Jack Ramsey. The last person I ever wanted to see walk into the room just did. There's always that one kid no one likes, and who knows no one likes him, but still thinks he's the shit. That's Jack Ramsey. He's a rocking douche who is convinced that women bow down to his greatness for no reason other than he feels entitled to it. The sad thing is, it's kind of worked. He worked his way through a string of girls last year, each one regretting it immediately afterwards. I don't know how he did it but I'm feeling especially glad that Iris is sitting next to me and not him.
"Sorry I'm late," he said, no apology anywhere in his voice.
"Sit down," Mr. Norman replied, "And listen to the bell from now on."
Jack slid his way along the desks, his eyes roving over the girls in the classroom. It was disgusting. The only way it could have been creepier was if he was actively licking his lips while doing it. His eyes rested on Iris and the tongue actually did come out and I felt close to vomiting. Iris was too busy pulling things out of her backpack to notice. I gave Jack the death-stare, which he returned in equal measure. We did not like each other. I know, shocker, but he had a special hatred for me. I had stopped him from trying to hook up with a girl last year and he had never forgiven me.
He slammed down into the seat at the table behind us. Oh, joy, an entire year of this.
"As I was saying," Mr. Norman continued, throwing an irritated glance at Jack, "If you'll look under your tables, you'll find your textbooks for the year..."
There was no chance to talk to Iris for the rest of class, as Mr. Norman kept a good running monologue throughout the majority of it, but that just meant there was less chance that Jack would try to break into the conversation. Mr. Norman turned out to be a pretty cool guy. It happens.
The bell rang and before I could even stand, I heard Craig say, "Jack, if you're not going to pay attention to the pretty girl next to you, I will."
I grimaced. Okay, I'll rescind something I said earlier. I can kind of see how Jack got with so many girls. He had a ton of 'charming' one-liners and the ability to make them sound sincere. He'd keep it up until the girl fell for it and after he was done with her, it was time to wipe your chin, say, "Thank you sir", and leave. And yes, that is exactly as creepy as you think it is. Welcome to Jack Ramsey.
Iris blushed a little. Well, damn, if I had just fricking complimented her in homeroom, maybe she wouldn't listen to it. "Thanks," she said, glancing at him.
"No problem," he grinned, "If people haven't been telling you that enough, I certainly will." Ugh. Cree-py.
I swung my backpack onto my shoulders with a loud thump and stalked out of the classroom. They wouldn't have time for a full conversation but he was in her brain now. I knew what he was going to do and...well, I had stopped him once before. I might just have to stop him again. I actually liked this girl, not just because she was beautiful but because she was funny and charming and seemed like a nice person. Did I know a lot about her? No. Were my reasons for wanting her away from Jack basically selfish? Yes. But...okay, I was being selfish. But Jack would be far worse and even if she didn't end up wanting to date me, I'd be fine with that. Disappointed, but fine.
I mulled about it for half an hour through my English class (something about American Literature, I don't know. I filed most of what was said in the back of my brain for later review) until the bell rang and we were dismissed to lunch. My bad luck continued there as well. My parents forgot to fill my lunch account with money so I had to pay with cash. Cash that I had been saving up for a new video game. Ugh. Great.
Whatever they say about you appreciating what you have when you buy it with your own money is a lie. Or maybe it's just that the cardboard cut-out pizza and lumpy mashed potatoes aren't as appetizing as the lunchroom staff thinks they are. Dash waved me over from one of the tables and I slid down into the seat.
"How's the day going, buddy?" he asked.
"It goes and goes and never stops," I replied. I scanned the lunchroom, looking for familiar faces. Luke wasn't here but Ericka from earlier was, surrounded by a swarm of her female admirers. She caught my eye for a second and raised an eyebrow. I looked hurriedly away. She must still remember that stupid contact from earlier.
As I looked away, I caught sight of someone sitting by themselves at one of the far tables. It was Iris. I was used, or at least sort of used, to seeing her by now but the breath was still checked in my throat as I stared at her. She was concentrating hard on her food, the image of uncomfortable loneliness.
Dash noticed me staring and turned. "You looking at that girl?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said, "Her name's Iris. She's in a few of my classes and her family moved in next to mine a couple weeks ago."
"And she's not over sitting with us right now...why?"
Good question. "I don't know."
Well, dumbass, it's because your dumb ass hasn't gone over there yet and invited her over. Get moving."
Dash was much more straightforward than Luke was. Luke would have teased me longer before making the suggestion. "Maybe I will," I mused.
"Action before words, Mike N Ike." He seized my lunch tray and yanked it away. "No food for you until you've gone over there."
I didn't need the incentive but I guess the encouragement was nice...sort of. I got up and was on my way over there when someone else beaned out of the serving area and over to Iris. Jack. Jack F**king Ramsey. He bent down to speak to her and she actually looked pleased to see him. It was obvious he was asking if he could sit with her and, at her nod, he took a chair, throwing a savagely triumphant look at me.
I could feel my heart crumble beneath me. What. An. Asshat.
I don't see her which means no food for you," Dash said when I sat back down. I didn't even have the will to say anything so I just jerked my head to where she was sitting, no longer alone. Dash took one look and hissed through his teeth. "Fricking Jerk," he said, "You want me to take care of it?"
"She wanted him to sit there," I muttered, "Let him sit." Much as I wanted to show what a dank he really was, if I went over there and starting tossing him around, I'd look like the jerk.
Dash put down my tray and slid it over to me but at that point I didn't have an appetite anymore. I pushed it away and glowered at Jack for the rest of lunch.
I didn't even bother paying attention the rest of LA. Something about chapters that needed reading, stuff to think about. Who cares? At least I got to see her next period so maybe I could make up some of the lost ground.
Luke caught up with me halfway to Math class. "How goes it with Iris?" he asked with a grin.
"All right," I said.
"Got her number yet?"
"Before the end of the day, I will. She's in class with us."
"Awesome, bro! I'll clear away the desks around you so you have a seat next to her."
I really did love this guy. "Thanks, man."
No problem. I don't even need a thank-you kiss." And I also hated him.
As promised, Luke made sure to give a very threatening look to anyone who tried to sit in the desks next to mine. I was already going over what I was going to say to her. Jack had all lunch period to shower her with his balogna so I'd have to make sure I wasn't saying anything that he might have said. He only ever focused on physical stuff: how pretty she was, how gorgeous her eyes were, etc. I'd have to focus on other stuff. Make her feel good about who she is, not how she looks. Okay, I'd do that too, but not as much.
My hopes were shattered as soon as she walked in the room. Jack was with her and, worse it looked like he had had his arm around her until a moment before. She smiled and took a seat next to me, with Jack on her other side, giving me a smile with much less charm than hers.
"Son of a—," Luke muttered. He had seen Jack too.
"Good third period?" Iris asked me.
"Meh," I replied. I wasn't angry at her or anything; she had no way of knowing. Just the whole situation ticked me off.
If she was thrown by my monosyllabic response, she didn't show it. "Mine was freaking boring but I got to talk more to Jack during lunch." My stomach and heart both lurched. "He's a real sweet guy. He says you've been best friends since elementary school?"
We may have had a couple play dates back when we were old enough that play dates weren't lame but that was it. "Sure," I said.
"Awesome," she replied, still smiling, "I met two amazing guys on my first day!" Well, that helped a little.
Class started and right off the bat I knew this was going to be a class that required minimum effort. I was really good at math, especially algebra, and glancing through the textbook the teacher handed out, I got through almost half of it before I found anything remotely challenging. I glanced at Iris, who looked far less confident than me. I leaned over and whispered, "You okay?"
She glanced at me and said, "Yeah, just...I might need some help with this."
"Well, I did promise to help you if you needed it."
Her smile was so large and beautiful I could have kissed her there. "Thank you so much, Mike. You're the best."
Suck it, Jack! I'm the best! My spirits were taking a rollercoaster ride today, up and down, up and down, but it looked like the day would finish on a peak. Jack was looking at me from around Iris' head with a venomous look and it took all my control not to respond. Luke tapped my on the back encouragingly.
Class finally wrapped up with no new information to me and finally the day was over. I wanted to walk out with Iris so I could call Jack on his lies until I realized, damn it, that I needed to grab my car keys from my locker. "You coming, Michael?" she asked, standing up.
"In a sec. I need to grab my keys from my locker."
"All right. We'll wait for you out front." Jack's face showed this had not been part of the plan but he pretended to agree when she looked at him.
"Be right back." I hurled down the school corridors, shoving people aside rudely to get to my locker. I all but wrenched it open, tore out my keys, slammed it with enough force to shake the whole row of lockers, and barreled toward the exit. I can't have been gone but two minutes. Nothing big could have happened in two minutes. Please, God, don't let anything big have happened in those two minutes.
Iris was waiting, as promised, outside by one of the pillars that supported the brick awning over the entrance doors. "Got your keys?" she said when she saw me.
"Yeah," I panted, leaning on my knees.
"And the gold medal for the 100-yard dash?" she asked with a grin.
"Well, you're a good reason to hurry," I said without thinking about it. I bit my tongue at once and glanced up, but she seemed pleased by my response.
"Awww, you're sweet!"
"Not really," I said, "Hey, did you want a ride home? I just got to wait for my brother and sister but since we live next door to each other..."
I knew the moment her face fell that I was about to hear something horrible. "Oh, Michael, that's so sweet, but Jack's already offered me a ride and I kind of accepted."
"Oh," I said simply, "Okay."
"I'm really sorry. You're super sweet to ask. Can I see your phone?"
"Sure." I dug it out and handed it to her.
She punched in a number and handed it back to me. "You have my number now. Text me, okay? Heck, we'll probably get home at the same time."
Not if Jack had anything to say about it. "Thanks," I replied, "I'll text you my number."
"Sounds great," she said with a smile, "And thanks for helping make my first day a good one."
"Of course." I gave her a smile back.
A loud horn blared in the parking lot and we turned to see Jack leaning out the window of his Chevy (his parents had helped get him an early license...)
"That's not very polite," I said in disgust.
"No, it isn't," she agreed, "I'll talk to him about that. See you later, Mike!"
"Probably in a couple minutes!" I called after her, looking for confirmation. She smiled and nodded before running to Jack's car. I felt my heart drop as she got in and proceeded to have a lively talk with him.