Have Hope

Prologue (edited)

Every public park has some rules – some rules stricter than others. Saint Shield Memorial Park has three rules they actively enforce.

            Rule Number One: No smoking or drinking on park property.

            Rule Number Two: When walking your dog, if it takes a dump, clean it up.

            Rule Number Three: Do not skateboard on the sidewalk.

To help enforce that third rule, the community pooled funds to build a decent sized skate park just last year. Not that any of the thick-minded skateboarders use it to their advantage though.

            Here I am, admiring the trees I pass while riding my bike on the sidewalk (which is allowed) when Leah yells from behind me to watch out. My gaze snaps forward, and that is when I see a skateboarder (not allowed) going much slower than I am. And he is right in front of me. Right before I collide with him, I take a sharp turn to the right and end up hitting a stupid rock and falling off my bike.

            Leah drops her bike next to mine and kneels beside me.

            The skateboarder seems to notice the commotion he caused and stops riding. He pulls his earbuds out of his ears and drapes the wire over his shoulder.

            "Shit, my bad," He apologizes after seeing me. Sitting on the ground with my bike on top of my newly scraped leg.

            I recognize him instantly – Andrew Matters. Andrew transferred to Saint Shield High School at the beginning of freshmen year last year. He was the typical hot-and-he-knows-it asshole. Everyone was quickly infatuated with Andrew – even seniors, even me – but that feeling went away when I realized how much of a jerk he is.

            Andrew picks up my bike and leans it against its kickstand. Then, he holds out his hand to help me back up to my feet. "Sorry about that, Helaina."

            Had it been anyone else, I probably would have come up with a snarky remark about how he should watch where he's going. However, if the rudest kid in school is going to be nice to me, I am not going to push it.

            Besides, my mind is too stuck on the fact he knows my name.

            "You know my name?" And it comes out as a question, and I feel stupid for even speaking.

            "Sure." He smiles, and I forget that I'm supposed to be annoyed with him for breaking the rules and being the reason that my knee is bleeding. "We had biology together. Plus, I could never forget the name that belonged to a pretty face like yours."

            Annoyed, Helaina, I tell myself, you're supposed to be annoyed.

            But my cheeks don't listen to my internal dialogue. I don't even need a mirror to know that my cheeks instantly flush a deep crimson red. I can literally feel the heat.

            Leah steps forward with a casual wave. "I'm Leah."

            Andrew's smile falls. "Yeah, I know." His voice drops at least three octaves, and he sounds completely bored, unlike he did a second ago. "I'll see you guys around." He puts his foot at the end of his skateboard and flicks it upward, catching it in his hand.

            At least he didn't get back on the stupid skateboard.

            Leah picks up her bike by the handlebars. "Helaina," she says, and I can already hear the disbelief in her tone, "do you know who that is?" Everyone knows who that is.

            "Duh," I answer her rhetorical question anyway.

            She shakes her head, still processing. I am still in a state of shock regarding it all. "I can't believe he was so nice to you."

            Like I said, Andrew Matters has a reputation. He is an unsolicited jerk to everyone. He is not kind. He glares at people and has a bad attitude all the time. Nobody. He smiles at nobody. But he smiled at me.

            "Maybe he realized that he was in the wrong." It comes out calm, cool, and collected, but I'm actually everything but. My heart is beating like a freaking drum.

            "He's literally mean to everyone though." Leah is still trying to make sense of this situation – the bad boy actually being a decent person.

            "Chill, Leah," I say, trying to act like I am taking my own advice. "It's not like he asked for my hand in marriage." Just as I am finishing my sentence, Leah's eyes are widening. I close my eyes, anticipating my fate. My breath hitches as I feel a tap on my shoulder.

            As casually as my composure allows, I turn on my heel to face Andrew.

            "Hey, I think I forgot something."

            I look around on the sidewalk and grass for something he could have dropped during our near run-in, but I see nothing.

            "What was it?"

            Andrew's gaze meets mine, and he grins again. "Your number?" Just like that, my face is probably the same shade as an apple, and I'm convinced he can hear my heart thumping in my chest. He holds his unlocked iPhone out toward me.

            I inhale a deep breath and type in my phone number.

            "Thanks, Helaina. I'll text you later."

            I bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from smiling too wide. "Okay."

            Not only is the rudest kid at Saint Shield being nice to me, but he also called me pretty and asked for my phone number.

Troy and Gabriella were onto something when they said this could be the start of something new.