"ello, how can I help you today?" I asked politely and the customer relayed her order to me.

"Would you like anything else with that?"

"No, thanks."

She gave me the correct change and that was the last of the rush.

"When does your shift end?" Laurel, the only other barista working today, asked.

I looked back at the clock hanging on the wall.

"Ten minutes." After work, I planned to hang out with Stella for the whole afternoon. Maybe do some shopping and eat food.

"Lucky." She sighed.

"Lia!" Stella came rushing in, walking right up to where I stood. "Can I talk to Lia for, like, two seconds?" Stella begged Laurel and I turned to her.

"Can you handle it?"

"You mean the invisible customers coming in the door right now? I think I got it." Laurel smiled and Stella tugged me to sit at one of the tables.

"Okay, operation: how to stalk someone without being a complete stalker." I'd told Stella that I didn't want to give up on Asher and she texted back instantly, saying that she wanted to help.

"It's not really stalking. . . More like intense research on an individual."

"Mhmm. Says every stalker ever." Stella gave me an unconvinced look and I just nodded.

"So, what's the plan?"

"We need to get you out of the friendzone somehow. He only thinks of you as a friend, which sucks. You need to show him you're girlfriend material. You need to date another guy." Stella explained strategically and I raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure that'll work?"

"You know what they say, jealousy is the best medicine."

"I thought laughter was the best medicine."

"Not when you're telling the jokes." Stella scoffed and I stuck out my tongue at her.

Stella's phone started buzzing and she rolled her eyes when she saw who it was. She hit ignore and put her phone on the table with the screen down.

"And who was that?" I asked curiously.

"Jesse." Stella's ex-boyfriend. "He wants to get back together."

"Why? He dumped you." Stella had been utterly heartbroken when he broke up with her, totally out of the blue. They weren't in love but she really liked him.

"I don't know, I still like him," She twirled a piece of her blond hair around her finger, "Whenever I see him, I feel sad all of a sudden."

"He's not worth it."

Abruptly, Stella smacked the table and I flinched.

"You know what, let's go." Stella grabbed her phone and took out her keys.

"Go where?"

"We're going to watch a football scrimmage."

My heart skipped a beat. Asher played football. But I'm pretty sure she already knew that.

"Wait, I thought we weren't going to be stalkers about it." I crossed my arms but followed her anyway.

"We're not. The field is open to the public." She said matter-of-factly.

I didn't argue because I wanted to see him.

We drove over to the football field next to the high school.

They were a lot of fans in the bleachers, which was good because I didn't want Asher to see me.

I instantly spotted Asher. He was the quarterback and a DCL allstar for three years straight, which meant he was pretty good.

Asher's team was two yards away from scoring a touchdown.

I looked at the scoreboard and saw that Mystic High was a touchdown away from tying Rivier Prep. The only reason why we weren't getting crushed was because of Jesse, our quarterback.

The referee blew his whistle and the ball was snapped instantly.

I watched as Asher got ready to throw the ball. But instead, he faked a throw and ran the ball in himself.

"Wow, Asher's fast."

I smiled, remembering how fast he really was.

"Lia, you're anchor."

"Wait, me?" I asked Coach Burns and he nodded, "Are you sure you don't wanna rethink that decision?" Why couldn't he pick someone who was actually fast?

"Lia, you're ready." He told me and I was just about to argue again when my event was called.

"All 400 meter relay participants to their starting positions." The announcer called and I gulped. Coach Burns nodded for me to go and I reluctantly ran to my starting line, which was on the other side of the track.

Anchor ran the last 100 meters in the relay. All of the pressure was on me. If we lost, it would be my fault.

I took my spot on the outside lane, next to a handsome boy who was probably the same age as me. At that moment, he saw me checking him out.

"Good luck." He smiled at me and I went weak in the knees. His smile was beautiful.

I ended up coming in second behind him.

He was fast. I mean, his 100 meter dash must've been about ten or eleven seconds because there was a huge gap between him and I.

"God, you're so fast." I struggled to breathe while he didn't even look that tired.

"Thanks, you're not too bad yourself." He said bashfully and I decided to give him my name.

"I'm Lia."

"I'm Asher," He cocked his head like a cute puppy, "So, what's it like over there?"

"Over where?"

"Rivier Prep. You know I wouldn't be surprised if you were served five-course meals for lunch."

"Only on Tuesdays and Thursdays." I teased.

"I knew it." He had a beautiful laugh. "You guys ever eat lobster?"

"I don't know, maybe you should eat lunch with me and find out." Was I actually flirting with this guy?

"Maybe I will."

And that was when I fell for him. We exchanged numbers and said goodbye, even though I would've switched schools just for the chance of seeing him in the hallway. I was such a goner.

Asher was congratulated by his teammates, all of them slapping him on the head and all that jazz.

Even though it wasn't a real game, the players took the game very seriously. Especially since we were playing Mystic High.

Jesse ran onto the field, looking pretty pissed.

"There's Jesse!" Stella elbowed me and pointed at him.

I rolled my eyes, "I can see that,"

"Oh."

"What do you even see in him?"

"He's sweet once you get to know him."

"I guess I don't really know him, then." Nicole, Taylor and I didn't really like him, we always thought he cared too much about football to have a girlfriend.

"You don't really know someone until they let you in." Stella leaned her head in her hand, still staring at Jesse.

I looked at Asher on the sideline and bit the inside of my cheek.

Maybe I didn't know Asher as well as I thought.

.•*•.

When Stella and I walked into English class the next day, Ms. Kane wasn't there.

"Where's Ms. Kane?" I asked as we took our seats.

"No idea. I heard we're getting a sub." Stella turned around in her seat and crossed her legs.

"So, no teacher for the rest of the year?"

"Hopefully." Sweet.

The bell rang and everyone sat back and did their own thing.

"So, what's up with you and Jesse?" I looked over at her ex, who happened to be sitting on the other side of the room with his friends.

"Actually, about that," Stella smiled excitedly and I was about to demand details when someone interrupted us.

"Sorry I'm late, this school is huge."

Stella whipped around and I looked up at who was talking.

"I'm Mr. Hudson, your new English teacher." He was pretty cute, and pretty young to be a high school teacher. I mean, he looked like Winter's age.

"So, Ms. Kane isn't coming back?" Someone asked in disappointment.

"No, she's on maternity leave."

Mr. Hudson called attendance and when he called Stella's name, he did a double-take. She responded with a weak "here". I could hear both of their heart beats race with my enhanced hearing. What was up with them?

He continued by asking where we left off and we spent the whole class talking about The Great Gatsby.

When the bell rang, Stella shot out of her seat and quickly walked out of the room, avoiding eye contact with Mr. Hudson. I followed her, wondering what was wrong, when she pulled me into the bathroom.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Stella?" I demanded and she checked to see if all the stalls were empty.

"I know him."

"Who? Mr. Hudson?"

She fidgeted with her phone, obviously uncomfortable.

"I met him outside of school. At Whole Foods. I couldn't reach something and he helped me and then we ended up talking and kind of flirting." Stella blurted and I widened my eyes.

"Was that it?" I had a feeling it wasn't.

She looked around, like someone was watching her, "No."

"When was this?"

"Yesterday. After the football scrimmage."

I shook my head, "You know it's wrong-"

"Totally wrong. But we clicked so well and I had no idea he was gonna be our new teacher."

"Well, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know." She groaned in exasperation. "Avoid him."

"He's our teacher, you can't avoid him forever." I pointed out.

"The one time I find a nice guy he just has to be my teacher." Stella pouted and I sighed, looking down at my shoes.

"Life sucks."

"Agreed."