Chapter Two

“You don’t have any sports teams at all?”

I stared at the receptionist of  my new high school in disbelief. 

She shook her head gently, her curls falling perfectly back into place.

“No dear, I’m afraid we do not.”

“Ok so what do you have?clubs? Anything? I really can’t afford to lose a year of activities for college.” 

“We don’t offer any. You come to class and leave. We start at 8am and finish at 12pm. You’re free to do what you want after that.” She explained, as she handed me my schedule. It seemed classes rotated every other day. 

“Are you even allowed to legally do that? What am I supposed to do after 12?”

I stared at her in desperation. I had hoped to try out for the soccer team as I was on varsity at my old high school. I thought about my old teammates, some I would even call best friends, and realized none of them have even bothered to reach out to me. 

She shrugged her shoulders, glancing briefly at the clock. 

“Majority of our students work in the shops in town. You’re going to be late if you don’t hurry” 

I walked out to the office realizing the room numbers on my schedule didn’t go past the number 20. I knew this was a small town but I don’t think I realized how small it was. 

Room 4 was easy enough to find and I tried entering as quietly as possible, realizing my effort wasn’t needed considering a majority of the class was empty. 

I looked over at the teacher sitting at his desk at the front of the classroom. 

“Umm can I sit anywhere?”

He waved at me, not looking up from his book once. 

I chose a seat in the back as a few students started to trickle in. 

The blonde girl from the diner came in, full grin still on her face as she laughed at something towards the people next to her. 

I quickly looked away when I noticed one of the guys who had caught my previous staring. 

They sat directly in front of me; not once glancing in my direction. 

“Alright we have one hour together. What questions do you have about last week's reading?” The teacher said, finally getting up from his desk. 

I looked down at my schedule, realizing this is all the receptionist gave me. No books or list of homework assignments. 

I made eye contact with the teacher briefly, his eyebrow raised and he probably realized I was a new student. 

“Any questions at all?”

Meghan and her friends continued to talk in hushed whispers, I could hear her giggling time from time.

“Alright. We’ll move on then. Open the book to chapter 7.”

My cheeks burned knowing I was going to have to interrupt the class because I had no book to open. Letting out a small sigh, I raised my hand. 

My sigh must have been louder than I thought because the guy from last night's shoulders tensed, slowly turning towards me. 

Refusing to meet his eyes, I slightly waved my hand to get the teacher's attention. 

“I’m sorry I don’t have a book” 

At this point, now everyone in the small classroom turned toward me. It was incredible to me that I was just now being noticed. You would think in a small town you would notice something out of place. 

“Does anyone care to share their book with our new student?”

Mr brown-eyed got up from his desk and sat down in the one next to mine, without saying a word. 

“Alright. So chapter seven then..”

I kept my eyes down into my lap, refusing to look over at him. His presence was more than overwhelming enough. 

“He won’t bite unless you want him too” Meghan said through a giggle before quickly turning her attention back to the front of the classroom. 

He put the book on my desk, giving it a slight push in my direction. 

I mumbled a thanks, flipping through the pages. 

“You know I never did catch your name last night?”

I tensed, deciding how I wanted to answer. Something inside me told me to answer him, and another part wanted to tell him to get lost. 

“You never asked.” I quietly replied

He stifled a laugh, I could see his hands gripping the desk as he adjusted himself toward me. 

“True. And if I ask now, are you going to tell me?”

I finally looked up into his brown eyes, noticing the playfulness was back in them. That part of me wanted to give him whatever he asked for, and that part annoyed me for some reason. 

“No.”  I don’t know why I was fawning for this guy. My old high school was close to the beach, so I wasn’t new to attractive boys; especially ones that walked around half naked majority of the time with very toned bodies. But my fawning just made me more annoyed than ever, I was determined to squash it. 

His lips turned up into a half smile at my refusal. I swore I watched his eyes flickered with gold. 

“And why not?” 

“Because you haven’t earned it.” 

My heart skipped a beat, realizing I was full on flirting without intending too and I really didnt why. 

A bit more gold flickered into his eyes, as he ran a hand through his hair, pushing it out of his face. I know the move was to flex his muscles but that didn’t stop me from staring as he did it. 

“And how do I earn it, sweetheart?”

Never in my life have I successfully flirted. I was so devoted to soccer and my grades, I never had time for a boyfriend. I knew my dark auburn hair and green eyes made me attractive, I had never struggled with self esteem issues. I simply just didn’t care to find a boyfriend or deal with one. I usually ignored any guy that ever tried. 

“I don’t know yet.” I said breathlessly, I noticed he had moved his desk closer to mine and I could smell his cologne. The scent sent a warmth down my body that pooled in between my legs. 

Meghan fake coughed, drawing my attention out of whatever bubble the two of us were just in. 

“Leave her alone Jax. She’s clearly not interested.” 

I heard him slightly growl and I assumed it was because she gave away his name. 

“Is that true, sweetheart? Are you not interested?” I’m very interested. Very very interested. I moved my legs a bit to disrupt the throbbing that had started. 

“It’s Hayley, not sweetheart.” I managed to say. 

Jax flashed a smile at Meghan in victory. 

“See I wasn’t bothering Hayley at all”

Meghan rolled her eyes, turning towards me completely. 

“I’m Meghan by the way. That’s my stupid  brother. I’m not joking, you tell me he’s bothering you and I’ll kick his ass. Majority of us have lived here our whole life so I’m sure you’re going to feel like the shiny new toy for a while, but we really are a great group of people after the initial shock wears off.” 

I smiled at her kindness. 

“Thanks. I pretty much keep to myself so I hope I’m not the shiny new toy” 

She grimaced at her reference. “I just meant everyone will notice a new face. Do you have plans after school? I could probably introduce you to most people.” 

I panicked at the idea of meeting a bunch of new people. I never really was good at socializing. I tried to quickly come up with a lie. 

“She probably needs a job. I doubt she’s going to work at her aunt's voodoo shop.” Jax said, interrupting my thoughts. 

“How do you know who my aunt is?”

I asked in confusion. He barely learned my name. 

I watched Jax’s face go expressionless before he flashed another half smile. 

“Small town, remember?”

I didn’t believe him, but suddenly  felt like I shouldn’t press the issue. 

“I could probably get you a job at the diner if you wanted.”

I shook my head at Meghan

“Thanks but I wasn’t built to be a waitress.” 

“Well still come  with us after school? You can meet everyone then decide if you want nothing to do with us ever again, okay?” She begged. 

I sighed and agreed, knowing she wasn’t going to give up.