Page 17 of Ask No Questions

When the bell rang, signifying the start of class, Mr. Cox stood and asked everyone to gather their things and come to the front of the class to wait for their new seats. There was a chorus of groans, but they obeyed. He went through the roll and had us sit in alphabetical order. How original. I waited as the desks filled, glancing at the few students that remained at the front of the class with me—a common drawback to a last name late in the alphabet. Finally, he called my name, and I took a seat in the row closest to the door and halfway back. I took out a notebook and pen and waited for Mr. Cox to begin. He stood with a stack of papers in his hand.

"This is your syllabus for the semester. We will begin instruction tomorrow. You have the rest of the class to use how you wish. Just keep the noise level down, please."

Seriously? After his odd display of power, I expected him to be a strict teacher, but he just blew off the rest of the fifty-minute class.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around. I was face to face with a Polynesian god. Was everyone that lived here gorgeous? He had smooth brown skin and short black hair, but what I noticed first was his huge friendly smile, like he was constantly on the verge of breaking out into laughter. The second thing I noticed when I could pull my eyes off of his face was how small the desk seemed compared to him. He was all muscle, and I could tell he was tall. He spoke before I could finish taking inventory of his looks.

"Are you the new girl?"

"I don't know. I'm sure there's more than one new girl."

"Nah, you're the only one that has brown hair and a hot bod."

I was caught off guard by his bluntness. "Excuse me?"

"Everyone has been talking about you and Mckayla’s party. I was bummed I missed out, especially when word got out you're so hot."

I had no idea how to reply to any of the things he was saying. "Thanks?"

"Yeah, I mean Hawai'i was fun, but I wanted to get back sooner to meet the girl everyone has been talking about. I'm Mike, by the way."

"Aubrey." I smiled at him. I didn’t love the way he chose to describe me but having him compliment me made me giddier than it should. So much for avoiding the guys and focusing on myself. One smile from this guy, and I was suddenly very glad I moved here.

The cute, blond guy sitting next to me leaned over to us. "You're the infamous partier, Aubrey?"

"Yeah, Nick, this is her, but back off. I have dibs!"

Nick turned and threw a glare at him. "Whatever, Mike.” Turning back to me, a smile lit up his face. “It's nice to meet you, Aubrey. I wish I could have come the other night, but I was still on vacation with the family in Costa Rica until last night. I heard I missed a great party, though."

Did everyone go on extravagant vacations here? Mom and Neil travelled often, but rarely brought me and Peyton with them. Was that normal? It didn't seem to be the case here, but they usually went with their friends who also left their kids behind.

"If she has another one, I'll make sure she lets everyone know. Hopefully more people will be in town."

"I have a better idea, give me your phone." Nick held out his hand. I pulled it from my bag and hesitated before giving it over. I didn't want to get in trouble with Mr. Cox, but he seemed to be trying his best to ignore the class with his head lowered behind his laptop.

Nick handed it back to me after a moment. I looked down and saw a new contact.

"Future Husband, really? I expected you to come up with something more original."

I laughed, and Mike reached forward and grabbed my phone before I could react. After a second, he handed it back with a smile.

"Mike ‘The Babe’ Thomas? You both need to use your imagination more."

Other guys around us noticed what we were doing, and before I knew it, my phone was being passed around the class. A few girls saved their numbers waving and smiling at me, but almost every guy gave me their number. When I got it back, I laughed at the names saved in my phone. "You guys realize I don't have the majority of your real names. How do I know who I'm talking to?"

Nick leaned toward me. "That's half the fun." He winked and leaned back in his seat.

A girl that had been sitting on the other side of the room came toward me with a determined look on her face. "So you’re the one all the guys are talking about? Personally, I don’t get what all the fuss is about.” She made no attempt to cover up the fact she was sizing me up.

“So, what—or who—did you do over the break to get all of their attention?” She leaned forward, putting her hands on my desk, clearly trying to intimidate me

It took a moment for me to understand what she was insinuating, but Mike spoke up before I could say anything back to her. "Get over yourself, Sydney. Aubrey here happens to be nice, pretty, and throws great parties. All things you know nothing about. Leave her alone and go back to your seat and play with your makeup or something."

She looked like she just got smacked. "Whatever, Mike! My CD came out over the break and I invited everyone to the release party in LA and no one is making a big deal about that. Why are you guys freaking out about some dumb party put on by a nobody?"

"Because no one cares about your crappy CD your daddy paid to have produced. Get over yourself." He leaned back and crossed his arms over his broad chest.

Evidently, this girl saw me as a threat, and when I looked around me, I realized the majority of the guys around me looked ready to take her on. Hmmm… these guys were super protective of a girl they didn't know and were pretty awful to this Sydney girl. I almost felt bad for her, but she seemed like she had spent years building her reputation.