scoring you

Chapter 1

Alyssa

I clamber out of the bus, holding onto the railing as everyone tramples on top of each other. It is pissing down outside, puddles of water slosh under my black converse and my hair is so wet I could drain it out into a glass.

"Hey Al! Wait up!" A voice from behind me calls out and I know instantly it is Tess.

Tess (Tessa is her real name but nobody calls her that, why add the extra syllable?) is my best friend, we've been best friends since we were six and inseparable ever since. She is also a competitive ballet dancer and a fucking incredible one, she's been dancing since she was a little girl, she practically forced her parents to take her to lessons. As soon as we turned eighteen we moved in together, it was a relief to say the least- a change of environment.

"Ugh, it's so fucking cold. And I am literally freezing to death!" She complains as I look her up and down. She is wearing a small pink tank with a white cardigan covering half of her torso as well as a pair of black skater jeans that I bought for her eighteenth birthday.

"Why out of everything in your closet you decided to wear that? On a 50 degree day in winter. Don't get me wrong though, your outfit is adorable." I say.

She sighs, "For that exact reason, though right now I'm terribly regretting my fashion choices."

We walk through the busy streets of the city as the rain pours onto our faces, my mascara is running down my face and my raincoat is doing me no use since I can feel the water on my bare chest.

Tess spends the rest of the walk complaining about her new ballet teacher, "Stupid old bitch." she says at the end of her rant.

I swat her arm, "Tess! You can't say that about a seventy year old women. That's like a grandma."

She shivers, "I hope she isn't some ones grandma, imagine the poor child."

As we enter the college gates students pour through it like a pack of eager schoolgirls. It is my fourth week of college at Clare University, the school campus is huge which is fantastic for me since I am terrible with directions. I arrive one minute before class begins and find my seat at the back of the classroom which Caleb is so kindly saving for me.

"Took long enough." He huffs, "Some girls were trying to take your spot, I even put my textbook on the seat to claim it."

I turn to find a group of girls huddled around a corner not so subtly staring at the back of Caleb's head, whispering and giggling in delight.

"Yeah- I can tell.."

"Huh?" His confused head flips around to spot his group of admirers.

"Someone's got little crush on you."

Heat goes straight up to his face, a pink blush covering his cheeks, he gives them an awkward half wave causing the girls to hide their giddy faces in their hands and run back to their desks just as the professor enters the room.

"Really?" He chuckles.

I met Caleb on the first day of classes as we were both trying to hide at the back of the lesson and thankfully we became friends. Caleb is what I would describe as a quiet jock (if you've ever heard of that before), and I might as well say it- he's hot. People don't even try to hide staring at him, the poor guy doesn't realize half the time unless I point out the feral twenty year old's to him.

Something clicks in my memory suddenly, "Caleb!" I hiss, swatting his upper arm.

"Ouch, what was that for?" He asks, abandoning the pen that he's been doodling with on his notebook.