Prologue

If Robbie Shapiro had any choice in his appearance when he was growing up; he would have done things completely different to how he appeared now at the tender age of seventeen. He was a textbook definition of a geek; slim, with arms that practically had the same circumference as a piece of string, and legs that looked awfully strange in shorts, he was certain it was because of his knees, if he stared at them long enough, he was certain the dimples that formed in them resembled a baby's face. For little over a year now he had a habit of standing in front of the mirror in the morning, scrutinizing his appearance, and it no longer came as a shock to him that he still had the same geeky physique as always.

He was also blessed with bad eyesight, which did not help his image at all. Without his glasses, he was practically blind, so he stuck on the dark rimmed glasses because eye contacts made him nervous, he loved the idea of them, but when it came to actually placing them onto his pupil, he would panic, his eyes blinking furious, attempting to bat away the infliction. To complete his nerd ensemble, there was his dark hair; it stuck out at odd angles and no matter how many times he tried to pull a come through it, his hair would just spring back into wild curls.

Sighing heavily, he stared at his reflection, "It is what it is."

The only traits that Robbie actually liked about himself was his personality, and how many times have you heard someone say,

"Oh they have a really nice personality."

That sentence almost always succeeds the question of whether this particular person thinks the object of the question is attractive. But Robbie was a good actor, an amazing ventriloquist, he could hold a tune, and he could play a few instruments. He was good enough to be accepted to a school for the talented; he thought that this would be his chance to re-brand himself as this suave Robbie.

But of course that was never going to happen.

After his first day of high school, he had already accepted the fact that he was destined to live out his years of high school stuck with the tech crew, the kids who played chess at lunchtime or worse, he would have to associate with Sinjin Van Cleff; who frankly was off the Richter scale when it came to being a weird kid.

Then he tripped over Cat Valentine.

The little redhead had been innocent sitting on the polished school floors below her locker, her legs sticking out with a book balanced on her upper thigh and a lollipop in her hand. Robbie had been too busy paying attention to his phone, and hadn't noticed the hazard. She squealed like a baby piglet when she saw sprawled across the floor and she scrambled across to him.

"Are you okay?!" she asked.

This was truly a pivotal moment in his life, because this was the first time a girl had willingly spoken to him. He nodded because he was still having trouble comprehending what exactly was happening, was he concussed? The girl with the vibrant red hair clicked her fingers and grabbed her pink bag, pushing the purple giraffe head that was poking out from the top she dug through her bag, until she located the tasty treat.

"Here!" she exclaimed as she thrust the strawberry flavoured lolly into his hands, "my doctor always gives me lollies when I to visit him, so I always have some left over because I'm there a lot. My brother gets me into a load of accidents at home."

He smiled as he rose to his feet, clearly this girl wasn't completely correct in the head, but that didn't mean that Robbie thought she was crazy, she was just very innocent to the point where she was still a child. It was rather sweet.

"Thanks for the lolly."

He finally managed to find his voice, and was not surprised when it sounded pitchy, but she didn't seem to mind, she was already too busy playing with the stuffed purple giraffe. He turned away to leave, wishing that he had something witty to say but as usual, he came up short. He thought about his plan of action for lunch, should he find an empty classroom and eat alone? Or stuck it up and eat in the courtyard with all of the other students, he knew how that would end though, he would be a large table occupied only by himself... the final nail in his sad and unloved coffin.

"Wait!"

He turned around to see the little redhead chasing him, he bag bobbing against her back, he cheeks where slightly red after her sudden burst of energy, "Do you not want to come hang out with me?"

"You want to be seen with me?" he asked, completely bemused with what was happening.

"Sure!" Cat said, her voice alive with enthusiasm, "You are my friend now boy-whose-name-I-don't know."

"Robbie." He answered her, "Robbie Shapiro."

She beamed at him as she grabbed his arm, "Well come on Robbie! Let's go get some lunch."

And that was that, he went to lunch with Cat, where he met all of her other friends. One was a particularly scary girl with poker straight black hair that tickled her shoulders, with her stone-cold stare and fascination with scissors, Robbie caught on quickly that this was a girl that you did not want to mess with. But over time he softened to her, mainly because she was protective of Cat, she didn't like anyone being mean about her because she was often slow to understand even the simplest of tasks. The other two boys that Cat ushered over to the table, where very accepting of Robbie, warming to his strange habits instantly, and they didn't judge him for bringing a puppet with him to school.

From that moment on, Cat and Robbie where inseparable, they became best friends. Robbie knew more about Cat than anyone else, even more than Jade West. He knew that she had to visit a therapist once a month; he knew that she had dyslexia so he tutored her for most subjects, apart from dance, music and theatre… where she excelled without the help of anyone. She was so unlike all of the others girls at their school; the bitchy popular girls that wouldn't so much as give Robbie a second glance. She was refreshing, and he enjoyed spending time with her.

So naturally it was inevitable, because that is what happens when you are a boy like Robbie who finds himself friends with one of the prettiest girls in the school.

Naturally he just had to fall in love with her.

He didn't ask for it happen; it just developed over time, he started to notice things about Cat that he really admired. Then that fateful Monday morning, when he was waiting outside her house so they could walk to school together like they always did, he realised why he felt queasy whenever he thought about her. Why he didn't like any other girl in school as anything more than a friend.

It was truly the worst thing to ever happen to him.

He wished he could stop himself from feeling this way about his best friend, because he knew that she would never feel the same way. Cat was everything that Robbie wasn't.

She was beautiful, athletic, talented and such a caring person that you couldn't help but warm up to her. Plus he knew the type of guy that she liked; he had to endure painful conversations about various dates that she had been on. She liked tall, tanned muscular guys… and that was just something that Robbie would never be.

So every day when he met Cat at school, he would try to repress it because he was apparently a masochist; he just loved feeling the pain of being with her, but not being with her in the way that he truly wanted.

So he carried on holding this burden, watching as Cat made terrible mistakes with boys, trying not to get overly defensive about it. But it was difficult, boys took advantage of her in ways that she didn't understand.

And it wasn't until their finally year at Hollywood Arts, when Cat came rushing over to him, tears flooding her eyes, gulping for breath as she buried her head into his shirt and bawled her eyes out, because yet another boy had dumped her.

It was the same thing every time, a boy would think Cat was cute, then he would ask her out. Then she would rant and rave to Robbie, who sat there rigidly, his lips sewn shut, nodding occasionally. Then right on cue, Cat would get a text, the boy had gotten what he wanted from her and was no longer interested. So she would wail to Robbie about how unfair it was, and she didn't understand how every boy could do this to her.

But today was different, something snapped inside of Robbie. Maybe it was he had finally been worn down, the years of keeping his thoughts unsaid had reached it capacity, because he could he sense them spilling over board. He was vexed at her, annoyed that she was so perfect to him, hating the fact that he still thought she looked cute even when her face was blotchy and her eyes where bloodshot, her tears tinted black from her mascara. She couldn't see it, she couldn't see what was staring her right in the face.

So he pushed her back and slammed his locker door, unable to look at her.

She didn't understand because he had never reacted this way to her before. Normally he would take her by the hand and lead her out of the school towards the Asphalt Café. He always bought her some hot chocolate with the tiny marshmallows. Then he would rub her back soothingly as she wept, saying comforting words about how amazing she was and that she would find another guy in no time.

But this time was different, this time he couldn't even look at her.

"You are so blind."

The words escaped his lips, and he walked away from her, leaving her completely and utterly confused. The crowd of students watched the action between the two best friends, some shaking their heads sadly, wondering if they should fill her in, because it was obvious to everyone else... the problem was it wasn't clear to the only person who mattered. Confused and embarrassed, the little redhead rush for the janitors closest, a place where she could hide away from all the staring eyes. Robbie wasn't like this, he was her best friend. So she had to ask herself;

So why was he acting so strange?

Helloooo yes i am doing a high school story :o shock horror!

Thought it would make a nice change from fantasy.

Anyway this is a work in progress so tell me what you would like to see!

Sweeney7760