Cross My Heart

A Beginner's Game

BECKETT

I felt like an infant again. Alone. Lost. Not sure what was wrong or right. Having the hand that had guided me for years suddenly ripped away had left me reeling and confused. And entering Millenium High presented me with endless options. People handed me flyers after flyers. They wanted me to be their friend. Come to their party. Join their club. But that's the thing with options, it's like standing at the edge of a cliff and not knowing what lies beyond. Would it be a crash landing or would it be a safe passage?

My hands tightened around all the flyers and I jammed them into my locker, not wanting to look at them anymore. What was I going to do joining a club, anyways? It's not like I was intent on giving back to the community. 

Shuffling my books around in my locker, I heard someone clear their voice next to me. I looked to the side and saw a boy with a bowl cut and a hesitant smile looking at me. Looking down, I saw a flyer in his hand. Another flyer. I internally sighed. 

I pulled out the flyers I had gotten before and showed it to him. "I think I'm good on the flyers," I said. Stashing them back, I closed my locker and started to walk away, only to hear his footsteps behind me. 

"If you could just-"

I stopped abruptly and he crashed into me.

"S-s-sorry...I d-didn't m-mean t-to..."

I turned to face him and put my palm out. He looked at me absently for a few seconds before he murmured an 'oh' and handed me a flyer. I started walking away and heard him yell out a string of information on his club: "...We help the community...volunteer work...soup kitchen...organize group therapy..."

I nearly stopped on 'therapy.' I felt an uncomfortable feeling pool in my chest. I wasn't ready yet. I wasn't ready to face all the pain because letting the pain in would mean accepting that it had happened. No. I clenched my fists and  willed myself to keep moving. 

As I walked away, a thought settled in my head. High school was a new playing field. I felt like any wrong move would be like stepping on a mine. Any wrong move would force me to face it. I was a beginner and this was a beginner's game. And it seemed like I was already losing. 

*****************************************************************************************************

I sat in my English class taking notes as Mr. Jefferson spoke. He was giving us the background of the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini. Soon after, he told us to pull our books out. I looked though my backpack and realized I forgot to borrow it from the library. I was about to ask the girl next to me if we could share her book when I felt someone tap my shoulder. Turning back, I saw a boy handing me his copy. His hair was a chestnut brown, a few loose strands falling over his honey-colored eyes. He had a sweet smile on his lips but I could tell it was fake by the way he showed too much teeth. 

"Wanna share?" he asked.

I had no reason to decline and he was already offering, so I just nodded. He smiled and moved his desk next to mine. 

I turned the book over to read the summary when the boy spoke. "Hey, we have philosophy together with Finch. I'm Jeremy Drake. Or...you could call me duck-boy." Then, as if he'd rehearsed it, he threw me a flirty smirk. 

If I had any energy right now, I would've rolled my eyes, but I just settled for quietly redirecting my attention to the book. 

"It doesn't seem like you remember me," he surmised. Had I met him before? "Your view on love was quite different than what I'd expect of most girls. You made an otherwise boring first day interesting. You know-"

"Mr. Drake," Mr. Jefferson cut off chatty Kathy, "it looks like you have quite a lot to say. How about you put that mouth to good use and read page one."

"He already puts that pretty mouth to good use," a blonde girl said, making kissing noises with her lips. The class erupted into laughter and a few boys let out a low whistle. 

Mr. Jefferson cleared his throat and said, "That's enough. Leave your shenanigans for outside the classroom. Now, Mr. Drake, why don't you-"

Mr. Jefferson's voice was cut off by the opening of the door.

"Yes?"

"Mr. J, sorry to interrupt your awesome  class, but if I  could bother you for a brief moment," a deep voice said. It sounded oddly familiar but I didn't look up until I felt a presence next to my desk. I looked up into the eyes of someone I hadn't seen in two years and an involuntary smile found its way to my lips.

"Noah," I said. He winked and a few girls gasped.

"Looks like Beckett here is needed at the Counseling Office. Official business and such. So, if you don't mind?" He put a warm hand on my shoulder.

Mr. Jefferson curtly motioned with his hand for us to leave, obviously irritated for having his class interrupted.

Noah slung my backpack over his shoulder and I pushed at my desk to get around the boy seated next to me. I threw him a glance and saw that his smile was gone. My eyes refocused to Noah's back and I followed as he made his way out of the classroom.

JEREMY

I watched as Beckett walked out with him. Noah Casters. She obviously knew him. I had seen the flicker of recognition in her eyes, the smile on her lips. That was the first time I had seen her smile since I had first encountered her in Philosophy class.

I tasted something sour in my mouth. I wasn't jealous. She wasn't even my girl, but Noah had sparked my competitive side. Multiple guys had already hit on Beckett and she had ruthlessly turned them down, but they were wannabe losers. All talk and no game. But Noah was a different species altogether. He was a worthy opponent. He was part of a group the student body had come to call the Trinity, made up of Noah, Alula Hayat, and Sasha Bolkov. Alula and Sasha were an item, together since they had first transferred here. The three of them already seemed to know each other when they moved here two years ago, so they didn't try hard to make any new friends. Their group was practically impenetrable but that didn't stop people from trying to talk to them or befriend them.

At 6 foot 3 - an inch taller than me - Noah was known for his flirtatious nature. Flirty but never serious enough to date. Noah and me, including a few others, were the known players of Millenium, but Noah and I had never really had any encounters with each other outside of chance meetings at parties or in class. 

Seeing how Beckett seemed to have some past connection with him, Noah was one step ahead of me and that was a big hit to my pride. I had to step up my game. He might have the upper hand right now but I was never known for giving up. Once I had my eyes set on something, I stopped at nothing until it was mine, and Beckett's heart was mine.

Millenium was a jungle and there was only room for one King of the Jungle - me. 

***********************************************************************************************

-Hmmm, what did you think of the chapter???? Is Jeremy really King of the Jungle or is he underestimating Noah????

-What do you think of Noah? Like him, hate him? Don't care too much for him????

-What do you think of Tyler Posey as Noah? Check out the picture at the top of this chapter!!! Leave comments on your thoughts about the chapter and the casting and character of Noah? Any better suggestions????

-Please comment and vote, lovelies!!!