Thirty Reasons Not to Date a Player

01. He Ruins it for the Good Guys

I blame Hollywood chick-flicks for my high expectations of the opposite sex. Movies make it seem like high school boys are supposed to open doors and give you their jackets when you're cold and all that cute stuff. 

At South River High, I'm lucky if a guy lets me borrow a pencil.

Someone taps me on the shoulder, bringing me back to my fourth period trigonometry class. "Got any paper?" Lynne Duboise asks, through a thick wad of gum. 

I tear a sheet out of my notebook and hand it to her. She doesn't say thank you. Instead, she brings it up to her mouth and spits the gum into it. It's an ugly shade of green and I watch as she tries to get a piece out of her braces. 

That's the kind of girl who's probably never even had a crush. And if she did, God help the guy.

I avert my gaze to the other side of the room, where I make eye contact with April, who looks just as bored as I feel. I give her a weak smile, and then go back to taking notes on logarithms.

There's only ten minutes left of class before lunch, and I have so much to ask April about Aiden Kimball. Melanie helped set the two of them up last Friday. I know from experience that he's not exactly April's type, but I want to see her happy again just as much as Mel does. 

After her break up with Ryder, last June, April's been a little on-edge about dating. I don't blame her. She still has to face Ryder almost every day.

"Amara," someone behind me hisses. "Did you get the physics homework?"

"No, sorry," I say, turning back around before Mrs. Kwon can get the chance to scold me. I hate physics. I'd probably be failing if it weren't for ASAP science videos on YouTube. 

I get through the last ten minutes of class without any more interruptions, and the sound of the bell is music to my ears. I figure that the rest of the class is as excited as I am because we all file out into the hallway. I stand off to the side by the lockers and wait for April. 

"Hey, AJ," she greets me. "I have so much to tell you, but first you have to promise me that you had nothing to do with Aiden asking me out." 

"I swear, I didn't," I tell her, leaving out the part that Mel did. "But April and Aiden? I could get used to that." I nudge her a little. She rolls her eyes and smiles. 

"It's not that big of a deal, we just hung out and saw a movie," April continues as we turn a corner. "He's cute and funny, I guess, but it's not official, or anything." 

At least she's giving it thought, I note to myself. That's progress. "Go on a few more dates first," I suggest. "Get to know each other better." 

"That's the plan," April giggles. "We're going out to dinner this Saturday after I get off of work." 

It's the first time I've seen her boy-happy in ages.

But of course, the Spawn of Satan himself has to ruin it all. 

Ryder Hayes is standing on the opposite side of the hallway, in plain sight. One side of his body is pressed up against a locker and from the looks of it, he's flirting with some doe-eyed freshman. She stares up at him admiringly, as if he's Justin Bieber, or something. 

April used to look at him the same way. 

For some reason, I can't help but stare at him, too. He's wearing combat boots and a black leather jacket which give off the classical 'bad boy' vibe. His dark hair stands out against his pale skin. I feel something inside me jump when he looks in our direction. He gives us a boyish nod, as if to say, what's up? I can't tell if he's looking at me or April, but she grabs my arm and pulls me along faster than I thought humanly possible.