Leap of Faith

Chapter One

Rebecca

There he was. Mason Hawthorn.

The boy that all the girls were swooning over. I didn't know much about him besides the fact that he was new, and he was hot.

"Oh my God, he's looking over here!" my best friend Shannon squealed in my ear. "Look Rebecca, look!" I rolled my eyes. Shannon is boy obsessed, and is constantly trying to convert me. I have no interest in high school boys. They are all the same - jerks.

There have been numerous boys in my past. All of whom have proved my theory. High school boys just will not cut it. There was Dwayne, who broke up with me and asked me out four times over the course of a month. Then there was Jared, who was socially awkward and barely talked to me. Our entire relationship consisted of steamy eye contact and wordless conversations. Following Jared, was Warner, who was seemingly perfect, sweet, kind, funny, smart, protective, until he started the phase of his life where he thought he was gay. And then bisexual. And then he settled on gay.

To say I have a bad track record is an understatement.

So, because of this, I felt like barfing when I saw all those girls swarming the new kid. He was just a boy! If you give a guy that much attention, then his ego is going to expand like there is no tomorrow.

Like my brother.

Ah, the ever dreamy Seth Cooper. School alpha male, captain and quarterback of the football team, he was the most cliché of clichés. He was also, somehow, related to little old me. Sweet Rebecca Cooper. I don't want you to think I'm one of those social outcasts. I'm not. I have plenty of friends, and people generally like me. But I'm not extraordinarily popular like Seth. No one dies trying to be my friend or hook up with me.

"Are you seeing this!?" Shannon screeched, and I gagged.

"Yes I'm seeing this, and I really don't care!" I huffed, walking to lunch. I know. Can you believe it? It's only lunchtime and this guy is already as sought after as Seth! I guess some people are just like that, right? They're charismatic. Good thing I'm not. I can't handle the fame. It'd be too overwhelming, you know?

And maybe there's also the fresh meat appeal. We haven't had a new kid in at least six months.

I sat at my usual lunch table, between my two best guy friends - Matt and Finn.

"'Sup Becca?" Matt said, slinging an arm around my shoulder. Matt and Finn are twins. I've known them practically since I was born because we're neighbors, and our Moms were bridesmaids at each others weddings. Weird, I know.

I remember the first day we actually started being real friends. When we stopped having the mom - mandated play dates and hang outs and started willingly heading over to each others homes. It was like a whole new horizon of possibilities opened up in front of us simply because our mothers weren't there to herd us together like reluctant cattle.

"Can I have those?" I asked now, pointing to Matt's bag of Cheetos. Matt hates Cheetos.

"Sure," he responded, sliding me the bag right as Finn said, "Where's Shannon?"

"Obcessing over the new guy," I grumbled and Finn's face fell.

"Why, is he hot?" I shrugged. Not that I cared even if he was. Boys were overrated. What was the point of dating in high school if you were going to head off to college the next fall? You would just be setting yourself up for failure.

"I bet he isn't half as hot as I am," Matt laughed, leaning into me. I pretended to gag.

"Finn," I said, ignoring Matts comment, "Could you get me some fries?" Finn nodded and headed for the lunch line, his shoulders slumped slightly. What was that about?

"Hey now," Matt laughed, "you can't take advantage of him like that."

"Like what? I just asked for a favor."

"Well sure, but you knew he would say yes. That's why you asked him and not me. You know a bad boy player like me doesn't go around doing favors for damsels in distress unless he gets some in return."

"You're an ass. That's derogatory and offensive."

"What? I just meant get some money in return. Jeez. Get your mind out of the gutter Becca."

That's the way I could tell the difference between Matt and Finn, who are identical by the way. Finn was a sweetheart and wouldn't hurt a fly. He was kind and a big softy. An angel.

Matt on the other hand was a serial flirt. If it moved and had breasts then Matt would be there instantly. I loved Matt to pieces, really, but sometimes a girl just doesn't want to hear about his latest conquest. Matt was also arrogent and cocky and a rebel. But he could be sweet when he wanted to.

I punched him in the arm. "Oww!" he cried, undignified. "I wish you had asked me to get the fries! I could have saved myself that awful beating!"

Did I forget to say class clown? In case you hadn't picked up on that. Matt and Finn were pretty popular - they would be accepted into Seth's group if they wanted, but they just didn't want to. Matt was hell bent on breaking the social norm and being his own person, and Finn wasn't one to worry about popularity. That's why I loved them.

"You're a dweeb," I informed him, shoving his arm. He grinned boyishly at me before chucking.

"But thats why you love me, right?"

"Right..." I said, starting to laugh but then trailing off when I saw Shannon skipping happily to our table. Only thing was, she wasn't alone.