Sandcastles

Chapter Two

Pictured: Colin Ford as Troy

My first week at Collins Creek High School wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I've definitely established a friendship between Troy and surprisingly Ben. The three of us have a few classes together and usually hang out during gym. After gym, Troy and I work on the drama project in study hall which is due this Friday. Mom still wouldn't let me go to his house to work on it. But today, the Monday starting my second week here, she finally said I could go over to work on our project.

The school day went by surprisingly fast. I'm doing well in my classes, believe it or not. I've made a decent grade on my tests so far. Drama is still the same; we talk about the winter musical and then work on the projects. Then I go and sit by Ben and Troy every day. We are the least crowded table besides the one that the boy from geometry sits at.

I made an attempt to talk to the boy but he didn't look in the mood to talk that day. He always looks sad or disappointed about something. Then at lunch, he looks so uncomfortable and like he's afraid of everyone. He's good in geometry, though. The answers that I don't understand and that I have to copy from him are always right. I asked Troy about the boy, but he doesn't know much about him except that he's supposedly a senior, which makes me wonder why he's taking tenth grade geometry. But either way, the boy doesn't seem like he wants any friends.

After school ends, Madeline takes Ben back to our house and then we both go to Troy's house. Madeline is friends with his sister or something. We arrive at a very large house with tons of windows on the front. We both get out and knock on the front door. A pretty girl with the same caramel hair as Troy opens the door with a smile and lets us both in.

"Troy, your girlfriend's here!" the girl yells through the house. The girl turns to talk to Madeline and I hear Troy stumble through the house. He has an annoyed look on his face when he sees us.

"She's not my girlfriend, Helen." Troy says. He grins when he sees me and points his thumb down the hall. I nod and follow him back to his room.

He has several posters and banners for the Atlanta Braves hung around his room. He flops on his bed and digs around for something. I sit in a plush chair in the corner, almost sinking down into it. Troy groans when he can't find whatever he was looking for and storms out of the room. I wait a few minutes and follow after him.

I hear banging on a door and walk around to see Troy is banging his fist against a closed door. A voice calls from inside and then the door swings open. The blond from drama class stands with an infuriated expression and thrusts the laptop at Troy. The rude blond is Troy's brother? Luckily he catches it. The blond boy glances at me and smirks. He takes the headphones off of his ears and winks at me. I scowl. He does this all the time and I don't think he even knows my name.

"Hey Hollywood." He says. I roll my eyes and cross my arms in front of me. Troy pushes past me to go back to his room.

"I have a name, you know." I tell the boy. He grins and stands taller.

"Which is?" he asks with a small pout.

"Isabelle." I say softly.

"Isabelle." He repeats, raising his eyebrows. He repeats the name quietly to himself as if to see if he likes saying it or not. He stops and directs his attention back to me. "I don't think I've properly introduced myself, Hollywood. I'm Alexander. Friends call me Xander. Girls call me Alex."

He winks at me again and I want to throw up. He snickers before disappearing back into his room. I walk back to Troy's room and find him furiously typing on his laptop.

We work on the scene for a while and get about 4 more pages done. We only have 2 more left until we just have to edit it and turn it in. Just as he closes the laptop, Alexander storms in the room.