Make it Pop: Next Generation

Chapter 2: New Boy?

Megan, Addie, and Jasmine walked into the school, their arms linked in a line of three. They giggled, until they ran into a boy. Jasmine unlinked herself and helped him up. "Sorry about that," she said. "I haven't seen you around before, what's your name?"

"Ashton," the boy replied. "But, people call me Ash for short."

"Ash," Jasmine repeated. "Sweet name. I'm Jasmine, that's Megan, and that's Addie over there."

"Cool," Ash replied. "Could you help me out? I need to get to AP English."

"That's Addie and Jazz's area," Megan said. "If I ever get in an AP class, be ready for the zombie apocalypse."

The girls and Ash laughed. "Well, I don't have AP English," Addie said. "Not until third period."

"I've got it now," Jasmine said. "Follow me. Bye girls!"

"Bye!" Megan and Addie called.

Ash and Jasmine walked to the AP English class. "Good," their teacher, Mrs. Mobley said as they entered. "Jasmine, thank you for showing Ashton here. Ashton, why don't you take a seat next to Jasmine?"

"Sure," he replied, sitting next to the girl.

Jasmine put her head on the desk, her chin touching it so she could look up. Mrs. Mobley began teaching again, but as she passed out worksheets for the sixth graders, she looked over at Jasmine. Now, Mrs. Mobley had taught Jasmine back the year before, because Jasmine took higher level English classes, and she knew Jasmine always smiled. But today, even with the smile on her face, she looked tired and defeated. Mrs. Mobley tapped on her shoulder, and Jasmine followed her out into the hall. After shutting the door tightly, she turned to Jasmine. "Sweetheart," she said. "Is something going on at home?"

Jasmine bit her bottom lip. She knew that her dad was already busy with her, Gemma, and Marco, and she didn't want him to have to come to school or anything and 'talk' to her teacher. She also knew that it didn't even matter, her mom would tell her dad that things would change, promise even, and they never would. It was always the same thing in her house.

Yet, this time, Jasmine couldn't bite her lip for long. It was only her first day of middle school, her first class for that matter, and she was already fighting the urge to cry. She looked up at Mrs. Mobley helplessly. "My mom is never home," she said, her voice breaking. "And my dad has had to do everything and fix everything in our family since I was like, four. He had to explain things he never should have to Gemma, and she's had to explain so much to me. My dad basically has raised us on his own, I never see my mom, she always takes off before I get up and she isn't home until I fall asleep," Jasmine burst out.

Jasmine was now crying, and her teacher wrapped her in a hug. "Oh my goodness," she said. "Come on, would you like me to call your dad?"

Jasmine shook her head. "I don't want him to have to deal with anything else in my life," she said. "He's already dealing with my mom, and my brother and sister."

"I know," Mrs. Mobley said. "You know, maybe you and Gemma need to have a girl to girl moment, I'm gonna get her and you in the counselors' office."

Jasmine nodded, and headed toward the office. She handed the counselor the note Mrs. Mobley had written for her, and waited. About five minutes later, Gemma walked into the room. She didn't say anything, she just hugged Jasmine. It surprised her. She expected Gem to come in and say something like, "I can't believe you're being such a baby, no wonder you're the youngest," or, "That was so embarrassing! I am going to kill you!"

But she didn't, she just hugged her younger sister. Jasmine just began to cry, she never cried, but today she couldn't help it. Gemma rubbed her back soothingly. And that was how they stayed until the bell rang. They never said anything, neither even attempted to speak, but Gemma calmed her younger sister down, and soon enough, her breathing was normal again. Gemma took a tissue and wiped her sister's cheeks. She smiled at her sister, and Jasmine smiled back, this time, not a fake smile to falsely tell everyone she was okay, a smile to reassure her sister that she was going to be okay. She wasn't okay yet, but she was going to.

She ran to math class, not wanting to be late. Ash was sitting in the seat next to her. Oh great, she thought. What am I supposed to tell him?

Ash looked at her in a weird way, as if asking her what was wrong. She shook her head.

While doing a math problem, a piece of paper landed on her desk. She opened it.

You okay? What happened?

Jasmine picked up her pen and wrote an answer for him, and their conversation went on like so.

Family issues

What do you mean?

My mom is never home

Oh, I'm sorry, are you okay?

Not really

Hey, do you wanna talk about it?

No

Okay, I'm not gonna force you into anything, but I do have a question

Ask away

Can I sit with you at lunch? I got nowhere else to go

Sure

Ash smiled at Jasmine, and she gave a small smile back. The teacher coughed, as if giving a warning, and the two go back to work.

Hope you guys like chapter 2! Pay attention to the colors of the names on the siblings and the colors on the names on the cover. Don't forget to comment and vote!

Thank you and Lacey!