Truth told, his first instinct was the girl two seats ahead and one towards the window from him in his first period class, Megan Long. She had blonde hair with dark roots, frosted tips, mid-length hair. Kind of a messy-chic that he saw from behind more often than not. Curvy but not thicc, with soft features and a tendency to wear clothes just a little snug. She wore too much makeup, and had a bit of a prissy attitude most of the time. She didn't like him much.
At the very end of last year, it was rumored that she got pregnant by her on-again, off-again boyfriend, whom she dumped on the last day of school. The notion captured his imagination all summer long, and he couldn't wait to see what truth came of it come September. When school started and she wasn't showing, an entire summer of fantasy came to nought.
His eyes moved to the left one, catching on another girl hard at work chewing on her pencil. Cherie Fircrest. She'd been a staple in his life since kindergarten, when she lived down the street in the apartments at the end of the block. Her dad was the chief of police in town, a big African American man; her mother was reportedly part Shawnee. This gave Cherie a look that stood out from the norm- features that marked her as different, but pretty. He'd had an eye on her since as long as he could remember.
She had been friends with him, back when they lived close together, until her parents moved into a house outside of town. Overnight, she stopped talking to him, stopped looking at him. It was as if her moving had made her a different person. She was a very smart girl, always receiving top marks in class, and as Connor was at best a B-student, it was one more thing driving a wedge between them.
It was here that Nicole Hulitzer, the twin sister of his best friend Nick Hulitzer, hit him in the back of the head with her ruler. "Hey Connerd- you got some paper I can borrow?"
Connor frowned and turned towards her, "You're out of paper already? What the hell, Nicole... are you eating it or something?"
Choose one! came the voice, more commanding this time. He didn't really have time to think about a response- the name just popped into his head: