Chapter One-Bam
*Valorie Hawkins*
It was like...bam.
Not bam like a collision, like the sudden and possibly fatal consequence when a car going 90 mph meets another car going 40 mph. It wasn't like that. There was no collision.
It wasn't like the bam that happens when a boy and girl make eye contact from across the room and instantly fall in love. It wasn't an instantaneous bam of love that fills pages and pages of books and scripts daily, probably.
It was more like the 'bam' of an explosion. An explosive bam. A bam that occurs when a chemical compound isn't measured correctly or when your teacher decides to let the science partners on the side closest to the window gets to conduct the experiment while the other takes data.
"Gosh, Anderson, really?" I mutter, staring at our desk, putting my pencil down in what feels like slow motion in comparison to the jump I had just done out of my seat. I feel his eyes on me. They're a light shade of brown and are filled with delight. Class clowns tend to be destructive.
"You could have easily sat closest to the window. But nooooo, you just had to sit close to Emily. This is completely your fault, sweet heart." He says with a smirk, but his voice is hushed as a constant tapping noise against the tile approaches. It stops.
Ms. Bay is a really nice teacher, she honestly is. Her hands are on her hips when she looks at the mess at our shared desk. She sighs, moves her hand through her short, red hair, tired. "Anderson. Valorie. Out in the hallway, I'll be out in a minute."
We go, not many people watch us go, but I can hear some of the guys whisper about how 'much shit Andy and his girl are gonna get' and how 'awesome that was' and 'Anderson's so cool'.
I really just want to go up to those guys when they aren't looking, kick their groins, run away and blame the nearest person.
"That was not my fault." I say to him, crossing my arms and hoping I come off as tough, but sadly, yellow isn't a very macho color. "You should tell her it wasn't my fault. I don't want to get in trouble."
He gives me a quizzical look and looks at my crossed arms. "Okay." He mimicks my arms and leans against the wall. "Dude. I am so hungry. Do you have any food on you?" He's not really asking me.
Anderson's brown hair begins to creep over one of his eyes and he flicks it away. And even leaning against the wall the way he is, he towers over me. Of course, he is a total boy toy, he's got the good looks and 'game' to prove it. But it's weird because you wouldn't expect it, really. He's so goofy.
I blink a few times, its mascara irritating my contacts mostly, but it's also the effect of the light suddenly hitting my eyes as Anderson starts walking around in circles and the reflection if the sun from the waxy tile beams into my eyes. "Anderson, what the fu--what did you do?"
His expression: what are you talking about?
"In there? What did you do?"
"Oh. In the classroom with the thing-a-bobber?" I nod. "Oh. Nothing. I just added extra stuff because I wanted to impress you with my mad scientist skills." He winks.
I roll my eyes, but I blood rushes to my cheeks and I hope he doesn't notice anything. "You are such an idiot." But I smile. "Hey, do you think Ms. Bay forgot about us? It's been like, what, 20 minutes?"
"God, Valorie, quit being so anal. She can come when and only if she wants. Don't ruin it with your negativity." He looks down from the ceiling to meet my eyes. "No wonder you're a virgin."
