Emma & Jax

August 1995

Jax
Jax stood at his bedroom mirror and studied himself. He clicked his tongue at the top of his mouth; a thing he did when he was nervous, or thinking. Mondays were not his favorite. Today was his first day of Junior year at Iridium High School. He wished that time would go by slower, so that he wouldn't have to leave soon, but he knew that was clearly impossible. He glanced down at his watch and groaned to himself. Seven thirty.

He scratched at his neck and took his backpack downstairs where his family was already eating breakfast.

"Morning Jax," his father smiled at his oldest son.

"Morning dad," he replied. Jax sat down next to his younger brother, Alec.

Alec, or Alexander Novoa was only two years younger than him; an eighth grader. He wasn't the youngest, though, that was Rowan, the only girl in the family; a seventh grader.

Jax sat down at the table. He stuffed half of his blueberry muffin into his mouth hungrily. The family dog, Charlie, barked widely as some of the crumbs sprinkled all over the chocolate lab's furry body.

Jax swallowed and ducked his head under the mahogany table. He tapped Charlie's head. "Sorry bud," he said.

Jax quickly scarfed down the rest of his breakfast and ran up the stairs to brush his teeth. Two minutes passed were up before he knew it, so he ran back downstairs and stood at the front door; waiting for Alec and Rowan.

The three of them attended the same private school; each of them in different sections of the campus. If you were part of the high schoolers, you wore khakis: pants, capris, or even a skirt, depending on if you were a male or female. A white or light blue button up with a tie. Only the tie provided by the school is acceptable. (Yellow, orange, and blue)

If you were part of the middle schoolers, you wore the same, but you were a yellow t-shirt instead of a button up.

Finally, the two hurried down the staircase.

"Bye dad!" The three of them called before running out of the house. Jax and his siblings have been taking the bus for as long as they remembered. Jax stood next to his brother and sister as they waited for the bus. He balanced on the heels of his feet and clicked his tongue again.

Their heads shot up at the sound of a horn. The bus slowed to a stop, and opened the doors.

Rowan and Alec beat Jax into the bus, and they nodded a thanks to the driver. Jax followed after, giving the bus driver a polite smile.

He stood in the isle as his grey eyes skimmed and scanned the rows of seats that seemed infinite. Jax ran his hand through his mess of dark hair and carefully chose a seat close to the back. It was the only one empty, or maybe two. The rest of the seats were mostly taken, except for the one next to him, of course.

Jax looked up and noticed a girl with the most brilliant set of brown eyes he'd ever seen. She wore eye glasses, which he thought complemented her eyes. Her hair was dark, which fell around her shoulders in long waves. She was pretty. So pretty he wanted to let her know.

"Hello." He kept his eyes glued to hers.

The girl waved at him.

"Would you like to sit?" He asked, motioning to the seat right next to him.

"Sure," she mumbled very quietly, as if she didn't want him to hear her.

She sat down next to him quickly, pulling her bag into her lap.

"I'm Jax Novoa." He held out his hand.

"Emma Alonso." She shook his hand.

Emma's hand was so small compared to his. Her voice was very sweet.

He gave her a warm smile, which was quickly replied with a twitch of her pink lips. Her lips curled up slowly into a roseate smile.

Jax let go of her hand and awkwardly wiped his sweaty palm against his pants. Emma pulled a piece of her hair behind her ear. She looked down at her lap.

Emma Alonso. What a name.