Ahhhh. A new school year. A place to start over, a time to make new friends and forget old differences. Alex was looking forward to the first class of the new school year, when he was finally a senior and almost out of school. Besides, there were plenty of new freshman who were young, innocent and naïve, all of whom were totally hot, or had that freshly scrubbed look of a late bloomer beginning to flower.

Alex pulled up to the curb in his new Mustang, exhaust pipes booming and the headers pinging from the barely bridled horsepower. His stepfather had purchased it for him as an early graduation present, and had even sprung for a few of the nifty tricks on the pony car. Alex got out, and strode up to his friends, slapping high fives to the guys of the group and giving a hug and kiss to the few girls there. He half listened to his friend Jimmy's story of how he managed to wrap his truck around a tree over the summer - he was too busy checking out the crop of newbies as they huddled around the posted class lists. He noticed a particularly cute girl studying the senior list, and since he didn't recognize her, he excused himself from his friends and strolled over to her to say hello.

"Hi, I'm Alex," he said, reaching out his hand for a handshake when the girl turned and saw him there. "I haven't seen you here before, so you must be new - do you need a hand with anything?"

"Well, let's see... I've got two hands, and that should really be enough. No thanks." The girl spun around and strode off, leaving Alex standing there with his hand still outstretched.

Alex just stood there, unbelieving of the girl's rudeness. He would have continued to stand there until the first bell had he not noticed a freshman staring at him from a few yards away. She was laughing quietly.

"Can I help you?" he asked, rather irritably.

"Actually, it seems to me that you are the one who needs the help," the girl responded.

"And I suppose you are the one to help me out, right? Yeah, no thanks, I'll figure something else out." Alex started to turn away to return to his friends. He still had to explain the first girl's reaction to the watching group.

"Wait!" The girl grabbed his arm. "I'm sorry, I wasn't meaning to insult you." She stopped for a minute. "I know that girl, and no guy is good enough for her, if you know what I mean." She raised her eyebrows and Alex understood her meaning immediately.

"That sure explains things some." He glanced off in the direction that the first girl left in. He looked back at the second girl. For the first time, Alex really noticed just how attractive she was. She was a short brunette, her thick long hair pulled back neatly. She was dressed well, with a tight sweater and jeans that hugged every curve on her body in just the right way, both hiding her delicate flesh and accentuating her near-flawless form. Her well-shaped breasts strained against the fabric of her knit sweater, and rose and fell gorgeously to the pace of each breath.

"What's your name?" he finally asked.

"Lauren. And you are Alex." She responded quickly, sure of her answer.

"Yeah, I am, but how did you know that?" Alex pondered how a freshman knew who he was without any introduction - did his reputation precede him that much? And was that a good or bad thing?

"You dated one of my friends last year. She talked about you constantly, and she showed me some pictures you took together during spring break." Her eyes flicked down to the front of his pants as she said that. "You know, the ones from spring break."

Alex did know - she was supposed to have destroyed them right after they were developed. Apparently she hadn't, and Alex could feel his face turning red. He opened his mouth to reply, but his question was drowned out by the first bell of the day ringing directly overhead.

Students began to pour into the school, bumping by Alex and Lauren, who began to separate due to the flood of people. Lauren caught his eye before she disappeared from sight. "Meet me at lunch, okay?" Then she was forced around the corner before he could reply.

Alex walked back to his friends to retrieve his bag from his car, all the while thinking about what Lauren may have seen in those pictures. He and his former girlfriend had paid a photographer to snap a few stills of the two of them on the beach, but as they drank more, the pictures became more and more explicit as the alcohol loosened inhibitions on both ends. The photographer didn't care, he was still being paid. When the pictures arrived completely developed, Alex first thought it wasn't him, but then he saw his tattoo and realized exactly how drunk he had been. The pictures could have easily competed with Hustler as far as sheer risqué factor.

As a result of Lauren telling him what she had seen, Alex couldn't really concentrate on his classes or on anything his new teachers said, or his friends, or anything for that matter. Besides the worry he had, Lauren had intrigued him, and he found himself placing her image into the mental recording of the pictures that were taken. Lunch time finally arrived, and he wasted no time in hunting Lauren down, finally finding her seated underneath a maple tree, delicately eating an apple.

"There you are - I looked everywhere for you!" He stood over her, forcing her to look up and shield her eyes from the autumn sun.

"Well, you found me. Why don't you have a seat, so I don't have to look into the sun?" She patted the ground next to her, which Alex quickly sat down on. "Before you ask, yes, it is a good thing your ex was talking about you. She has nothing but praise for you. She blames herself for your breakup."

"How did you know I was going to ask that?" Alex was a little surprised.

"I'm a smart girl; you'll figure that out for yourself soon enough." Lauren offered Alex a bite of her apple, her fingers lingering a little on his hand as he accepted the fruit. She watched him take a bite, and then opened her mouth again. "You know, she said some pretty flattering things about you."

Alex swallowed the bite of apple before responding. "Really? Like what?" He settled back against the tree after returning the apple to Lauren.

"Well," Lauren started, finishing her apple. She dusted off her hands and turned to look him in the eye. "She did say you were a very good kisser. She also said you were great in bed, but that you could be selfish from time to time."

Alex was slightly shocked at her directness and blunt statements. He was going to have to get used to being off-balance around her. "Selfish, huh? How do you mean?"

"She said she would always go down on you, but you would never go down on her."

"How could I? The girl never trimmed her hair - wait a minute, I cannot believe I am having this conversation with you!" Alex got up from his seat next to Lauren and walked away a small distance, arms outstretched.

Lauren laughed aloud. "Why, you don't think you make me nervous talking about pubic hair, do you?" She patted the ground again, and he retook his seat next to her.

"Well, no, but it is a strange topic, especially since I only met you this morning." Alex was once again surprised at how forward she was being. At the same time, though, he was finding it to be an endearing quality. "Well, she never shaved her bikini line, and she, well, didn't exactly have fresh meat on the market, you know what I mean?" He wrinkled his nose to illustrate his meaning.

The bell rang to signal the end of lunch, and both Alex and Lauren stood to leave. Lauren turned to pick up her bag and touched Alex's arm. "I need a ride home today. Do you think you can give me one?"

"Uh, I don't know, I usually don't give rides on the first date..." Alex smiled jokingly. "Maybe I'll let you ride me, I mean my car, some other day."

Lauren punched him in the arm. "Ha ha, funny guy! I'll meet you at your car after school, okay?" She leaned closer to him. "I always ride on the first date," she whispered into his ear.

Alex turned his head to look at her, and when he did, she kissed him on the lips, teasing them lightly with her tongue. When he opened his lips to respond, she broke away, and laughing, trotting off to class, leaving Alex to stare openmouthed at her. He stood mesmerized at watching her rear end swaying as she walked away, her ass shifting from side to side in an exquisite manner.

"No way that just happened," he said to himself, as he picked up his backpack and walked into school.

If anyone had thought he was out of it this morning, they would think he was on a completely different planet that afternoon. A few teachers asked their normally verbose student if he was alright, or if he was sick; he managed to respond normally, but his mind was filled with other scenarios, rather than the ones about history or mathematics that he was being asked about. Despite the ruminations of his active imagination, he still had no idea what was in store for him in the next few days. The final bell seemed to take forever to ring, and as soon as it did, he was the first one out the door, waving off his friends and nearly sprinting to his car.

Lauren was already there waiting for him, leaning against the front of his Mustang. Alex hurriedly opened the rear hatch of the car, placing Lauren's bag inside, then opening the passenger door so she could get in. He admired her trim figure as she seated herself inside, then closed the door, walking around to the other side to get in himself. He shook his head, trying to see if he was dreaming - when he sat down and looked over to the passenger seat, he realized he was not.

Not coincidentally, throughout the day, Lauren had been just as distracted as Alex was. He had looked so embarrassed that morning when that other girl had been so rude to him and she had felt truly sorry for him. Lauren had recognized Alex the moment she saw him, from what her friend had told her of him, and the few pictures that she had kept of him throughout their breakup didn't really do him justice.

Alex was tall and was blessed with a solid frame that the football coaches loved for their linebackers to have, and because of his size, he looked simply obscene with full pads on. Some had commented that he looked like some NFL players did and most colleges had at least given him a call to show their interest in the young man. Most of his friends called him "the Silverback," because he had natural leading talent, and he looked very much like a gorilla, at least in size, anyway. Alex's spare time was usually spent at the gym or exercising somehow.