Uhm...this year is not off to a great start actually. When we step onto the school grounds, we meet up with Nathan (known as Nate) our long-time friend, who introduces us to a friend of his who transferred from a neighboring school. His friend is none other than...EBEN CAROLISSEN! I am so unprepared for the introduction, I don't have my glitter lipgloss on or my cute earrings because I was looking for my training shorts, its whereabouts still unknown, the whole morning - this is so embarrassing!

Eben is the son of a very well-known neurosurgeon that my mom has cooked for at numerous events. It was at one of these events that I saw him for the first time. I helped out due to my mom being short-staffed.

He is the epitome of brains and athletism. It takes me a while to feel my feet touch the ground. "Earth to Coco!" Nate shouts while waving his hand in front of my face. All my friends call me Coco instead of Allyssa-Coco, I can't remember when or how it started. "Oh...hi, I'm Allyssa-Coco, pleasure meeting you." I eventually reply. Eben smiles. I must just say his teeth are as white as snow and extremely straight like he's been wearing braces since he was maybe 4,380 days old. The point is: it's perfect, just perfect.

"Hi, Allyssa-Coco, Nathan told me so much about you. He actually gave me the 101 on your band, how you all became friends, all the good stuff." I am pleasantly surprised by the effect the sound of his voice has on me, it feels like I am crashing into a gigantic wave.

Stace bumps me "Dude, you need to stop drooling, don't embarrass me, ok? Okay." She faces Eben, "Hi, Eben, howzit? So Nate did us proud by only giving you the good stuff...well done, Nate." She pats him on the head and pecks him on his cheek. "Catch you later, Coco and I need to get going, ciao boys!"

We rush off to homeroom and our academic year has officially started. Stace and I are getting a good idea as to what being a senior means for us as the students. They keep on saying we need to be more serious about our schoolwork and more accountable. Honestly, the repetition of the words "serious" and "accountable" is highly annoying. Is it the adult mantra of the year or what?

School is out and I get dressed for our first athletic prac. I am looking forward to it despite the whole cycling shorts dilemma. Mr. Gray, our sports coordinator, is on the field already addressing the group of athletes seated on the grass. "Aaah, Miss Brown, such an inspirational athlete," he announces. Everyone is sure to notice my never-ending thighs right about now. I quickly wave in acknowledgment and get myself a spot at the edge of the group.

After an hour of focused training, I'm walking off the field, heading to my locker when Eben jogs up to me. He says, "Wow, you are really fast." I awkwardly smile and say, "Thanks, I work very hard." "So how old are you?" he asks. "5,840 days, sorry-" I start. "Only 16 years old with such natural talent," he replies in awe. He converted the days into years in seconds, I am forever a fan. "You not too bad yourself," I quickly recover, purely to divert the focus away from me because frankly, I don't deal very well with attention, especially from a hazel brown-eyed male who demands attention wherever he goes. "Not half as good as you, Allyssa-Coco," he replies. My name sounds heavenly flowing from his beautiful lips. "Will I see you tomorrow at prac, again?" he asks. I nod in response.