Chameleon

Chapter 2

Alex and Charlie sat in their first-period English class and discussed Jackson's arrival.

"I just... I've never felt this way before. I'm sure I've seen him before, but I don't remember where," Charlie muttered.

"I can't remember his name," Alex huffed.

Claire sat behind them and smirked. She remembered him clearly. It was the night before Halloween. Alex and Charlie were making their rounds around the school and had stopped a boy. She was sure it was the same boy; he had the same giddy smile, eyebrow piercing, and strange sense of style. It became instantly apparent he was new, and she took pity on him. When Alex and Charlie cornered him, she was surprised to see that there was no fear in his eyes. He'd looked someone much bigger, scarier, and a thousand times more dangerous in the eye and lived to tell the tale. Two football players with one brain cell between them didn't scare him. He knew true fear--that wasn't it. He talked back even though he knew they were going to hit him and he was too small to do anything about it. Nonetheless, she stepped in before things got out of hand. He was too sweet to be so unafraid. No one deserved to cry at lunch during their first day because he made a friend, and Claire knew she wasn't worth being the one cried over.

"You guys talking about the new kid?" she cut in smartly.

"Shut up, Claire," Alex hissed so as to not draw the teacher's attention. "This isn't about you."

Claire pouted. "His name's Jackson, you know."

"You know that?" Alex jumped at her. "What's his last name?"

"Okay, that I don't know," she backed off.

"Useless," Charlie muttered as they turned back around.

"But!" she continued, "I can introduce you if you're looking for a friend."

"We don't need friends," Alex said, not realizing how dumb that sounded.

"Yeah, but I heard he has a twin brother," she lied, making things up to entice them. "Plus, I heard Jackson's the smart one, and his brother's literally too cool for school, so he almost never shows up. Imagine it: you'd be a set of power twins."

The two boys looked at each other. They'd never really thought of how their status as twins could increase their social status.

"What class'd you say he'd be in next?" Charlie asked.

Claire giggled. "I'll introduce you during lunch."