"Dreams: Chapter One" by Christina Stratton

Aubrey Mills walked down the hallways of the high school that would be her prison for another two years. The familiar path to her next class was long, so Aubrey decided to take it slow.
The tardy bell rang for third period, her English class with Mr. Hathaway. This was Aubrey's fifth tardy for the month and he didn’t like it. She walked, serenely, into class and sat down at her desk in front of the classroom. She got out her spiral and pen just in time to look at Mr. Hathaway himself. He was a short, fat old man, but he was not senile.

“Mills, this is not your first tardy to my class. May I ask your excuse this time?” Mr. Hathaway had a tendency to scare a student into telling the truth, no matter what the reason was.

“Mr. Hathaway, I was late because I took a detour and talked with my friends, okay?”
Mr. Hathaway noted her tardiness on the attendance record and thought about how many more times he would be doing that for others throughout the year. He walked over to the blank whiteboard and wrote down the assignment for the day.
As usual, she simply took out her English book and started the class work.
“Mr. Hathaway?” a deep, somehow dark, voice startled the whole class.
“Yes? May I help you young man?” Mr. Hathaway asked the tall, muscled, unbelievabl good-looking guy. A big surprise was that he was in all black. A pair of baggy pants and a tight muscle shirt. He had short, black, spiky hair.
“My name is Bryant Chesnutt. I’m your newest kid, whether you like it or not.” Bryant gave his papers to Mr. Hathaway who went to his desk, and jotted something down on a notepad.
“You will sit behind Mills, over there. The board work is due at the end of the class.”
“You Mills?” Bryant asked with a smile on his face.
She looked up at his amber eyes and simply smiled. He sat down behind Aubrey and leaned close to her neck and whispered, “Do you have a first name, Mills?”
She tore a sheet of paper out of her spiral and wrote her reply:

Aubrey, but my friends call me A.J.

and passed it back.

You don’t mind if I call you Aubrey, do you?

Why? Don’t you want to be my friend?

Sure I do! But Aubrey is so much prettier. It suits you.

Aubrey it is. Where you from?

Doesn’t matter.

Sure it does. Unless you want to add mysterious to the list.

What list?

You know, tall, dark, and handsome.

You think I’m handsome?

A couple of seconds passed. She wasn’t sure how to answer, she wrote:
Yes, I do. Why? Low self-esteem?

No, someone as beautiful as you has just never told me I was good-looking.

What no pick up lines?

No.

If you wait after class, I’ll take you to lunch and introduce you to all of my friends. You’ll like them.

How do you like that? I get a beautiful girl and new friends all in one day.

Aubrey let out a giggle and Mr., Hathaway looked up, “Do you find something funny, Mills?”
“No-“ she started.
”Of course you don’t find anything funny, because we wouldn’t want to ruin your good record with a detention, now would we?” Mr. Hathaway smiled sardonically, and quickly went back to his work. After what seemed like an eternity to Aubrey, the bell rang. She waited for Bryant outside the door. Bryant look around in confusion, turning to ask Aubrey where his locker was. She helped and after a few seconds of searching, they found it. Aubrey watched while Bryant put his book and binder away. She noticed that he had a small tattoo on his left wrist. Before she could ask about it, Bryant spoke up.
"You know what Aubrey?" Bryant asked.
"No, I'm afraid that I have never met him before," Aubrey always had a sarcastic remark for stupid questions like that.
"Ha ha, very funny. Maybe I just won't tell you what I was going to say. Too bad!"
"No! Tell me, please?"
"I dunno. You didn't want to know a few seconds ago. Why should I tell you now?"
"Okay, okay! I am very sorry. I do want to know what the handsome stranger has to say."
"Handsome Stranger? well my lady you just lucked out because I happen to know what he was going to say."
"What?"
"Yes, he was going to tell you that you have the most beautiful grey eyes that he has ever seen."
Aubrey dropped all the books that she was carrying and felt a warm sensation creep across her cheeks.
"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" Bryant was obviously worried.
"N..no, you didn't say anything wrong. In fact everything that you have said since you got here has been the right thing to say..." Aubrey would not look Bryant straight in the eyes. Her face as red as a blushing bride and her eyes alight with a growing emotion that should not have been there.
"You mean that I flirt too much, right? I figured maybe I should tune it down a bit, but how can I do that when you have the most beautiful-"
"Stop. Please don't go any further. Let's just forget that any of this ever happened for awhile, okay?"
Bryant nodded his head in understanding.
"Good. Now let's head to lunch so you can meet my friends. There's not very many of them, so you should be able to keep track. They are all pretty dorky and goofy, except for Roth and Angelica. They are usually pretty serious, though I don't know why. Angelica is my best friend so I think you'll like her a lot."
Bryant followed Aubrey through the crowded hallways of the school. Why does she not see that she is the most beautiful creature to walk this Earth? Why did she not see that I already have feelings for her? She is exactly as the legend portrays her, Bryant thought.

When they arrived at the usual table that the gang sat at, Aubrey introduced Bryant to everyone. The only one who didn't immediately warm up to him was her best friend, Angelica. Dark skinned, long blonde hair, green eyes that never laughed, and a sleek yet slightly buff body. Most guys whistle at her as she walks, no struts down the halls, though she never goes on dates.
"Angelica can I talk to you alone for a min?" Aubrey did not even give Angelica a chance to answer, but pulled her out of her seat and away from the group.
"What?! What do you want that couldn’t be said in front of the guys? You are never this secretive."
"Angelica, what the hell is your problem? What's so wrong with Bryant that you can't even say 'hello', hmm?"
"He just has this bad vibe around him, like his purpose for being here is just to use and abuse. I'm not sorry, but I just don't like the looks of him." Angelica seemed impatient and foreboding, as if expecting something bad to happen.
"Well I do. And I know he likes me. He seems like a great guy, someone who can take care of himself and those he cares about. If that is what he is like, then he is exactly what I need right now. A good man in my life, not a boy, a man."
"You don't need anyone but yourself and your friends! Just because a couple of your past romances were crappy doesn’t'  mean you have to compensate by getting a 'real man'."
"You don't understand! I know I can trust him. I don't know how but I know."
Angelica just shook her head as she realized that she would never get her to come to her senses, unless she revealed the truth.
"Just do me a favor, huh? Please watch out for yourself, don't let him hurt you."
"You got it. Now let's at least act like we think he's okay, please?" Aubrey once again did not let Angelica answer, but walked back to the table and sat next to Bryant, who in turn gave her a large toothy grin.

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Bryant and Aubrey started spending more time together and Angelica steadily grew more wary. Angelica knew Bryant, she knew (or wanted to know) that eventually the time would come when Aubrey had to choose between her or Bryant. Angelica felt confident that A.J. would choose her.

"Bryant, don't you ever do home work?" Aubrey looked up from her own work and was tickled to see him sitting on her couch and him staring so seriously at her.
"Yes. In fact, I am doing the hardest homework I've had right now." His amber eyes were hard and his jaw muscles tense. He looked like he was trying to control a storm, and he was on the losing side.
"What are talking about? Your homework is to stare at me? What teacher gave you that assignment?"
"No teacher gave me an assignment that included staring at the most beautiful girl in the world, no. But my personal homework for Psychology is to complete a short term goal. I plan on doing that by the end of today so I can tell the whole class about it tomorrow." Bryant was acting funny and he wouldn't leave her alone with the flirting.
"Bryant, please don't tell me your goal is to kiss me or something?"
"Okay, I won't tell you. I'll just do it." Bryant got up from his seat and moved to Aubrey at the coffee table.
"Bryant, please." Aubrey did not know what she wanted to happen. She knew that she definitely had some feelings for him, but he made her feel incredibly shy and clumsy.
"Please what?" Bryant grabbed Aubrey's arm and gently pulled her up and close to him.
"You don't belong here. You belong with me. You truly are the one we've been looking for." Bryant's words confused her.
"Bryant? What on Earth are you talking about?"
"In time you will know the truth, but for now..." then his mouth was on hers, his soft lips brushing hers, his tongue gently outlining her lips. He gently coaxed her mouth open and moaned at the taste of her. The kisses slowly became more passionate and his hands lowered to her back. When he tried to pull away, Aubrey's arms slid up his chest and around his neck to pull him closer.
"Aubrey," a whisper, "you must stop. I can't take anymore."
Aubrey pulled away and hid her face in his large chest.
"What just happened?" Aubrey was barely able to breath. The kiss had been...unbelievable.

"I think I kissed you and you liked it."