CHAPTER 1

THE CALM

'Why do I always have to be the punctual one when my best friends are always late?' I thought to myself as I stood at the entrance of the school, impatiently looking at the double doors and taking quick looks at the time. We were going to be late if those two bozos didn't show their faces soon.

"You have to congratulate me today!" My best friend, Cindy Ryans, said six minutes later panting like she had run from her home to school.

I pursed my lips and lifted an eyebrow, "Why?"

"What do you mean by that? I have managed to break my record!" She complained as if it was something obvious.

"Which record and can you stop talking like that and go straight to the point?"

Cindy rolled her eyes but then grinned widely,

"Geez. Someone got an attitude. Anyway, today is the earliest I have ever come to school since I broke up with Joe."

I scoffed at this, "Congratulations but you are still late. The lessons started five minutes ago."

"At least I made it before the second lesson unlike some," Cindy shot back, plastering a stupid smirk on her face.

"Speaking of said people... Where is Nate? I thought he was supposed to give you a ride to school?" I asked, now looking around for my other best friend.

"I thought so too sweetie, but when I called the fucker up to ask what time he was picking me up, he wasn't even awake. He should be here before break though," She said, rolling her eyes because this was not the first time something like this has happened.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, "Let's go to class then."

"What is our first class?" Cindy asked, linking her arm with mine.

"Physical Chemistry," I automatically replied as we started heading inside, walking towards the halls.

"I can already feel a mild headache coming," Cindy grumbled under her breath while slowly massaging her temple.

"Stop exaggerating. I know you secretly love this class," I said, bumping her on her shoulder.

Cindy laughed at this, "Whatever. Let's just go take our books from our lockers."

"Lead the way, ma'am."

........

"Isabella! Cindy!" Shouted a voice I was very familiar with, during lunch break as we were putting our books in our lockers.

I looked towards it and saw my other best friend walking towards us. You would not miss him in a crowd because of his height and dark curly hair that looked as if he had run his hands through it multiple times but it still managed to maintain its sexiness.

He stood at a height of six foot two. His eyes were a shade of baby blue that matching with his black curly hair, gave people the impression of an innocent guy.

He also had the body to match his personality if his toned body was anything to go by. He had a swag that always seemed to be attractive to the female population. This guy knew it and always took it to his advantage as he was right now.

He was wearing a long sleeved shirt but the sleeves were rolled to his elbow. Some brown khaki trousers and his infamous Jordan shoes. He had his shades on for reasons only known to him, even though we were inside the school.

Girls trailed him with their hungry eyes and some guys with jealous ones. Some girls were shooting daggers at me and Cindy for having his attention instead but we were already used to it.

I have known this guy since I was two years old. Our mothers were best friends and that automatically sealed our friendship. I have seen him when puberty first hit him and his voice started breaking, to when he started developing muscles, that he now uses to his advantage with the ladies. I have seen him at his lowest and at his highest. I have practically been given a bath together with this guy whenever he came for a sleepover at my place or I went to his place when we were kids.

I came to know Cindy later on when we first joined middle school. At first I didn't like her because she accidentally bumped into me in the cafeteria and made me drop my lunch and didn't even turn to say sorry. Eventually, she grew on me and we became friends.

"I heard you have a date later tonight?" I asked Cindy when Nate caught up to us.

"I don't know. The other guys I dated or went out with were either from school or acquaintances of either you or Nate. You both don't know this one. To be honest I am a little anxious about tonight," Cindy said as we made our way to the cafeteria opposite the school and I could see the nervousness in her eyes. This was a big deal because Cindy was not the kind to get anxious about anything. She was the type to do something and think about the consequences later on.

She is the exact opposite of me because I have to weigh the pros and the cons before I do something. So, seeing her like this made me want to tell her to bail on her date. But I knew she would regret not going on this date after her nerves came down.

"Hey, you are going to be great. Just try to speak in a soft tone or he is going to think you are being rude," I tried to assure her but by the offended look on her face, I knew I had hit home and that is what I wanted.

"You make me sound like a cavewoman. I always speak in a lady-like manner, thank you very much. I am going on this date and I am going to nail it. Just wait and see when I call you after I come back home tonight."

"That or the big hickey I know will be on you when we see you tomorrow morning," Nate said, grinning widely at her.

Cindy rolled her eyes at us and then smiled, "Maybe, maybe not. Now Isa you will have to help me choose an outfit. I want something that screams classy and sexy but I am not trying hard to impress you, you get it right?" She said as we made our way to the farthest booth in the cafeteria.

"Okay. I will be there," I quickly added when a waiter came to take our orders, "But you have to wear that black dress I am in love with. It hugs your body in all the right places."

"What about your love life?" Nate raised a quizzical brow at me.

"I am still single and I don't want to date anyone for the time being. I will wait until we graduate before going on any date with anyone," I replied, digging into my lunch.

If only fate wasn't a cruel bitch, then I would have stuck to my plan.