I was in my last class of the day, busy drawing, listening to music as I did so, till someone sat beside me, grabbed a pencil and began drawing along with me.

"How was your weekend?" He asks me as soon as he gets to sit down on the seat beside me and I look to Karsen, raising a brow his way, "Fine." And he knew that, we spoke on Saturday but i'd forgotten to reply to his text after I parted ways with Summer, and so i'd just left the conversation at that.

"How was yours?"

He raises a brow back, smiling a little, that awfully flirty smile of his, "You don't want to tell elaborate on how being with Summer was?"

"She's fun, I like her." I tell him, not really wanting to explain every little detail, including that I'd already vaguely known how his weekend went because of Summer had told me bits and pieces of what she could remember.

"Do you like me?"

"Not even a little, were you really drunk on Friday?" I ask.

He nods at the question and I almost smirk, "Very, I regretted every minute of it."

"Sounds fun." I say sarcastically, side eyeing him as I noticed he eyed me full on, or more so, blatantly stared at me and it was growing weird.

I look to him properly, "What?"

"You're really pretty Adrienne."

I wasn't expecting that at all, and honestly, because I didn't expect it, I couldn't help the way my stomach doubled over at the compliment.

I shrug, "Thank you Krist." I reply before I continue drawing, and he does too till the class officially starts, and again my professor searches over the room till her eyes finally land on me.

Again, I smile, grin more so with a little wave of my fingers and she raises a brow, mouthing, put your hand down Adrienne.

I slowly put it down with a small smirk before I look to Karsen as he takes his own stuff out, "Want me to meet you in the library?"

"After your little sex fest I think that's better yeah." I say as I look to him beside me and he rolls his eyes, "I didn't have sex in there, and I wouldn't do that to you again, promise."

I hum. "Oh I know, next time I wont wait for you either."

He turns my head by my chin and I glare at him at the action, his fingers pressing into my cheeks lightly and I watch as his eyes survey my face for a moment.

What is he thinking?

"You're a little monster Addy, you know that?"

My lips twitched up at that but I don't smile fully, I just take his fingers off my face individually and proceed to listen to the class till it ends.

Im packing my bag when he waits for me too and I blinked, "You're gonna be late." I shoo him with a wave of my hand, "So, run along."

He raises a brow at the gesture, "Do you seriously not like me or do you have fun saying mean shit to me?"

"I genuinely enjoy fucking with you." I say with a small smile, "Could anyone actually hate the golden boy?" I ask, more so tease and his lips twitch, not up nor down just twitch as if he's confused on how to feel about that nickname, "Golden boy?"

"You're perfect." I put my bags straps over my shoulders and he copies the action, pulling both straps over his broad shoulders, "It sounds like you're flirting with me."

I almost scoff at that, wanting to remind him about the, You're really pretty comment he'd made earlier but not wanting to draw attention back to it.

"Not at all my intention, I think I'd prefer someone a lot messier than you are, you know?" I tell him as I walk past him and he follows closely behind me, practically trailing me, "Messy?"

"Perfect is too much too deal with."

"And messy isn't a lot to deal with?" He almost sounds defensive but I ignore it, he wouldn't understand not even if I drew it out for him.

Perfect was hard to keep up with when you're messy. It'd never make sense, not even if you tried to make it make sense.

"Messy is comfortable for messy, messy attracts messy, perfect needs to be with perfect, perfect keeps perfect perfect and perfect is attracted to perfect, its just how it works." I explain to him as we get out the class and I look from left to right almost like in a car.

"And im messy, so we'll never be attracted to each other." I turn back around, tap his shoulder before I turn away, "Can't work today, just remembered I have babysitting after the library." Is all I say to him as I walk the opposite direction of the football field and instead to the library.

===

"Do you guys think Im a fucking golden boy?" I ask Matt and Chance as soon as I get through the locker rooms doors and they both turn at the sound of my voice before they nod.

"Yes, just that you're not blonde." Chance points out and I roll my eyes as I pull my pants off then shirt from the neckline.

"What does golden boy even really mean?" I ask, more so mumble and they shrug, "Goody two shoes?" Which Im not exactly but I am decent.

"Popular."

I roll my eyes even though it seemed to kinda be correct, yet it still pissed me off a bit. "It... sounds sarcastic." I say as if its enough explanation for me to be bothered by it.

I shut the locker and turn back, getting my stuff on, sitting on the bench beside Matt as Chance was head to shoulders deep in his locker doing whatever the fuck he was doing.

"Probably was to taunt you, who said it?"

"Addy." I reply.

I look to the other guys as they walk in ask ask, "Am I a golden boy?"

They all look to me, no pause between, they immediately nod like it was the easiest question to answer.

The fuck?

I groan, sliding my shirt on and Toren shrugs whilst I set the top of it, "Don't be dramatic asshole, if you did something people would just let it go since everyone likes you." He pushes my shoulder as he passes me and I blink, "Wait that too?"

Only Matt nods this time because Chance is too busy texting Summer, probably the reason as to why he was shoulders deep in his locker.

Adrienne could've just called me a privilege asshole and I think that'd have been better than the sarcasm behind, golden boy.

"She was kidding, stop overthinking it." Chance says when he comes out his locker, putting his arms overs over my shoulders and pulling me up just as Matt does the same.

"You like her or something?" Chance asks as he looks to me and I blink over at him, "What?"

"He's asking if you like Adrienne." Matt replies, almost like his fucking with me too and I shrug. Like Adrienne?

"She's-" Well, she's not exactly the nicest.

But she's pretty, so damn pretty that I think I could stare at her for hours without getting bored if she didn't think it was creepy, which of course she did.

And she's artistic, so freaking artistic, she didn't even understand how creative she was and I could watch her draw forever if possible.

And sarcastic, so fucking sarcastic that it could come across as rude, but I liked it, it was funny, and quite frankly amusing.

But she's also the most detached person i'd ever met.

Do I like her? I like her hair. She had pretty hair, and eyes, she has beautiful eyes and the way her body looks whenever she wears jeans and those simple cropped shirts with pretty color cardigans make my head go haywire because fuck, her waist.

I shrug again, my lips twitching upwards at the thought of her little shriek when i'd dropped the buckets in that store, and the glare she sent me afterwards.

"She'd probably punch me in the face if I liked her." I tell them as I grab the carry net and drag it and they hum, thankfully not bringing up that I didn't answer their question.

I thought about her, a lot. But I don't know what's going on with me, not just yet.

"Just what you need, someone to humble you."

"Everyones perception of me needs to stay in their damn mouths." I mumble, "I don't wanna hear it anymore." I say as I pull away from them to go over to coach.

I walk the distance, the question ringing in my head but I try to ignore it.

Do I want Adrienne?

"Did you start with early draft entry?" Is his first question and immediately my lips itch for a fucking cigarette.

"I still have time."

"And anxiety." He eyes me like im gonna be pissed that he brought it up, and I almost walk away but instead just sit there and sigh.

Coach and Adrienne are the only ones who know about the anxiety, coach was told when I got scouted for college football and Addy was just really fucking observant, "Im not telling you to start, theres still months left but Im checking if you did start."

"I didn't start."

"You worked hard last year."

"And didn't get in." I remind him and he pushes my shoulder, way too fucking hard because I have to roll my shoulder back.

I wasn't big, fucking tall at six four nearing close to five yeah, but I wasn't the biggest frame, which was why I played wide receiver. I was fast too which was exactly what was needed and I was good at it, but theres only like a 2% chance i'd get drafted and now it started making me nervous even if I was told I was, good.

Unlike me, Matt didn't even want to be drafted, he just played on scholarship to finish his engineering degree and Chance didn't mind not being drafted because he was a business major and would just work with his dad.

I on the other hand was not as lucky, my father owned an accounting firm and I didn't want to be a freaking accountant and my mother was a clinical psychologist at a hospital not too far from where they stayed.

And then there was me who was either drawing or playing football, but this was where I wanted to be all the time, art just kept me calm, and I grew up liking it.

But it was more a hobby I loved than something i'd make a career off of, unlike football.

"Don't start too early."

"Or late." I say as take out a ball and pass it to him, he throws it at my head and I look back, raising a brow, "Are you trying to kill me?"

"You're being fucking stupid Krist."

Tough love was the worst.

"Yeah, yeah I know." I nod and he nods. "Get your head together or take a break, your team doesn't need your shit."

I wasn't gonna take a break so I had to do the first option.

I nod and take the ball, praying that I don't fuck everything up.