Turn N' Burn

Chapter 1

"What's up Blaze?"

"Yo Blaze, ma man! How's it going?"

"Looking good Blaze!"

I shuffle through the halls, waving my hellos as I attempt to make it to my third hour class. English. As I enter the classroom Ms. Abella says hello, of course I say hi back. I sit in my seat just a few feet away from her desk, and it doesn't take long for my best friend Avery to sit down beside me.

Avery is gorgeous, with long blonde hair and big round pink glasses. Her eyes are a color of blue similar to the sky and her face is lightly freckled like stars. She wears a tank top and short shorts today and as she sits down boys begin to whistle at her.

"Hey Blaze!" She says with a wave.

If I wasn't gay, I think I'd be attracted to her too. Of course, she knows about my sexuality and she always tells me how supportive she is. Frankly, I think we're both pretty. It's probably why we tend to be popular.

My hair is black at the roots in the center of my head, but after a few inches it becomes a deep red. Messy and longer than most boys' hair. Although my eyes are brown, many say they almost look red as well. My face has many freckles similar to Avery's and while I tend to wear darker colors like black ripped jeans and a dark red tank, many say it compliments us to have such opposing schemes.

"Avery! How are you?"

As we talk, another dark styled boy comes in, right before the bell rings. Austin Turner. He has messy black hair up to his shoulders with full cheeks and many freckles like us. But don't let his looks fool you, he can be gloomy. He's probably the least popular in this whole school. Yuu Ei high.

Today he wears a My Chemical Romance T-shirt with black ripped jeans. He sits down without a word, instantly leaning on his desk with a unamused frown as Ms. Abella begins class.

"Good morning everyone!"

I shake my head, turning to the teacher as I say "Good morning!" back with a cherry smile.

"Today we're starting a group project!"

Me and Avery look at each other with a smirk.

"But I'm assigning the groups with new people."

The whole class groans as me and Avery frown with disappointment. We're friendly to just about everyone in the class, but we're closest to each other.

"You will be doing extensive research on a subject I give you and put that research into an essay. Subjects were randomly picked from a spinning wheel website and groups as a number generator. They are final so no complaining!"

She begins down the list, and the class remains silent as she speaks.

"Abby and Connor. Skiing."

"Caleb and Josh. Giraffes."

"Avery and Anna. Colorado."

"Jack and Jill. Mountains."

"Austin and Blaze. Rodeo."

I turn to Austin, who merely raises his eyebrows. Ok then, we can make this work. I don't know much about the topic, and I doubt Austin does, but that's what Google is for.

"Great! Now go to your groups and get started!"

Avery gets up, grabbing my shoulder as she looks to me with sad eyes, "Don't become a depressed emo, please stay a happy emo. I believe in you!" She says with emotion, quickly giggling as she begins to follow Anna.

"Trust me, I got this!" I shout, "I can befriend anyone!" I tell her.

Austin sits on the floor, claiming our group spot as I sit down beside him, "So~ Uh, Austin, how much do you know about the topic?"

He looks up from his phone, "Can I get your number?"

"Huh?" I say, beginning to blush.

"So we can contact each other. For the project." He looks annoyed, staring at me with those deep brown eyes.

"Oh! Oh! Um, yeah! Here!" I hold out my hand and he tosses his phone into it. I type the number in with a deep blush, slightly embarrassed.

"Ok. If you want to do this, meet me here."

He sends me a picture, a rodeo. Tonight. Bulls and barrels it says in big bold letters. It starts at seven.

"Woah, how'd you find this so quickly?" I ask.

He doesn't reply, just keeps typing.

And that was it, then we just sat in silence. As I stared at the flyer, and he at whoever he was texting.

"So how was it?" Avery asks me during lunch.

"Fine, we didn't really talk. He sent me a flyer to a rodeo and said to meet him there."

"Ooooo! Say hi to the bull riders for me! Maybe slide them my number," She says with a wink.

I glance at Austin, whose sitting alone at a separate table. "Y- Yeah."

"We got two weeks to finish this! I can't believe it's due on the last Monday of school," Avery sighs, "And group projects don't really go into essay format. I wish it was a slideshow."

I nod, but don't take my eyes off Austin who eats his sandwich. Why can't I take my eyes off him?