"Are you going to eat that?"
I glanced between my plate of untouched fries and Jenna who was staring at them longingly, before pushing the plate towards her. "Help yourself." I didn't know why I had bothered getting lunch anyway. My stomach had been in knots all day and I had no idea why.
Jenna sent me a big smile and happily dug into the plate without as much as a thank you. One thing I had learnt about her during the few lunches we had shared together, was that she had absolutely no manners. Another thing I had learnt, was how freaking hilarious she was.
Sure, she had a bit of a tough exterior, but she was decent company when you gave her the chance. Well, overseeing the little incident this morning where she told Freddie Dorfman to go suck a dick - pardon my French - after he had been staring at her for too long. I'd never seen that boy blush so much in my life.
"So," I muttered as I took a sip from my apple juice "are you joining any clubs this year?"
Jenna raised her eyebrows at me and asked "Clubs?" with a mouth full of chewed fries. I quickly averted my eyes, feeling a little sickened at the sight.
"Yeah, you know, the drama club and stuff. Signups are being held tomorrow during lunch."
Jenna seemed to ponder it for a moment, and luckily swallowed her fries before talking this time "Is there a boxing club?" she asked.
I frowned, Jenna was into boxing? My eyes quickly assessed her tiny frame, which looked like it belonged on the runway rather than in a boxing ring. "Not that I know of." I told her.
"Too bad." She said and shoved another fry into her mouth "My brother would've loved that."
I frowned "Your brother goes here?"
"Oh god, no." Jenna shook her head "I would go out of my mind. I used to go to school with him back in San Francisco, but he started college two years ago. Best thing that ever happened to me."
"Why? Don't you guys get along?" I asked her curiously. I had always wanted a sibling, so I didn't understand why people complained about theirs.
"Oh no, we get along fine. He's just a little overbearing." She sighed "It literally took him ten minutes to hunt down the first guy that ever asked me out and smash his face into a locker. Never been asked out since."
That surprised me. Jenna was really pretty, so her brother must be a scary guy.
"Anyway," she continued "he's really into fighting, and he keeps pushing me to get some lessons myself. So I can "protect myself"." She mockingly mimicked her brother's voice while making air quotations with her fingers.
"Why doesn't he just teach you himself?" I asked her as I picked up a fry off the plate and chewed on it to busy myself.
"He claims he doesn't want to hurt me. But I think he's just too scared of getting his ass kicked by a girl." Jenna grinned and flicked her pink locks over her shoulder with an effortless shrug, causing me to smile.
"So, are you joining any clubs then?" Jenna asked as he finished up the last few fries on the plate and pushed it away from herself, obviously not intending to clean it up.
My face instantly lit up "Yeah, I'm joining the school paper." Even though I was a little shy about sharing my work, I had to start putting myself out there if I wanted to earn a scholarship into the University of Iowa. They had one of the best creative writing programs in the world and it would be a dream come true to attend there.
"You're into writing?" Jenna asked curiously.
I opened my mouth, intent on telling her about my biggest passion when I was interrupted by the ringing of the bell signalizing the end of lunch.
Jenna shot me an apologetic look as she quickly jumped up and shoved her stuff into her bag "Tell me about it during Spanish?" she offered with a smile. I nodded my head and got up from my seat, following her movements as I gathered my own stuff and placed it neatly into my backpack.
Jenna and I had our first and last classes together every day, and even though I wouldn't say we were friends, we had sat together during both classes and lunch ever since I had met her on Monday. The same – and last - day I had spoken to Caden.
Who, speaking of, I had class with right now.
I waved Jenna off with a quick bye as we went our separate ways and disappeared into the crowd of students rushing to get to their classes.
I entered the classroom with my books tucked safely under my arms, and once again I couldn't help the direction of my eyes as they landed on Caden sitting in his usual spot in the back of the class. He was busy typing away on his phone, his eyes glued to the screen as he rolled his lip ring around his tongue in concentration.
Too occupied admiring how soft and plump his lips looked, and how the little silver ring would catch the sunlight every so often, I forgot to pay attention to where I was going. Before I could comprehend what was going on, a body crashed into mine from behind and I dropped my books to the floor as I struggled to keep my balance.
My eyes, which still hadn't left Caden, met his as he looked up from his phone at the sound of the sudden commotion.
"Watch where you're going, freak." I heard someone say from behind me, and I looked up to meet the eyes of one of our classmates, Timothy.
"I'm sorry." I mumbled, even though Timothy was the one who crashed into me. I didn't want to cause a scene.
He grunted lowly before making his way around me and taking a seat behind one of his friends who, along with the rest of the class, was staring at me in amusement.
I could feel the color in my cheeks as I ducked down towards the floor to pick up the books I had dropped. I tried to ignore the eyes burning into me as I did so, and quickly made my way towards the seat at the front of the class where I hid myself behind a curtain of my hair.
God, I hoped this day would be over soon.
Luckily, the next few classes did pass a little quicker than usual, and before I knew it the bell was ringing signalizing the end of the last class of the day.
"Hey, I was meaning to ask you for your number." Jenna said as we were cleaning up our tables.
I looked up at her in surprise. In all honesty, that was the first time someone my age had asked me for my number without it being school related.
"Oh, y-yeah sure." I stuttered with a nervous smile and reached into my backpack to get my phone out. I didn't actually know my own number by head, but I had it saved in my contacts.
As I unlocked the screen I noticed a missed call and a text from my mom.
Something came up, can't pick you up, take the bus. Love mom.
I groaned as I read over the text. I spent my last bit of change on those stupid fries during lunch, I didn't have money to take the bus.
"What's up?" Jenna asked me as she flung her bag over her shoulder.
"My mom was supposed to pick me up, but she can't, and I don't have any money for the bus." I told her with a sigh, already dreading the long walk home I had ahead of me.
"Oh well my brother is picking me up today, I'm sure he won't mind dropping you off at your house."
"I don't want to be a bother..." I replied hesitantly.
"Not at all." Jenna replied with a smile "I just have to drop by my locker first."
I thanked her and we agreed to meet in front of the school before separating and making our ways to our lockers. Not wanting to keep Jenna and her brother waiting, I rushed myself as I put my books away and took out my homework for the day, not paying attention to my surroundings. I hastily shut the locker and went to turn around, only to have my path blocked by Timothy instead. I jumped a little when I noticed him and put a hand on my heart to calm down the erratic beating.
"Timothy, you scared me."
"I'm sorry." He grumbled as he folded his arm over his chest and leaned against the locker beside mine.
"C-can I help you?" I asked nervously. I hoped he wasn't going to bother me about bumping into him earlier today. I just wanted to get home as soon as possible.
"Yeah, erm..." He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck, his eyes roaming the hall around us as if looking for a specific person before finally meeting mine "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for earlier. I was the one who ran into you so I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." He looked incredibly uncomfortable standing there, and I couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. Was he actually apologizing to me? Why?
"I-it's f-fine." I stuttered, still not completely sure where this was coming from. Today wasn't the first time Timothy had snapped at me for no good reason, but it was the first time he'd actually apologized for it.
He seemed relieved at my words as he blew out a big breath "Good. I'll see you around Nina." And with that he turned and walked away.
I stared after him with my mouth slightly agape until he had turned the corner and disappeared out of sight. Deciding not to waste my time standing there contemplating his motives for too long, I swung my backpack over my shoulder and started walking in the same direction he had, towards the exit of the school.
When I got outside, I scanned the crowd in search of Jenna, who I quickly spotted leaning against a shiny black Volkswagen talking animatedly to a tall, blonde haired guy who's eyes were concealed by a pair of black ray ban glasses. Jenna seemed to spot me too and started waving in my direction "Nina, over here!"
I felt my face heat up as students turned to look at me and I quickly made my way over to the pair.
"Nina, come meet my brother Jaxon." Jenna motioned towards the guy she had been talking to, who took off his glasses as I approached.
I was taken aback a little when I took in his face, and it wasn't because of how handsome he was. The area under his right eye was slightly yellow and I now noticed that his lip looked busted, as if he had been in a fight. Not a recent one though, the scars looked at least a couple of days old.
Jaxon didn't seem fazed by the shock on my face as he let his eyes travel over my body leisurely before smirking back up at me "Jenna didn't tell me she had a hot friend."
I'm pretty sure I became red as a beet if I wasn't already, and I stuttered out an embarrassed thank you as Jenna elbowed him in the side. "Hey, don't hit on my friends."
Friends? I felt a small smile tug on the corner of my lips, but quickly covered it up. The last time I had made a "friend" it didn't turn out that well.
Jaxon rolled his eyes at his sister before extending his hand to shake mine. I quickly did so, hoping he wouldn't notice how sweaty my palms had become.
"Anyway, Jaxon is fine with driving you home. Just go sit in the front so you can type in the address." Jenna told me as she opened the door to the back seat and stepped in, before I could tell her that that wouldn't be necessary. I really didn't want to sit in the front next to Jaxon, since he was kind of intimidating, but I didn't want to be rude either.
Jaxon opened the door for me and I thanked him before stepping inside, putting my bag between my legs and strapping my seatbelt into place. Jaxon walked around the front of the car and got in on the driver's side. He turned on the navigation and let me type in my address.
"So, how old are you Nina?" Jaxon asked me as he started the engine and drove out of the parking lot.
"Seventeen..." I muttered shyly and glanced up to see him smirking at me. I noticed how straight and white his teeth were, and how they contrasted with his big brown eyes that were similar to Jenna's. I guess beauty ran in their family.
"Cool." He smiled before glancing at Jenna through his rearview mirror and shooting her a look "What?"
"Stop trying to flirt with her. You're making the poor girl uncomfortable."
Jaxon shook his head with a chuckle and looked back at me "I'm not making you uncomfortable, right Nina?" I suddenly felt something warm on my leg and looked down to see his hand give it a small casual squeeze.
"No." I squeaked, feeling small sparks shoot up my leg at his touch.
"You're such an ass Jaxon." Jenna groaned and slapped his arm away from leg. Jaxon started laughing loudly and shot me an amused, but apologetic look "I'm sorry Nina, I'm just messing with you." He smiled "You're just so cute when you blush."
I quickly lifted my hand to my face to indeed feel the warmth under my fingertips.
Luckily Jaxon didn't tease me again for the remainder of the ride, and I actually thought he was pretty cool by the time we pulled up at my house.
Jenna and I exchanged numbers like we had meant to earlier, and I was just about to put my phone back when Jaxon grasped it out of my hands. I watched him as he typed something into it before handing it back to me.
"Call me if you ever need anything Nina." Jaxon smiled at me, and I gave him a quick smile and nod back before saying goodbye to Jenna and exiting out of the car with my bag in my hand.
I watched them as they drove out of the street before looking down at the phone in my hand, staring at Jaxon's name written down in bold white letters in my contact list.