Wasted

"Zachary Hanson?" Mr. Hagen called out.  

"Present," Zac replied absentmindedly as he twirled his pen through his fingers. Homeroom was always boring, especially on Mondays and the very first day of the 9th grade.  

'KNOCK! KNOCK!' The door to the room opened to reveal a tall girl. Her long blonde haired was tied loosely in a pony-tail, letting a few curls slip out. Her arms were filled with notebooks, one of which looked close to slipping from her grasp. She was beautiful.  

"Name?" Mr. Hagen asked.  

"Kate. Kate Mansfield," she replied nervously.  

"Take a seat Miss. Mansfield," Kate looked around and found a seat right at the front and in the middle row.  

"What time is it Miss. Mansfield?" Mr. Hagen asked as he walked to Kate's seat.  

"Umm...uhh...9:15?" Kate replied.  

"Precisely. The school day starts at 8:55. Therefore, I will detain you 20 minutes after school today to make up for lost time,"  

"Sorry Mr..."  

"Hagen. Mr. Donald Hagen. But you are to call me Mr. Hagen like any other student,"  

Zac studied her. The scared look pasted on her face showed she knew nothing about old man Hagen and therefore, she was a new student. Zac made a mental note to remember her name. It was worth remembering.

"Zac! Dude! Snap out of it!" Zac's friend, Derek, said while waving his hand in front of Zac's face.  

"Huh? Sorrry," Zac said while shaking his head.  

"You looking at that Kate chick?" Derek asked while raising an eyebrow, "'Cause dude, she's a babe!"  

"Yeah, she's cute. Don't know her though, but I wanna know her,"  

"Then go talk to her,"  

"Can't. I'd probably end up like Tay, stuttering everytime I tried to say something to her," Zac snickered being reminded of his older brother, Taylor.  

"You'll never know if you don't go, Zac,"

He watched her from afar as she twirled her blonde hair through her fingers and pulled out a book from the school's library. She flipped through the book and walked to the librarian. He watched Kate talk to her and smile, and giggle and twirl her hair around her fingers. It was cute.  

Almost everyday after school, or during school, Zac followed Kate's every movements. Either Kate was blind or just to thick to see Zachary Hanson's infatuation with her.

"Oh dear Lord," Mrs. Hanson gasped one morning as Zac entered the kitchen.  

"What's up mom?" Zac asked, walking to the refridgerator and taking out the carton of milk.  

"Oh, Zac. I'm sorry. Didn't notice you come in," Mrs. Hanson smiled, looking up from the newspaper, "Just this poor girl was raped and murdered in an alley last night,"  

"Oh, really?" Zac asked, grabbing a glass and pouring himself some milk. He really didn't care what and who was in the newspaper.  

"Yes. It's very sad. Listen, I'll read you the first paragraph," Mrs. Hanson said, "'Kate Maree Mansfield, aged 15, was raped and murdered last night in an alley near her Tulsa home',"  

Hearing Kate's name, made Zac spit his milk back into his glass.  

"Kate Mansfield?" Zac gasped.  

"Yes. Kate Maree Mansfield," Diana said looking at her son, "Why? You know her?"  

"Yeah. I knew her,"  

"You were her friend?"  

"No. I wanted to be though,"  

"Well, then you just wasted your chance,"