Where Is Jared

Chapter 1- JESSIE

"Oh, come on, Jessie, it won't be that bad!" My mom reassured me as I walked out the door. "I mean it's not like you're new at the school. You've already been through that last year, remember?"

"I know, I know. I'll be fine, mom." I hurriedly gathered my bag and purse and hopped into my new car. I turned up the music and just as I was about to leave, Tim walks up. "How are you? Can I have a ride?"

"Umm...sure." I said as he hopped in. I drove slowly down the long driveway from my house, trying to avoid the pot holes and mud puddles along the way. "How was your summer in California?" He asked casually. That brought up unpleasant thoughts. My mom sent my sister and me to Los Angeles to visit my dad. They had divorced, but she thought it would be good for me. It was, only I found myself lost almost everyday in the vast city. The small city we lived in was no comparison, and even it was quite large. "Well, it was..... hectic. You know I don't like the city, and we were in just about the biggest city in the country. Ugh." He just laughed at my expression. "That must have been dreadful. You know you had a choice."

"Yea, I know, but I really needed a break from Ohio."

Tim had been my neighbor ever since I could remember. He was one of my best guy friends, and would be my best friend if I didn't know Katie Summers. She was my closest and dearest friend, and we were like sisters despite all of our differences. She was short and skinny, while I was tall and often tripped over my feet.

We finally pulled into the parking lot of Spencer High School. It was the biggest high school in the district. It was my second year there, luckily. It could be very frightening to a freshman or any new-comer. Tim interrupted my thoughts. "Where are your classes?"

I stared at him, dumbfounded. I only knew my first class. "What?"

"You don't have a schedule thingy? You were supposed to get them in the mail." Oh no. Crap. Now I'd have to go to the office to get a schedule. Oh well. At least I knew my way around the huge school.

"I'll see you at lunch then. I've got to go get one at the office."

"Okay." He walked off to the third building, and I turned to make my way to building one. I passed tons of freshmen, coming from the office, no doubt, and it was a surprise when a guy tapped my on the shoulder. "Umm... are you a freshman?" he asked politely. "No." I smiled at him.

"Can you help me, then? I'm kinda lost. Everyone here seems to be in the same boat as me, only they're all freshman and I'm a senior." He chuckled.

"Sure, but I'm headed to the office to get a schedule, then my first class is in building four."

"That's fine. I need a schedule anyway." He said. "What's your name?"

"Jessica. But everyone calls me Jessie."

"Well, I'm Jared." His smile was so genuine it made my head hurt. I hadn't thought to look at his features, either. He was adorable, with his sandy brown hair tousled a little, but still under control. His eyes were a gorgeous color of blue. I had never seen anyone like him. He was way too cute to be talking to someone like me. I showed him around, telling him that buildings two, three, and four were the buildings where our classes would be, with a few exceptions. We finally made it to building one. Mrs. Cheney, the secretary smiled at us when we walked into building one. "Hello, Jessica. Can I help you?"

"I, I mean we, need schedules, because we didn't get our in the mail."

"Oh, okay." She shuffled around in the drawer, found my schedule, and then smiled. "Here you go, Miss Stover. Can I get your name, young man?"

"Jared Richarsdon."

"Okay. Here you go." We walked slowly back out the door, and then I remembered the time. "Oh, Mrs. Cheney, we need a pass to class." I said, turning back inside. "Oh, yes, I'm sorry." She wrote us passes and we finally headed out. We both checked our schedules now, which were almost identical. "Wow. We have all of the same classes except one." He seemed like that pleased him. "Now you won't have any problems finding your way around." I said. He smiled, "I think I like you." He laughed and we walked to class together.