Sk8er Boi (Logan Reese)

one: the boy in the fountain

The sun beat down on me as I spun in a circle, my music blasting in my ears. My paper map ruffled in the slight wind, but I didn't care right at that moment. Everywhere I looked, things looked the same. Each building stands at about the same height, and they all were painted the same bland colors of cream and yellow. This awful campus was so confusing. Everyone was bustling about, bypassing me. They weren't focused on the new girl; no one ever was. No one ever would be.

I had to shield my eyes from the bright sun as I glanced around. The buildings didn't look the same as on the map, which sucked. The map was most likely outdated, just like this freaking campus was. Everything looked like it was from the 80s; newsflash, we weren't in the 80s. I couldn't believe Mom sent me here. She knew I was okay staying at home, but then she had to send me to this old school, going against my wishes. She wouldn't listen to any of my reasonings as to why I didn't want to come here, though. She just wanted to get me away from her before I ruined her life even more.

Suddenly, the map was ripped out of my hands. A huge gust of wind had knocked into me and the map, but, fortunately, I was heavy enough not to fly away. My feet started moving before my mind did, and I started chasing after the map. My satchel flew out behind me, the strap tugging against my shoulder. Each of my footfalls echoed the drum beat from my music, making me grin. It felt like I was in the middle of a music video, one where I was a new kid. That much was true. The next thing that would happen in this music video would me finding my love interest, but that would never happen. I vowed to myself that I wouldn't fall for a single guy here at Pacific Coast Academy, and I intended on keeping it. I didn't need anyone else to care about because they would just hurt me like everyone else had.

And then I was airborne. Not literally, really, but still. I wasn't in the air that long, but it felt like forever. I landed with a thud, the breath knocked out of my body. My satchel landed right next to me, but my map was nowhere to be found. A couple of people stopped and asked me if I was alright, but I didn't bother to answer them. Instead, I focused on getting the breath back into my body. 

That was when a curly haired kid appeared in my vision. He had a worried look on his face, but when he saw that I was alright, a grin lifted his thin lips up. His silly curls hung down low, nearly brushing against my forehead. The air was slowly coming back, so I sat up, pushing him away from me. There was a skateboard near me, which probably belonged to the boy. No wonder I fell so hard. He plowed right into me, riding his expensive looking skateboard. 

"I am so glad I ran into you," he said, his annoying voice making me frown. Where did my headphones and MP3 player go? Slowly standing up, I noticed a fountain behind him. I remembered seeing that on the map, and that was one of the landmarks on the way to my dorm. "You look new. I'm Logan Reese, the hottest guy on this campus." His grin widened when he looked me up and down. "What do you say? Want to go out sometime?"

"Never." 

Fixing my bag on my shoulder, I sucked in a deep breath. The people around us didn't give us the time of day, making me mad. Couldn't they see this weird guy -- Logan Reese? -- bothering me? Apparently, no one cared if a girl was being harassed by a boy. Either that, or they knew who this Logan guy was and didn't want to cross him. 

"Aw, come on, babe," he said, taking a step closer to me. I whipped my head toward him, and he stumbled slightly at the intensity of my glare. "We're both very good looking people. We'd be a power couple."

"Listen here, babe." I leaned in close, a grin working its way onto my face. Placing my hands on his shoulders, my fingers brushed his bare skin. I realized that his shirt didn't have any sleeves on them, which was weird. Why would he purposefully rip off the sleeves to his shirts? "I will never go out with you." And with that, I shoved him into the fountain behind him. 

I watched as he flopped around like a fish. He began to sputter, trying to catch his breath, because he fell in head first. Crossing my arms over my chest, my eyes traveled across the ground around me. My MP3 player was laying on the ground a few feet away from me, my headphones still attached to it. I bent over and grabbed it, pausing my music. Stuffing the small device in my pockets, I glanced back at Logan. He finally resurfaced and had an awestruck look on his face, staring right at me. 

Suddenly, a girl with blonde ran up to me, a sigh escaping her lips. "What happened here?" she asked. I heard a slight twinge of a southern accent, but it was hidden very well. "Logan, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything, Zoey!" Logan whined, shuffling out of the fountain. He was a sopping wet mess; his originally curly hair was straight now as it reached his shoulders. I had to stifle my laughter behind a cough. "She's the one who pushed me in here."

I looked over at the girl and noticed she had murky brown eyes. They looked like the water you would find at a swamp, probably matching the very own swamp she crawled out of. She was on the pretty side, though, with a small button nose that was settled in between her mouth and eyes. She turned toward me, her arms crossed over her chest. "What did he do?"

"He ran into me with his skateboard and then asked me out. I rejected him, if you couldn't tell." The girl -- Zoey -- rolled her eyes, so I said, "Is that normal for him?"

"Yes."

"No, it's not!" he yelled, an angry look on his face. He pouted at the two of us before grabbing his skateboard, stalking away from us. Throwing me a glance over his shoulder, he said, "This won't be the last time you see me."

"Oh no," I said, feigning a frightened look on my face, "I'm so scared!"

Zoey and I watched as Logan walked away, leaving a watery path in his wake. He didn't look at anyone, probably embarrassed that a girl rejected him the way I did. Zoey said something about how this has happened before, so he should be used to it. I doubted he would be used to it because I could already tell that he was an egotistical maniac.

"Hi, I'm Zoey Brooks," Zoey said, and I turned my gaze to her. She had a kind smile on her face, making me feel a little better about my situation. "I'm thinking that you're new since I've never seen you before."

"I'm Kelsey Rivera." I stuck out my hand and Zoey took it. "I am new here, and I'm a little lost." Showing her my schedule, I asked, "Can you help me find my dorm room?"

"Sure." She took the piece of paper out of my hands, her smile widening. "Your dorm is near mine. Follow me."