Jasmine smirked as she rested her glove-cladded palms on Joaquin's shoulders, swaying with him to the soft music and under the rather dull ballroom lights. She was content that things were finally going a way that pleased her, especially with Rhode out of the way.
God, could that girl be annoying.
Her smile faltered just a bit as her mind wandered back to the fight they had minutes ago. Rhode was screaming at Jasmine, and lunging literally anything she could lay her hands on at Jasmine. She kept going on and on about friendship and loyalty and all sorts of bollocks that Jasmine wasn't ready to hear.
It's not like Rhode hadn't been warned when she trotted up to the redhead's table-to talk-a few months prior. Jasmine had been a new student, and decided that after the drama at her former school, she was going to stick it out on her own this year.
She couldn't help but roll her eyes at the sudden presence of the figure standing confidently over her. The most irritating part of it was how the female in question blocked the sunlight that illuminated the pages of the novel Jasmine was reading. She looked up from the book perched on her laps and loudly took a sip of the badly made milk-shake-which she had unintentionally not paid mind to since it was bought-resting on the table.
"Can I help you?" She finally asked uninterestedly, adjusting the spectacles perched on the tip of her nose, where she oddly liked it.
"You have the pleasure of meeting Rhode Myers, captain of the cheerleading squad," the blonde girl started chirpily, flipping her impressively long locks over her shoulder. "Just saw you here looking pathetically lonely and thought that I should use this opportunity to officially introduce myself and possibly... Make acquaintances."
"And you have the freedom to walk away. While you still can," Jasmine added. She grinned internally on seeing the confusion etched on the faces of Rhode's ever-silent posse.
Rhode chuckled, a bit surprised by the redhead's jape. "What?"
"I don't feel like talking, nice to meet you Rhode. Bye."
"I don't think you get it, Jane Doe." She gracefully took a seat opposite Jasmine and rested her elbows on the red plastic lunch table, clasping her hands together. She spoke her next words very carefully. "You don't get to trot into this place with your head held high and just speak to anyone as you please. I'd advise you to be a bit careful next time. But since you're new, you get the benefit of the doubt. You are indeed privileged to be speaking to me now. This is now my territory. I literally own this school. So you better show some respect, babe."
Great. She's a talker, Jasmine thought.
"Well, I'm sorry," she said in mock apology. "But I'm good. And it's Jasmine, by the way."
The corner of Rhode's red lips rose in amusement. She wondered why she felt so drawn to this strange redhead seated opposite her. "Pretty name," she beamed, looking at Jasmine dead in the eye. "Well look who's in shape..." she drawled, giving the girl a quick once-over. "Are you a dancer?"
Jasmine sighed. "How'd you guess?"
"My instincts are just that good," she replied immediately, glancing at her perfectly manicured fingernails. "Well, would you like to join the squad? We're looking for replacements to those ambitious amateurs in sophomore year."
What's her deal? "I've never been on the team before, sorry."
"Who says you can't train?"
"My lazy ass who's not interested in cheerleading."
"Come on, at least stop by practice today, see how we do what we do. If you like it, tryouts is this weekend. Don't worry, I'll prep you. You have till school-over to make your decision." Rhode was already on her feet and walking away with her posse following close behind, before she could even give a reply.
