Blood Lineage(2015 Revision)

Chapter 2

When I got to school it was all pretty much the same first day routine: the lost and wandering herd of Freshmen staring blankly at their student handbooks trying to find their way to homeroom. I had to laugh; it seemed like I was in their shoes only yesterday, and now, here I was in my Senior year. Where did all my time go? It had all just slipped through my hands. I had spent my entire high school existence buried deep in my books, never really interacting much with anyone. I mean, sure, I had my close knit circle of friends since elementary school. All three of them, tried and true, each with their own unique personalities. First, there was Nicole. Our bond went way beyond friendship, she was the sister I never had but without all the sibling rivalry. She was stunning with her long flowing locks of strawberry blond hair and captivating deep set emerald green eyes that stood out against her fair skin and rosy cheeks. She had a petite build, and stood a mere five feet four inches. She couldn't have weighed more than 110 pounds soaking wet, but she was still completely radiant. Compared to her, I looked like one of those creepy Living Dead Dolls. Then we had Jasmine. Now, Jasmine and I were on the same level of plain; beautiful in her own exotic way, she kept her black velvet hair in a short classic bob cut, which showed off her olive complexion which complemented her wide dark brown eyes. Jasmine towered over Nicole, standing at five feet ten inches weighing one hundred-sixty pounds.

Last but not least, we had Jarred. The odd man out. Not quite one of the girls, but still a vital part of my circle. I can still remember when he was a short and scrawny computer geek who played World of War Craft online until three in the morning. But now, he was gladiator material. His smooth skin was a golden bronze from the summer sun and he kept his jet black hair short and neat. His eyes were the most breath taking shade of blue I had ever seen, and they rested up top of his perfectly chiseled cheek bones. Jarred was now a giant compared to the rest of us, standing at six feet two inches and weighed in at two-hundred twenty pounds of solid muscle. He was the only one of us whose "status" had transcended when he joined the football team his junior year, but no matter what, he still stayed close to his “nobodies”. I don't know what I would have done without the three of them.

As I was staring off into oblivion, Nicole crept up to my car and smacked two open palms on the driver side window, pressing her face in between them and puffing out her cheeks. If I'd umped any higher, I would have smacked my head on the roof of my car. My heart was racing.

"Jesus, Nicole! Are you trying to kill me?! You scared the shit out of me!"

She stood there laughing. "Hey there, space cadet, do you plan on coming back down to earth

anytime soon?"

"Do I have much of a choice?"

"Not really. Come on I'll buy you an iced tea before we meet up with Jasmine and Jarred." She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and began walking.

I grabbed my own bag, got out of the car and fumbled with the locks before I ran to catch up to Nicole. As we strolled up the walkway through the courtyard, we saw our fellow upperclassmen congregating into their cliques: the preppy Chess Club kids, the disgruntled Goths, the valley girl cheerleaders who stood around, twirling their hair around their fingers gawking at the jocks, the skater kids riding their boards in the parking lot, the social outcasts. Then, there was the four of us in a corner of the courtyard under a tree. We were a little bit of everything all rolled into one.

"Hey guys, sorry to cut this short, but I'm gonna go catch up with Spence. I gotta find out about practice this afternoon. I'll meet up with you later." Jarred waved goodbye and ran over to his teammates huddled together across from the flirty pep squad.

“I still can't get over it. Our Jarred turned jock." Nicole and Jasmine watched along with me as he went his separate way.

"You know Elsia, this is only a glimpse of what's to come. I mean, this is our last year together here. This time next fall, God knows where we'll be." Nicole had an uneasy expression on her face as she looked to me for a response. She knew I had a hard time adjusting to drastic changes, no matter how prepared I might have been. Jasmine looked uncomfortable as she gave us both a mournful glance.