Chapter One

He sat down at the back of the room. He hadn’t gotten there first, and a few people said hello, but Jay ignored them and sat in the back corner, away from the window. He watched every student that entered, but nobody struck him as interesting except for a rather plain looking boy with black hair and green eyes. Jay made a face as he mentally chastised himself for calling him plain. He decided to focus in on that boy, waiting for the teacher to call his name for the attendance check.

“Marcus Holt?” The teacher, an older woman with a stern face, called out. The boy Jay was watching raised his hand. Jay began to write.

Marcus Holt. Black hair, green eyes. Quite thin, but not unhealthily so.

“Jay Willows?” The teacher called. Jay froze, his eyes widening a bit. Damn it, this was what he always hated about school. He slowly, shakily rose his hand without looking up for just a second, then put his hand back down. Silence around the room that lasted for hours (two seconds) to Jay before another name was called and the teacher began the lesson.

His first day was already going badly. He had been forced to raise his hand every time he was called on (he once had to announce that he was present, which hurt his throat because he hardly ever spoke anymore), one teacher (she taught Advanced Biology) gave them a lot of homework, and now here he was in one of the bathrooms, using water from the sink and a paper towel to clean off his favorite ruby red jacket. Some jerk had ‘tripped’ and his food (of course chili) had hit Jay square in the chest. His jacket was probably permanently stained (he hoped not, he was probably being dramatic), and he was angry.

He didn’t like being angry. It often interfered with his rational thought, and that worried him. He walked out of the bathroom and looked up, searching for an empty table. Not finding one, he instead left the cafeteria and made his way to the library. He was right in his assumption that few students would be there, and the few that were there were on laptops. It wasn’t extremely small, but it wasn’t very big either. Honestly, it was about the same as his previous school library. There was a desk where the librarian was helping a student check out some books, tables with four chairs around them, and long bookshelves sorted by genre. In a corner was a printer and a cart with charging laptops in it. The walls were painted a creamy color that reminded Jay of a coffee shop he went to sometimes in his old town. Spotting an empty table in another corner of the room, he set out towards it.

Jay sat down in the seat pushed against a wall and looked at the shelf next to him. Historical Fiction. He’d never quite cared for that genre...or many genres, for that matter. He turned his head...and was met with a grinning face on the other side of the table. Startled, he pressed himself back as far as the chair would go...which was about an inch from where it was before it hit the wall.

“Hey.” The student, a boy taller than Jay, greeted. He had a handsome smile, with striking gray eyes that seemed to shine with intelligence and curiosity. His auburn hair fell over his forehead at the front, just touching his eyebrows. The back was fairly short, as were the sides. His skin was fair, but still darker than Jay’s own. He was wearing a brown windbreaker with dark jeans. A quick, discreet look showed that he was wearing cobalt colored converse. All of this Jay noted within a moment as he waved a hand in return. It was shaking, and he found himself barely able to think straight. He wasn’t used to being approached by people. Not at all. The boy stretched his hand across the table, his smile unwavering.

“I’m Chris Webster. It’s nice to meet you.” Jay stared at the boy’s hand before slowly, reluctantly shaking it. His hand was really warm. He pulled his hand away quickly and placed it on his lap, looking at the table top. Nobody seemed to notice the two, which helped to relieve some of Jay’s nerves. “Are you new here?” Chris inquired curiously. Jay didn’t answer, not even a nod of his head. Unperturbed, Chris continued to speak. “I figured you must be, because I’ve never seen you before until today. I almost didn’t notice you-” Good, at least it was because the guy was perceptive and not because Jay was conspicuous. “-but you looked lonely and I wanted to say hello.” 'But you looked lonely.'

Jay looked at the boy again, eyebrows furrowing slightly in perplexity. How did he look lonely? He liked to be alone! Chris started to speak again, but then the bell for lunch to be over rang. It was a high, shrill noise that Jay didn’t like one bit.

“I’d better get going. You should too, you don’t want to be late.” He stood and offered Jay another strikingly handsome smile before walking out of the library along with the other students. Jay sat there a moment longer so he could flip past Marcus Holt’s unfinished page.

Chris Webster. Gray eyes, auburn hair. Taller than me and less thin. Curious, but clearly intelligent. Polite and kind, seems to take school fairly seriously.

Marcus Holt could wait. For the rest of the day, the only student on Jay’s mind was Chris.

Reviews

[Chare]

Exited to listen the Jay's first words.

[E.K. Sakurazaka]

You may have to wait a little ehile for that ;)

[Chare]

No! Then Chris has to be the coolest guy