AUTHOR'S NOTE IMPORTANT PLEASE READ!!!: Last week, someone at school said to me that they had seen their name on my online journal. This brought me to believe that they may find this story and since it was someone I based the characters off of, I REALLY don't think they should see this. As such, I'm doing some MAJOR editing and crap, so you're probably going to need to go through and re-read the whole thing to make sure you know what's going on. I'm sorry about the inconvenience of this, but it needs to be done so that everyone at school doesn't start hating me even more. I hope you'll understand (bows humbly then ducks under a table to avoid the onslaught of sharp things being thrown at her by pissed off people)
No one particularly liked the first day of school. All it involved was teachers telling you the rules of the school, what they would be doing throughout the year, and introducing yourself over and over again. It was a stupid, pointless boring day that everyone hated. Jesse Cooper was no different.
Just entering his junior year, Jesse was not exactly a popular person. He was short, with shaggy light brown hair and green eyes and freckles; he looked normal enough, but his love of Japanese anime, video, card and role playing games and obbession with electronics had made him into a bit of a social outcast. Thus, he was viewed as a geek and most students didn't want to be his friend even though they didn't know him, so they just ignored him. It kind of sucked. But then again, with what the preps and jocks did to some of the kids at school just because they were different, Jesse was pretty lucky. Being ignored was better than getting beat up.
Jesse stepped off the bus and walked to the area in front of the front doors at Sierra Heights High School. Another year of boring, obsessive and crazed teachers, along with bitchy cheerleaders, bastard football players and disgusting lunch food. Plus, we're entering the year where a lot more people start to have sex and try to do one night stands. Oh, what fun this will be, he thought bitterly. I hate school.
"Move, bitch!"
Jesse was shoved to the side as a bunch of football players made their way to the front of crowd. He stumbled backwards and almost fell, but was thankfully caught by the arm by Adam Kedzie, his best friend since kindergarten. Adam had dark brown hair and eyes.
"You okay?" he asked, pulling Jesse upright again.
"Yeah. God, I hate the jocks here. Fucking bastards…" Jesse grumbled. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if they all died?" he said wistfully.
Adam snorted. "Fat chance of that ever happening. Although it would be nice…"
A silence passed between the two friends as they watched students mulling around them, catching up on summer news and gossip. From what little Jesse could hear, some computer geeks won a huge science fair, a bunch of couples from last year broke up and the junior English teacher got fired. Nothing much, and he paid little notice until something interesting caught his attention. Two girls near him were whispering to themselves about someone they had seen go into the school through the back door of the school, which was only used to let in new sophomores, juniors and seniors.
"You saw him. He was gorgeous. I can't believe we got lucky enough to have a new kid that was that hot…" one whispered.
Jesse's curiosity was peaked. Every year on the first day of school, Principal Jonathan White introduced to the student's sophomore, junior and senior kids that had not been there the previous year, instead of them just going around like a normal kid and not knowing what the hell was going on or what they were supposed to do. He felt that everyone should know the new students and pitch in on showing them around. Of course, this seldom happened (mostly because the preps encouraged people not to, and whatever the preps said was done), but it was a nice thought and Jesse personally liked it better than seeing the kid in the hallway and not knowing who he or she was.
"Jesse? You in there?"
His attention snapped to his right side, where Chris McCoshen, another very good friend, was standing, waving his hand in front of Jesse's eyes. He was tall, with slightly shaggy black hair with a ton of blonde highlights, and cool grey eyes. Jesse pushed the hand away. "Yeah, I'm here."
Chris nodded before proceeding to wrap his arms around Adam's waist. "Mmm… You smell nice today…"
Adam blushed and squirmed in Chris's arms. Jesse laughed. The two had been together for about two years. And interesting couple, to say the least and not many people knew about it, either. Chris and Adam had joked with each other long before about how one of them looked in 'romantic' terms and all that other crap, and their public displays of affection were limited, so when they actually were serious most people thought they were joking. And they preferred to keep it that way. No one needed to know about their relationship, and those who did know kept it to themselves. Although that might've had something to do with the fact that Chris had three switchblades and could very effectively use them, not to mention he was a black belt, had been in five different gangs, knew how to street fight and would maim anyone that told him his relationship with Adam was in any way, shape or form bad, or go blabbing it to anyone. Yeah, that was defiantly it.
"So, how was your summer?" Chris asked Adam.
"What kind of a question is that?! You were over at my house two days ago!" the brunet replied.
"Yeah, but I want to know everything that happened in your life from then to now, Addy… OW!" Chris let go of Adam and grabbed his stomach, which the other boy had just rammed his elbow into. "What the hell was that for?!"
Adam glared. "I hate being called Addy, and you know that!"
Jesse noticed the crowd beginning to move forward. "Uh, guys?"
"So? That doesn't mean you have to elbow me in the stomach!"
"Guys?"
"How else am I supposed to get the point across?!"
"Guys…"
"You could just tell me not to do it!"
"Guys!"
"I've done that before and it didn't work!"
"GUYS!"
The two arguing boys turned to face Jesse. "What?"
Jesse pointed at the now almost diminished crowd. "It's time to go in."
They grumbled but obediently followed him into the school.
The sophomores, juniors and seniors filed into the auditorium, talking loudly and sitting in their usual groups. It was time to introduce the new students, and Jesse was anxious to see who the boy was that the two girls outside had been talking about. He, Adam and Chris chose seats in the fifth row, next to their female friend, Sara Rudin. Her hair was brown, as were her eyes.
"So, you guys know anything about this year's new students?" Sara asked, leaning onto the back of the boys seats (the seats were very close together).
"I heard two girls outside saying that they saw a really hot guy enter through the back door," Jesse said.
"Ooo, a hot guy. Looks like this is our lucky year," Sara giggled. "Of course we'll only be able to ogle at him in silent awe because Amy'll sink her claws into him before anyone else can…" She shot a glare in the direction of a group of preppy girls, all of whom were surrounding one girl, who had shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes, make-up and as revealing clothes as she could without breaking the school dress code.
This girl was Amy Spencer. She was the most popular girl in school, leader of the cheerleading squad and had a figure to rival that of a movie star's. Almost all guys at school drooled over her, but she only chose the really hot and popular ones as boyfriends, because anything else would (quote on quote) 'Ruin my image'. But they say beauty only goes skin deep, and in this case that saying had never been more true. Amy was, to put it lightly, a bitch with a possessive streak as big as the Milky Way. She hated anyone who wasn't a prep, and if Amy didn't like you, then none of the preps or jocks liked you, meaning that you were susceptible to getting beat up by them if they got bored. Amy had also had sex at least six times if not more, and her grades were horrifying. The only reason she passed each grade was because she could get the nerds to give her the answers to everything in exchange for one of her pencils (they loved anything that had ever been owned by Amy and did almost anything to get their hands on things).
Everyone who wasn't a prep hated Amy, but there was nothing they could do about it. She had an older brother that could easily send you to the hospital if he wanted to. Mess with Amy, and you got beat up: bad. So people could only hate her in the shadows, waiting for the opportunity to strike that never came.
The lights suddenly began dimming down and Principal White walked on stage. "People, your attention please," he said into the microphone. People began to quiet down, but he didn't talk again until it was almost completely silent.
"Now then, as the juniors and seniors know, this is a time when I introduce new students whom were not here last year to you so that you may better get to know them. Sophomores, this is something new to you, so let me explain. I believe that…"
Jesse tuned out the Principal and shifted his body so he could more easily talk to the girls. "What did you find out about the junior teachers?" The question was directed towards Sara, who had older sister who had gone to Sierra Heights.
Sara leaned down so she wouldn't have to talk so loud. "The only semi-decent teacher is Mr. Jameson, the photography teacher, and that's only because he's too busy trying to get magazines and crap to hire him as a professional photographer to notice anything that goes on around him. Everyone else sucks."
Jesse groaned. "Great. Why do we always get stuck with crappy teachers?" he wondered out loud.
"Actually, I heard we have one new teacher this year. Maybe she won't be so bad," Adam piped up.
"And then again she could be. We'll just have to find out," Sara said, settling back properly into her chair. "Quiet. They're starting the juniors."
Jesse shifted back to face the stage of the auditorium.
"Well, that's it for the new sophomores. Next, the juniors. First up, Nathan Hoffman," Principal White said.
A teen walked out onto the stage. A beautiful teen. One that made everyone stop talking and gape at him. He was fairly tall, with chestnut brown hair, and blue eyes that reminded Jesse of a frozen lake.
Two things ran through the small teen's mind at that moment. (1) Damn, is he hot and (2) This is the guy those two girls outside were talking about.
This might be a good time to tell you that Jesse was gay. He'd known it since sixth grade. That was part of the reason why he didn't care if Adam and Chris showed each other their affection around him (Adam was gay, Chris was bi). So the new student standing on stage had as much of an effect on him as it did on most of the girls and whatever guys out there that were gay or bi. Jesse looked at Adam, who mouthed "He is fucking gorgeous" to the green eyed boy. Jesse nodded in a agreement and then went back to staring at him.
White now finished introducing the only new senior, and people were beginning to file out of the auditorium. Jesse grabbed his stuff and began making his way to first period. On his way out, he saw Amy walking up to Nathan (who will be referred to as Nate later, just he doesn't know anyone yet so no one knows to call him that) and started talking to him. He sighed. So much for making friends… he thought sadly. Once Amy decided she wanted someone to be part of her group, they became part of her group, whether they liked it or not, and they were seldom allowed to even talk to anyone else that wasn't a prep.
First period (Calculus) had been hell. Second period (Physics) had been worse. Third (Chemistry) and fourth (3-D Graphics Art) period had been better, but they still sucked. Fifth period (Gym) had been a living hell. By the time lunch (sixth period) had come Jesse was about ready to die. The only good thing about that morning had been that Nathan was in four out of those five classes, so he got to learn a bit more about him. So far he knew that Nate (which was what he wanted to be called) had lived in New York before this, had a little sister, liked ice hockey and snowboarding, and lived about a block away from Jesse. A nice start, but since Amy wanted him in her group, there was no getting to him.
The green eyed boy sat down at his usual lunch table, where Sara and Chris were already sitting.
"I hate this fucking school!" Jesse yelled as he sat down. "All the teachers are old farts, the bathrooms stink like shit, and the food sucks!"
Sara snorted. "Yeah, what else is new? This school has sucked since the day we set foot in it. And the worst part is preps run it." She took a bite of her sandwich. "Face it; we're doomed to have shitty schools all our lives."
"Toki wasn't so bad," Chris said. "Even if the twins moved away at the end of Eighth grade."
Jesse sighed. "Yeah…" he said sadly, thinking fondly of the two people who had been and still were two of the best friends he had ever had.
The twins Chris was talking about were Sei and Yei Asari. They were interesting. Sei was a hyper kid who couldn't sit still for five minutes and let everyone know exactly how she was feeling, and Yei was calm and collected, not really letting people apart from close friends know her emotions at that time. While being very different, there had NEVER been a more powerful force to drive the preps out of power and cowering into the shadows. You see, Sei and Yei hated preps. And when Sei and Yei hated someone, they made their lives hell just because they could. They never hated anyone without a good reason, of course, and the reason they hated preps was because preps picked on outcasts, and all of their good friends and themselves were outcasts. Sei and Yei had kept the reign of the preps at bay all throughout middle school and so the experience hadn't been as bad for the Toki kids as it had for some. Unfortunately, the twins had to move at the end of eighth grade, and the preps had quickly taken over. Sei and Yei still talked with their friends via e-mail, AIM and occasionally phone, but it just wasn't the same as having them there in person. Jesse was one of those friends, the rest were the other people in their group and two other guys named Conner Welch and Alex Larson. Alex was tall, with brown hair and brown eyes; Conner was had dusty brown mid-neck length hair and green eyes. They were with a group of teens who weren't jocks or preps but weren't outcasts or nerds either. They still talked with the others, but their friendship had gotten distant since the twins had gone.
Thinking of Sei and Yei made Jesse's appetite diminish a bit. He missed them, a lot.
The group was soon joined by the others and they began sharing how crappy their days had been so far and how much they hated their teachers, etc. Sam had just been talking about how much she hated Mrs. Garcia (the Spanish teacher), when Jesse noticed something unusual at one end of the lunchroom. Shifting slightly so he could see better, he looked over in the direction of the table where Alex, Conner and their friends sat.
And Nate was sitting with them.
Jesse was dumbfounded. Nate, even though he had been asked personally by Amy to join their group of preps, was not sitting with her. This had never, EVER, happened before in the whole two previous years that Amy had been at Sierra Heights. Whoever she wanted in her group came to her group. And yet there Nate was, sitting down at a non-prep lunch table, calmly talking with Alex and Conner.
Jesse looked over to the prep table, desperately wanting to see how Amy was reacting to all this. He couldn't hear what they were saying from here, but there was a vending machine right by their table and he had a dollar in his pocket.
"I'll be right back," he told Adam, and got up.
Arriving at the vending machine, he deliberately took his time with getting a soda, trying to hear what they were saying. He was not disappointed.
"I can't believe it! You asked him eat with us and he said no?!" one girl asked Amy.
"Yeah. He totally just brushed me off! And then he was talking to Alex right after, and when Alex asked him to eat lunch with them, he said yes! I was like, 'Oh my god! How can he choose one of those idiots over me?!" Amy said in frustration.
"So, do we hate him now?" asked a guy.
"NO! No, we most defiantly do not hate him. A guy that hot only comes around once or twice in a lifetime and if he thinks I hate him he'll never want to be with me. So, offer him friendship, hope he accepts it. Anyone who does anything bad to him or harms him in any way will be on a one-way trip to hell, courtesy of my brother. Understood?" she looked to her other peers, her voice holding a threatening edge.
They nodded in response. Jesse quickly made his way back to the table before they saw he was listening.
"What the hell was that all about?" asked Sara as he sat back down.
"I just found out something," Jesse said, popping the top off his Pepsi.
"What?"
"You know that new kid, Nate?" he questioned, pointing over to where Nate was sitting.
"Yeah, what about him?"
Jesse took a sip of pop. "He got asked by Amy herself to eat lunch with them. And he declined."
That got everyone at the table's attention. They stared at him. "What?!"
"Yeah. I heard Amy talking about it. She asked him, he said no, then a few minutes later Alex asked him to eat lunch with them and he said yes! And Amy isn't going to make him an enemy, either! She said a guy that hot only comes around once or twice in a lifetime and she's not letting him go that easy." Jesse took another gulp of pop.
"Holy shit…" Chris murmured. "That's gotta be the first time someone's declined an offer from Amy Spencer and gotten away with it in… well, forever."
There was a collection of nods from around the table. Jesse looked over at Nate. What other new things is he gonna bring to this school? He wondered idly.
Seventh period (History) was terrible. Eighth period (French) had been a living nightmare. Now, as Jesse made his way to his final class, he felt about ready to die. I hate this damn school…Even if Nate was in my History class, too.
He stopped at room 56, the English room. From what he had heard, this was the class the new teacher was teaching. The door was already open, and he stepped inside.
It certainly wasn't what he expected. The classroom was set up in a typical fashion, with the desks facing front and the teacher's desk facing back, but the décor was nothing quite like Jesse had ever seen before. It was dark colors, with interesting shapes one might find in an ancient temple or tomb on the boarders around the bulletin boards. In the back there were five NEW computers set up, each running on Window XP. On the blackboard there were words written that said, 'You may choose your seat but pick carefully- They will be your seats for the remainder of the year.'
Jesse glanced around at the open seats, and happily noted that not only were Adam and Chris in this class, but so were Nate, Conner and Alex. Nate sat on the far left side of the room in the second seat of the first row (the rows are vertical). In front of him was Conner, to his upper right Alex, the seat next to him was empty, to his lower right sat Chris and behind him was Adam. Jesse took the seat next to him.
Within the next minute everyone else with ninth period English was there. Surprisingly, Sara was also in the class. Unfortunately, so were Amy and her two best friends Becky Pickard and Lucille Amer, and Amy's boyfriend Jason Wexler. They sat in the back of the room, probably so that the teacher wouldn't see them talking. Speaking of which…
"Hey, where's the teacher?" Jesse whispered to Adam.
His friend shrugged. "Bathroom?" he guessed.
Just then someone walked into the classroom. It most defiantly wasn't what most people were expecting. Jaws dropped, gasps issued from various mouths and Jesse heard someone mutter "Holy shit!"
The person that had entered the room was a younger looking female. She had dark brown hair, tanned skin and sharp brown eyes that seemed to stare right trough you. She was wearing a cream colored shirt; tan Capri's, white sandals, and had a ton of bangles on her arms.
Jesse couldn't help but stare. Is this the teacher?! He thought in confusion. His question was soon answered when she spoke.
"Good afternoon. My name is Ms. Adviento. I shall be your English teacher for the year. And, being the wonderful person that I am, I think it is only fair to warn you that anyone who makes a reference to my being young, or any reference to my body parts will be on a week long suspension, a call home, be forced to clean my room after school and automatically get an F in my class," she said in a false sweet voice, which made the threat all the more scary. Justin (who had been talking to another guy about something and pointing at Ms. Adviento) immediately shut up. The teacher smiled. "Good, now that that's cleared up, I would like everyone to go around telling me their names, starting with you." She pointed at Conner.
"I'm Conner," he said.
She nodded and said, "Next."
They went around the room, each person introducing themselves. When they were finished, Ms. Adviento sat on her desk and began talking. "I know that all of you must be dreadfully tired of this day, spending all the periods introducing yourselves and telling everyone about you over and over again. Therefore, I am going to change my plan for this class. You may all talk for the entire period." And with that she stood up and went to sit down behind her desk.
The students stared at her. It was actually a full three minutes before she looked up from whatever she was doing and asked, "What, do you WANT to spend the period introducing yourselves and playing pointless games to try and 'remember' everyone's name when you already know it?"
That got everyone talking. Jesse turned to face Adam and Chris. "What do you think of her?" he asked.
Chris grinned. "I like her so far. She kinda seems too young to be teaching." He picked up a pen and began drawing things on his hand. Adam snatched the pen away.
"Don't do that. It ruins your skin," he scolded. Chris smirked.
"Aw, is little Addy worried abo- OW!!!! STOP HITTING ME!!!" he yelled when Adam smashed his binder over Chris's head.
"Then stop calling me Addy!" Adam snapped back. The two boys started bickering and Jesse was left with no one to talk to. So he settled for resting his head on the desk, pretending to sleep when he was actually looking at Nate. He enjoyed watching the small smiles that flittered across his face and the occasional laughter that issued from his throat. He stayed like that, just watching the new boy, taking in what he could about his beautiful appearance.
Ninth period was over all too quickly. Reluctantly, Jesse pretended to wake up and left, keeping Nate in his line of vision for as long as he could.
I made editing changes because I decided someone might accidentally find this and tell it to the people at my school and then I will be lynched because everyone will be disgusted by me. Hooray.