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For some reason I couldn't stop thinking about Izzy—so much that I even woke up extra early just to catch a glimpse of her. There was something familiar about her, but I didn't know what. She was definitely a feisty one though—if that kick yesterday was anything to go by. And yet, I still wanted to get to know her, as stupid as that sounds. Hell, it's only the second day, and I'm already liking her more than Rachel.

"Surprise to see you here, Tom," Gabe said as he walked over. "You're never early."

"I needed to do some stuff," I lied easily, eyeing the entrance as I spoke. I couldn't miss her.

"What stuff?" he questioned, with furrowed brows.

"Just stuff." If Gabe knew I was only here to see a girl, he'll tease the living shit out of me for it. Especially if he knew that girl was Izzy. He'll probably even start singing, "I told you so".

"Fine, don't tell me."

I nodded at him, even though I knew he was dying on the inside. I completely zoned out a second later. Looking back at the gate, only a couple of cars drove through, and none of them were Izzy's. Knowing that it was probably around half past seven, she should be pulling up soon. From what I could tell, she seemed like the type of student who's quite stud—

"Did you even hear what I'd just said?" Gabe yelled, snapping his fingers in front of my face.

"Something about Rachel?" I guessed, vaguely remembering hearing her name.

He shook his head at me, and made a tsking sound with his teeth. "Are you getting tired of her already?"

I frowned. "You know what our deal was."

"Yeah, but if you're getting tired of her, even an open relationship is a little—"

"Look." I sighed, and ran my hands through my hair. "You know Rachel, so you know exactly why I'm doing this."

"Yeah, I know—"

I didn't get to hear the rest of his sentence when Izzy's car pulled in. Automatically smiling, I patted Gabe on the back and ran over towards her. I knew if I wanted a conversation with her, I'll have to catch her before she steps out of her car. Otherwise, she'll probably run away from me.

"Hey." I knocked on her window and leaned down. She jumped slightly in her seat and looked up at me. Her eyes were wide as saucers.

"Thomas?" I saw her mumbled.

"The one and only." I cracked a smile as she rolled down her window.

"And what exactly are you doing here?" she asked.

"Talking to you." I flashed her a quick grin, trying not to lose my cool. It seems like every time I tried to talk to her, it always backfires on me and I say something stupid.

"Lucky me," she said with a roll of her eyes. My smile wavered hearing her say that. Why does she hate me so much? "Can you please step away from my car so I can actually get out?"

"Um . . . sure," I said, and stepped aside.

When the engine cut off, she hoisted herself out of her car. As she pulled her jacket towards her chest, I couldn't help but appreciate her curves and the fact that she wasn't wearing tight, revealing clothing. Most girls in our school would still be wearing ass-hugging shorts and tank-tops even when it was twenty degrees outside.

"You look beautiful today," I told her, before I could stop myself.

"Um thanks, you look . . ." She paused and gave me a quick once over, "not bad."

I cocked a brow, chuckling. Even though it wasn't the best compliment in the world, it still made me smile nonetheless. "Not bad?"

"Yeah, it means—"

"—I know what it means." There she goes with her sarcastic attitude. But, oddly enough, I didn't hate it on her. "Why can't I get a 'you're looking good too' or something like that?" I joked, giving her a slight pout.

"You're kidding right?"

"No." I shook my head immediately under her intense stare as I tried to keep a straight face. "I was just saying—"

"Look, Thomas," she began, adjusting the strap on her bag. "I'm not going to be one of those girls who's going to shower you with stupid compliments and fall—"

I grinned. "I know." She's so much better than that—way better.

"You do?" she asked, sounding slightly taken aback.

"Duh. That's what I like about you."

"Oh."

I coughed and scratched the back of my head when she stood there quietly, and said nothing. Not knowing what else to say, I glanced around seeing her struggling with the strap on her bag. "Here." I held my hand out for it. "Let me carry that for you."

"Ah, you don't have to," she said after a slight pause.

"But I want to." I smiled.

"Um, if you're sure . . ."

"I am." I took her bag and swung the long strap over my other shoulder. We walked side by side, and headed toward our only class together. From the corners of my eyes, I noticed all the guys staring at Izzy, almost eye-humping her. My eyes narrowed into slits, my fists curling up. When they saw my gaze on them, they quickly averted their eyes, and walked away. I chuckled quietly at their reactions. Wimps.

Seeing the classroom up ahead, I was about to ask Izzy if she wanted to sit with me, when Rachel came into my line of view. When she saw me, the corners of her lips tugged upwards into what appears to be a sexy smirk. She paused in her steps when she saw Izzy with me, but otherwise pretended she wasn't there.

"Hey baby," she slurred, batting her long eyelashes at me. Running her hands slowly up my stomach, she tried to be as seductive as possible by pushing her chest against my body, showing off her assets. She knew how much I'd like this exact position, but it wasn't as arousing as I remembered. It was actually turning me off.

"Hey," I dryly said, trying to act as normal as possible.

She giggled, trying to get closer towards me. "I was wondering," she purred, her strong perfume attacking my senses. Trying not to gag, I prayed this would end quickly. I literally couldn't breathe without sucking in a mouthful of her perfume. "Do you want to go somewhere with me during lunch today?" she asked lowering her voice, puckering her lips together. "Alone?"

"Sorry, Rach," I apologized, gently pushing her hand off. "I already have plans today."

"What? With who?"

"With Izzy." I glanced at her. She looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here. Then again, I would be too if Rachel was glaring daggers at me like that.

Her mouth dropped as she faced me again. "With her?"

I lowered my head in a nod.

"But why?" she bellowed, catching the attention of two lingering students. When they realized it was Rachel, they whispered something to themselves and scattered away. "I'm your freaking girlfriend!"

"Did you forget our relationship wasn't exclusive?"

Her smile dropped, looking like she wanted to punch me. "That's not fair!"

"Look," I said pinching the bridge of my nose. "We can hang out another day, alright, Rach?"

"Whatever," she shouted, her green eyes ablaze. Her face was pretty much the same shade as her hair.

"Sorry about that," I told Izzy after I made sure Rachel was gone.

"It's fine," she said with a slight grin on her face. She looked clearly amused by our whole exchange. "But," she added afterward, "who said I was hanging out with you today?"

"You did." I smirked, leaving no room for arguments.

When I heard her footsteps behind me, I smiled. When we arrived in the classroom, Rachel was already sitting in the back, glaring at everything and everyone. I sighed. Hopefully she'll calm down by lunch.

Leading Izzy to the empty seat in the front—and as far away from Rachel as possible—I sat her bag down and took the seat next to her. She stood there, contemplating if she should sit there or not. After some time she finally decided to grab the seat, causing me to almost bolt out of my chair. Grinning from ear to ear, I watched her take out a notebook and some pencils.

"What?" she asked. Surprisingly, she didn't snap at me this time. I think she's finally warming up to me.

I shrugged. "Nothing."

"You sure?" she questioned. "Is there something on my face?" She reached up and touched her cheek.

"Nah, your face is perfect." I covered my mouth with my hand and hope to God she didn't hear that. Your face is perfect? Did I really fucking say that? Great. Real, fucking, corny, Thomas.

Her rosy cheeks deepened a shade causing me to catch my breath. "Good to know."

Just when our conversation was getting somewhere, the bell decided it was a good time to start ringing. Knowing that Mr. What's-his-face would hound me for talking to her again, I closed my mouth, and faced him as he began his lecture.

I groaned after a few minutes, hearing a soft giggle next to me. You can make it, Thomas. Four more hours until you get your lunch date with Izzy. Hopefully, I won't die of boredom.

After waiting all day, it was finally fifth period. Rushing towards the cafeteria, my eyes searched for Izzy. Even though she didn't exactly said yes, I hope she'll spare me the pain, and just go along with it. I mean it's just forty minutes, right? What's so wrong with that?

Giving the cafeteria another scan, I spotted her walking in with her friend a minute or so later. I called her name, catching the attention of a few nearby people. Seeing her shaking her head, she whispered something to Amanda and then slowly made her way over towards me.

"Hey, Izzy," I said acting casual and not overly excited.

"Hey," she greeted with a slight nod.

"So, you ready for lunch?" I asked, as I tried not to let her non-enthusiastic personality get to me.

She rolled her shoulders. "I guess."

"Great," I said and took her hand in mine. Noticing the way they fitted perfectly in my palm, I grinned when she didn't snatch her hand out of my hold. When we got to the lunch line, I looked down at her, still holding her hand. "Anything catching your eye?"

"Ah, that chicken sandwich looks pretty good. Maybe fries too."

"Seriously?"

"What?" she asked with a slight tilt of her head.

"The girls at my table rarely eat at all," I explained to her as we headed down the line. Their excuse? Carbs makes them fat.

"Yeah, well, I'm actually human so I kind of have to eat if I want to survive."

I laughed. "In that case, eat as much as you like."

When it was our turn to order, Izzy told the lunch lady what she wanted. As the girl gave Izzy her order, she thanked her.

"I'll pay for you," I blurted out. I know I really needed to be saving up my money, but I wanted to do something nice for her—to show her that I actually care about her. And if this gets me under her good grace then so be it. I'll just have to work a double this week.

"You will?"

"Of course," I told her. "It'll be my honor." Sliding her tray down the line, the cashier rang up her order and then said the price in a monotone voice.

"Here you go." I took out my last five-dollar bill, and gave it to her. "Could you please put the rest of the change in Isabella Elizabeth's account?" I bit down on my lips when I said her full first name, thinking of her.

"Sure, no problem."

"Thanks." I smiled, and then faced Izzy. I needed to stop thinking about her. "Come on, let's sit."

"Um, before that shouldn't you get food as well?" she asked, and pointed to a lack of food on my own plate.

"Nah, I already ate," I lied quickly. I wasn't ready to tell her. She'll drop me completely once she knew my secret.

"Oh." I could tell by the sound of her voice that she didn't believe me but I was thankful she decided to let it go anyways.

When we finally made it to our table everyone stopped talking, and glanced up at Izzy.

"Guys, this is Izzy Elizabeth," I introduced them to her, and gave them a silent cue to behave. "And Izzy, this is Gabe, Kyle, Louis, Rosie, Rebecca, and of course you know Jason and Rachel."

"Hello, everyone," she greeted, and gave them a small smile. "It's nice meeting you all."

Most of them just nodded while Gabe returned her smile, and Rachel bluntly just glared at her. I shot her a 'be nice' look and whispered a quick apology to Izzy.

"Tommy. There's only one more seat left at this table, so I guess Isabella can't sit here," she said with a smirk.

"Oh is that all?" I wasn't going to let no room stop me from having lunch with Izzy. "That's an easy fix."

"How?" Rachel asked. Knowing that I couldn't pull a chair from another table since all the chairs were connected to each other to form a bench, I did the next best thing.

"Come on, Izzy." I took her hand in mine as I guided her over to the seat next to Jason. Placing her tray in front of her, I stood at the edge of the table and knelt down. Seeing the faces of my friends, I knew they were all thinking the same thing—I was crazy. And maybe I was.

"Thomas, what in the world are you doing?" she screeched, as she slammed her hands against the table. Feeling it shake underneath me, I steadied Izzy's tray and reverted my gaze back to her.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm having lunch with Izzy."

She rolled her eyes at me. "I know that," she practically growled out, "but why are you letting her take your seat?"

"She needs the seat more than I do." It's not like I was eating anything, anyways.

"No, she doesn't," she shrieked, the veins in her neck popping out. "She doesn't even deserve to sit at this table," she said, as she stabbed her water bottle with her friend's fork. If I knew any better, she was probably picturing the water bottle as Izzy right now.

"Rachel, stop it—"

She chose to ignore me and threw the water bottle at me instead. As it hit me square in the chest, it bounced off, and rolled onto the floor.

"Come on girls, we're leaving." Her friends got up at the same time Rachel did.

Once they were gone, I took the seat across from Izzy, and gave her a small smile. Hopefully that scene didn't cause her to hate Rachel that much. She wasn't that bad once you got to know her.

"Shouldn't you go after her?" she asked.

"Nah. What Rachel needs right now is some alone time with her friends. If I go after her, it'll just make things worse." And nobody wants that.

"If you say so," she said as she took a bite from her sandwich.

"I'm glad you decided to have lunch with me though," I blurted out when she reached for her fries.

She motioned her shoulders up in a shrug. "It's not like I had a choice."

"You could've." I smiled, knowing that if she wanted to, she could've gotten up anytime, but she chose to stay. "Thank you."

"Um . . . " She avoided my gaze. "You're welcome," she mumbled under her breath.

Seeing her pale skin reddening, I chuckled at her cuteness. "You're so—"

We both jumped when a loud bang sounded next to Izzy. Jason got up and stormed towards the door Rachel had just gone through.

"Wait," I shouted after him. "Where are you going?" Hearing no response from him, I knew he wasn't going to answer anytime soon. "What the hell's wrong with him?" I asked nobody in particular. Both Kyle and Louis shrugged in response while Gabe told me Jason had to do something.

I shrugged, and turned my attention back to Izzy.

"So . . . shall we get back to lunch?"

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