Page 1 of Wallflower

CHAPTER 1

If you love someone, you should tell them.

I didn't remember where I'd first heard it. But that was one of the main themes of nearly every romance book, movie, TV show, I'd ever read or seen.

And believe me, I'd seen a lot.

Despite being a total introvert and invisible to the other students of Durham High, I was for all intents and purposes, a romance connoisseur. My expertise didn't come from real life experience, but I knew the way things worked. Girls and guys were supposed to bottle up their feelings, keep everything very close to the chest, until one day, something happens to set the ball in motion.

Well, I'd had a secret crush for a long time and today was the day that I confessed.

The love letter I'd written and edited about a hundred times before it was perfect was in my pocket. Granted it wasn't written with any particular person in mind. And I'd started it in fifth grade when I'd first discovered the wonder of boys, hence why it had gone through a good deal of revisions. At seventeen, my thoughts about love were much different than they'd been back then. But…I'd written it for my ideal guy.

The guy who I fell for, I knew, would always appreciate my words and feelings.

And I thought I'd finally found him.

My crush, Tyson McCormack, was sweet, funny, and such a good person. A few years ago, he and his parents had even rescued a dog from the animal shelter where I volunteered, which made him golden in my eyes. He also happened to be gorgeous, like Hemsworth-level hot—though I kind of wished he wasn't.

I mean who wouldn't be intimidated by that much gorgeousness?

My hand went immediately to my hair, trying to smooth it out once again. The long locks were a dark mahogany brown that matched my eyes. I ran my damp palms against my favorite pair of jeans, tugged on the hem of my oversized "Must Love Dogs" t-shirt before fidgeting with the zipper of the hoodie I wore over it. A lot of girls at DHS were model thin. But I'd never fit that mold of perfection. My C-cups and wider-than-they-should-be hips made sure of that. Tyson, though, was the epitome of male perfection. If he hadn't been so good looking, maybe I would've approached him sooner.

But like I said, today was the big day.

The day I, Viola Kent, confessed my love.

Ty was moving all the way across the world to South Korea, where his dad had just gotten stationed, so yeah, this would literally be my last chance to tell him how I felt. It should be quick and painless. The humiliation, if there was any, would be brief since he was moving away anyway. Little to no ramifications or risk involved. And afterward, I could go back to being invisible, keeping my head down, trying to make it through senior year.

I swallowed, glanced up and down the empty hallway. No sign of him yet. Checking the time again, I knew practice should've ended five minutes ago. And before you start thinking I'm some kind of stalker, no, I didn't memorize his entire schedule.

Well, not on purpose anyway.

My dad was the Durham High head soccer coach, so of course, I knew what time the team's practice let out. Any second now, Ty would round that corner—hopefully alone—and then I'd tell him how I felt and give him the letter.

Palms sweating, licking my lips, I forced myself to wait, to go through with it, to confess.

This was obviously a side-effect of watching too many K-dramas. I knew I shouldn't have binged so many of them, but they were like crack candy for romance addicts. One episode just led to another and another and another….and before you knew it, you were 10 episodes deep in a series you just had to finish and get that promised HEA.

I sighed, rethinking my crazy plan for the millionth time. What did I even expect to happen here? That we'd start some kind of epic pen pal romance? If we did, I thought, it would definitely have to involve letters and postcards, not just email and texts. Real words on paper were so personal, much more romantic. And who didn't love to get mail? That would actually be kind of awesome…but highly unlikely. My fight or flight instincts rose. Seriously, why was I even doing this? I was just about to flee—when the door to the boys locker room opened.

Footsteps sounded, coming this way down the hall, but it wasn't Ty who stopped in front of me.

"Waiting for someone?"

My heart calmed, breath coming back to normal as I frowned. "Not you," I said.

"Ah now, that's not very nice, flower. What did I ever do to you?"

With a sigh, I said, "I've asked you before not to call me that."

Dare Frost lifted his lips in a slow smile. "I know. But it just fits you so well."

My heart skipped, and I cursed internally. Yes, okay, Dare Frost was gorgeous. That smile had been known to wreak havoc, devastating members of Durham High's female population, breaking hearts left and right. And his gaze was so rarely directed at me, of course, I stuttered a bit. But that was no excuse. His teeth were, admittedly, perfect, paired with lips I'd heard other girls call "totally kissable". But the strong chin, the dark hair and those sky blue eyes? They were so unnecessary. The only thing that saved him from being too perfect was a large nose that was almost too big for his face. Add in his air of confidence that bordered on cocky, and Dare Frost was a big deal here at Durham High.

But he'd always been too much for me.

I crossed my arms, looking away. "I actually am waiting for someone. So, if you could please go now, that would be nice."

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