Unexpected

Chapter 1.

It was Friday, August 24th, 2018 when I first saw Brett Ashmore. If I had not been tricked and manipulated, I wouldn't have met him that night at all, and he wouldn't have had the chance to annoy me by speaking two sentences. I may have had an entirely different first impression of him, which would have changed everything. But, alas, because of one certain Ariel Kim, my first impression of Brett Ashmore was that he was an asshole. That thought lasted quite some time, because despite all my mother's teachings, I could never break my habit of judging a book--well, not by its cover; I like to think I wasn't that shallow. But by its first two lines, definitely.

"Char, you've got to come!"

I was currently curled into Ariel's beanbag sofa, head in my hands so I could pretend to not hear her millionth request. Ariel's Corgi puppy Tucker scampered over to lick my fingers in concern, probably thinking I was crying. Tucker was very sensitive to people's emotions, unlike his owner.

"Ugh." Tucker whined, which forced me to uncover my face to reassure him I was fine. Unfortunately, that meant actually having to respond to Ariel. "It's the last Friday before school starts, and you want to spend it with...people from that hellhole?"

"No. I want to spend it with you, which is why I've been begging you to come with me for the last hour!"

"We can stay home, which was what you said  to me when you made me come over."

"I don't have to make you come over," Ariel scoffed. "You love my house."

"Because of Tucker." I scratched the puppy behind his ears. He was small in size, but his ears were extra big, giving him the appearance of a bunny sometimes.

"C'mon, Char, is watching chick-flicks with my dog really how you want to spend your last free weekend before school starts? It's junior year, and you'll be swamped with AP classes and SAT prep and math club and everything else you're always so busy with. Live a little."

I glared. Not only had she made me sound like a total nerd, I absolutely saw no problem with the plan of watching chick flicks with Tucker curled up at my side like a little heated fluff-ball.

"Wait a minute, whose party is this again? Why are you so hung up on going?"

Ariel was more involved in the Eastwood social scene than I was, but she wasn't some huge party girl either. Usually, she respected my decision to stay away from the Eastwood elite, knowing I hated their snobby personalities. The parties they threw had all the tasteless mess of a stereotypical high-school rager, but as all the participants were the offspring of millionaires, there was an air of arrogance and a desperate attempt at classiness that made everything even worse. Not to mention, perky cheerleader Lacey Whittaker was very popular in the party scene. The same Lacey Whittaker who thought it was absolutely hilarious to give me the nickname "Charity case."

"It's Tommy Jamison's party."

When I just stared at her blankly, she said, "He's a senior. Starting linebacker on the varsity football team."

"Jesus, Ari, are we even allowed to go?"

"Duh, we are. Because of Noah."

The hand that had been stroking Tucker's fur halted so abruptly Tucker turned to give me a chagrined look. Noah Kim was Ariel's older brother, captain of Eastwood's varsity football team, and the boy I'd been crushing on forever. I wasn't crazy--or even tolerant--of most boys at Eastwood, but Noah was the exception. Like Ariel, he'd never treated me like an outsider, despite how different my background was from everyone else at Eastwood. Tall, broad-shouldered, with the same beaming smile and sparkling dark eyes as Ariel, he was the sweetest guy I'd ever met. Of course, the only problem was he saw me as his little sister's friend, so I got a little kindness, maybe even a little protectiveness, but never...anything more than that. Crush-type feelings were reserved for the crowd of gorgeous, talented girls who hovered around Noah 25/7.