Tough Girl

The New Kid

Chapter 1

Men. Can't live with them, can't live without them. At least, that's what they tell me. Who needs guys really? Relationships are for saps. "You say that now, Kris, but you'll see it differently when you find a man," my friends told me constantly. But I wasn't planning on finding a man. I was independent. I didn't need a guy to lean on; I couldn't show weakness. At least, that's what I thought.

At age 16, I highly doubt that I nedd a man; I'm my own man. As a proud tomboy I skateboard, play dude video games, and despise girliness. It's strange how I have a lot of girlie friends; it just turned out to be so. I was raised by my dad alone because my mother left a few months after I was born. My dad never had to stress about dealing with boyfriends and that put him at ease a little bit; it was one less thing to worry about.

Until the new guy came around.

"Did you hear we're getting a transfer student?" my best friend, Georgia, asked with a grin.

I shrugged, "Why should I care?"

She huffed at my pessimism and changed the subject to something more interesting. Was it really that big of a deal that there was a new kid? The first bell rang and I sauntered to my science class.

"Class," Mr. Sneads announced with a clap of his clammy hands, "We have a new student. This is Warren Huff. Please make him feel welcome. Warren, you can sit next to Miss Dawson right there." He slowly walked over to my table.

"Hi," I smiled and stuck out my hand for him to shake, "I'm Kris."

He looked at it with a hint of disgust for a moment then grinned a somewhat evil grin. "Cut the crap, chick. You're not my type."

I glared at him. "Dude, you have serious egotistical issues if you think that that would ever happen. Get to know the people. I'll start you off: I don't date guys. I don't ever intend to. Stupid."

He just smiled, "So you're into women? That's cool, I'm tolerant."

This guy pissed me off so much, even after only a few minutes; it was almost comical.

"Let me rephrase that," I said with obvious strain in my voice. "I'm straight. But I will not be romantically involved with anyone ever. So you can piss off."

"Ooo, touchy," he smirked at me, infuriating me even more.

I ignored him  and tried to pay attention to the teacher. Warren  was just sitting there, doodling on his paper and texting his friends (I assume... if he had any). There was a pop quiz at the end of the period. I smirked, thinking of how this jerkwad was going to fail. Mr. Sneads had time to grade them at the end and I was anxious to see the results. I only missed one and I looked over at Warren's paper to rub it in his face. Perfect score. I felt my jaw and he grinned devilishly at me. The bell rang and I packed up my stuff quickly and headed out the door.

"Oh Kris," Mr. Sneads said and I stopped in my tracks. "Warren has informed me that he needs help finding his next class and that you were so very helpful to him during class. Would you  be a dear and show him to his next class?"

I smiled falsely, "Sure thing. Come on Warren, let's go." When his back was to the teacher, he had that devilish look on his face again.

"Are you trying to torture me?" I sighed and looked at his schedule and groaned. "You have math with me too. Why God, why?"

He smiled and put his hand by my head, trapping me between him and the lockers. "Because you're a shiny new toy to play with," he whispered in my ear. I was stunned for a moment, then I pushed his hand out of my way and continued walking to class. He walked a little behind me, kind of like a puppy, but puppies are 1000 times nicer. When we got to class, the teacher had Warren sit behind me; perfect. 

"Warren is a total hottie!" Georgia squealed as we walked towards the lunchroom. "His jet black hair cut into a stylish bob, his bleached fringe, and don't forget those electric blue eyes! Ah, and he seems like such a gentleman!"

I rolled my eyes, "Trust me when I say this: Warren is a–"

"Excuse me ladies, may I sit with you?" Warren said politely and sat next to me and Georgia. I groaned and ate my food quickly.

"Well, we'd love to chat, but we must be going. I need Georgia's help in the bathroom," I said and practically shoved her out the cafeteria doors.

"Lesbian," I heard him mutter. I whipped around and glared at him before leaving. 

"Why'd we hafta go?" Georgia complained as she fixed her hair in the bathroom mirror. "That was my chance to be with Warren. I think I might go for him!"

I sighed, "Because I need a break from that guy. I looked at his schedule; he has every class with me!"

She grinned mysteriously, "Lucky! You guys are gonna be best friends! He won't replace me will he?"

I rolled my eyes, "No chance. That guy is a total douchebag!"

"You say that about all guys. Those guys you rejected were so nice yet you refused to date any of them."

I ignored her last comment and put my iPod in and listened to "Bree Bree" by Brokencyde, trying to erase Warren from my mind.