She had a permanent squint about her, as if trying to look deeper into people as they passed by. She tucked her hair behind her ear and continued writing, every now and then looking back up.

He observed her closer, intrigued. She had hollow cheeks and full pink lips. Her curly loose hair tussled softly by the breeze. She was alone. It be easy for him to approach her, but her intense concentration on her work made him think twice. He managed to catch her eye when she looked up again. He held her gaze and her squint slowly turned into a softer expression. Her lips slightly parted, but then closed as she suddenly looked back down. C’mone look up. He chewed his lower lip anticipation. The bell rang in five minutes and people were starting to leave the cafeteria.

She started to put her notebook away in her bag and gather her other things. Its now or never he thought. He got up and with three long strides he was at her table. She turned to see a pair of legs dripping water next to her table.

She looked up to the owner of the legs. Oh, that guy. She smiled briefly before grabbing her bag and French text book.

“Hi” he said. She turned back to him. The guy was pulling at his messenger bags’ strap and shifting his weight on his feet. He was tall blonde and tan. Surfer judging by the board shorts and the fact that his legs were still dripping.

“Hey” she replied before walking off. The guy just stood there watching with his mouth hanging slightly open before reacting and going after her.

“D’oh, I’m, I’m Jared” he managed to say. She took one glance at him. No doubt he was good looking, but he wasn’t the first to approach her. Her plan, like always making small talk before politely rejecting them. She didn’t want to explain that she wasn’t looking for a boyfriend or a relationship.

“Athena” she replied

‘Nice to meet you Athena.” Well at least he stopped tripping over his words she thought. She clutch her French book a little tighter before making a sharp turn for her locker.

“So listen--” he continued “--I’m sorta new at this school and I need a tour guide to help me out.” I bet you do, you’ve probably been at this school for like the past two years she thought. She closed her locker and turned to him with the intention of telling to f*** off, in an nice way of course, but when her eyes meet his, she stopped herself. She saw that he was being honest, otherwise his messenger bag wouldn’t be overflowing with books plus a laptop, and he wouldn’t be clutching at his schedule for dear life. She squinted at his schedule and he handed to her without a word.

“Your next class is with me, c’mon” she said before walking off again