Crazy For This Girl

Chapter 2

THE first day of classes and it sucks already. I only have a minute left when I reached the classroom, and I was huffing and puffing when I got there. The teacher is already there too. Sh*t! I hope I am not in trouble. There is nothing worse in high school than being late on your first day — mainly that I am the new kid in town.

She turned to me and said, "You must be the new student. I am Miss Gomez. Please introduce yourself to the class. Do you speak English?"

I nodded. English is our second language in the Philippines, but we learned the Tagalog dialect at the same time we knew it. It depends if you live in Luzon. It's the biggest island of the three — Visayas and Mindanao have multiple dialects. We have over eighty of them if I am not mistaken and still counting as we speak. I only know Tagalog and English, though.

"Good morning. I am Rachel Dela Cruz, and I just moved here from the Philippines." I introduced myself. Some of my classmates looked Asian, others Hispanic and African-American. They acknowledged me while some — raised their eyebrows and looked already bored.

"Great. You may take your seat," Ms Gomez said while smiling at me.

Miss Gomez looked like she is in her mid-thirties, short black hair, not very tall and a little on the round side. I scanned the room, and there is only one seat left at the back, and it is in the middle. Great! Exactly what I wanted. I walked towards the end and sat down when I reached my seat.

"So your name is Rachel. What are the odds?" I heard him chuckle.

I looked to my left to see who was talking to me and you would not believe it — it's the boy who bumped into me earlier. Just great! I did an eye roll and ignored him.

"No one has given me an eye roll before," he continued talking.

I still didn't talk to him, let alone look at him. He is irritating as f**k.

"Cat got your tongue?" He asked.

Seriously! Can't he take a hint? I don't want to talk to him, but he keeps blabbing.

"Come on, talk to me," he even pokes my cheek with his forefinger.

I counted one to five then I faced him. Miss Gomez excused herself from class to go to the washroom.

"What is your problem?" I captured his finger and pushed it away gently, but he held my hand instead. I tried to pull, but he won't let it go. Now we are holding hands? Oh God Almighty!

"I was talking to you, but you won't pay me any attention. A lot of girls would trade places with you in a heartbeat," he grinned at me. It is when I realized that the whole class were all eyes on us.

"I am not like most girls," I whispered to him because I did not want to offend anyone.

"Exactly. That is why I like you," Quinn said.

With furrowed brows, I replied to him, "You are crazy."

He smiled widely. "Crazy for you. My name is Joaquin Del Valle. Or you can call me Quinn, and I don't mind. I'm walking you home today after school, by the way," he stood up and excused himself to go to the washroom too.

The girl in front of me started giggling and introduced herself to me. "Hi, I'm Katherine Cuevas. You can call me Kathy," we shook hands.

"Rachel. Nice to meet you, Kathy."

"Same here. You guys were so cute earlier."

"Who's cute?" My gosh, am I missing something here?

"You and Quinn, silly! Sparks were flying everywhere, I swear. And you guys look good together."

Her eyes were turning into heart shapes. I can't believe this. Did the others in class think the same way too?

I gave her a shy smile. "Uh, we are not together. I just met Quinn, and he is silly. I am sure you heard everything he said earlier. It's not true."

"Oh. Quinn will walk you home. Haven't you heard about him before?" She looked confused.

I took a deep breath. "No. It's my first time to see Quinn or talk to him. I haven't even heard about him. What's so special about him, anyway? Is he like a famous actor or something I should know about?" I couldn't help but joke around.

Kathy gasped and covered her mouth only to take it out again. "You've never heard of him?!" I shook my head. "Oh my gosh, he's the ultimate bad boy on the campus. Some say he is a bully and a heartbreaker, but I don't believe it. I have seen him help out several students here. As for the heartbreaker part, too many girls like him, but he never pays them any attention, so some of them were pissed."

"So he's a rule breaker or something like that?"

"Yeah, you can say that."

"Really?"

She nodded. "Quinn broke so many rules in school. I couldn't count anymore."

"How long have you known him?"

"He has been my classmate since grade school."

"That long?"

"He likes you. I know that for sure." Kathy is back to giggling and heart-shaped eyes. Here we go again.

"Oh please, everyone knows I am the new girl in town. I already know that he will pull a stunt like that."

Kathy shook her head multiple times that I thought her head was about to snap. "No, you don't understand. He has never been that way to anyone. Ever. If he says he will walk you home — he will do just that, and there's no stopping him."

I smirked. "And if I say no? Will he make my life miserable?" Crap! The last thing I need is for the kids to bully me in my new school.

"No, nothing like that. Quinn will still walk you home though, believe me."

"I don't believe it but let's pretend that I do."

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

Miss Gomez just returned, and so did Quinn. I didn't bother to look at him, but he talked to me anyway.

"So, how much information did you find out about me?" He was grinning. Does he have extrasensory perception then? You know, like Madam Auring. She is quite famous along with her crystal ball.