Chapter 1
*Aaron*
There was someone patting my nose. Usually I'd be annoyed, but I know who belong to the little hand.
"Daddy, wake up." Sophia, my daughter, said.
I kept the smile off my face as I pretended I was sleeping. She patted my nose once more. I then quickly grabbed her and pulled her onto the bed. She let out a scream as I blew raspberries on her stomach. I began to tickle her sides and she burst into laughter as she tried removing my hands.
"I love you." I told her once I stopped tickling her.
"Love you too." she said, giving me a kiss.
"Aaron, you're going to be late for school!" my mom called up the stairs.
"I'm up!" I called back. I looked at Sophie who pouted at me. "What?" I asked her.
"Stay." She said.
"I can't. Daddy has to go to school."
"I go with you." she said excitedly.
"No sweetie. You can't. You'll be here with grandma."
"No!"
I sighed. It's only morning and she's already in one of her moods. There are some mornings she begs to go to school with me, and when she doesn't get her way she screams.
"How about you go into your room and pick out something to wear while daddy gets dressed."
"Yeah." she said with a smile.
I helped her off my bed and she ran out to her room. I took a quick shower and dressed in grey jeans and a black OBEY sweatshirt. I combed through my hair quickly then slipped on a red snapback.
Sophia ran into my room with a ball of clothes in her arms. She held them up towards me.
"Is that what you're going to wear?" I asked her, noticing the many different colors that didn't go together. She nodded. "Let's go give them to grandma."
I took her hand and lead her downstairs. She ran over to my mom and handed her the clothes. I mouthed to my mom that I was going to go. It's easier to slip out of the house when Sophie is distracted.
I left the house and quietly shut the door behind me. I hurried to my car and drove to school. Sophie is going to pissed when she finds me gone, but that's the only way to get out of the house.
I got to school and found a parking space. I went inside the building and met up with my friends.
"Hey Aaron!" Caleb, my best friend, greeted me. "We were wondering when you were going to get here."
"I had a late start this morning."
"As usual." Connor, a member of my team, said. "Are you going to the party tonight?"
"I can't." I answered. "I have some stupid family thing to go to tonight."
"Come on. You always have things to do. Loosen up a bit."
"Sorry, can't get out of it. I'll make it up to you guys."
The bell rang and I reluctantly headed to class. I don't feel like sitting through class today. I really just want to be at home with Sophie. I can imagine her crying her eyes out because I'm not there with her.
"Hey Aaron." someone said. I looked to see Fawn, the head cheerleader.
"Hey Fawn."
"So when will we be going on that date?"
"I'd love to, but I'm caught up for the next couple of weeks. Maybe later."
"You're no fun." she pouted.
***
The bell for lunch rang and I quickly headed to the cafeteria. Once there I sat at my usual table with my friends.
"Hey cutie." Brittany, another cheerleader who's fighting for my attention, said.
"Hi Brittany."
"Did you hear about the party tonight?"
"Yeah I did."
"I can expect to see you there, right?"
"Not this time. I'm busy. Maybe at the next one."
After lunch I reluctantly headed to my next class. This day seems to be going on forever. I just want to get home already. Sophia is probably giving my mom a hard time like usual. I'm the only one she actually listens to. For anyone else she gives them a hard time. She can be so stubborn sometimes.
I ran into someone, snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked at the person in front of me and saw a girl. She had long, curly brown hair and hazel eyes. She had perfect full lips and beautiful light olive skin. She has an oval face, high cheekbones, and a celestial nose. She's probably the most beautiful girl I've seen, and I've seen a lot of girls.
"Sorry." I apologized to her. "I wasn't paying attention."
I noticed she dropped her books and I knelt down to pick them up. She did the same.
"Don't worry about it." She said in a soft voice. She picked up half of her books and I got the other half. I stood up and handed her the books. "Thanks." She said with a small smile.
"What's your name?"
"Victoria."
"I'm Aaron."
"I know. You're the most popular person in the school."
"Right. Well sorry for running into you. I've got to get to class."
I walked down the hall in the opposite direction towards my class. How have I never seen her before? She's probably the most beautiful girl in the school. I have to get her to like me.
***
I reluctantly dressed for football practice. I'm so close to going home and being with Sophie, yet I'm also so far away.
"Thinking about Sophie again?" Caleb asked.
He's the only one that knows about Sophie. I couldn't keep something as big as having a kid from my best friend.
"I can't help it." I answered.
"If you weren't the captain. I'd suggest you go home and be with her."
"Yeah, but we both know that can't happen."
We went out onto the field and did some warm-ups. We did a couple of plays and headed home. I showered quickly and dressed. I was the first one out of the locker room. I drove home as fast as I could without breaking the speed limit.
I soon pulled into my driveway and went inside. Sophie was sitting in front of the TV watching Dora. She looked at me when I came in and a huge smile spread across her face.
Daddy!" she exclaimed, jumping up and running to me.
I picked her up easily and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Hi sweetie. I missed you."
"You left me." she pouted.
"You know I can't stay with you all the time. How about we play a game?"
"Don't you have homework?" my mom asked.
"Yeah, but right now Sophie is more important."
*Victoria*
I quickly left my locker and rushed to class. Mrs. Gibson will definitely give me detention if I'm late to her class.
I ran into someone hard and almost fell to the ground. I caught myself and looked the person. Aaron Evans stood before me. He has shaggy dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. He has a strong jaw line and perfectly full lips. I could see his muscles through the shirt he's wearing. My heart beat seemed to quicken. Aaron is the most popular guy in school. He's a total jerk who only cares about himself and popular people. He'll most likely blame this on me and badmouth me.
"Sorry." he apologized, surprising me. Aaron Evans is apologizing to me? That's something I would never have expected. "I wasn't paying attention."
He looked down at the ground at my books that I'd dropped and knelt down to pick them up.
"Don't worry about it." I said quietly, nervous about talking to the Aaron Evans.
I picked up half of my books while Aaron got the other half. We stood up and he handed my books to me.
"Thanks." I said, giving a small smile.
"What's your name?" he asked me.
"Victoria."
"I'm Aaron."
"I know. You're the most popular person in school."
"Right. Well sorry for running into you. I've got to get to class."
He gave me a small smile before walking down the hallway in the opposite direction. He's not exactly how I thought he'd be. He was actually nice enough to stop and help me pick up my books. And he apologized for running into me. People always said that he was a jerk. I think they were wrong.
***
After school I headed to my part time job at the mall. I work in the food court at Subway. I often get annoyed by the people who order but I need the money for college.
I slipped on my Subway shirt and put my hair up. I put on the hat and waited for customers.
"Are you working late tonight?" Charlie, my coworker asked me.
She's my only friends here at work. She's 20-years old and making her way through college. She thinks it's smart for me to make my own money for college. She wishes she did the same.
"No, I have a babysitting job tonight." I answered her.
"You work so hard. Do you ever take time for yourself?"
"To do homework."
"That's not what I mean. You're young. You should be out having fun; going to parties and dating."
"Parties and dating are two things I don't do. Besides, I have to study to get into a decent college."
"You'll regret it later."
After work I headed home to start my baby sitting job. I baby sit a little boy named Thomas. He's the sweetest boy I've ever met. He has short blonde hair and the brightest blue eyes. He's only 3 but he can talk your ears off when he has the chance.
I got home and cleaned the house a little before Tom got here. I'd hate it if he got into something he wasn't supposed to. Soon the doorbell rang and I answered the door. Tom immediately jumped into my arms.
"Vicky!" he exclaimed.
"Hi Tom. I missed you."
"We're going to have fun right?"
"Don't we always?"
His mother handed me his diaper bag and said goodbye. I put Tom down and he began jumping up and down.
"Can we play with the ball?" Tom asked.
"Yeah, sure."
I grabbed the medium sized bouncy ball from the closet and we began to bounce it back and forth. If this is all he wants to do today, I don't mind. I love kids and entertaining them. Whatever they want to do I happily go along with it.
*Aaron*
Sophie laid on my bed beside me while I did my homework. She sang quietly to herself while she braided one of her dolls hair. My cell rang and I looked to see Fawn calling me. I sighed and answered.
"Hey." I said. I heard loud music and voices in the background.
"So you're really not coming tonight?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'm busy. I'm doing homework right now."
"Homework? Since when does Aaron Evans do homework?"
"Since senior year started."
"So can we schedule some alone time for later?"
"I really have to get back to my work. It's due tomorrow."
"Alright fine. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
She finally hung up and I placed my phone back on the bed. Sophie quickly picked it up and began messing with my phone.
"Don't put that down please." I said to her, looking back at my text book.
"I want to play draw." She said, turning my phone on and opening the drawing app I'd downloaded for her. It's insane how little kids these days know how to work electronics as well as they do. Especially at such a young age.
***
Soon my homework was finished and Sophie was asleep. I gently picked her up and carried her to her room. I painted and designed her room myself. The walls are white and the floor is hardwood with a round, fluffy pink carpet. Her toddler bed and dresser are white and her name is spelled out across her wall above her bed. Shelves line the side walls and they're filled with stuffed bears. A small TV is in the corner incase I need her to stay in her room for certain occasions.
I gently placed her in her toddler bed and pulled the blanket over her. Luckily she was already in her night clothes. It would have been a real challenge to change those. I placed a kiss on her cheek and left her room, making sure her Ariel nightlight was on.
***
The next morning I woke without Sophie waking me up. Since she was nowhere in sight, I decided to take my shower and get dressed. I left my room and went to hers. Surprisingly she was still asleep. My mom must've really tired her out yesterday.
I went downstairs and grabbed a quick breakfast. I told my mom that Sophie was still sleeping and left. Sophie being asleep really made things easier for me this morning.
I got to school and met with my friends in the hall. They each told me how great the party was and everything that I had missed.
"You missed out Aaron." Connor said.
"You're going to the next one right?" Caleb asked me.
He knows that I can't go out and party that much. I'm surprised he even asked me that.
"You need a break sometime." He said.
"I'll think about it." I answered his question.
The bell rang and I said goodbye to my friends. They jokingly called me a loser for wanting to be to class on time. I turned the corner of the hallway and ran into someone. I looked at the person and saw Victoria. A smile formed on my face.
"We've got to stop meeting like this." I said. "Sorry."
"I wasn't..."
"Paying attention?" I finished for her. "Wasn't that my line."
She kept her eyes down and she brushed her hair behind her ear. I noticed how tightly she held her books to her chest. Is she nervous, shy, or both?
"I think if this happens a third time you have to let me make it up to you." I told her.
"What, what do you mean?" she asked.
"I mean you have to let me buy you dinner, or lunch. I'll even go as far as breakfast." I smiled.
She let out a small laugh. "I have to get to class."
She brushed past me as she continued down the hall. I earned a smile. At least she's not too intimidated by me. And she didn't exactly say no to the buy her lunch or dinner idea. I think I might actually stand a chance with her.
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I finally have the first chapter up. I've been writing this for a while, but I'm just getting over a month long case of writers block so thank you for being patient and thank you to those who are taking the time to read this story. Please tell me what you think and if you have any ideas on who could play the characters, please let me know.
Please comment, vote, and/or fan (follow). Thanks!! ;-)