The Model Project

Chapter 4

L.J woke up when her phone started buzzing next to her on the oak wood coffee table. She slowly opened her eyes and groaned, rubbing away the sleep grabbing her phone and looking at the screen. Aaron was calling her, so she answered while walking to the kitchen and getting herself some coffee.

"Hey" Is all she says, and Aaron suddenly starts ranting in her ear.

"Where are you?! It has already been thirty minutes since school started and you're not here, you know I better start teaching you a lesson to wake up earlier and to go to bed when you're supposed to!" L.J wanted to laugh at how much he sounded like a mother scolding her child right now, but she bit her lip and told him that she would be right there. She got dressed in a pair of worn ripped skinny jeans, and a white V-neck shirt and threw on some black Vans grabbing her backpack and running out of the house. As she got in her car, she felt her phone buzz in her back pocket her ringtone blasting through the car. Now it was Shane's turn to call her.

"Hey, I'm on my way right now" She says, and she can hear Aaron in the background scoffing at her statement, which made her roll her eyes.

"Yeah, could you just please hurry with that, Aaron has been going on like an old lady because you're not here yet" L.J gave a slight chuckle at that and started her car.

"Alright, but he has to pay for my speeding ticket if I get one" She says and Shane laughs.

"I'm sure he will. Please drive safe, and I will see you when you get here" He says, and she says her goodbyes, driving off to school. It was about a five-minute drive, so it didn't take her that long to get there, especially since she ignored the speed limit a bit. When she got out of her car, she was picked up into Aaron's arms and hugged until she couldn't breathe.

"Aaron, you're suffocating me" She chokes out and he sets her down, keeping his arm around her shoulders.

"Sorry, I just missed you" L.J looks at him like he lost his mind and raises an eyebrow.

"Really, because a few minutes ago it sounded like you were going to murder me in the woods somewhere" He chuckled and shook his head.

"I would never do that to you, L.J" He says and Cam and Shane also looks at him in disbelief.

"Sure, we know what you said about how lazy she is and all that, man don't try and cover it up now" Cam said and L.J gasped pulling away from Aaron.

"You said what?" He was fumbling over his words trying to explain to her what he meant, but she walked into the school building without looking where she was going and bumped into someone, letting all their books drop to the floor. She instantly crouched down and started picking up the papers scattered everywhere, saving them just in time from being trampled by students' dirty shoes.

"I am so sorry, I didn't see you there" She says and looks up at the person she crashed into.

"No problem, mystery girl" He teases, and she smiles slightly at the guy in front of her.

"I met you at the party, right?" She asks forgetting his name.

"Roy" He says and smiles at her. She felt a slight blush creeping up her neck and she stood up brushing off her knees.

"Right, so what are you doing here?"

"I'm the new exchange student" Her brain froze at this and she didn't know what to do so she took the easy way out.

"Well uh, I have to get to class" She says about to walk away but he grabs her arm and looks her straight in the eyes.

"L.J, wait. Do you want to hang out at lunch time?" He asks, and she shakes her head to nervous to say yes.

"I can't, I'm busy. Sorry" She says and walks away, making sure she is behind the corner stopping to take a deep breath. He was just a guy that she barely knew but he made her stomach feel like it was floating. She closed her eyes and smiled at his handsome face in her head daydreaming about how nice his smile was.

"L.J?" She heard Shane's voice in front of her and jumped.

"Yeah" She says not able to make eye contact as she knew she was blushing.

"Are you….are you blushing?" He asks, and she turns her back to him.

"No!" She scoffs, and he taps her shoulder.

"I won't tell anyone" She slowly turns around at that and looks up at him. His eyes widened, and he stood there for about three seconds just gaping at her.

"Stop looking at me like that" L.J says irritated at her red cheeks for embarrassing her.

"Sorry, it's just that I have never seen you blush before, so this is new to me" He rubs the back of his neck and she sighs.

"It's true, I don't usually do this" She gestures to her cheeks and he laughs.

"L.J it's not something you do, it just happens" He pats her shoulder as she groans.

"Well, it has to stop, I don't like it" She lightly touches her cheeks hoping her cold hands will cool them down.

"So why are you blushing?" Shane smirks at her and she tries to play it off cool.

"I like someone, that's all" Shane smiled and yelled out loud.

"You like someone?!" L.J shushes him and slaps him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, ok I do, that doesn't mean the whole world should know about it!" She scolds him, and he chuckles.

"L.J's going to get some isn't she?" He teases her, and she slaps him even harder this time making him flinch.

"Stop it, please. Promise me you won't tell the guys yet. I will do it when I want to, ok?" She looks him dead in the eyes and he turns serious for a second.

"Of course. Just promise me you will tell them eventually" She nods and then he sticks out his hand for her to take. Since they ere little L.J and Shane has had these moments where they promise each other things, and when they shake on it, they cannot break that promise. It seemed plain and simple but they both took it very seriously and never broke their promises to each other. That's why L.J trusted him so much. He never lets her down, and he ever lies to her.

"Alright, now I'm going to class. Bye" She says standing on her tippy toes hugging Shane and then walking off to class. She sat through the entire class, just thinking about Roy and how she was going to tell the guys that she likes him. This was the first boy she likes, and she wanted them to accept how she feels about him. A sudden thought floated across her mind and stopped right in the center of her brain.

"I don't know how to date anybody" She whispers, and her face contorted into one of disappointment, as she let her head drop to the table hitting it hard on the surface.

"What the hell am I going to do?"