as we walked. I handed my ticket to the stewardess and smiled politely as she handed it back and wished me a good flight. Don't say a word and you'll make it out alive, Laila, don't worry about a thing.

I sat down in my assigned seat and leaned back in the chair. I wished to be invisible. There was nothing worse in the world than knowing you were going to spend the next ten hours with the hottest guy in school but knowing that he doesn't realize you exist. Well, I thought there was nothing in the world worse than that until Jaiden sat down next to me. That is the worst feeling in the world. I swear on my life.

Then, the unexpected happened: he turned to me. My heart jumped thirty feet.

"I've seen you before. What's your name?" he asked. I hate God. I hate the whole "works in mysterious ways" part too.

"Laila St. James, we go to the same school," I replied, trying to smile back and hoping I didn't scare him. He gave a funny look at the sound of my name.

I got that look a lot—Laila wasn't a common name, and nor did it usually have the stupidest story to go along with it. But that stupid story was the only way people would understand why I'm named after an Eric Clapton song.

"My mom was listening to one of Clapton's CDs when she went into labor. So, the last song she heard was 'Layla'. She liked unorthodox spellings, so she put in an 'i' to make it more original." Jaiden blinked in surprise and leaned back in the seat, putting the seat-belt around his waist.

"That's pretty sweet, having a story like that," he replied. "My excuse is that my mother is an idiot and didn't bother noticing that 'Jaiden' was a girl's name." I laughed.

"So, by osmosis, do you like Clapton?" he asked. I gave him a scandalized look.

"How dare you impugn my honor by thinking that I didn't like the Great Eric Clapton!" I gasped mockingly. Jaiden laughed at my idiocy, which was perfectly fine with me. His laugh was heavenly.

"But, forgive me, dear lady," he begged in a similar mocking tone, "I dare not impugn the honor of such a beautiful girl!" I giggled and waved my iPod.

"Three-fourths of this thing is Eric Clapton." He pulled his out and waved it.

"Same here. What else?" I thought a moment and named off all the bands I could.

"Panic! At the Disco, Maroon5, James Blunt, Bond, Nickelback, Josh Kelley, Josh Groban, The Beatles, Black Eyed Peas, Madonna, Sean Paul, and Anna Nalick." He gave a nod of approval and grinned.

"We have a lot of the same tastes." I tilted my head and gave him a mock pout.

"Hey, you have to share too!" I said. Jaiden looked taken aback a moment, then nodded.

"Right, sorry. Basically the same but also Vivaldi, Bach, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, and all the Romantic composers." I laughed. I had those too.

"Ooh, a Romantic man! Where have you been all my life?" I laughed teasingly. Jaiden chuckled and shrugged.

"Well, I tend to jump in and out of relationships," he replied. Laughing, I looked out the window and was about to listen to my iPod when my phone went off. How I managed to get signal was severely baffling, but when I saw who was calling, it didn't surprise me. He always managed to defy logic.

"Xavier Lucas, if you call me one more time, I'm going to toss this phone out the window of this plane." Jaiden looked at me, his eyes laughing but his mouth still.

"Laila, c'mon. Let's just talk about it," Xavier tried. I brought the phone away from my ear and glared at it with utter hatred as I shook it madly.

Bringing it back to my ear, I glared at the seat in front of me. "There is nothing, I repeat, nothing to talk about, Xavier. We. Are. Done." Then I snapped the phone shut. Jaiden eyed me thoughtfully.

"Ex-boyfriend?" he asked amiably. I nodded and turned my phone off. "From past experience, the quickest way to get rid of one of those is to get a new one." I looked at him curiously. What in the world was he talking about?

"And the best way to get a girl back is to make them jealous by having an even better time with someone else." The life lesson was fascinating, but I felt it had nothing to do with me.

"Your point?" I asked. Jaiden flashed me a devilish grin. Besides having my heart melt on the spot, I knew this was going to be interesting.

"We help each other out," he replied, "by dating." My jaw dropped.

"Dating?" Jaiden nodded solemnly. He looked so good serious.

"Or making everyone at school think we're dating. It's the only way we're going to get what we want. Once Gisele takes me back and Xavier finds another girl, we can "break up". But, we have to go the whole nine yards—kissing, holding hands, waiting on each other, notes… so on. It's the only way we'll be believable."

I wanted to smash my head against the tiny window. What on earth was I getting into? This was Jaiden Rochester: hottest guy in the world. If I agreed to this, I knew that I would fall for him and then get my heart broken when Gisele, the most territorial girl on the face of the Earth, wanted him back.

"You're crazy, Jaiden Rochester, absolutely crazy," I told him flatly. He blinked at me, surprised at my reaction.

"Why is that?" he asked, his tone offended. I stared at him openly.

"You and I can not date! First of all, it is social ludicrous!" He raised an eyebrow.

"Life's about risks, you know."

I knew he was right—it was the only way to get rid of Rover, taking this "risk". And that was what I wanted most in the world. But still, I hesitated. Honestly, I had seen movies and read books with similar plots, and in the end, things worked out quirky. Did I really want to risk becoming another quirky ending? The thought of being condemned to fall in love with this senior was as enticing as it was revolting.

"So, what do you say?" he asked me. I looked at him and made contact with his clear blue eyes. What did I have to lose? Other than my heart?

"I'm in."