Unexpectedly

Chapter 1

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People don't lie when they say senior year is the best year of high school. After all, not many things can top parties every weekend, five free periods in a day, and privileges on privileges on privileges. By senior year, people who are meant to be together are together, everyone is hyped for college and you have such a close-knit group of friends that it's like nothing can go wrong. 

And by nothing, I mean everything.

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*End of Junior year*

It was only me and Mr. Hitcher in his office, but I was feeling mildly suffocated. As he rambled on and on about the courses I could choose from, only one thought went through my mind: this school needs air conditioning.

No joke - it was like a sauna in his class, and the dark, cotton uniform was not helping. But, it was obvious Mr. Hitcher, who wasn't the fittest, was suffering more. I could even see the sweat stains around his armpits.

There was a tiny fan on his desk that he probably picked up at Staples. All I could say was that he should've saved his money because it wasn't helping the room temperature at all. In fact, the buzzing noise was irritating and a nuisance. I actually had to concentrate on what he was saying if I wanted to understand.

"Wow, Avery. You are quiet the busy bee!" he said, chuckling and quickly looking up at me. I swear I saw his rolls vibrate along with his chest.

Forcing a smile, I nodded. "Well, yeah. I mean, I really wanted to look appealing to colleges, you know?"

Mr. Hitcher smiled and flashed me a proud glance. "Taking four AP classes is certainly the way to do it. You're in two clubs and captain of the varsity soccer team? Wow, Avery! Applying to Harvard or something like that?"

"Not Harvard, no," I answered with a blush. "But I would want to get into an Ivy League."

Once again, Mr. Hitcher smiled at me. "I'm sure you'll be able to do it. I've seen much less qualified students go to Cornell and Brown. Don't sweat it!"

'Don't sweat it'. What kind of screwed up joke was that?

"But take my advice, Avery. You've been working hard since your freshman year. Your GPA has always snuck right under that 4.0 that I can tell you want. So, why don't you take it easy your senior year?"

Before, when I came into his office I was planning on enrolling myself in two AP courses again. Even though it was killing me to be in both AP Bio and World Lit, I decided to just suck it up for one more year. But at the same time, I did want to have some fun. After all, it was my senior year.

Mr. Hitcher pushed the thick, white paper over to my side of the desk. I flipped my brown hair out of the way and looked over the paper. There were so many courses selections, and I didn't know how to just pick one. Not to sound nerdy, but I loved science.

With one last look up at my pudgy guidance counselor I sighed and marked down AP Chemistry along with a few necessary courses and one elective.

Happy senior year to me.

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My last year of high school was already well underway and honestly, life had never been better. As corny as that expression was, it was true.

I walked through the main hallway with my best friend, Talia. Correction: sleep-walked.

If one thing stayed the same in senior year than it was the dreadful six a.m. wakeups. In all honesty, I still wasn't too sure how I had survived four years of those.

"Avery!" Talia's high-pitched voice jolted me to sense. My head cocked to the right as I stared at her quizzically.

"What?" I ask, wondering if I missed someone important or if I hadn't heard a question.

"Did you just miss Zach Casares totally check you out or....?" She muttered sarcastically, waving her hands in the air.

My eyes widen and my cheeks get splashed with a rosy pink. Trying to duck my head to avoid the thought I replied, "Uhm, I'm sure he was looking at you."

"Ugh, Avery I'm going to kill you!" she yelled, dragging me down towards one of the quieter, less-used staircases. Talia and I were the only ones on the stairs - a seemingly impossible feat of a school of over 1,000 students.

"Can't you see it?!" Talia exclaimed, obviously exasperated. Her blue eyes were like an over-powering wave, washing away all my previous thoughts and forcing me to focus on the slightly embarrassing topic of Zachary Casares.

AKA my not-so-secret crush since the 8th grade.

In my defense, Zach was the perfect guy. He was handsome, tall, athletic, smart - I think you get it. Girls literally drooled over his strong jaw and high cheek bones and beautiful eyes and amazing arm muscles and -

"HELLO! Earth to Avery!" Talia waved her hands in front of my face just as the second bell rang. I was going to be late to Chemistry.

"See what?"

Clearly, Talia wasn't convinced by my I-have-no-idea-what-you're-talking-about act.

"OhmyGod, Avery! You are so dumb! He is totally crushing on you!"

I scoffed and started walking again. Re-adjusting my backpack, I tried to picture someone having a crush on me. Nope. Nothing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those girls that goes home and cries about how ugly she is but I wasn't anything above average.

Ever since I was little, I had been on the skinnier side. In fact, I was underweight. Now, this wasn't a problem when it came to getting that nice, flat stomach but when it came to actual curves I was at all loss.

It was pretty embarrassing being 18 and barely a B-cup with a butt that was still pretty disappointing, even after the squat challenge.

Needless to say, I didn't have the most desirable body.

"I doubt that, Tals. He's way too good for me!"

"Are you stupid?!" she argued vehemently. "Avery! You have long, toned legs -"

That made me taller than half of the attractive male population.

"And gorgeous, curly, long hair-"

Keyword: frizzy. And my hair wasn't even close to long. It barely reached the middle of my back when I straightened it.

"and such a beautiful face, no matter what you say about your forehead-"

My forehead was huge.

"because it is NOT huge..."

"Can you just get to the point, Talia?!" I groaned, reaching my class. I was so late. Mr. Jefferson was going to kill me.

"Avery you are like model material with the brains of Albert Einstein and the soccer skills of freaking Faith Solo!"

"Her name's Hope," I corrected promptly, flashing her an uninterested look.

"Guys are falling at your feet but you can't see it!

"We'll talk later," I finally said, ending our conversation. Without that quick goodbye, we probably would've stayed there for a good hour arguing about relationships.

Straightening out my hair, I took a deep breath and thought of a quick excuse for being late. It took me less than ten seconds to come up with a decent one. Withdrawing a shaky hand, I turned the knob and stepped into the room. Immediately I cursed myself for being late. We were picking lab partners and now I was going to get the leftovers. 

"Fabulous," I muttered under my breath, scanning the room for an empty chair. My eyes froze when they landed on the only seat left. Momentarily, I was stunned.

No. Freaking. Way.