In 27 Days (Watty Award Winner 2012)

Chapter 6.

Maybe this was "fate". Maybe this was actually supposed to be happening in my life right now. Or maybe Death was just having something to do with this.

 There I was, shoving and pushing my way out the doors after the final bell, out into the crisp, cool late autumn afternoon in New York City, and I happened to ram right into none other than Archer Morales himself.

 Not for the first time in this past day, I began to question my sanity.

And Archer Morales was not amused. That didn't help my case so much, either.

 He straightened upright, shifting his raggedy looking rucksack up on his shoulder, and gave me a look that could probably kill a full grown man.

 I swallowed hard, feeling the color rushing to my cheeks.

 "Was there a reason you had to ram into me like that?" Archer demanded in a very not nice voice. "Or are you that obsessed with me, you have to keep following me around like this?" 

  Yep, there jerky Archer Morales was again.

"I am not following you around," I muttered, my eyes cast downward. "If you hadn't noticed, it's kind of crowded around here."

 "Yeah, it is," he agreed, glancing around. "So, if you don't mind, I'm going to leave."

He left me standing there awkwardly on the sidewalk, clutching tightly at my school bag, staring after him in amazement.

 I had a feeling this was going to happen a lot.

"Hey! Wait up!"

 I practically had to sprint to catch up with his long, lengthy strides. He was already half way across the parking lot, heading down the sidewalk with purposeful steps, and he was probably doing his best to ignore me.

 "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

I was all but panting when I finally managed to catch up with him, grabbing at his forearm tightly.

I got this warm, crazy feeling when I touched his arm that made my stomach start twisting and doing somersaults and it felt like I was being electrocuted. But in a really good way, if that made sense.

 It probably didn't.

Archer whipped back around and stared at me with narrowed eyes.

 "What now?"

"Let's...let's hang out," I managed to say in a somewhat strained voice.

Archer gave me a flat look, his lips pursed in a tight litte line. "Our friendship's only just started, Hadley. Don't push your luck."

 "Well, friends are supposed to hang out, aren't they?" I demanded, trying not to feel too offended. 

"I wouldn't exactly know, would I?" Archer said in an oddly sarcastic voice. "You've got to have noticed by now that I'm not exactly the most popular guy around."

  I think the entire student body at JFK knew Archer was the living definition of the word "antisocial". 

I made a sour face and glared up at him.

 "If you don't know how to be a friend, Archer, I suppose I'm just going to have to teach you then, aren't I?" 

 "This ought to be interesting," he muttered, rolling his pretty hazel colored eyes.

 "So are you in or what?" 

 I pulled a surprisingly feminine move and went hands on hips, my annoyed feelings getting the better of me.