Leah

"LEAH! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" my mom yelled.

"Mhm...Five more minutes." I mumbled as I snuggled deeper into my covers.

"LEAH! I'M NOT GOING TO SAY IT AGAIN! GET UP! YOU SHOULD BE HAPPY IT'S YOUR LAST DAY!"

I smiled. Finally. I was so sick of school I wanted to leave already.

I'm Leah Anderson, you're average teen. I have black hair, and bright blue gray eyes. I have curves in all the right places, and I have my fair amount of friends. I have, what you can call, an unwritten rule with the popular's at school. I ignore them, they ignore me. I'm happy with my friends, that's all I need.

I finally decided to get dressed. I got up and threw on some tight jeans that clung to my hips, a light blue tank top, and my light blue vans.

I ran downstairs and yelled a 'bye' to my mom and headed towards my car. I heard another door open just as mine closed and I looked across the street to see James Hampton. I've known James since we were in diapers, seeing as he's always been across the street. I'm the only one that's nice to him. You see, James is the total definition of geek. He has braces, thick black rimmed glasses that hid his green eyes; his black hair always gelled to the side. He always wore neat clothes, and was shorter than my 5'4 frame.

I got to school, before the warning bell, so I had a few minutes to kill. I decided to look for Julie Connors and Brooke Scott, my two best friends. I made my way to my locker and saw them standing there talking.

I went and hugged them both.

"So, what do you guy plan on doing over the summer?" I asked them.

"Becoming a couch potato." They said in unison.

I laughed as the bell rang and we walked into first period together.

"So are you happy for summer? Maybe you'll see less of James." She said and giggled.

"Shut up. He lives across the street. How is that seeing less of him?" I said and she shrugged.

"Hey Leah! Leah wait up!" speak of the devil.

I turned around to see James running towards us. As he was running, Tracie Laurence stuck her foot out to trip him. James fell and he landed with a heavy thud as his books flew out of his hands and onto the floor before him.

"Ouch." I heard him mutter.

"Leave him alone!" I yelled at Tracie and she sneered.

"James, are you okay?" I said helping him up.

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay." He straightened up; straightening his clothes and then gave me a big grin. His graces shined in the light.

"Are you glad it's the last day of school?" he said pushing his braces higher up his nose.

"Yeah. I can't wait for break." I said and all 4 of us took our seats.

The day went by fast, and before I knew it, people were screaming and jumping and hugging each other, happy that school was finally out.

I said bye to Brooke and Julie and walked towards my car. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw James being pushed around by some of the jocks. I rolled my eyes and walked over to them.

"Hey! Leave him alone! Go pick on someone your own size!" I yelled and helped James off the ground and grabbed his backpack.

"How can you hang out with him? He's a geek!" one of them said and I ignored them. I knew James walked home and I felt pretty bad.

"Do you want a ride?" I told him.

"Are you sure?" he looked up at me.

I smiled to reassure him. "Yeah."

"Okay." He said and I drove him home.

We got out of the car and James stopped and looked at me. "Leah? Thanks. For everything." He said. Then he hesitated. "Leah? Will you go out with me?" he said looking down.

Crap.

I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to be mean.

"Um. James you're a really nice guy and everything, but um you're not my type?" I said.

"Right. You don't date geeks." He said more to himself then to me.

"James, no it's not like that." I said.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it." He smiled at me and then ran across the street to his house.

I felt bad.

I woke up the next day around 1:00 because of the noise going on outside.

I quickly changed into some presentable clothes, and combed my hair and put it up in a messy pony tail.

"Hey mom. What's going on?" I said.

"The Hamptons are moving." She said, and her face saddened a bit.

It was just my mom and I. My dad wasn't part of the picture, since he had walked out on us. The Hamptons were my mom's best friends. Mr. and Mrs. Hampton we're extremely sweet.

"Oh..." Oh? That's all you could say?

The guy has been in love with me since forever! A little part of me is happy. Just a little.

You cruel, cruel person.

Bite me.

"Well, they'll be leaving soon. Let's go say goodbye." She said, and we got up and made our way across the street.

We said our goodbyes to Mr. and Mrs. Hampton and their daughter Kait, and then I stood there, waiting for James to come. He came a few minutes later, hauling a big suitcase and put it in the trunk of the car.

He came up to me, and I looked down at him, giving him a sad smile. I was still a little sad that he's leaving. I mean, he's always been there, across the street. But at least I'm free.

"So...I guess this is it huh?" I said, hoping to break the awkward silence.

"Yeah. I guess." He said.

"So um, keep in touch okay?" I said.

"Okay." He said, and I gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye." I said.

"Bye." He said quietly, and got in the car. I watched as the car drove off, followed by the moving trucks. I saw my mom dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

Well. That's that.

1 year later

"I can't believe summer ended already. That was way too fast for my liking." Brooke complained and Julie and I agreed.

"I agree. I'm not done being a couch potato yet." I said and we laughed.

We were in the mall, getting our back to school clothes. We already had a few bags, but Brooke and Julie didn't think it was enough. I groaned. I didn't like shopping much.

I found a pair of jeans that I thought was nice. "Hey, guys. I'm going to go try this on." I said and they nodded.

I tried it on, and it fit my figure. It was really nice. It had silver studs in a pretty pyramid sort of pattern on the right front pocket, and the same pattern on the back left pocket. They hugged my figure then flared out at the bottom.

I went out and Julie squealed. "That looks so good! You have to get it." She said and I laughed. I changed back into my regular clothes and kept the jeans in my hand so I can buy them.

"Uh, Julie? Why are you drooling?" I said.

"Humana humana humana...he's so hot." She mumbled.

I laughed and then looked at the direction she was staring at and so did Brooke. My jaw dropped. That guy was literally drop dead gorgeous. He had messy jet black hair, and deep green eyes that somewhat looked familiar. He was probably about 5'11 or 6 feet. From the shirt he was wearing, it was easy to tell that he probably worked out. The muscles on his arms would've been a hint too. It wasn't those bulky muscles, just enough so that it's nice to look at and enough to know that he's strong. He had a strong jaw line and was dressed in a red shirt, baggy dark jeans, and red converse.

He was buying what looked like a jacket, and he flashed a bright grin at the checkout girl, and I noticed he has dimples.

Wow. He was hot.

I looked at Brooke and Julie and noticed that they were still staring.

"You guys. Stop staring. I think he'll notice after a while." Sure enough, he did. He looked over at us and gave a smile. I looked up at him and he gave me a smirk and walked out the store.

That was weird. It was almost like he recognized me.

"Yeah." Brooke said and I noticed that I had voiced my thoughts out loud.

"He must be new. Well, we'll never see him again." She said and laughed.

After a couple of more hours, and loads of more bags, we went home. We had all come with Brooke's car, so she dropped each of us home.

As I watched Brooke's car drive out of sight, I noticed that there were moving trucks. New neighbors already?

I walked inside and my mom was humming and tidying up the living room.

Weird.

"Mom? Are you okay?" I said giving her a suspicious look.

"Leah! Go get dressed in some nice clothes! We're having company!" she said.

Company? "Who's coming?" I asked.

She grinned. "The Hamptons."

My mind froze. Hamptons? Shit! James is coming.

"There's more." I nodded telling her to continue. "They're moving back. Did you see the movers vans out there? That's for them. They didn't like Nevada, so they're moving back." She said and clapped her hands. "Now go get dressed!" she said and my throat felt dry.

"Oh wait! Leah. James, sort of, changed." She said with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"What do you mean changed?" I said.

"You'll see. Now go change." She said and I left it at that.

Changed?

Whatever I'll find out. Let's just hope he's over me.

I went upstairs to my room and put on my new favorite pair of jeans, the one with the pyramid like pattern, and a gray tank top, along with some flip flops. Although summer ended, the weather was still warm, so it was safe to wear flip flops. I had some time to kill, so I put on a little eyeliner and some lip gloss, and left my straight hair down.

I went downstairs just as the door bell rang, and I opened the door. Mrs. Hampton squealed and hugged me.

"Oh my goodness Leah! You look prettier than the last time I saw you!" she gushed.

"Thank you." I said politely and returned her hug. Then I hugged Mr. Hampton.

"How are you Leah?" he asked.

"I'm good and yourself?" I said.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking." He said. I looked around but didn't see James.

"You must be looking for James." Mrs. Hampton said, and shared a mischievous look with my mom. I didn't like the glint in their eyes.

"James! Hurry up!" she yelled out the door. A minute later James walked in.

"James, you remember Leah don't you?" she said to him.

"Mooom, I already told you. It's Jay. Not James. Jay. J-A-Y." he said and his mom slapped him in the back of his head. He gave her a sheepish grin.

"Leah hunny? Are you alright?" I must've looked like a gaping goldfish.

James was him. The hot guy that smirked at me at the mall. Now I know why those green eyes looked familiar. Holy shit. How did that happen? Wow.

"Hey." He said and smirked.

"Uh. Hi." I said.

"Well, I'm sure you all are hungry. Let's go eat dinner shall we?" my mom said.

"Very well." Mr. Hampton said and we headed towards the dining room which was already set up.

"Everything looks lovely, Ellen." Mrs. Hampton told my mom.

"Thank you Anna." My mom replied.

We sat down, James across from me. I was so self-conscious throughout dinner.

I zoned out most of the time.

How did James do that? How did he go from geek to...God? Surely the girls at school will have their claws all over him when he gets back. He's different now. Not only looks, but personality too. He seemed more arrogant and cold towards me.

"Leah? Are you alright?" my mom said.

"Huh?" I replied intelligently.

"I asked if you are alright." My mom said concerned.

"Uh. Yeah." I excused myself from the table and went to my room. I 3 wayed Julie and Brooke and told them to shut up and let me talk.

They agreed.

"James moved back across the street." I said.

"So?" they said in unison.

"He changed." I said.

"How?" Brooke asked.

"He's drop dead gorgeous now." I said.

Silence.