HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS

Chapter 4 : Unfamiliar feelings.

                                      Jax's Pov:

The sound of laughter echoed through the halls of the mansion as Alex, Miles, and I stumbled into the living room, still buzzing from the first day back at Ridgeview. The school year had officially kicked off, and while nothing particularly exciting had happened, it was good to fall back into our usual rhythm—cutting class, joking around, doing just enough to skate by. Same old routine.

But there was one thing that stood out about today. One thing I couldn't shake, even now.

Emma.

She'd barely said a word to me, but there was something about her that had stuck in my mind all day. Maybe it was those striking blue eyes, the way they caught the light and looked deeper than I expected. Or maybe it was her dark ginger hair that she kept braided loosely over her shoulder, like she didn't want anyone to notice how beautiful it was. Either way, I found myself thinking about her more than I cared to admit.

"Man, that class with Mr. Peterson is going to be brutal," Alex groaned, throwing himself onto the leather couch. Miles laughed, tossing a basketball from one hand to the other as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Yeah, but we'll survive. It's senior year, remember?" Miles said with a grin. He had a way of making everything seem easy, like nothing really mattered as long as we had a good time.

I nodded along, but my mind was somewhere else. Specifically, it was replaying that brief moment in the morning when Emma had walked with us to school. She'd barely spoken, and when she did, it was in quiet, measured words. She wasn't like the girls I was used to—loud, flirty, always trying to grab attention. No, Emma had a kind of quiet confidence about her, a stillness that made you want to look closer, to figure her out.

"Jax, you with us?" Miles asked, giving me a nudge.

"Huh?" I blinked, shaking the thoughts of Emma from my head. "Yeah, I'm here."

Alex chuckled. "Dude, you've been out of it all day. Something on your mind?"

I shrugged, not willing to admit what was really going on. "Nah, just tired. Didn't get much sleep last night."

It wasn't a lie, exactly. The hangover from the party had made the day drag, but even that wasn't why I was distracted. It was her. Emma, with her quiet presence and the way she didn't seem to care about fitting in. She'd hardly looked at me, and yet I couldn't stop thinking about her.

"Do you think Em met anyone interesting today?" Miles asked, tossing the ball in the air and catching it again. I glanced at him, realizing he was talking about his stepsister.

Emma had stayed mostly quiet at lunch, sitting with us but not really saying much. I'd caught her glancing around a few times, like she wasn't sure if she wanted to be there or if she wanted to run the other way. And I wasn't sure why, but it made me want to know more about her.

"It's alright," Miles continued. "Still settling in, I guess. Ridgeview's a lot different than New York."

Alex nodded. "Can't imagine trading the city for this place. But she seems cool."

I stayed silent, replaying the moments I'd noticed her today. The way she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear when she was nervous. The way her eyes scanned the room as if she was taking everything in, always observing. It was strange—I never paid attention to details like that. Usually, I didn't care. Girls were fun, sure, but they weren't complicated. Emma, though, there was something different about her.

"Yeah, she's cool," I finally said, but the words felt hollow, too simple for what I was really thinking.

Alex laughed, kicking his feet up on the coffee table. "Cool? You're acting like you barely noticed her."