Falling for you

Chapter 1

I couldn't believe that we were actually doing this, sprinting across the corridor at freaking eight in the morning to commit possibly the biggest mistake of my life. Just as we skidded to a stop in front of our target, our janitor Mr. Stevens passed by with a suspicious glare in our direction.

"What are you girls doing here so early?" He asked with furrowed brows.

Abby tried to flash her megawatt smile but the fatigue from last night caught up and it was plain cringe worthy.

"Just some last minute homework. Have a good day, Mr. Stevens," I said as cheerfully as I could manage and the both of us stood there with goofy grins as he rounded the corner.

He gave us one last look, muttering something along the lines of teenagers and their shenanigans. You see, Mr. Stevens wasn't really a big fan of mine on account of me being a total klutz. But then again, I don't think he liked anyone.

"This is it," Abby said with a glint in her eye. In fact, she was the one who came up with this whole crazy , messed up idea. Actually, I improvised. I've had this ginormous crush on Austin Waters since the sixth grade. He's a year ahead of me and has half the girls of our school crushing on him. He's the co-captain of the football team and one of the cutest and most popular guys at Westville High. As if he didn't already have enough going on for him, he was also super smart and had been voted "the most likely to succeed." Girls threw themselves at him and he had dated some of the hottest chicks in school.

Me, Emily Jones, am in one of the bottom rungs of the social ladder. I didn't actually fit in any particular clique and though I couldn't be classified as a loner, I wasn't a social butterfly either. I mostly just keep to myself in school and my only extra curricular activity is that I'm a part of the editorial team of our school's newspaper, Bullseye.

Abby is my only friend and we can trace our friendship back to kindergarten. Thank God for that because I kind of stopped making any real friends after that. Talking to people makes me super anxious and I overthink every conversation I have with people that are not my friends (basically everyone). So I've pretty much given up on ever having a social life and stick to what I know best. BOOKS. They are my saviours and you'll see me most of the time with my nose buried in a book. I am completely unremarkable in every sense and that is why we were forced to take this extreme step.

"Be on the lookout and I swear that if I'm ever caught, I will literally wring that pretty neck of yours," I muttered .

I've never been a violent person but I guess this was bringing out a whole new side of me.

"Chill, I've got it covered, " Abby mumbled.

After much deliberation last night, she finally succeeded in getting me to man up and do something. I'm too much of a chicken to actually ask him out and it's not my forte. I know that it'll never amount to anything since we're so different and I'll just end up setting myself for the most humiliating experience I've faced to date. So in order to appease my dear best friend, I came up with the idea of slipping him my email id anonymously, the one which I practically never use and he won't know it's mine. Abby conceded reluctantly.

"I really do worry about you, Emily. I want us both to have a kick ass year and do stupid things we're gonna laugh about later. You have to put yourself out there and let loose a little. You must be the only 16 year old who hasn't ever been on a date and being the amazing friend that I am, I will not let you blossom into a cat lady. Still, I guess we have to take baby steps so I'll go easy on you for now. "

I had scowled at her but was happy to have come up with something so foolproof. It would effectively get her off my back and I knew that Austin would never take the note seriously. I had just written down my email id. I quickly slipped the note into his locker and we made our way to class.

"I have a really good feeling about this. I know that you guys are just going to hit it off, " Abby whispered even though we were almost an hour early and none of the students were as crazy as us to turn up this early.

"If he even bothers to take it seriously."

I wanted her to be realistic and prepared for when the blow came. "Pessimist, " Abby mumbled as she took out her books. We had an assignment due today that the both of us had neglected due to all the scheming yesterday. We managed to complete it just as our grumpy economics teacher entered. I sighed knowing that today would be a long day.

I was so glad when lunch period finally rolled around. Eric joined us for lunch, as usual. He was the guy who Abby was currently dating and he seemed nice enough. He was cute in the boy next door way and had always had a crush on Abby. It was cute but I knew that she wasn't as serious about him as he was.

I zoned out and was idly looking around the cafeteria when I locked eyes with Austin. He had dark brown, almost black eyes and it always felt like he saw more than was needed. He had the classic good looks with a straight nose, full lips and a jawline to die for. Coupled with a toned body from hours of football practice, it was not hard to guess why he had girls pining over him.

He was seated with the jocks and had everyone hanging onto his every word. I immediately looked away. It was so unexpected and my heart was beating erratically. I had never gotten more than a cursory glance and I'm sure he never knew of my existence. It was unsettling but nothing of importance.

I chuckled thinking about the note and how ridiculous it was. We were poles apart and wouldn't survive in each others world. Ever.
I felt comforted by that thought and the rest of the classes flew by. Before I knew it I was waving goodbye at Abby and Eric as I got into my truck and drove home.

I let myself in and headed upstairs to my room after making myself a quick snack. I was just about to start with my daily dose of Instagram when I heard my sister bounding up the stairs. She burst through the door and right into my arms. She's seven years younger than me and we're very close. My mom is always busy with her work in order to support us and I never knew my dad. So it's kind of always been just the two of us and we've managed.

My sister looks a lot like me. We have the same dark eyes, button nose and round face but while she has dark curls, I have stick straight dark hair. "How was your day, sweetie?" I ask her as she sits down on the bed beside me.

She's never been the reserved type and gives me a long description about her day and friends. We chit chat for a while and then she heads downstairs to grab a bite. I was about to start with my homework when my phone screen lights up letting me know I have a notification. I lazily check it out expecting it to be from Abby but when I see it my eyes widen to the size of tennis balls and I find it hard to breathe.

It's an email from austinblake16@gmail.com and it read:

Hey ;)