Chapter 12: Getting Involved

Dirt whizzed through the air as my bike maneuvered through the rough terrain. I zoomed past everything around me, watching trees and the road beside me become a surreal blur. As I came to the hill, I stood up and lifted myself up, barely making it over the peak. The wind blew my hair in every direction, it felt great. I speeded up to catch the next hill. I was going to land it whether it killed me. I was going to land the Superman today, no exceptions. I flew over the hill and braced myself to release my feet from the pedals and kick them straight back. As soon as the bike lifted off from the ground, I kicked my feet back. My weight was definitely not distributed evenly, because the next thing I knew I was slammed ino the ground horribly. My bike skidded to a stop a few feet away. I got up, my arms burning like fire. I stood up and shook it off and stared at the heavy piece of metal before me.
"C'mon, Jordyn, pull it together," I sighed to myself. I revved up the bike, hopped back on, and shredded dirt for as long as I could. Sure, I wasn't landing the cool tricks, but having fun was all that mattered. I leaned into a sharp turn and braked to catch my breath. I pulled out the stand and sat down on the ground, examining my new parts. I smiled at the new-ness of the bike. "Job well done," I thought to myself. I looked at the vast field of dirt; a car was coming from the distance, someone's hand sticking out the window. I winced and made out my Mom, waving with the pick up truck to help me get home on time so I could get ready for school. I looked back at my bike and ran my fingers over the fender. I missed motocross a lot. There was no greater rush in my life.

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"Jordyn Cassidy, you are going to be late!" my Mom screeched from the bottom of the stairs. I rushed my hair, grabbed my bag, and flew down the stairs and into the car. "So explain this schedule thing to me," she began, tapping at my window.
"The lowerclassmen are taking state tests, Mom," I said, starting the car. "We're seniors, we don't have to take them, so we get to go to school later." I shifted into reverse, waved, and sped off. Nothing could have started my day off better. I was itching for the weekend to go back and do it again, but it was 5 days away. I blasted some tunes and eventually pulled into the parking lot. I looked at the school and smiled. Hopefully today was going to be a good day.

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"Have you gotten a dress yet?" Robbie asked, shoving her books into her locker, which was decorated with all of her favorite teen heart-throbs.
"A dress for what?" I asked, shifting my gaze from the heap of papers and books stashed in my boring locker. Robbie's face filled with shock, as she crossed her arms. "JC, we've been talking about this since you moved here!"
"What?!"
"The dance! Spring fling! It's coming up," she restated.
"Ah, the dance," I repeated, lifting an eyebrow. "I haven't yet, I don't know if I'm going." She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.
"Oh, you're going. And with a date."
"A date?"
"Tyler!" she exclaimed, grabbing a book and chuckling. "I have to get to class, but we're talking about this at lunch, missy!" and with that, she headed off to class. I laughed to myself and grabbed a few more things.
"Got a date to the dance?" a strange, but familiar voice asked, standing behind the door of my locker. I shut the door slowly, to see Shane standing there. Oh great, it was almost a good day. I turned around to walk away, but heard foot steps next to me.
"C'mon, you have to have a date. Look at you, you're hot," he said cooly, walking faster to catch up. I stopped dead in my tracks and looked at him with a look of clear disgust.
"What?" I asked, confused as hell. His eyes moved up and down and he nodded, walking away. I stood there, speechless as to what was happening. Loud laughter from his group of friends made it worse. I tried not to look over, but saw him winking like a moron.
"Get with a real man!" one of his friends shouted as I headed into my art class. I sat down with my art piece and began carving my design into the wood. The substitute interrupted us to let the student congress come in and make a few announcements. The group walked in together, with fliers and stickers promoting the fundraising for the dance. I glanced up to see Kelly standing behind the class president, with a look of boredom on her face. That look changed when she shifted her eyes in my direction. Her friend whispered something to her, and she laughed, staring at me. If she thought I was dumb, she was sadly mistaken. I knew what her plan was, I had dealt with so many like her. I brushed it off and continued working until the bell.

I walked back to my locker to grab the stuff for Edwards' science project that was going on this week. Tyler flooded into my head the minute I thought of the project. The last Friday we hung out flashed through my mind. Our hugs, basketball, his kiss to my cheek. It was adorable; he was. Unaware of the fact that I was daydreaming in the middle of the hallway, I forgot the bell rang and just stood there until a teacher asked me where I was supposed to be. "Ah, crap!" I thought to myself, jogging with my supplies to Edwards'. Hopefully she wouldn't be too mad. I walked in to see everyone forming into their groups and slipped in swiftly.
"I'm sorry I'm late, Mrs. Edwards," I began, clutching onto my things, "it won't happen again." Please don't yell, please don't yell.
"Oh it's no problem, just get to work," she instructed. I nodded and went to my seat, my eyes searching for Tyler. He was no where in sight. I sat down and opened up my book to get information.
"You're starting without me?"
I smiled and turned around to see him standing there, his arms crossed. His green t-shirt made his brown shaggy hair and blue eyes even more attractive.
"Oh, I would never," I said sarcastically, smiling. He moved closer and leaned over the table, staring down at the book.
"Alright, Einstein, let's get to work," he laughed, nudging my shoulder. He leaned his body next to mine and began laughing.
I raised an eyebrow and eyed him down, "What's so funny?"
"You're so much smaller than I am," he mentioned to get through, still laughing. I rolled my eyes and pushed him away, playfully. He laughed and pulled me closer with one arm. His body was warm, as he pulled me closer. I smiled and took in his extremely mind-boggling cologne, moving my focus back to the books. We stood there, his arm still around me, searching the textbook for more information. Time flew by as we researched. I eventually ended up on a stool, Tyler sitting next to me. I glanced at him quickly; he was lost in the book, writing down facts. I noticed he had a "busy face" which was the cutest thing I had ever seen. He bit his lip and his eyebrows would get so intense. I lost myself gazing at him, that I didn't realize when he caught me.
"Enchanted by my beauty?" he asked, resting his chin on his hand, and fluttering his eyelashes. I looked at him and laughed until I couldn't breathe.
"Save the cuteness for later," I chuckled, getting up to grab some more information from the computers.
"For later, eh?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, a huge crooked smile enveloping his face.
"TYLER!" I gasped, hitting his shoulder. He smiled his amazing smile, "Where are you off to?"
"We need more information, I'll be right back." The classroom seemed to be cluttered with things; people's posterboards on one side, books and supplies on the floor in another corner, and a bunch of people huddled around the computers. This was going to be tough. I spotted a free computer and pulled the chair out, only to see a blonde rush in.
"Thanks for holding out the seat," Kelly laughed, logging on. I kept my composure and walked to the front to grab supplies instead.
"So why are you with that loser?" I heard from the left. I turned my head to see Shane grabbing paper and laughing. I didn't understand why all of a sudden he was talking to me as if he was this amazingly nice guy.
"Well?" he asked. I grabbed my things quickly and turned around to leave, this was getting extremely awkward. He ran in front of me, grabbed my things, and asked again. I tried to grab them back but he held them farther, as if he was stealing candy from a child. I looked around the room, hoping Tyler would come interrupt or Edwards would ask us to sit down, but there was nothing. I searched the room frantically. I locked my eyes as Jake turned around to get something, I assumed. A look of confusion covered his face as he walked in my direction.
"What's going on?" he asked, snatching my things from Shane's hands. He looked at me, nodding his head.
"I don't know, I was just getting some stuff--"
"Jake, what's going on?" Tyler asked, coming up behind Jake, looking more annoyed than ever. My head was exploding with images and different variations of how ugly this could get. In the middle of the classroom. Fight scenes from action movies started playing in my head. I shook my head and focused on the situation in reality.
"Why are you always starting stuff?" Jake asked, handing me back my things.
"Are you her body guard now?" Shake asked, moving closer.
"Why do you want to talk to her anyways?" Tyler interrupted, getting angrier.
"Guys, this isn't worth it, let's just go," I began, pulling Jake and Tyler aside. They wouldn't budge.
"No, we got it JC, hold on," Jake said, motioning me to go back to my seat.
"I can talk to whoever I want, buddy," Shane smirked.
"We know what you're up to. We know you started that rumor. You obviously didn't like her then, so don't think you can now. Back off and keep your crap to yourself," Jake said so low, that I had to tune out everyone else to hear it. I looked to see Shane laughing and leaning against the supply table. I wasn't going to deal with this, so I moved back to my seat and tried to get the remainder of my part the daily tasks done. I began jotting down a list of other things I was going to need when a "What'd he say?" broke my concentration. I looked up to see Tyler, leaning on the table with his elbows. I sighed and went back to writing my list.
"JC, c'mon."
"C'mon what? He's just causing trouble, we don't have to deal with it," I said, trying my hardest to not give away the fact that I was upset.
"He's just bothering me, I don't want him bothering you," he sighed, ruffling his hair. He turned around to look at Jake and Shane talking and crossed his arms. Jake shook his hand, flicked his hand at Shane in disgust, and walked over to us.
"Well?" Tyler asked.
"Well what?" Jake said, obviously avoiding something.
"I know you know something, Jake."
"Well you're right, but I'm not saying it here."
"Why not?" Tyler asked, getting agitated.
"We'll talk about it another time, dude, chill out," Jake added, before he dashed back off to his partner.
Tyler looked in my direction, his eyes pleading for answers. I gazed into the dark blue circles until I could convey something to him. Somehow, he eventually did.
"You're right," he whispered, "he's just causing trouble. It's nothing."
I smiled and pushed my hair out of the way. Everything was going to be fine.

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It had been almost 3 months since I first moved to North Carolina and to be honest, things were going smoothly. It wasn't anything like New York, but it was so peaceful. I was only forty minutes from the beach and the thought of that relaxed all my nerves. I smiled to myself as I pulled into the school driveway once again. I waited for my phone to buzz in my pocket before I decided to get out. The sun was about to set and the wind was blowing lightly. I cuddled up into my sweatshirt and waited. After about 10 minutes, it finally vibrated and I smiled.
"Hey, Robbie," I said softly, sitting up straight.
"You here?" she asked.
"I'm here, where do we meet?"
"Mr. Barker's room."
I got up and the wind hit me like ice being shot from a gun. It stung my face and my face felt like it was turning blue.
"Ahh, crap," I said to myself, pulling my hood up and running towards the school. I made my way into the hallway and searched for Barker's room. After 5 minutes, his name was clearly in view on his door. I opened the door, searching for Robbie.
"Jordyn!" she called out, from the back. I smiled and pulled up a chair next to her.
"So explain to me why you called me out to come to school at SEVEN o'clock at night?" I asked, laughing.
"Well..." she began, "I feel like we should get more involved in school activities."
My mouth dropped as a smile formed around the corners of my mouth, "Are you serious?"
"Yes, I feel like it'd make us well-rounded invdividuals," she stated, nodding her head patriotically.
I folded my arms and looked at her suspiciously, something wasn't right. She waited and then sighed.
"Okay, okay, you caught me. My mom's making me do extracurricular activities and I don't want to do it alone."
I laughed and nodded, "All right, fine. What are our options?" She threw me a book of activities and we began browsing through the endless options James Madison High had to offer.
"Cooking?" Robbie asked.
"Meh, too complicated for me."
"What about forensic science?"
"Robbie," I said, looking at her.
"You're right, we both suck at science. Sports?"
I was about to blurt out no, but all that came out was, "Hmmm, I don't know Robbie. I race motocross, I don't know if I'd do good with teammates."
"I always thought you'd be a good athlete, you should go for one of the sports!"
"Nah, I don't know.." I trailed off.
"JC. LISTEN TO ME. You will try out for something. Okay? Okay. You can do this."
I looked at her for a minute and sighed. Maybe joining a sport would make the rest of the school year a little bit more fun. "Okay, I will."
"All right, I was thinking cheerleading, soccer, softball, or track."
"Cheerleading?!!?" I shouted, shocked.
"What? Look at your figure! Too bad, you already said you would, so you're going out for all of them and then we'll choose."
No way, no cheerlea--"
"Yes! No fern answers. Let's tell Barker and then head out of here!" she added ecstaticly, grabbing me and rushing me to Mr. Barker.
"Thank you for the meeting, Barker," she began, "Jordyn's going to go for cheerleading, soccer, softball, and track. Throw me in for softball."
"Oh and cheerleading!" I mentioned as he began writing our names down. Her mouth dropped and she nudged me out into the hallway.
"Two can play that game," I said, slyly. We both laughed and discussed pom poms and outfits and how we couldn't believe we were actually trying out. We walked to our cars and still talked.
"You know, thanks for being a good friend," I whispered, trying to keep my body warm. Robbie was amazing.
"Anytime, you're a great friend too," she added, pulling her coat on tighter. We both gazed around and saw the football field, with a bunch of boys scattering around it. The coach was yelling for them to go back and try again. We weren't too far away.
"Hey, we might be those kind of athetes soon," Robbie joked.
"Oh yeah, totally," I smirked.
"Is that Tyler?" she asked, squinting her eyes, trying to make out something. They were all running to the bleachers and putting their sweatshirts on and grabbing their things. The coach was STILL yelling. I looked to where she was looking and made out Tyler's brown hair and his body shape. He was looking in my direction, smiling.
"You always seem to spot him," I laughed.
"Well that's my mom calling," Robbie smiled, pulling her phone out. "I gotta go, I'll see you tomorrow!" and with that, she ran to her car. I watched her and laughed; I was glad I had her in my life. She finally made it to her car and got in. I bet the heater felt great. I got ready to walk towards my car and enjoy the heater when two hands covered by eyes and a "guess who?" followed. I put my hands on the stranger's hands and felt around.
"Hmm, the tooth fairy?" I guess, laughing.
"Nope! Keep guessing."
"Big foot! I always wanted to meet him."
"Nah, guess again."
"I got it!" I shouted.
"Do you?!"
"Yes!... The boogieman!"
He laughed and pulled his hands down, moving in front of me. "Oh hey, Tyler," I said, coolly.
"You're quite the guesser," he said, laughing, "The boogie man? Nice."
"It's a gift," I said, putting my hand under my chin and smiling, "what was that?" I asked, pointing to the football field.
"Early training for spring sports," he said, pulling his hood up. A heavy wind started blowing and hit me again. I started shivering uncontrollably and pulled my sweatshirt tighter onto myself.
"It's freezing," I added through chattering teeth.
"Here," he said, pulling his hoodie up.
"No!" I shouted, pulling it back down. "Tyler, it's freezing. Keep it on."
"It's fine, you're cold--"
"I'm fine, just.." I trailed off. A questioning look covered his face.
"Just give me a hug," I laughed, "that'll keep me nice and warm." He smiled his gorgeous smile and pulled me close.
"Ohh, the bear hug," I said, "how thoughtful of you."
"It's my specialty," he laughed, wrapping his arms around me. We just stood there, hugging each other. It was so precious.
"Hey, wait a minute!" he added abruptly, letting me go, "What are YOU doing here this late?"
"Well Robbie asked me too--"
"It was nice meeting you Jordyn, I'll see you for try outs on Friday!" Mr. Barker exclaimed as we walked past, to go to his car.
"Of course, I'll see you there," I said, waving goodbye.
"Hmmm, try outs?" he asked, smiling suspiciously. "For what, if I may ask?"
"That's a secret," I said, moving back in for a hug. He moved away and closed his arms.
"Not until you tell me!" he exclaimed.
"No hug? Fine," I said, pretending to be angry and walking away, "I guess you don't want that kiss then."
"Wait, what?" he asked. He ran and caught up to me. "What did I hear about a kiss? What kiss?"
"Oh, nothing," I chimed, unlocking my car door.
"Fine, fine, you got me," he laughed, opening his arms. I hesitated, smiling, but he pulled me in close and gave me the most amazing hug ever.
"The bear hug specialty, just for you," he whispered. I wrapped my arms around his waist and smiled. He eventually let go and I opened my car door and got ready to hop in when he turned around and called my name.
"Yes?" I asked.
"Want to go out to dinner after working on our project tomorrow?" he asked, slinging his work out backpack over his should.
I smiled and nodded. He told me to text him when I got home and then walked off to his car.

I plopped onto my bed and stared at my room. Posters of my favorite musicians, athletes, and hot boys graced the wall. I smiled and thought about school, trying out for sports, Tyler, dinner with him tomorrow, and for some weird reason, the dance that was coming up. I got up, grabbed my phone, scrolled through my list of contacts until I reached the T's. I pulled up his contact and began texting.
"Got home safe, thank you." I smiled and looked through my messages and viewed the unread ones when it vibrated and Tyler's name popped up again. I opened the message to see, "Good, I can't wait until tomorrow. Goodnight."