For You

Poodles, Labradors, and Obvious Intentions

As things progressed well with Lexi and grandpa offered me various distractions, I began to think little of my death, mental state finally returning to my old self. I woke for school with excitement rather than a sense of impending doom. I remained nervous, butterflies in my stomach making no move to leave, but at least I was no longer faced with the constant urge to hurl every time I thought about Lexi. Every day, I left the house with a bounce in my step.

      It was the Seniors hockey game that day. I had completely forgotten about the game, until I roamed the school halls and noticed the drastic number of missing students. The boys had warned me about it, suggesting that I skip class to watch them or just stay home. But even had I remembered, I wouldn't have chosen to follow their advice. I knew too well that I'd get much grief from grandpa. The thought of impressing Lexi also may have crossed my mind...

      Having become accustomed to following Conrad's lead, I was left disoriented. I didn't know my schedule by heart; couldn't remember what class came first. I turned my locker inside out, in search of the printed schedule that had been handed to me on my first day. When the bell was minutes away from ringing, I shrugged and decided to take a guess. I remembered that Chemistry and Calculus class followed, both either in the morning or afternoon. I at least determined that I had one of the two. With two binders, two textbooks and a pencil case, I headed towards my first classroom of guess, flipping through a small duo-tang in which I was certain I had placed my schedule.

      "Jaxson?" A delicate voice interrupted my messy scramble.

      With instant recognition, I stopped in my tracks, tipping sideways as I nearly dropped my arm's content. Abruptly I turned her way. The four girls facing the direction opposite to mine, it was made pretty clear that I was headed the wrong way. With the slow fading of my expression of confusion, I noticed the spark of amusement in their eyes.

      "Math class is this way." Lexi pointed towards the opposite end of the hall.

      Her friends seemed surprised at our interaction, three pairs of eyes staring me up and down. Lexi's ears turned pink.

      "Thank you," I sighed, blushing lightly as my eyes lingered on Lexi a second too long. It would take an idiot not to notice my pinning.

      The girls waited for me to fall into step with them.

       "Jaxson," I introduced myself with a short nod to Lexi's friends.

       Easily falling instep next to Lexi, the blonde who I learned to be Angela, smirked my way. It seemed Angela was no idiot.

       She was nearly as tall as me with broader shoulders and a larger waist. Plaid dress falling perfectly against her pale skin, her straight hair fell just above her waist. The pink birthmark stretching across her right cheek drew attention to her intimidating eyes. Eyes sharp and a shade darker than mine, I feared hers was a pair of eyes that saw through every façade. In a matter of seconds, she saw just how much I had taken a liking to Lexi.

       Kianna and Julia were much less intimidating than Angela. Kianna was nearly as shy as Lexi, with the same brown hair, only shorter in length, and smooth skin a few shades darker than mine. A few inches taller than Lexi, Kianna's hair was perfectly curled, while Lexi had seemingly thrown her hair in a swift bun. Julia was almost as animated as Angela, but her emerald eyes were gentler. Shaggy ginger hair in a disarray, mis-matching-colored socks poking out of her leather boots, I suspected that even if she was as perceptive as Angela, she wouldn't tease me about it. Angela would give me a hard time. Already, I had no doubt about it. In the few moments following our introduction the mischievous sparkle in her eyes became amply clear. It wouldn't matter how oblivious Lexi was, with a friend like that. Angela was trouble.