The New Adventures of Danica Hope

Chapter One: 6:30am

It was the final week before graduation and Danica Hope was ready to start anew. During her high school career she was dubbed the quiet one, or most notably "the good girl". But in one week she hoped that all of that would change. She would no longer be trapped by confides of her high school life, as she prepared to face the real world.

6:30am.

Her alarm clock pierced the quiet morning air, frightening her out of her sweet slumber. She fumbled for the snooze button as loud rock music filled her room. Groggily she turns off her alarm clock as she bitterly arose from her toasty bed.

"One down four to go." She moaned as she stood up en route to the bathroom.

She stared into the mirror while brushing her teeth wondering what to do with her naturally frizzy hair. Her dark mane always seemed to have a mind of its own. She tousled it for a bit before deciding to put it in her usual messy bun.

She quickly dragged on her school uniform, a white polo shirt and a pair of black Dickie pants. For some reason at the end of her sophomore year, the school board decided it would be best that the students wore mandatory uniform.

As she put the final touches on her uniformed look, her cell phone began to ring. She smiled as she glanced down at the illuminated name on her screen.

"Hey!" she said grinning from ear to ear.

"Just wondering if you wanted to ride to school together." said the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Sure!" she said as she hoped he didn't notice how excited she was.

"I mean yeah, thats cool." she said trying to recover from her earlier response.

"Cool. I'll be there in five minutes." The deep raspy voice replied.

"Okay, bye." She said before ending the call.

She rushed over to her mirror and gave herself the once over. Checking every angle from her hair to her laced up Doc Martens in hopes of making sure she looked her best. She checked her teeth one last time before heading through the front door to wait for her ride to school.

A dark blue Honda Accord pulled into her driveway and she made her way into the car.

"Thanks" she said as she fumbled to put her seatbelt on.

"Here, let me help you with that. Sometime it gets a little stuck." He says as he reached over to correctly fix her seatbelt.

She could hear her heart beating and silently wished that he didn't. She smiled awkwardly as he glaced at her before making their way to school.

She would have never believe that Marcus "The Wonder Kid" Williams would ever notice her let alone give her rides to school.

He was your typical high school jock, about six foot three, two hundred pounds, dark skinned with the deepest dimples she'd ever seen. He was an Adonis in her eyes. His waves and neat fade made him the target of everyone's affection. But it was his smile that made Danica's heart race.

As captain of their high school basketball team he was hailed the Wonder Kid for receiving NBA level attention during his sophomore year. Now as a junior he was flooded with scholarship opportunities to play for the best of the best in collegiate basketball.

They didn't speak a word to each other on the way to school. The car ride would have been awkwardly silent if the radio wasn't playing rap music.

"Thanks for the ride." She uttered as he parked his car into an empty space.

"No problem, anytime." He said as he flashed her a subtle smile.

She shyly smiled back making sure not to make eye contact. She was ready to exit the car when his voice invaded her thoughts.