CherryPop

Chapter 2

   Mary-Kate's POV-

   As I pulled into the school parking lot, I saw that my best friend Emily's car was already parked near the front of the school. Unfortunately I wasn't able to park next her, so I found an open spot a few cars down. As soon as I put the car in park, Ty was quick to jump out and run to his football buddies, probably going to tell them what "Bat-shit crazy Charlotte"  did last night; his words not mine. I rolled my eyes as I saw him fling his arms in the air, most likely exaggerating the story. Deciding to leave him be I walked into the school ready to go grab my schedule from the office. Knowing Ty, I'd probably have to grab his too, because he had an unspoken rule to always walk into class one minute after the bell rang, always trying to spend as much time with his friends. As if he didn't spend every waking minute with them already. 

   I went to stand in line, waiting while other students got their schedules figured out. I hadn't seen Emily yet, so I was hoping I'd see her right before classes or I'd at least have a few classes with her. A little context about Emily is that she's the Veronica to my Betty. She was the out-going one, while I was the more reserved type of person who liked to stay at home, curled up on the couch with a good book. Emily knew what she had, and she definitely loved to flaunt it. She had a different boy on her arm every month, as if they were purses. Although I was a hopeless romantic, and she was a spit-ball of fire, her and I balanced each other out. She had never forced me to go to one of the many raging parties she seems to find herself at every weekend, and I have never tried to change her and force her to settle down. That's just how we worked, and I wouldn't trade her for the world. We had met back in fourth grade when she had accidentally threw the tether-ball a bit too hard and ended up hitting me in the face. She was the one who took me to the nurses office and sat with me the whole time, and since then we have been inseparable. 

   While thinking about my crazy best friend I hadn't noticed the room get darker around me. When I looked up confused, I had noticed it was just around me that it had gotten darker, and it seemed to be coming from the shadow of the person standing behind me. I was beginning to turn around, about to ask the person to step back a little, since if their shadow had surrounded me, then they were standing to close. My words got caught in my throat as I took a good look at the person behind me. Standing at 6"3' was the most gorgeous man I've ever seen. With two arms filled with sleeve tattoos, and piercing blue eyes, I knew this boy meant trouble. He had short brown hair, that any female would die to get the chance to run their fingers through. You would have to be blind to say this man was ugly, because he was far from it. 

   I was so deep into my thoughts while checking him out, I hadn't even processed his lips begin to move. "Whenever you're done checking me out shortcake could you please move? I need to grab my schedule." It took me a minute to realize he was actually speaking to me, and for some unknown reason, I forgot how to use the common English vocabulary. I tried to form a proper sentence but it seemed all I could get out was, "I...uh I...um." He seemed to find my stuttering funny and chuckled before he replied, "It's okay shortcake, take your time, it's not like I've got places to be anyway." It had finally registered that he was calling me shortcake, like come on now, shortcake really ? 

   "Don't call me that." I had muttered, a bit embarrassed that this gorgeous specimen of a man was making fun of my height. "Well I'd call you by your  damn name if I knew but I don't, so don't get snappy with me." I just knew from the way he had said that sentence he had a short temper and a bad attitude, as if the tattoos weren't a dead give away. This dude was pretty on the outside, but was hideous on the inside. From our short interaction, I had hoped I would never have to see him again. "Well it's not like you told me your name either smart-ass." I was beginning to get pissed with him, and the longer I spoke to him the more irritated I got. Despite me thinking he was gorgeous, any thoughts I had about him like that were soon replaced with pure hatred. 

  "My name is Gray Ryder shortcake, what's yours?" He had said with that oh so famous smirk that all bad boys seemed to own. 

"Don't call me shortcake, and my name is Mary-Kate Marshall." He looked me up and down, while I stood my ground staring up at him since he was a whole foot taller than me. 

   "I'll think I'll stick with shortcake." He said it as if the conversation was over, and I just knew deep down this wouldn't be the last interaction I had with Gray Ryder.