All About Him

Chapter 1: I'm Different

"You look absolutely lovely today, Ms. Fremont. Is that a new haircut? It frames your face marvelously." That is Eli Benson. His shaggy, brown hair fell into his dark, ocean blue eyes. His nose swooped up slightly at the end. Eli's oval face had a perfect set of rounded cheekbones. His bottom lip was slightly plumper than his top and his teeth were perfectly straight. Most of all, he was cocky as hell.

When most girls thought of Eli Benson, they thought of all the dirty things they could do to him. He was the handsome 16 year-old that most of the girls swooned over if he just glanced in their direction. All of the teachers loved him for his suck-up remarks. It seemed as if no one in the school hated him. No one except for me. 

"I don't know why all the girls here are crazy for Eli. I mean, what's the big deal?" I asked, looking at the obnoxious boy surrounded by a group of girls. They all had hearts in their eyes and jaws dropped with tongues practically hanging out. 

"Have you actually seen the boy? He's just so... so... hot!" my friend, Adri drooled. Her eyes were locked on Eli as well.  

"He's so cocky and arrogant!" I growled. I tucked a lock of glossy black hair behind my ear angrily. I knew my green eyes were probably turning red and my bottom lip was sticking out a bit in frustration. There was nothing special about him. Nothing special at all. He was just another jock. A jockstrap. I snickered to myself. Jockstrap. Ha.

Adri didn't seem to even noticed that I spoke. Her curly blonde hair trailed behind her like a waterfall. Her blue eyes were in a trance and she had a dazed expression on her face. I took one more look at her before I turned to walk away. I'd find Maya. At least she wouldn't drool over him. 

Maya's hair was darker than black, if that was even possible. Her darkened skin had a glow to it and she had the biggest brown eyes I'd ever seen. Her curvy body and Mexican accent had a lot of guys stunned and dropping at her feet. Too bad for them that she wasn't interested in dating. She was focused on her studies and getting into a decent college.

"Hey," she said as I walked up to her and her locker. "What's going on?" 

"Eli," I muttered. 

A slight smile flickered on her face but disappeared quickly, "Ah, yes. The cocky one that everyone loves."  

"Except for me," I mumbled and we walked off to our next class. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

"Today we are switching seats," the history teacher, Mr. Garricks boomed. The class started to cheer. We always got to pick our own seats. "Except this time, you will be assigned to a location." The class moaned. "You have been too noisy and talking way too much with your neighbors. I do not want this any longer. To avoid this in the future, I will put you next to someone I know you will not socialize with."

I looked at Maya warily. I always sat by her. The other kids in that class were preps, goths, pot heads, and... Eli. I didn't fit in with any of them. My palms got sweaty like they always did when I was nervous. Mr. Garricks started going around the room pointing to each desk. 

"Eddy sits here... Margaret, you're next to him... Tanya you're here... Henry's here... Libi, you're here..." he pointed at the seat in the back of the classroom in the last row, closest to the door. I groaned. Only one person would sit next to me. The chances of it being Maya were very, very slim. "Eli, you sit by Libi..." 

My stomach churned. No. Way. Why did he have to put me by him? The other girls complained while I moped. Eli sat beside me and smiled. His teeth were almost blinding. I just rose an eyebrow and looked away. 

"Hey there. You're Libi, right? I don't talk to you much. That's surprising because everyone--I mean everyone--talks to me. They love me. Are you one of the shy ones?" he asked. I could feel him leaning towards me.