Falling for the Bad Boy

Chapter 1- First Day of School

I was sleeping peacefully in my twin sized bed when I felt tapping on my shoulder. Soon the tapping stopped and I went back to sleep until my older sister, Ash, blew an air horn in my ear. I shot up in my bed and screamed: "Why would you do that?!" Ash replied "Because you are going to make me late for school! I want to see Blake!" I got up and changed, rolling my eyes. I grabbed a bar out of my empty pantry and ran out to the car where Ash was waiting, blaring her horn. "I am coming, chill out!" I screamed. We drove to school, bobbing our heads to the music when a 1969 Shelby Mustang rear ends our car. The guy got out of the car and went to Ash's window where he profusely apologizes. He said he would pay for the damage. Before walking away, he flashed a warm grin at me sending shivers up my spine. Turns out that was Zen Bethune and that would not be the last time we meet, in fact, it was just the beginning.

We finally arrived at school, Ash ran off to find her boyfriend, Blake, leaving me alone to find my friends. I finally found them sitting by the library socializing. I have known AJ, Kanna, and Kate since I was five. They moved to Texas three years ago. I walked up to them smiling "Hey guys." The three girls all got up squealing and hugging me. We exchanged our class schedules and we started talking about old times until the bell rang. I went to English with AJ, then I went to Spanish with Kanna, and then I went to Science with Kate. Lunch approached quicker than I thought. I walked in the big crowd to the cafeteria where I grabbed a strawberry field salad and a bottle of water and sat down with all my friends. They started asking me questions about all my classes. AJ was about to ask a question but then her mouth fell open, along with the two other girls. I tilted my head in confusion and Kanna finally had the words to say "Turn around." I spun around and was looking up at a tall, muscular body. He had a beautifully chiseled jaw, with strong cheekbones and a strong lip. He had deep brown eyes that sparkled in the sun and a smile that burned right through a girls soul. He was wearing a football varsity jacket and a white hoodie with a beautiful necklace around his neck. He finally spoke, "Hey, I am sorry about rear-ending you guys." His voice was like honey, rich and sweet. "You shouldn't be apologizing to me, but to my sis. You hit Carmila!" I said. "Is Carmila your sister's name?" he asked. I laughed "No, that is her car's name. My sister's name is Ash." I replied turning back around, ready to dig into my salad again, but before I could he caught my shoulder and asked: "Can I get your name sugar?" I blushed. "Its...Paige" I stuttered. "Nice to meet you, Paige, my name is Zen," he replied confidently. "So I have heard," I said jokingly. He smiled then walked away sliding something onto the table. When I opened it, it had his number and a smiley face. I smiled and looked up to see my friends bouncing in their seats. I shrugged and then laughed walking away to throw my salad away.

I went to my last two classes, PE and Math. These classes I didn't have any of my friends in since I was taking honors Math and decided to do weight lifting for PE. When I arrived at PE, I sat down scrolling through Instagram on my phone when a guy sat next to me. "Is this seat taken?" he asked. I shook my head no and he sat down. "I am James. Nice to meet you," he said shaking my hand. "Paige, and you too," I replied. We started talking about sports and I told him about Softball while he talked about Football. The bell rang and the teachers started talking. The door opened and Zen walked in, looked down at me, winked and then patted James on the back sitting next to him. I proceeded to scroll through Instagram until the end of the class. I got up to leave but someone grabbed my arm and turned me around. It was Zen. "What class do you have next?" he asked. "Math..with Etchey," I replied walking away. He ran and caught up with me. "I have that class next to, mind if I walk with you?" he asked. I shrugged and said "Sure." We walked together in complete silence and when we got to class he opened the door for me, I smiled warmingly as a thank you and sat down. He sat a table across from me, struggling to do the worksheet the teacher had given us. I had already completed it so I took out the piece of paper, typed in the number and took a picture of the worksheet and hit send. A couple of seconds later I heard a buzz and saw Zen grinning at me. After class, he came up to me. "Hey thanks for helping me in there, I don't really get math." I nodded. "Is there any way I could make it up to you?" he asked. I shook my head "No, it's all good." I replied. He smiled shaking his head and then hugged me. I started to blush as I took in his sweet cologne. I pulled away smiled and walked away smiling all the way to Ash's Car.