26Prologue
Sydney Utah stood leaning on the exterior wall of his high school as he watched Grace McKain sit on a bench with her loud group of friends and keep silent as the girls around her screamed about the latest hair trend.
For a brief second her eyes met his and he thought he saw her smile a little at him before looking to his right and getting up from the bench. Sydney ignored the pain in his chest and followed her gaze. He saw the blonde guy walk to her slowly, trying to look calm and composed in order to keep his title; The Most Popular Hottie! He grinned at Grace and gave her lips a light kiss before pulling back and looking around. He was a big guy.; about 6ft1, and a lot of muscle due to playing Rugby. Every girl in school seemed to drool over him and give him whatever he wanted. The mention of his name only-Jack Quinn-was enough to stop conversations.
Sydney straightened himself and gave a snort of disgust. After one last glance at Grace, he started to walk into the building. What did she see in Jack? She had always been the most popular girl in school, even at the age of 11; with her looks she probably would have won many beauty pageants if she actually thought of entering. Yet, she never. Even her popularity in school didn't make her arrogant, which was weird in Sydney's opinion. She had always been a shy girl, one who never raised her voice and always had a smile ready for everyone. A pity she barely saw him, though.
Sydney had been obsessed with Grace ever since he had first seen her nearly six years ago. Her dark brown hair had seemed to shine as the sun shone on it. Her chocolate brown eyes had met his and warmed with a smile that had seemed as if it held many secrets, only she knew. And those small yet very full lips had curved up very slightly to a near dazzling smile.
Yeah. And after that, the amount of times Grace had met his gaze could be counted with the fingers of one hand. And it pissed Sydney right off!
"Woah, man, where you goin'?"
Sydney stopped and sent his best friend a glare that said it all.
"Again?"
"What?!" Sydney growled.
"Did you just piss yourself off by staring at Grace like a fool?"
"I'm not in the mood Cal."
Callum Bradley just put a comforting hand on his arm and didn't say anything. He had enough experience with these mood swings to not push Sydney when he was pissed. Especially about Grace.
"It's summer holidays. Last day of school."
Cal nodded. "So?"
"I'm tired of being the invisible one, Cal. It's gonna stop." Sydney looked into his friend's eyes to show how serious he was.
Cal raised an eyebrow. Sydney had always been like this, but never had he said he'd do something to change his situation. "It's way overdue, man."
Sydney sent him a grin which showed the dimple on his left cheek and looked away, having made his point. "When we start again in two months...it's all gonna change. Jack's had his title for way too long. I'm taking it."
Cal laughed out loudly. "What?" he wheezed in between.
Sydney looked his friend up and down. Cal was his height; 6ft2, but that was where their similarities ended. He was a loud, outgoing person and had many, many friends; majority girls. Maybe his ginger hair and hazel eyes were the reason for it. However, Cal being more popular than Sydney stopped nothing. They had been friends ever since they had known how to speak; yes, family friends. And their relationship was a hard and strong one. Sydney would have trusted Cal with his life. And that's why he told Cal his plan.
"I'm gonna take Jack's place and everything that belongs to him. Including Grace. She has never looked at me and seen me. That's gonna change. I'm gonna show her there's more to a person other than their popularity."
"By becoming popular?!" Cal said with sarcasm.
"No. By taking hers and Jack's away. I want her to be in my place and see what I had felt for the last six years. I want this to be over. I want to get over her and move on, but I can't until I resolve this fucked up feeling!"
"And, how, may I ask, are you gonna resolve your feelings by making her suffer?"
"I gotta think it over, over the summer holiday. I think if I realize that I got her then I'll stop wanting her. I mean don't they always say that what you can't get is the sweetest?"
Cal laughed. "Nah. Never heard that before."
Sydney punched his arm and chuckled. "Fuck right off mate. Fuck right off."
Cal grinned and started to walk off. "With pleasure. I'll see you later?"
"Yeah."
"Bye!" he shouted over his shoulder and walked away.
Sydney walked to his Audi A3 and got in. Once seated behind the wheel he closed his eyes and started to plan.
If I were to fucking stop feeling sorry for my pathetic ass, I would have realized much sooner the need for a change.Watching from afar wasn't gonna get you anywhere, mate. You're a fucking jerk for thinking it would. So, you deserve what you got. And change before it's too late. I'm a fucking looser!
Sydney straightened himself and put the car in gear.
Today was going to be the day to separate Before and After. No more self-pity and distant observation. Time to play the game everyone was in.
Sydney had two main reasons for deciding to change:
-Show Grace what he could have become if he had actually put his mind into it
And
-Show the stupid students of Sheering High School that becoming popular didn't mean becoming fake.
Sydney was a proud guy. He would never have changed his character and acted fake to fit in with the aristocracy of his school. No. He was going to show them that a random, average person like him could become their best if he chose to.
Oh yes. Watch out Sheering High, because here I come.
A/N:Heya dear readers! I'm glad you read far enoug to get to this part! I really am. But I will be gladder(is that a word?)if you leave me a review. Please tell me your thoughts on it! I want to know if ytou guys think it's worth carrying on. Although I've written the first two chapters after this, if you guys say it's not worth it, I'll just work on my other stories! So...Let me know!
I hope you enjoy it though (ah, don't we all?)
INFO: Sheering is a fictional city, so don't look it up ;p I have used the same city for two other stories too, so you might have seen it earlier... If you have any questions please let me know!