Julio wasn't wearing his leather jacket for the first time since I'd met him in Physics the next day, and it was a little 'whoa' seeing him like that.

It was a hot day, so it wasn't really surprising that he'd not want to wear his jacket, but still. He wore a black t-shirt with worn dark blue jeans and the t-shirt clung to his lean physique like it had been crafted for his muscles.

I stood stock-still for a second before walking over to him.

"Trying a new look?" I asked teasingly, taking the seat beside him with a smile. He looked at me for a second, before letting a smirk loose.

"It's a hot day." He said, and I shrugged.

"Fair enough," I told him, pulling my binder and textbook out of my bag. Mr. Barker was in today and I wasn't exactly happy about it. Free periods were the best.

"Did you eat this morning or am I going to have to start pulling granola bars out of my bag?" He asked, an eyebrow raised. A single eyebrow. It wasn't fair that some people could do that.

"What, no apple today?" I joked, poking him with my pen when he showed no reaction to my words.

"Granola bars take up less space." He explained, his arm carelessly draping over the back of my chair. Why was he being so friendly suddenly?

"You're in a good mood today." I observed, leaning back into the chair. "What's wrong with you?" I asked, smiling wide at the sight of his tiny one. I'd never actually seen him smile before. It was cute.

"How funny." He said and that was probably the most I'd heard him speak till now. "Is it illegal for me to be happy now?"

"Pretty much, yeah." I told him, laughing at his expression. Before he could retort, Mr. Barker showed up, apologizing for his lateness.

Honestly, though, I liked this side of Julio.

***

The next two weeks passed monotonously and I'd officially been a resident of suburban hell for two months. I'd been hanging out with Ryo, Ally and Chris as much as I could, and subtly avoided Charlie. He'd been nice to me but I didn't like the way he treated other people. Fortunately, Ryo and Chris got along pretty well and I could hang out with all three of them at the same time.

I even squeezed in some time during Physics class with Julio, but we didn't talk much. He was still distant and, while he actually opened his mouth and spoke, we never talked about anything deep.

Which was why I was going to do super scary.

"What are you doing after school today?" I asked, whispering because Mr. Barker had asked us to solve a couple of questions and he was the kind of teacher who, although was pretty nice, got annoyed when people talked in class.

"Nothing. Why?" He asked, slightly standoffish. I thought we'd been progressing.

Almost rolling my eyes at him before thinking better of it, I said, "So that we can hang out. Duh."

Julio's eyebrows furrowed, and the look in his eyes read what-the-fuck, but I wasn't going to let that discourage me.

"So, what do you say?" I urged, waiting for a reply.

"I get to pick the place." He stated, in a tone that warranted no argument. Normally, I would have said something about his tone or argued with him about his words, but I didn't know anything about this town, only having been to the movies and the mall, both times with Ally.

"Fine." I said, shrugging. He looked like he expected me to say no to that. Oh, well, that was just his luck. "I'll meet you at the entrance later." I informed him.

"Ms. Channing, have you finished your work?" Mr. Barker asked, calling me out. I grimaced, before telling him that no, I hadn't finished what he'd assigned.

"Then I'd suggest you get around to it." He said. Although he was a great teacher and all that jazz, he was still a Physics teacher who made me want to wring his neck.

I pouted at Julio jokingly before getting back to what I was supposed to do. When the bell rang, Julio waited for me to finish packing up before he left. I said goodbye to him, my smile wide as I waited for Ryo.

When Ryo reached us, Julio nodded at him and then at me, which probably meant bye.

"See you later." I reminded him, before greeting Ryo with a grin and an excited, "Hey!"

Luckily, I'd gotten over my schoolgirl crush on him, so I wasn't awkwardly staring at him whenever I got the chance. He was just a friend now, thank God.

Julio walked away, and Ryo turned to me and asked, "How exactly did you break through that shell? I've known him for four years and I haven't seen him talk once till you."

This was just proof that teenage boys gossiped more than teenage girls.

"I don't know." I told him honestly, "I yelled at him, then I started talking to him and he's been fine. A little quiet and a bit of an asshole, but fine."

Ryo quirked his eyebrows and I knew exactly what he was implying. No, I didn't want to date Julio. He was barely my friend and even if I was talking to him, it was out of curiosity more than anything else. He was decent enough and hot as hell, but I didn't really have any affection for him and I told Ryo that.

"If you say so." Ryo said, before bidding me a quick goodbye because he had to get to class. I had a free period, though, and I was going to make full use of it by reading. I hadn't been reading much because of homework and stuff, so I had a lot to catch up on.

I took a seat at a library table, the librarian having given me permission after giving me a questionable look, I pulled out Great Expectations. I'd been waiting to read that book for ages and had only bought it recently, at the mall with Ally.

Just as I finished the first chapter, I was interrupted by someone I really didn't want to see.

"Hi." Tamsin said, taking the seat opposite me. I faked a smile and reciprocated her greeting.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something." She said, and I almost groaned. Was she serious right now?

"What is it?" I asked because, apparently, people here didn't understand that the library was a sanctuary and that it was rude to interrupt someone while they read.

"It's just something that Millie wanted me tell you." She sounded so complacent as she beat around the bush and I was doing everything in my power to keep myself from smacking her.

"She wanted you to know that Julio Hernandez isn't someone you want to be seen with in public."

I almost stopped her right there to give her a piece of my mind when she continued. "I mean," Tamsin said, snorting, "He doesn't exactly drive a Porsche, if you know what I mean."

"What brought about Millie's sudden concern?" I asked Tamsin, my tongue running over my teeth, my attempts at staying calm becoming harder by the second.

"We're friends, silly!" Tamsin laughed, her perfectly manicured nails covering her mouth as she did so.

"It's just so great that you guys are so accepting of me." I said, smiling sweetly at her, "Especially since I'm only going to be here for a year before going to go live in my apartment in San Francisco."

"Oh, really? Is it like one of those downtown lofts? We can totally visit. We can go on shopping and stuff! I mean, the mall here has some nice stuff but the stores in the city would probably have even more." She stated, clapping her hands together excitedly.

"Oh, I actually live in a small, three-bedroom place with my brother. It isn't anything fancy." I told her, my smile tightening as I waited for her reaction. It was as I expected.

Tamsin looked taken aback. Apparently, this piece of information had been unknown to her. I hadn't told anyone here apart from Ryo and Ally, not because I was ashamed of who I was, but because it wasn't any of their business.

"Oh." She said, leaning slightly away from me, and I felt a small smirk slip onto my lips, "I, uh, have something to do." She said, standing up.

"Bye, Tamsin." I gave her a little wave, my mouth curved up in a mocking smile.

"Bye." She was definitely less enthused than she had been earlier. These people really were awful, weren't they?

Then again, it made baiting them all the more fun.