I looked at the trunk of the tree, which resembled badly braided dough, and realized how intensely I must have been staring at it.

"Are you trying to flirt with me?" I sighed.

He let out a sort of strangled choke. "Caleb Drake."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"My name," he said, offering me his hand. Caleb Drake was a notorious name on campus and I had no intention of joining his fan club. I shook his hand firmly to make sure he knew I wasn't hypnotized by him.

"Yes, I was trying to flirt with you, until you shot me down, that is."

I raised my eyebrows and forced a smile. Okay, I had to do this fast. Jocks had a painfully short attention span.

"Listen, I'd love to stand around and feed into your ego with chit-chattery, but I have to go."

I moved pa.s.sed him relieved to be heading toward the pint of heavy whipping cream and ice cream in my fridge. I was going to add chocolate sauce and make a bad-a.s.s milk shake.

His laugh caught up to me as I neared the curb. I stiffened, but kept walking.

"If you were born an animal-you'd be a Llama," he called after me.

That stopped me. Was this douche seriously comparing me to a hairy mammal?

"And why is that?" I kept my back to him, but my eye was twitching.

"Google them."

Was this really happening? I twisted my head around, exorcist style, and glared at him. He looked so sure of himself.

"I'll see you around," he said, tucking his hands into his pockets and heading back toward his group.

I rolled my eyes. Hopefully, that would be never. I steamed all the way to my dorm room. Before I could touch the k.n.o.b, the door was flung open with gusto. Behold my freshman roommate.

"Why was he talking to you?"

She was dulcet, bright-eyed, blond, and as much as I wanted to hate her, she was a terribly cute little thing.

"He was recruiting members for his fan club. I gave him your name, Cam."

"Seriously Olivia, what did he say?" she followed me as I stacked my books neatly on my desk. When I tried to ignore her, she started pinging M&M's off my head.

"He was just showing off in front of his friends, there's nothing to tell. Really!" She let me pa.s.s. I was headed for my whipping cream, getting ready to drink it straight, when she blocked me.

"You are so dense!"

"Dense?" I shook my head. "Are you calling me complicated or stupid?" I looked longingly over her shoulder at the fridge.

"Caleb Drake doesn't go to girls, girls go to Caleb Drake. He just stepped out of his box to talk to you and you blew him off!"

"He's not interested in me," I said sighing. "He was showing off."

"So he was showing off. Who cares? He's earned the right. He's gorgeous!"

I made a gagging noise.

"Olivia," she begged. "There is more to life than just books and studying!" she flung my textbooks off my desk for show. "Boy's are.....they can.....do things," she finished, nodding at me.

"You," I said poking her in the ribs "are a s.l.u.t."

I rescued a textbook from the floor and started studying.

"O-liv-ia!"

I squeezed my eyes shut. I hated it when she said my name like that.

"Hmmm?"

She s.n.a.t.c.hed the book from my hands.

"You listen to me, you ungrateful prude," she grabbed my chin in her hand and yanked it up until I was looking at her. "He is going to talk to you again, just because you rejected him. He kind of liked it-and when he does," she clamped her hand over my protesting mouth, "you are going to talk to him and flirt with him. Do you understand me?"

I shrugged.

Cammie shrieked, "Agghh!" and locked herself in the bathroom.

I certainly didn't care what effect he had on the females on campus. Caleb Drake meant nothing to me. He would never mean anything to me. I was un-shmoozable. The end.

Cammie turned out to be right. Later that week, I had been studying all day when she started nagging me to attend a basketball game with her.

"I'll buy you a hot chocolate."

"With extra whipped cream?"

"With clouds, if you'll just hurry up!"

Ten minutes later, I was sitting in the stands sipping hot chocolate with extra whipped cream from a little Styrofoam cup. Cammie was ignoring me and I was already regretting my decision to come. Caleb Drake was whipping around the court like an egg beater and frankly it was making me dizzy to watch him.

Halftime came and I stood up to find the bathroom. I was trying to knee my way past Cammie when the president of the student body stepped onto the court and held up his hands for silence.

"Laura Holberman, one of our students, has been missing from the dorms for over five days," he said into the microphone. I stopped to listen. "Her parents, as well as the staff, are urging anyone who has any information about Laura, to come forward right away. Thanks guys, enjoy the rest of the game."

I shared a few cla.s.ses with Laura my freshman year. College students sometimes liked to disappear for a few days when things got stressful. She was probably holed away at a friend's house somewhere, eating chocolate and b.i.t.c.hing about professors. People always made a big deal about nothing.

"She dated Caleb Drake her freshman year," Cammie whispered. "I wonder if he will be able to concentrate on the rest of the game now that he knows."

I looked at Caleb, who was sitting on the bench, drinking from a water bottle. He looked relaxed. The jerk.

It was during the fourth quarter, when there was a minute left in the game, that the opposing team made a parting of the Red Sea comeback, tying the Cougars 72-72. I wouldn't have known this if Cammie hadn't told me, since I had spent the last twenty minutes picking fuzz b.a.l.l.s from my sweater. Caleb Drake stood at the free -throw line, preparing for the most important shot of the night. He looked calm, like he already knew he was going to make it. For the first time that night, the gym was strangely quiet. Intrigued, I forgot my fuzz ball picking, and sat up straighter. I wanted him to make it. I know it was shameful, but I did. For once, I understood the Caleb mania. He was like a jalapeno, bright and smooth, but dangerously hot. A small part of me wanted to bite him.

I turned to Cammie, whose eyes were big with antic.i.p.ation. This was major stuff-right here. My eyes drifted back to the court. I jerked. Caleb was watching me. The entire student body was watching him and Caleb was watching me. Before the ref could blow the whistle, Caleb tucked the ball beneath his arm and jogged over to his coach.

"What's going on? What's going on?" Cammie was hopping from one foot to another, her pigtails bouncing in time with the music.

Something didn't feel right. I shifted in my seat, crossed and un-crossed my legs. Caleb was handing his coach the ball. I suddenly felt like I was sitting in a sauna.

"He's coming up the stairs, Olivia! He's coming this way!" Cammie squealed.

I slunk lower in my seat. No way was this happening! He was headed right for me! I pretended to be busy digging around in my purse for something. When he stopped next to my seat, I looked up in surprise.

"Olivia," he said, resting on his haunches to look me in the eyes. "Olivia Kaspen." I saw Cammie's jaw drop open and a mult.i.tude of heads turn to look at us.

"Bravo, you found out my name." Then in a lower voice, "What the h.e.l.l are you doing?"

He ignored me. "You're quite the mystery on campus." His voice was raspy, the kind that if whispered in your ear would give you goose b.u.mps. I cleared my throat and did my best to look annoyed.

"Are you going to be making a point any time soon, or are you holding up the game to brag about your detective skills?"

He laughed. He looked down at the floor then back at me.

"If I make this shot, will you go out with me?" His gaze was traveling between my eyes and my lips. I felt the heat hit my face and I ducked my head. I didn't like the way he was looking at me. It was like he was already planning our first kiss, evaluating my lips. I shook my head. It was ridiculous. He was making a production of his wounded ego and I didn't give a d.a.m.n if he made that shot.

I narrowed my eyes. "If you were born an animal do you know which one you'd be?" I asked. A flicker of uncertainty pa.s.sed across his face. After our little encounter in the rain, I had Googled Llama's just as he suggested. Apparently, they were pretty rude; spitting, kicking and head-b.u.t.ting were part of their social decorum.

"A peac.o.c.k."

He grinned.

"It took you all week to think up that one didn't it?" His eyes were on my lips again.

"Sure," I said shrugging.

"So then, it's fair to say that you were thinking about me all week?" Now it was my turn to look shaken. d.a.m.n. Just when I had him.

"No...and.... no, I will not go out with you."

I leaned back in my chair and decided to look at the score board. Maybe, if I ignored him, he would leave. The Black Eyed Peas were playing loudly over the speakers. I tapped my foot to the rhythm.

"Why not?" He seemed agitated. I liked it.

"Because I am a llama and you are a bird and WE are not compatible." There was an increasing rise in interest across the gym, as people were standing up to get a better look at what was happening. I started getting nervous.

"Okay," he said matter-of-factly. "Then what will it take?" He was leaning so close to me I could feel his breath on my face. It smelled like peppermint. I held my breath and tried to gain control of my racing heart.

And then a brilliant thought.

"Miss it."

He c.o.c.ked his head. I leaned closer, narrowed my eyes. I spoke slower this time, so there would be no confusion.

"Miss it, and I'll go out with you."

I saw the tenderness drain from his eyes. Asking a Peac.o.c.k to pull out his feathers was a hard thing to do.

He stood up quickly, too quickly, and took the stairs back to the court two at a time. I settled back into my seat with a smug smile. Bet he wasn't expecting that. Hotshot. Idiot.

Cammie was taking turns looking from me to Caleb. There was something like awe on her face. She opened her mouth to say something, but I held up my finger to silence her. This was not the time for Cammie's mouth.

"Save it, Camadora," I warned her.

I focused my sole attention on the figure standing at the free-throw line, not looking quite as composed as he'd looked a few minutes ago.

The ref blew his whistle and Caleb raised his arms with the ball held lightly in his hands. I tried to imagine what he was thinking. He was done with me, no doubt. Probably angry that I would have the audacity to....I lost my train of thought. The moment of truth was beginning.

The muscles in his arms flexed, as the ball spun from his hands and sailed toward the hoop. In those few seconds, my mind had time to register that something wasn't right about the situation. And then it happened. The ball fell short a foot from the basket and hit the ground with a sickening thud. I watched in horror as pandemonium broke forth.

"No, no, no, no," I whispered under my breath. How could he do that? Why would he do that? What an absolute idiot!

"Olivia, I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear any of that," Cammie hissed, grabbing me by the wrist. "We need to go before someone kills you." As she pulled me though the throng, I turned back to the court for one last look at what was happening. Caleb was gone.

I didn't hear anything from him for over a week. Guilt had started seeping into my self-righteous bones and it hurt right down to the marrow. I didn't want to admit that Caleb Drake had surprised me and humiliated himself. Someone like him couldn't surprise someone like me...right?

Somehow, the news that he had sabotaged the game for a girl had spread across campus. Since it was me he had been talking to minutes before his miss, I was prime suspect. Girls whispered when they saw me and the basketball team had taken to giving me searing and menacing looks.

"She's not even that pretty," I heard one cheerleader say to another. "If he was going to sabotage his entire basketball career; he should have done it for a better piece of a.s.s."

I ducked my head in shame and disappeared into the library. How was I supposed to know there were scouts at that game? My knowledge of sports was limited to being able to identify the different colored b.a.l.l.s, and anyway who would have thought that he would actually have done it?

I spent a little more time in front of the mirror in the mornings applying mascara and curling my hair. Since all eyes were on me, I might as well try to be a good-looking piece of a.s.s.

I was too pretty to be plain and my features were too round to be exotic. Men avoided me. Cammie told me once that I had a kind of fierceness in my eyes that scared people away. Yet, Caleb Drake had not been scared. He missed the hoop on purpose. He played my game and I lost.

"Olivia there's a uuuh...delivery for you," Cammie called through the bathroom door one evening.