She Always Hated The Cold.

Jess

PE. I shuddered in mute horror as I glanced down at my new school schedule. I was a relatively non-active individual, and as such, PE sounded absolutely dreadful. Unfortunately, it was a necessary evil. It was apart of some kind of new law that out of 26 credits, PE was one of the ones that was necessary to graduate. I looked over the rest of my schedule: Pre-Calc, Floral Design, English 4, Academic Studies, Pharmacology, Lunch, Government, and PE. At least PE was at the end of the day. I could deal with that.

My first class, pre-calc, was in room 524. I grabbed my school map, and made my way down the semi-crowded halls. Countdown: 15 minutes until class. I made my way to the right room, and waited for my teacher, Mr. Coulder, to finish speaking to another student. A boy, with shortish raven hair, and who was slightly taller than me, but that was all I could notice; his back was to me. He wore a black leather jacket and smelled slightly of cigarettes.

“If you just applied yourself, you’d easily pass this course with a high A.” He said in a soft-yet-firm voice. I internally rolled my eyes. So he was one of those teachers. We might have some issues.

“No offense, Mr. C, but there are things that happen outside of this classroom that you know nothing about. I’m just trying to pass. Thanks for your help. I'll come in again tomorrow morning, I'm not really understanding lesson 3.4." He remarked in a respectful tone. He tucked his binder against his chest and left the room. Cute butt.

“Can I help you, miss?” Coulder asked with a warm smile.

“I’m Jessie, I’m new.” I smiled, straightening my posture, and handing him the copy of my schedule. While he looked it over, I looked around the room. Tons of cheesy “Motivational” posters lined the walls. My eyes didn’t linger long.

“Well welcome to Bellevue High! Let me see…” He trailed off, pulling out a seating chart. “Looks like we have a spot available in the back right corner. And if that spot doesn’t strike your fancy, everyone gets to re-choose their spots in two weeks.”

“Cool. Thank you.” I said, taking my schedule back, and making my way to my new seat. Awesome terminology. 'Strike your fancy'. Unique.

I got out my binder in preparation for the beginning of class, and doodled for the remaining ten minutes. A sleeping puppy, zombie bride and bird in flight later, a girl with pretty straight black hair took her seat next to me.

“Hi there!” She smiled. “New to the school, or to the class?” She asked as she unpacked her things. So far, so good. People seem friendly...

“Well, both.” I smiled, pushing my chestnut-colored bangs behind my ear.

“And what do you think so far?” She asked, turning to face me. She was pretty; simple pink V-neck shirt, with white capris and white flats. Thickish black eyeliner and plenty of mascara and nude lips, with edgy gauges. Cool ones that looked like they were filled with blood. Totally crush-worthy. And totally nice! She looked the stuck-up-bitch, semi-angry-at-the-world, yet I'm-still-cuter-than-you type.

“Well, in the half hour I’ve been here, I have no complaints. Scratch that, the halls are a little crowded…” I said, crossing my ankles.

“Oh, man, I’ve GOT to show you the back halls. Way less crowded. Most people are too stupid to use them.” She rolled her eyes, then gasped, her well-groomed eyebrows raising. She leaned forward and touched my hair, which, today, was straight with a plain black headband. “Is your hair blue?” I noticed her nails matched her shirt. A pretty pale pink.

“Yeah, so far it’s my favorite like this.” My hair was currently chestnut brown on top with a denim-like blue underneath. Not too out there, but out there enough.

“Rad. What other colors have you done? I've been thinking about doing a light pink, but I'm not sure if it would suit me."

“Ladies?” Mr. C said. “If you’d be so kind to allow us to start class, distraction-free?”

“No problem, Mr. Coulder. Sorry!" She said, turning to face the front. I settled in to listen and take some notes. A moment later, a folded sheet of paper landed on my desk. I discreetly unfolded it, not wanting to get into trouble on my first day. I’M HADLEY, BY THE WAY :) It read. JESS I replied.

The rest of class we were good and took notes. I even raised my hand a time or two. The bell rang, and everyone except Hadley and I rushed out the door.

“Where’s your next class?” She asked, cerulean eyes focusing on my dark green ones.

“Um, 713. Floral Design.” I replied, brushing my hair behind my shoulder and readjusting my headband, which honestly, was starting to give me a headache.

“Total blow off class. I’ll walk you.” She replied as we started out the door.

“You don’t have to do that; I have a map.” I protested.

“It’s on the way.” She insisted.

“Alright.”

When I arrived in Floral Design Hadley and I parted ways. "I'll see you later?" She asked, resting all of her weight on one side and cocking her head.

"For sure. Here," I took her hand and scribbled my number on it. "Text me if you wanna hang or chat."

"Will do." She nodded. "Make good choices." She left, grinning a farewell.

The rest of the day was super lame, and a lot of people had no desire to give me the time of day which was fine. Most just ignored me. Guess I was wrong about the friendly kids.

Finally, I arrived to the last class of the day. Dreaded PE. I walked in, and for the 7th time that day, introduced myself to the teacher. “Bring clothes to work out in tomorrow, and we’ll get you a locker then. Until that point, have a seat over there.” He pointed to a wall where non-participants were sitting. To the point. I dug it. A boy with raven hair (the same boy?) sat alone. I sat next to him, and set my stuff next to me. We sat in silence for a few minutes.

“So, um, what kind of stuff do we do in here?” I asked him, hoping I wasn’t bothering him. He turned to look at me, and unplugged a headphone. He had a pleasant, earthy smell... That smelled slightly of cigarettes. Same boy as this morning.

“They,” He started, “Play different sports. Volleyball at the moment. We just got done with badminton. I, sit here.” He gestured to his spot.

“Why? If you don’t mind me asking.” This boy was attractive in an understated way. Structured nose, cute, small teeth, and absolutely beautiful hazel eyes. It wasn’t the kind of attractiveness someone more… superficial (?) might go for. Unique, was a better word. He had a very unique look that played well on my eyes.

“Not my thing. Not athletic.” He said dismissively. I nodded, and we again sat in silence. He broke the silence a few minutes later. “So, what do you like to do?” He asked, full attention on me.

“Like, for fun?” I asked, twirling my hair as I pondered it. “I like art, and music... and I’m kind of an ace at Call of Duty.”

“What about art and music do you like?” He asked, getting slightly excited, his voice sounding like pure honey. I would've thought it would be more scratchy for a smoker.

“Well, I’m a painter. Amateur, by the way; most of it is complete shit. But I also like just admiring other people’s work. Like museums. It’s like… I’m not sure… Like looking into someone else’s mind. And I play the bass. Well, I can play the bass. I'm not in a band or anything. I guess I just like how different instruments can just come together and sound well. Creating something new out of different sources. It’s kinda strange to me. But yet again, a lot of things are strange to me.” I finished with a light shrug.

“Bass.” He grinned. “I tried guitar, but I’m pretty bad at it. And I totally get what you mean about the art. I take this class twice a month downtown, and basically, we’ll spend two or three hours just painting, sketching, whatever your preferred medium is, and then we’ll hang them up without signing them, and guess the back story to their work. Ya know, what feelings inspired the outcome. It’s nicely therapeutic.” He said. I noticed he got this… something, this twinkle in his eye when he spoke about art. “Especially when they hit the nail on the head.”

“Sounds really cool. I’m just not too sure I’d want people trying to get inside my head.” I admitted.

“It’s not so bad.” He shrugged. "Especially if you've got demons."

“Well maybe I’ll check it out. Could be a nice way to blow off some steam.” Actually, the more I thought about it, the cooler it sounded. I tended to sometimes be a bit of a hot head.

“You should. It might be cool to see someone I know there.” He nodded encouragingly.

“Might?” I questioned.

“Well, I’ve never seen anyone I know there, so… my friends aren't as into art as I am. More the music type. They dig the music scene more. Nothing wrong with that."

“Ah.”

“Yeah.” Our conversation had come to a standstill, but it wasn’t awkward. Just a nice, comfortable, silence. A few minutes later, the bell rang, dismissing me from this building. As I stood, I put in a headphone and pressed play to whatever I had last listened to. “Now what would be the fastest way home…” I pondered to myself.

“Where you headed?” The boy asked.

“Glenview Parks?”

“Ah. Me too. I’ll walk you?” He asked.

“Eh, sure.” I agreed. We walked out of the gym, one headphone each, following the rhythm of the rushing students. We’d taken maybe 10 steps outside the building before the boy was stopped.

“Gerard! Hey dude, slow down!” A voice yelled, causing my escort, whose name was apparently Gerard, to stop and turn. I reciprocated. “You know how hard it is for my tiny ass legs to catch up? Oh, and you have a lady with you?” His eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Had I just transferred to an awesome school on accident, or was I just meeting all of the attractive kids on accident? This kid blew Hadley and Gerard out of the water. He was a green eyed, dark haired beaut who was just my height and had a killer nose ring.

“Yeah, this is…” He trailed off, realizing he don't know my name.

“Jessie.” I grinned, sticking out my hand. The boy shook my hand.

“Frank.” He introduced with an easygoing smile.

“Yeah, anyways, I’m just walking her home. She’s new, and lives in my neighborhood.” Gerard explained.

“Oh, sweet. I’ll go with you guys.” He said. We all made our way in the right direction, and I listened to the boys talk about things that didn’t really apply to me, but kept me interested nonetheless.

“Ok. Girls opinion needed.” Gerard said. I realized I had spaced out, because I had no idea what they were talking about that had brought that on.

“Sure. Shoot.”

“So I have this friend, and this friend just got out of a relationship. The girl is a total knockout, but is totally into another dude, but is also really clingy with my friend. It’s obvious. So my friend breaks it off, and the next thing he knows, she’s sending him a picture of her and the dude fucking. What do you think?”

“First off, ew. Second, I think she sounds like a spiteful bitch who was just mad she couldn’t have two at once.” I shrugged.

“Sweet. You made the right decision.” Gerard patted Frank on the back. Oh. Him. Yeah, good thing I said that. The boys stopped around a corner and pulled out a pack of smokes. They each lit up, and Frank offered one to me.

“Uh, sure. Thanks.” I smiled, taking it, even though I’d never smoked a day in my life. I lit it, and took a slow drag, and instantly regretted it. A million ants bit the inside of my lungs at once, and I coughed and sputtered like an idiot, grabbing my chest.

“Whoa, killer, take it easy.” Gerard said, patting my back. “New smoker?”

When I could breath I nodded. Honestly, I felt a little sick. “Yeah.”

“Try it slower this time, and not such a deep inhale.” Frank advised. I nodded, and tried again, though I really didn't want to. Easier, but I still coughed a little. “There you go.” He praised, rubbing my back in big circles. I did my best to hide my smile, but I couldn’t hide my flirty eyes.

“Thanks.” I said, taking another drag. Easier still. Eventually, we all finished our cigarettes and headed back the way we were going.

“God damn, did I need a cigarette.” Gerard exhaled.

“You said it; Today was fucking unbearable.” Frank agreed. We approached my house.

“Well this is me. What lunch do you guys have?”

“6th." Gerard answered.

“Sweet. Maybe I’ll see you there.” I suggested.

“Yeah, come sit with us. I’d be insulted if you didn’t.” Frank winked, and the boys walked off, continuing their conversation. Swoon! But I needed to get to know him more. I only knew his name, and that he was amazingly cute. He could be a total dick for all I knew. Current mission: Get to know Frank.

Notes

If you think you know what is going to happen in this story, think again. Totally interested in thoughts, if you care to share!
Thank you for giving this a chance.