Chapter 1:

New girl

'Have you seen her?'

'Seen who?'

'The new girl'

'What new girl?'

'Dude you high? The girl with a devil may care attitude'

'Where?'

'Turn around, she's right behind you!'

And that's when I saw her. The girl with a devil may care attitude. And that is exactly what she was. That day even though she was in a girl's uniform she wore it with a hint of masculinity, with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, sash a little askew and her hair a wild mess. A green backpack on one shoulder and a hand in her pocket she walked as if she owned the ground she stepped on. Her first impression was of a stuck up snob, a rude egoistical city bitch, trying to show off her superiority and everything fit that mold except her dressing.

My first impression of her was different, I saw the superficial stuff yes but I saw something else too. Underneath the cliché was a conflict wrapped up in insecurities and misunderstanding. She wasn't pretty or beautiful and neither did she try to even look presentable but regardless of all that she managed to turn heads. Maybe it was because she was new or maybe she was different. In a world where judgment is passed on a lot before your name is, people usually care about image. But she laughed at it. To her the world was a parody of a bad comedy show and she refused to be a part of it. She was unapologetically and blatantly herself and that was what I found most attractive. A girl, a paradox, a diva by nature who spat in the face of stereotypes and was here to wreak havoc in this small town filled with even small minded people.

Naturally acting on pure male instincts I approached her in P.E class. And well, let's just say she sucked the testosterone out of me to the point that I was sure she would make me confess I was born a girl. That day I realized that not only did she have a devil may care attitude but she also had a mean right hook, an almost perfect aim and a fiercely competitive nature.

Her first day here and she managed a visit to the principal's office and get a Saturday detention. Needless to say since I started it I was to accompany her. You know that sinking stomach feeling you get right before an exam, well that's what I felt knowing the bane of my existence is the very person I'll be spending 5 hours with. As if the initial humiliation of being stripped of my manhood wasn't enough.

Saturday dawned and the dread set in. I'm not usually like this but the experience was too traumatic and it left me scarred. Nobody taught me about handling such kind of girls, I thought even a finger could break those fragile delicate flowers. But she was a Venus fly trap, u get close enough and she will have you for lunch. The detention went surprisingly uneventful with no talking or awkward looks. And I got curious again.

She lived a few lanes away from my house and perks of living in a colony means only one park where everybody knows everybody. She was into sports and I could bet my already bruised male ego she would be there. I had never seen her out of her school uniform so her attire hit me like a cannon ball. From afar she was one of the guys. Shorts and t-shirt topped off with a messy pony tail and sneakers. She was playing with my gang of friends and to my utter disbelief the devils incarnate was laughing and having fun. And at that moment she looked like a little girl, well not the girly girl but human and not a crazy person who was raised by Tarzan

The minute she saw me her smile faded, and a grimace appeared, she acknowledged my presence with a curt nod and then went back to playing dodge ball. I joined the game and being on the opposite team meant she could hit legally. That night I needed a lot more icepacks than usual. My best friend was laughing like a lunatic by my side and I wanted to strangle him but I was sore in places i never knew I could be sore so he was alive for the time being

Damn that girl, what did I ever do to her to deserve such rough treatment? All I did was invite her to my team. Is that a crime? And even though that girl infuriated me to no end my stupid brain took her as a challenge. The mystery girl was about to be cracked open. And I was hoping to do that without having my skull cracked open first.