The 7 Wonders of Beckett Louis

1: Beckett

C H A P T E R O N E
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CAROLINE OWENS, trying her absolute best to not look like she's having the time of her life, casually walked over towards the back of the room where the dark haired boy sat. Ehem, attractive, dark haired boy sat.

He scribbled in his journal, his wavy hair covering most of his olive-toned forehead. He hadn't bothered to look at Caroline yet. A normal person would've made some sort of communication to their partner for, what, the whole school year? Right?

Caroline stopped at his desk, letting a gentle smile crawl onto her face. "Hey," she greeted. "Looks like we're partners."

Looking up from his journal - which by the way, was filled with actual scribbles, along with small words that seemed to go on forever - he glanced up, staring right into Caroline's eyes. He shut his journal, realizing that his small handwriting was visible enough in her view.

"Right," he began, his mouth twitching into a crooked smile, "hi."

"Hi," she repeated dumbly, not knowing what else to respond with. Truthfully, Caroline had no problem talking to people. She was in numerous clubs, the captain of the Tennis team, and still manages to have good grades (due to her close relationships to her teachers) (and no, not that close), but she - along with basically the whole school - can't seem to know how to act around the boy sitting in front of her. He was Beckett Louis. Like, the Beckett Louis.

"You can sit down," he said, grabbing Caroline from her thoughts. He patted the chair next to his. "But what's your name?"

She moved towards the chair, setting down her small binder on the table. "I'm Caroline Owens," she responded. Although she wanted to add in, 'and you're in all of my classes except for one, why haven't you noticed me, I'm noticeable right?', she fought the urge.

"Great," he said, not breaking eye contact as Caroline slipped into the seat next to him. "I'm Beckett Louis."

I know, Caroline thought but smiled and said, "I like your name," instead.

Beckett chuckled, dimples forming at the tip of his lips. "Really? I think it's weird."

"At least your name doesn't make you sound like a middle-aged woman."

At that, Beckett's smile widened and he shook his head amusedly, which did, in fact, satisfy Caroline. Never had she seen him smile genuinely (though there were times when she noticed him letting out sarcastic laughs in their classes).

He looked back over to Caroline and in a raspy voice, he said, "Well, do you have an idea for what we should do in our project, Caroline Owens?"

Holy Mother of God, he just made my name sound 100 times sexier.

Ignoring her thoughts, she shrugged in response. Being in AP English meant having to do a long-term humanity project with an assigned partner. It could be any project as long as it related to the world, society, and all that.

"Well," Caroline said, licking her lips, "let's start off small, I guess. We can figure out the topic later, so we can just brainstorm right now."

Beckett furrowed his eyebrows, which were, by the way, on point. "Okay," he replied, turning his body more to Caroline. He pursed his lips before asking, "How do you feel about men?"

"Excuse me?" Caroline immediately responded, surprised by his abrupt question.

Beckett's eyes twinkled. "Just answer the question, and answer truthfully. Don't think about things you've heard other people say, just tell me what you really really think about men."